Off Topic > Other Games

So I did a thing ... need advice ...

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Bixby:
Congrats on following a dream. It sounds like a very exciting time for you. So, first of all, I would like to say "Good Luck" with the project(s), and may they remain fun and rewarding through the entire journey.

Regarding communities, I have a few opinions and a bit of experience. Communities are a tricky thing and they come and go as interests wax and wane. I tend to be a fan of larger / broader communities smaller ones. There are a few reasons for this.

(1) Board games are a niche hobby. Even as mainstream as they feel these days, it is a generally small portion of the population that is involved in the hobby.
(2) As communities form around the hobby of board games, you start to see sub groups form. Niches within a niche. At some point sub-communities get so small that they may have a razor sharp focus on a particular topic, but they lack a lot of members / conversation.
(3) Establishing critical mass in a community is key and becomes harder the more specialized the "niche within a niche" is.

For these reasons, I tend to advocate for larger / broader communities to make sure there is always ample exposure / participation. I wrote about this a bit in an article I wrote for SaskGames back when I was involved in that community. It can be found here: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/53788/community-musing-part-iv

I think the best / strongest / longest-lived communities tend to be those with a broad members base. These tend to be more generalized from a hobby perspective, a site devoted to a particular game / sub-genre of games, or a group that shares a geographic region.
www.BoardGameGeek.com - Generalized site
https://opinionatedgamers.com/ - Generalized site
www.carcassonnecentral.com - Devoted to a specific game.
www.wingsofwar.org - Devoted to a specific game.
https://www.torontoboardgamers.ca/ - Devoted to a geographic region.
https://www.meetup.com/seattle-board-games/ - Devoted to a geographic region.

I think for a game company, it is even more challenging. I believe you need to tap into existing communities and build a base of interest to create inertia to move forward. Probably lots of outreach on existing sites, social media, etc.

I have used Discord and belong to a number of communities. Those communities tend to be more "underground" and do not readily show up on goggle searches for people looking for games and related items. For that reason, I generally avoid using Discord, Slack, and tools like that to "build" a community. I think you need a more open / searchable / web format for that.

Anyways, that was a lot of rambling on my part. Very best to you in your efforts, I will certainly follow along and hope things take off.
Very best,
a voice from your past.
Matt "Bixby"

danisthirty:
Hey gantry. That sounds like an exciting direction to be heading in. Wishing you every success with it!


--- Quote from: gantry on January 05, 2023, 09:30:58 PM ---I'd like your opinions on whether I should build my own official community around my games.

Pros:


* It is a place where I can offer official answers to player questions
* It provides players with a place to share ideas and build excitement for the games
* I will be able to offer gamification to encourage players to return to the community, and perhaps get bonus material for the games
Cons:


* It takes a lot of work to run and maintain, whereas putting stuff out on social media is easier
* It will add to the cost of running the business
* If the games do not become popular enough, the community will likely migrate to BGG or somewhere else and my time and effort will be wasted
If you believe that I should build my own community, what should that look like? A structured forum like Carc Central, or a less structured free-for-all place for discussions like a Facebook group or something like Hivebrite/Circle.so (assuming you know what those are)? I should add that I am very much mobile-first, anything that I build will work on your mobile phone or tablet as well as on any computer.

Feel free to provide any other comments or suggestions!

--- End quote ---

I think a lot of what you've suggested makes good sense and could be beneficial, but the timing is also important. For example, none of the pros on your list are really relevant until you've already published something that has attracted a fanbase, otherwise who is asking the questions you want to answer/ sharing ideas/ seeking out the cool promos? Touching on what Bixby already said, boardgaming is still very much a niche thing and whilst there's a lot I don't like about BGG (the interface and the snobby/ elitist attitude of almost everyone I've had any interaction with there) I still feel that it serves as a good starting point to build a fanbase before moving onto something more customised.

With regards how you implement it when the time is right, I do think that Facebook groups and Discord offer a lot in the way of keep people engaged and showing "life" within your community. But they're not very searchable and if you intend to share something in the way of a FAQ, or downloads, or ongoing debates covering a multitude of different topics I feel that a platform such as CarcC is quite effective, despite seeming a little dated now.

So in summary, I'd suggest starting on BGG to let people know about your games, then moving to social media/ Discord (or both?) as soon as you feel you've built enough a sustainable fanbase and actively seeking to grow it, then finally moving to somewhere like this if things have gone well and you're prepared to to spend the money/ do the work.

Hope this helps! :(y)

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