Alright, this comes from another post asking how long to the first player made video? That got me thinking. City of Titans has NO funds for advertisement heck they don't have funds for anything really it's a work of love and desire fuled by Kickstarter and dreams.
So let's spin time a little forward and it's now Beta. How do we spread the word? How do we advertise a new world?
Looking at game videos and game sites there are a few trends. Roleplay, Let's plays, Game Tricks, and tips.
What if there a YouTube channel just for City of Titans? Where we can post our videos could even have regular shows?
So it's time to brainstorm even if this goes nowhere it's fun to think of possibilities.
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Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP
Hopefully there are enough interested in comic MMOs that it will be a big deal, at least on gaming sites. Of the 3 extant comic games, CoH, Champions, and DCO, this was the exactly wrong one to shut down. Nobody "loves" those others, they just kind of put up with it.
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The very existence of the taunting tank irritates, for it requires idiotic AI that obeys the taunt.
I personally think there is a big enough Comic-esk fanbase out there that City of Titans will succeed. Look at the other super hero games that are out there right now. For the most part the were successful at the beginning, but then started to fade away once other imitations began to come out and other "BIG" mmo's came to surface. Luckily right now, the community has drifted away from MMO's and went towards the Comic-esk MOBAs.
I strongly believe that when people begin to see a "revival" of a long time favorite MMO, and one that was in all fairness the Platform/ and the lead for most MMOs today to include World of Warcraft.
But thats just me thinking that.
To gain access to the future one must learn the mistakes of today
How to spread the word:
Honestly, this is a fairly easy thing to do, but a bit tedious.
First - social media.
Facebook page with a standard for timely updates - whether it's every hour, every half hour, whatever it is, it should be consistent and persistent. Someone who knows how to deal well with trolls in a non-combative manner. (there are always trolls, right?)
Twitter allows for brief 140 character messages. It would be interesting to get CoT trending. I think you'd have to send a group email out and ask for the player base to help spread that word by following and re-tweeting.
Snapchat - I'm not terribly familiar with it - but maybe a couple of screenshots?
Instagram, pinterest, Reddit, LinkedIn - there are a number of sites that would allow for free press, but you'll want to have some pages here on the forum to advise, or give direction to the players, or alternatively, take control of the message and post on those sites with an approved message.
Email - you'll need to awaken some of us players from our slumber as we've been patiently waiting for the game to begin.
As far as Youtube channel for the game - the devs may want to create a channel (or continue to use the one they have now) - with behind the scenes looks at what's really going on and why some things can't happen for a while and some things won't ever happen and some things are coming up soon™. Personally, unless I get an email telling me about it, I'd never see it. I very rarely look at Youtube unless I'm trying to learn how to do something. I can't imagine what other people look at while they're there. (yes, I'm kidding - but what if I weren't?)
Those who have no idea what they are doing have no idea that they don't know what they are doing. - John Cleese
I was wondering more along the lines of what types of Videos gain your attention.
Should there be a news show kind of thing with interviews, updates, and general information?
Tips and tricks videos?
A comedy show of people just having fun or roleplaying?
What types of videos make you want to play a game? What content you look for?
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Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP
Right on!
I'd say all of the above and badge hunting if we have location badges. Different people are motivated by different things. I think "let's play" videos work the best for me.
"THE TITANS ARE COMING! THE TITANS ARE COMING!"
going along with the OP a you tube channel would be fun. But not all players make for good editors or story tellers. Let the channel pick and choose the best submissions for display. Most important to me is to present things in a positive light: Betas crash a lot...Betas nerf and reballance. It should not be a sounding board for preteens who whine/complain about not getting a finished product for free.
A channel could encompass all things: music videos are my fav thing, but a lets play with an entertaining voice over is great. Spoilers are bad.
so my advice is: take admissions but be choosy.
[img]https://s15.postimg.cc/z9bk1znkb/Black_Falcon_Sig_in_Progess.jpg[/img]
Ideal progression would start with reviews (positive of course), move into some 'how to' videos which slide naturally into 'lets plays' that are both comedic and serious. Finally they settle on either an ongoing machinima series or a series that focuses on alternative game play aspects.
Games like GTA, minecraft and Halo are all famous games in the youtube arena. They all followed this progression and have been a benefit to both the youtuber and the company/developers of the games. In many cases the devs/company and the video making community developed a repport out of mutual respect/admiration.
If this game wants to encourage or at the very least facilitate a strong youtube/twitch/ect presence they need to provide the tools/arena to create video content for the players. The game needs a wide range of alternate activities, or an extremely robust system for player created content/strong mod support, or a way for the video makers to isolate themselves from the larger gaming community. The game would not need all of those, and some are arguably more important than others, but without at least some of those aspect it becomes very difficult for someone to produce videos. I would argue that without the ability to isolate yourself and the extremely robust player created content system very few people would be able to create a sustained series.
I do agree that a specific city of titans channel on youtube is a good idea and it should have some moderation to remove problematic videos but I really don't think it will be an official moderated city of titans youtube channel where the videos will thrive. Popularity will come from personal channels with dedicated and talented people with creative presentations that consistently produce entertaining videos that go beyond what the general populace are capable of.
I love this idea.
Videos Possible Now
During Playable Alpha/Beta/Release
Even short 2min videos on a semi-regular basis would provide enough "drip" of content to keep people informed and engaged.
- Broxen aka Sarim
I will be twitch streaming the game on my channel
-AlienMafia (Justice Server)
Main: Thorns 13xx Badges
I see 2 distinct paths...for youtube and social media in general.
1) Role Play and story immersion, Fan based or official videos of cut scenes and backstory like Blizz does for Overwatch are only good if the content and quality is top notch. I really love the "idea" of this because RP and community are what I really enjoy, however its very easy for this to not do justice to the more important playabilty. A great looking animation scene is not really going to show the content that real players want.
2) Game play guides and word of mouth is great and there are many popular you-tubers and twitch streamers that will show tips, tricks, walkthrus, optimizations etc. many of these are very positive supporters of the game and develop into beloved and trusted sources as well as a great launching pad to entice new players to want to try the game because they can watch how it plays out before investing time and money.
The second option is the best IMO but the risk you face is that a very critical community can spring forth if there are glaring design issues that are not corrected or addressed. If the Developers and Player community remains very close and engaged in dialogue this can lead to a brilliant positive campaign.
Bit of background, I am a machinimator who is constantly frustrated with problems in creating content for my channel.
What attracted me to this game is the hope that some of these problems would be taken care of.
I really hope that the game will offer free camera modes. I do not have a huge cast for my productions so always having to use one just to act as a camera is a huge pain. Just being able to move the camera freely would mean I could have use the actor in a scene and still film. Not to mention multiple camera angles without having to reset the scene.
I also would like an extensive quest and base creator so that I can set the scene easier. Most of the time you can find a way to tell a story with the existing locations but there are still a lot of times when being able to dress the set and not be bothered by spawning enemies would help more than can be explained. It would also be nice to be able to set up npc animation cycles to act as background characters or extras if you will. The kind of creator that would help the most is one that doesn't have a lot of unlock requirements to use or at the very least those unlocks could be purchased with real money. Having to spend days, weeks or months of playing to either unlock all the options or to earn IGC to pay for those unlock things makes it hard to produce regular content.
A strong variety in outfits and characters is a very nice thing to have when you want to stretch your cast further. You can do a lot with just the color swaps and minimal customization most games offer but being able to create vastly different characters would open up so many possibilities. In an ideal situation you would be able to make a character that looks identical to any npc in the game as well as original creations.
The most essential thing is to be have an isolated place you can film. I can't tell you how many times scenes have been ruined by random players who run into the shot. I would love it if I could use the creator to set up a location that restricts all but those who are in the scene could enter.
I have no idea if these things are possible to put in a game without causing problems but if I could have camera control, extensive set manipulation, strong character variety and a way to separate myself from other players I would be able to produce some high quality story based machinima weekly and the biggest frustrations in filming would be gone.
Lore Video's and similar, background for the city, Villain/Hero groups etc. I've noticed that many people ask about the history of things and places in games... but never actually look them up themselves/read the information available in game.
So maybe a codex series detailing each of the groups, the districts of the city and major NPC Factions who are not actually on a side (Not heroic of villainous) I've noticed it going to be a 12 part alignment system... so maybe something following that.
Heroes, Villians... Who Cares. In the end, it's our Actions that define us not a name or tag we use.
I plan on starting up a Youtube/Twitch Account primarily for PvP battles, duels, and montages of 'pwnage' moments, as well as demonstrating gameplay of defining moments of the game such as special maps/missions, AV fights, and raids! I wish to become an avid member of the PvP community while providing tips and guides on how to PvP fairly, and cleanly, without any 'dumb' attitudes that too many 'serious' PvP'ers were known for and left it with a bad taste for primarily PvE players.
Maybe a good idea would be to have an 'official' City of Titans Youtube Account/Channel, and having branching groups of PvE content, PvP content, teasers/demonstrations of upcoming updates/powers/etc., and fan-made videos/roleplay? Of course people will create their own YT channels based on CoT, but it'd be cool to have a central YT account that takes in submissions from other players, with and without Youtube accounts, and displays them on their channel, with credit being given due as well.