Post by Pearl Forrester on Mar 2, 2013 17:57:26 GMT -5
Since Hasbro has basically thrown TFP in the toilet in favor of MLP:FiM (they have stated it's their #1 brand and they will be dumping most of their money into it), we're left with a series that will end in 3 seasons, followed by a couple of movies.
Starting a game based on the momentum and fanbase behind TFPrime is a bad idea. It will peter out in months.
I'm not saying we do a massive change of our story or anything, I like what we have so far and it's very workable, and it will be easy to continue on. What we have to do is make sure we are not, at first appearance, coming off as based entirely on TFP Season 3.
All of this comes down to appearance, perception and target audience. Yes, I am going to sound like an advertising agent right now, but I'd like to lend my 20+ years of advertising, building and running RPGs online to the table. RPGs are in steep competition for limited audience share - people that want to WRITE rather than just log onto an MMO server and start shooting/stabbing are growing fewer and farther between. This means that we need to hit just the right spread between Niche and Mass Appeal.
I think we should present ourselves not as 'TFPrime Beast Hunters' - which is what we presently look like - but as Transformers Aligned Continuity RPG. That means we need to be showing and advertising transformers in GENERAL - Autobots, Decepticons, etc. Images of Prime Megatron and Optimus will go much further than images of Predaking. Not every TF fan really likes TFPrime, and not all of them like the Predacons. Predacons right now are a media hype, which means if we run with it, any anti-hype or backlash (say it turns out that wow, the Predacons actually suck) will hurt our appeal to potential players.
If we give ourselves a broad appeal (Aligned Continuity, which picks up new TF fans as well as old) but not TOO broad (all transformer series ever), we'll be able to appeal to a wider range of potential players while keeping our applicants and story management to a reasonable level. It's just the right 'niche'. Transformers 2005 MUSH has been running strong for almost FIFTEEN YEARS just on Generation One Movie Universe alone. IDW is the second biggest potential draw, and Aligned the third, for a stable, wide-appeal game.
Next we want to consider the image we use for advertising, because it will, unconsciously, say what we are and what we are all about. I'm going to suggest that we find some images from IDW comics, FOC/WFC and TFPrime. IF we can mix a little of those (say in a collage-type banner with 'Transformers Darkest Hours' on it), we will be announcing to people through an image the continuities we are using. We will be Truth In Advertising. A 'neutral' banner of space, or cybertron, with 'Transformers Darkest Hours' is a good second choice, as it tells people 'this is transformers, come see what kind it is'.
I'm going to suggest, too, that we appeal to the IDW fans as well as the FOC/WFC and Prime fans. IDW comic readers and fans are older, tend to actually WANT to roleplay and are usually already thinking of plots and characters. MMO gamers should be a second draw because they're looking for fights and battles, which are harder to do on a board RPG. And while this seems really counterintuitive, we want to use TFPrime images LAST, because the wide majority of TFPrime fans are 12-16 and most of them are going to play like first graders on the playerground. Bang-bang shoot shoot one liners.
I think if we focus on making this a war-centric game between Autobot and Decepticon, with third-party groups making more trouble, and allow for character development though interaction/relationships as well, we will appeal to the kind of players we want on the game, and maintain a theme to the game that is easy for people to jump in and get started without feeling constrained or boxed in by a lack of canon FCs or plot points not being done or long wait times to get in.
On that note, our app should remain pretty simple - we want people to be able to jump in and get started and act on their excitement to join as soon as possible. The faster that excitement and enthusiasm can be applied to the game, the better we'll be. We do NOT want to punish people for being chatty, excited or eager to get started. That is a GOOD THING (some games don't seem to get that).
Starting a game based on the momentum and fanbase behind TFPrime is a bad idea. It will peter out in months.
I'm not saying we do a massive change of our story or anything, I like what we have so far and it's very workable, and it will be easy to continue on. What we have to do is make sure we are not, at first appearance, coming off as based entirely on TFP Season 3.
All of this comes down to appearance, perception and target audience. Yes, I am going to sound like an advertising agent right now, but I'd like to lend my 20+ years of advertising, building and running RPGs online to the table. RPGs are in steep competition for limited audience share - people that want to WRITE rather than just log onto an MMO server and start shooting/stabbing are growing fewer and farther between. This means that we need to hit just the right spread between Niche and Mass Appeal.
I think we should present ourselves not as 'TFPrime Beast Hunters' - which is what we presently look like - but as Transformers Aligned Continuity RPG. That means we need to be showing and advertising transformers in GENERAL - Autobots, Decepticons, etc. Images of Prime Megatron and Optimus will go much further than images of Predaking. Not every TF fan really likes TFPrime, and not all of them like the Predacons. Predacons right now are a media hype, which means if we run with it, any anti-hype or backlash (say it turns out that wow, the Predacons actually suck) will hurt our appeal to potential players.
If we give ourselves a broad appeal (Aligned Continuity, which picks up new TF fans as well as old) but not TOO broad (all transformer series ever), we'll be able to appeal to a wider range of potential players while keeping our applicants and story management to a reasonable level. It's just the right 'niche'. Transformers 2005 MUSH has been running strong for almost FIFTEEN YEARS just on Generation One Movie Universe alone. IDW is the second biggest potential draw, and Aligned the third, for a stable, wide-appeal game.
Next we want to consider the image we use for advertising, because it will, unconsciously, say what we are and what we are all about. I'm going to suggest that we find some images from IDW comics, FOC/WFC and TFPrime. IF we can mix a little of those (say in a collage-type banner with 'Transformers Darkest Hours' on it), we will be announcing to people through an image the continuities we are using. We will be Truth In Advertising. A 'neutral' banner of space, or cybertron, with 'Transformers Darkest Hours' is a good second choice, as it tells people 'this is transformers, come see what kind it is'.
I'm going to suggest, too, that we appeal to the IDW fans as well as the FOC/WFC and Prime fans. IDW comic readers and fans are older, tend to actually WANT to roleplay and are usually already thinking of plots and characters. MMO gamers should be a second draw because they're looking for fights and battles, which are harder to do on a board RPG. And while this seems really counterintuitive, we want to use TFPrime images LAST, because the wide majority of TFPrime fans are 12-16 and most of them are going to play like first graders on the playerground. Bang-bang shoot shoot one liners.
I think if we focus on making this a war-centric game between Autobot and Decepticon, with third-party groups making more trouble, and allow for character development though interaction/relationships as well, we will appeal to the kind of players we want on the game, and maintain a theme to the game that is easy for people to jump in and get started without feeling constrained or boxed in by a lack of canon FCs or plot points not being done or long wait times to get in.
On that note, our app should remain pretty simple - we want people to be able to jump in and get started and act on their excitement to join as soon as possible. The faster that excitement and enthusiasm can be applied to the game, the better we'll be. We do NOT want to punish people for being chatty, excited or eager to get started. That is a GOOD THING (some games don't seem to get that).