Communication & Marketing

Hello and greetings to all Ryzom players and Ryzom forge volunteers,
Oren pyr, this is the player of Nuzanshi here ☼☼☼

I am writing here because in Ryzom roadmap I read about 'improving commercial visiblity of Ryzom'.
So I thought about what I could do to improve Ryzom's publicity in the mmorpg gaming community.
After a lot of deep thinking (and drinking lots of psycopla coffee while doing so) I came up with a very simple idea:

I can talk about Ryzom in public mmorpg player forums. Great idea, isn't it?


This article is about on which online platforms I do this, what I exactly do, how I do it and and how other Ryzom players can do the same if they want to.


 

First step: 'Where-to'

Choice of online mmorpg gaming platforms and appropriate mmorpg discussion threads.

I carefully selected three mmorpg online platforms where I want to publish my pro-Ryzom postings.
- I chose english websites because english speaking mmorpg platforms seem to have most readers worldwide. (And I chose English websites because apart from German it is only English language I speak well enough - at least I hope so *cough*).
- I chose mmorpg online platforms with a professional editorial staff and a good forum administration to minimize the risk of harassment, shit storms or any other negative communication.
- I concentrate on very few websites (3 sites, but with a lot of reader traffic), so a daily check can be done quickly.

I chose the following 3 mmorpg news and discussion platforms:
a) www.mmorpg.com
► the section 'General Discussion -> LFGame'. Here players ask for mmorpg recommendations. (LFGame = looking for game).
b) www.reddit.com/r/mmorpg
► On reddit I look for people who ask for mmorpg recommendations too.
►On reddit/r/mmorpg there is a 'Daily LF MMO Request Thread' where I can often recommend Ryzom. This is the forum on which I wrote most about Ryzom since I started this little project in February.
c) http://massivelyop.net/
This is the follower of www.massively.com which was shut down in february this year.
► On massivelyop.com (Massively overpowered) I look for discussion threads about Ryzom related themes.

Ryzom related themes for example are:
sandbox game, old mmorpgs, deep crafting system, foraging system, classless game mechanic, day-night cycle, season cycle, friendly community, roleplay, open source, linux client, mac client, games for low hardwares specifications, low graphic requirements

Second step: 'What-to'

What I really do on those mmorpg online platforms:

Well, I registered on all three platforms as 'Nuzan'.
All these mmorpg platforms have a player discussion forum section or an article comment function.

►On mmorpg.com forums I check all threads in the 'LF Game'-section (LFG = looking for game). On reddit.com/r/mmorpg there is a 'Daily LF MMO Request Thread'.
►On both forums I answer to player's threads and player postings who search for mmorpgs with specific requirements such as: 'Looking for full loot pvp mmorpg (no answer) ... looking for f2p game (no answer) ... looking for mmorpg with deep crafting system (YES, answer ☻) ... looking for mmo with friendly community (YES, answer ☻) .


Generally, I do a daily check (well, mostly daily) of all players posts who look for advice which mmorpg they could choose. If Ryzom fits into the player's mmorpg requirements, I post a short answer to those players, recommending Ryzom.

AND I NEVER forget to implement a link to www.ryzom.com! ☻

Short summary:
Okay, so far I hope I was able to explain what I do:
- I chose some mmorpg platforms with a lot of reader traffic
- I registrated myself with a short form of my Ryzom avatar name but any other name will also do.
- I answer to people who ask for advice about mmorpgs with appropriate specifications similar to Ryzom:
... sandbox, fantasy, crafting, foraging, classless skill system, linux client, friendly community, roleplay ...
- I publish a link to www.ryzom.com in every pro Ryzom post and every pro Ryzom comment, never forget about this ☻

Step three:'How-to'

About HOW I write pro-Ryzom posts in mmorpg forum discussions and in mmorpg article comments:

I think it is important to talk and write about Ryzom on public mmorpg sites as much as possible.
But I think it is equally important HOW to do so.
To increase Ryzom publicity among mmorpg players it is absolutely necessary to write about Ryzom in a friendly and positive context.
In practice, this means friendlyness, friendlyness, friendlyness. And friendlyness. And friendlyness.
Did I already mention friendlyness?

People remember negative communication and negative experience very much longer than positive experience.
Any negative experience and unfriendly communication will keep people away from Ryzom.
So any offensive language or arrogant and top-down language should be avoided!

In detail:
I only want to tell people that Ryzom is a great game, so I don't talk negatively about anyone or anything else.
'Hey, I am a nice person and look, there is a wonderful mmorpg named Ryzom, which is really worth playing! ☻☻☻'

Or more serious: I try to use phrases like: 'Ryzom could be worth a try ... Ryzom could be worth a second look ... Ryzom fits most of your requirements ... Ryzom runs on low spec systems too ... Ryzom has a deep crafting system ... Ryzom has a native linux client and a friendly and dedicated community ... Ever tried Ryzom? ... There is a lot of roleplay in Ryzom ...

I try to avoid top-down phrases like 'You must ... You have to ... You should ... I recommend ...' in those mmorpg forums.


About criticism:
Fortunately I don't read much negative criticism about Ryzom (of course not! ☻), but if someone critizes Ryzom, I never answer in an offensive way! Never!
Sometimes, if the critical post is quite off topic or irrelevant, there is no need to answer at all.
In my answers I try to correct misunderstandings, but I stay friendly, helpful and constructive.
But I never lie about Ryzom's weak topics, instead I try to give constructive information about it.

How to answer constructively to Ryzom criticism, examples:

- Yes, Ryzom is an old game - but it is still alive, has a very dedicated and friendly community and developers continuously work on it.
- Yes, Ryzom graphics are dated - but they are still beautiful and Ryzom runs on computer systems with low graphic specifications too.
- Yes, Ryzom is not free to play - but it has an unlimited trial till half max level and subscription is very cheap.
- Yes, Ryzom has only few quests and no instanced dungeons - but that's how Ryzom's game design was supposed to be, because Ryzom is a sandbox game. Instead there is an interesting world to explore, an active roleplay community and nice player made events.

Step four: What Ryzom players can do, suggestions

I am publishing on three main mmorpg platforms. I think it would be great if other Ryzom players would cover different online discussion platforms or would like to contribute with their own comments on the same platforms too.

Suggestions:
► Linux and Mac platforms - If you are Ryzom player and Linux and Mac user, then you could talk on Linux and Mac forums to people who look for computer games and mmorpgs with native Linux and Mac clients.
► Mmorpg forums in other languages: Ryzom is a french based game, there are spanish and russian game translations as well and Ryzom player community is very international. Maybe players with native language skills in french, spanish, russian or any other language want to make Ryzom known to their fellow countrymen and choose mmorpg online news platforms in their native language.
►Let's play videos: I would like to see players who can produce Ryzom Let's play videos and publish them on youtube or vimeo. (And don't forget to link those videos on Ryzom facebook groups, in Ryzom forum or in Ryzom discussion on mmorpg.com too ☻ )
☻ Or just publish your own Ryzom comments, players experience reports, stories or pictures on mmorpg.com, reddit.com or any other mmorpg related forums or gaming comment section you want. I believe, the more pro Ryzom postings on game related forums or in gaming comment sections, the better.


So this my How-to of Nuzanshi's little viral player marketing project for Ryzom.
I think doing this regularly over weeks and months my little viral marketing project will help to increase Ryzom's publicity. At least there will be no damage done and as an information junkie I love to roam mmorpg news sites ☻.

Don't hesitate to ask me any questions you want and I will be grateful for any corrections, critizism or further suggestions. What could be done better, how could I improve my project, any suggestions what others could do? I will be very happy about any feedback.

Oren fyraï, yours Nuzanshi ☼

Great job Nuzanshi. I'm impressed. I like it ! Your advice are excellent.

*take notes*

Thank you very much Laofa. I will be at Ryzom Forge meeting on Monday, March 16th, 20:30 utc for further questions and details.

Is there anyone who would like to help me with a french translation of my posts? :)

This is a great post. Since I've read this I've been trying to spread the word via Facebook and other means.

I've got a couple of projects planned to hopeful help boost some publicity which I'll be sharing once ready.

One idea, though, is we should ask the developers about getting this game on steam!
I believe this was brought up ages ago but never got anywhere. I play Ryzom through Steam so friends can see what I'm playing but having the game in the application store could be a big step.

Hi, did you find someone to translate ? (in FR)
If no volunter i can do tomorrow

Hello, I could add french and german translations of my little viral marketing project.
Still looking for volunteers who like to surf mmorpg forum sites ☻

Find below a list of websites about MMORPGs in english, french, spanish and german language. For any suggestions of mmorpg web sites that could interesting for ryzom public relation, please post it here or send a note to Tamarea or me.

Log - Ryzom Forge meeting - 2nd of march 2015

"you are doing that too much. try again in 5 minutes."

Reddit is telling me to slow down with the Ryzom spam :D

Must be working!

About video, i put all my Let's play vidéo on youtube and i share un Google+
https://youtu.be/QW4shDAUGy8

Bonjour

Effectivement la pub c'est important.

Si vous avez une présentation type a me fournir, je me propose de la poster sur un site d'entraide linux dont je suis un ancien admin (étant libre je ne pense pas que l'équipe qui gère le site actuellement pose souci)...le site en question à une très bonne fréquentation.

Ici, mp ou tell peut importe, tenez moi au courant si interessé ;)

@+

How about a good old sign posting on poles and yard signs with a simple ryzom.com Lit just that let curiosity get the best of people so that they see it go whats this and then visit the url when they get home or on their smart phone. Or like ryzom.com/promo campaign name here eg http://ryzom.com/game_on Id love to see ryzom crowded :p