Comments - Schaulustiger

(One quick addition that's not really related: I often wonder why only so few game provide in-game movie tools. They are a relatively cheap way to help users make tons of movies. It's free advertising for the developer and a healthy machinima/movie community can keep public interest in the game for a long time: Look at TF2. Look at Quake 3, the game with the best movie tools I've ever seen and even now, more than ten years after its release, people produce high-quality movies - one reason why the game is still healthy and alive. Plus, movie tools can help the developers to make a professional-looking movie. I always shudder at official trailers with stuttering mouse scrolling and "we-use-WASD-for-cinematic-camera-movement" stuff. Horrible!)

That's it. Sorry for three posts but I felt the need to give a longer explanation of my initial statement on RPS.

I think that the Frozen Synapse trailers fail in that particular respect. They show the game as it is: a duel of tactics, slow-paced strategy and deep underlying mechanics. But that's the kind of things that (again: in my opinion) don't win over a crowd. It's what keeps them playing once they tried it. But to arouse their interest you have to rely on the spectacular: Say why FS provides awesome moments and show them! A round with a triple rocket-kill and a shotgun finisher looks sweet and together with the phrase "It's a strategy game" sparked the interested of a friend of mine who was fairly unimpressed by the official trailer.

So, long story short: I think trailers are one of the most important tools in PR. They get linked everywhere, they can be easily watched and whenever my friends and I decided to try some game, it initially was a trailer that got us all interested. And it didn't need to be a standard gameplay trailer, it could be anything related to the game.

My intent on RPS was not to inply that you failed at marketing (and thus: your job) but to say that you are not able to reach beyond the indie crowd. This is tough, I admit that, and I'm not exactly a PR mastermind myself, I can just speak for myself, a group of gaming friends and our experiences.

So, I'm the RPS guy you quoted at the beginning of your article. I just stumbled upon this article and feel the need to comment.
First, to clear things up, I'm also the one behind the inofficial Teaser Trailer you also linked here.

Now why did I state that your "PR is as bad as it can get"? Definitely not to make you feel bad about it or to criticise your efforts which - as a reader of the FS blog and ModDB articles - are commendable and full of honesty. My point is: You have to get the interest of the mainstream crowd, not just the indie fans. The latter you can convince just by showing what the game is like. Those kind of people don't care about graphics, polish or huge coverage, they like the idea behind the game and its mechanics. The mainstream crowd, in comparison, is already being bombarded with tons of AAA and AA titles. In my humble opinion, they judge games not mainly by the idea behind it but by the kind of interest that a trailer (or screenshot) generates.
I do have a circle of friends who are really into (multiplayer) gaming. They come from different gaming backgrounds but they all appreciate a good game. They can easily be interested in something not so hugely popular, e.g. a mod, as long as they see a trailer or a screenshot which is exciting and promises something great.

to be continued below... (stupid 2000 character limitation)