FreeOrion

Hey everyone, i just downloaded the game and have been playing for a day or two, and i love the game. Whenever i find a game i love, i try to get as immersed in the game as possible, learning about it, seeing people play, reading about development, reading what others think of the game, and so on.

I quickly realized, however, that the only things on the internet about this game are one YouTube video (1?? srsly??) and this forum. Don't the developers have a twitter? or a Facebook page at least? these are very quick to make, and help keep the developers in touch with the community. Now before people start getting mad at me, yes, I have read through the forum here, and I do see that developers do come on here and are very helpful, but i was just thinking that there could be more. That could also lead to more people playing the game, which i was also wondering, before i make these assumptions, are the developers trying to get new people? is this supposed to be on the down low for a while? or is this just not a major concern of the developers now?

Also, YouTube. Doesn't anyone want to make any videos about FreeOrion? I am planning to, unless that is a problem with the developers (thought i'd ask), maybe a lets play with some of the slow parts cut out, goin through what i've discovered on how to play the game. Clearly there is an interest expressed for the game, as there are 44,300 or so views in one year for that one video(compared to my crappy YouTube channel, which averages 1000 views a video for videos that have been out as long as FreeOrion's). Think about Minecraft, which grew enormously through YouTube, and because of people posting and watching videos. I know FreeOrion may not be as interesting or Hilarious to watch as Minecraft videos, but some FO videos could generate a lot of interest.

These are just some things i've noticed through my web searching. I don't mean to insult the time that the Developers are putting into making this game, just suggesting some ways that it could become more noticed.

-arkPenguin

Briefly:

You make some good points. I believe all the developers would say that we aren't especially trying to keep this project a secret. Neither are we trying to advertise it to the world. It may be fun for hardcore TBS 4X gamers, or interesting for those that like to follow or assist development, but i think it still has too many rough edges and gaps for a general gaming audience to enjoy.

But of course there's the lack of time issue FreeOrion promotions and documentation are lacking, because there's too much to do actually building the game.

Please feel free to make some youtube videos. I don't know who specifically owns that channel.

Twitter account started. Not much there yet. That kind of thing is useful for announcing releases at least.

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I've tweeted about recent releases. Not the same as a FreeOrion-branded account, though.

It;s great to see the Twitter channel up, ill have to follow it and watch for tweets. I might make my own YouTube channel for these videos, and maybe make some videos. maybe a fan made trailer. whatever i get to this weekend.

also, that was pretty much the answer i expected, as I'm sure you're all busy, and aren't purely focusing on advertising now. maybe in the future there will be more out there, such as a Facebook page, more youtube videos, and some general interest from those who love 4x or civ/empire games. Keep up the great work!

also, i have a habit of creating a whole new internet identity for some things, and i was long past due,
email is now freeOrionDude@gmail.com
twitter is @freeOrionDude
kotaku is freeOrionDude

Out of curiosity, what additional benefit do you think there would be in adding a Facebook page-- especially one that is likely to receive infrequent updates?

IMHO Our current forums and wiki are better for discussion, and documentation, and twitter is better for short notifications. The facebook-only public seems to me to be rather unlikely to be interesting in a half-finished 4X game.

_________________
—• Read this First before posting Game Design Ideas!
—• Design Philosophy
—•— My Ideas, Organized —•— Get an Avatar —•— Acronyms —•—

Well i'm sure it won't receive to many updates which is unfortunate, but there are many people on Facebook, and yes even some of them like 4x games in progress. It is just a very quick way to find other people who are interested. It doesn't even need too many updates, just a description and a link really...
also, most pages like that don't get updated often, if at all. The page serves more the purpose of a place for people to say redundant things like, "Looks like an interesting game, maybe I'll cheek it out" or "OMG! love this game <3" and so on

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~arkPenguin~