Skyward Collapse Alpha 0.806

[x4000]

If you are tired of not getting coverage, you take a risk.

I'm not... tired of not getting coverage.  And certainly not that kind!  We get oodles and oodles of coverage from huge sites on a practically monthly basis.  Even my pal Cliff Harris can't match it or close.

The problem is the timing and the kind of coverage.  We're having trouble getting proper sit-down playthroughs or reviews in key outlets, and that is something that really stymies us.  Cliff Harris really beats us on that, at least excepting AI War. 

TLDR: We're extremely excellent at getting one kind of coverage, which has certain benefits, but pretty iffy (these days) at getting a crucial other kind of coverage, that has many more benefits.  And that kind of coverage that we really need is basically not news-related.  Not "we're having a sale, or we're releasing a game, or here's an interview, or here's a tidbit about an upcoming game."  We get all those things, routinely.  What we need are actual sit-down plays and reviews.  We need Total Biscuit doing a WTF like he did for Valley 1 but none of our others, and RPS doing one of their LPs like they did (the first segment of) for AI War, and the early beta of Valley 1 (negatively), but none others.

So yeah, we're in huge need of word of mouth always, but that's because that's a stand-in for reviews (and in some ways more positive), not because we don't get talked about at all.  Just getting the spotlight on yourself for using a controversial word would not be in keeping with how I do things or really what we'd even need anyhow.

Though I know what you're saying, I just figured I would explain why the disconnect.  I know some other indies put on a public persona and say outrageous things that they may or may not believe, but that's just not my style.  What I say, I actually mean, and I don't have a public persona separate from my personal one.  I think that's better in the long run, and I intend to still be here 30 years from now if I can (my god, my post count on these forums will be 170,000 when I turn 60 at the current rate, heh).

[Cinth]

(my god, my post count on these forums will be 170,000 when I turn 60 at the current rate, heh).

Post spammer    (laugh)

[chemical_art]

I'm realizing too late my 9 day work week delirious is catching up to me.


Sorry 

[Cyborg]

;(

My score would have been so high...

[Pepisolo]

You certainly do seem to struggle in term of Let's Plays -- Shattered Haven specifically was a disaster in this regard as I could hardly find any. I think that this was partly due to the very small sprite size and often wasted border, though. It just doesn't make a very good looking video if 25% (or more) of the screen is wasted border and the sprite is tiny.

AVWW2 wasn't as bad, although very few really popular Let's Players played it. Really not sure how you solve this problem, though!

Skyward Collapse, though, I think is a lot easier to understand, much more accessible, and has a great hook in the goal being maintaining balance. It also looks nice on screen with the ability to zoom in.... so fingers crossed, anyway.

[madcow]

I'm really surprised you never got a TB video on either AVWW2 or SH.

[Cyborg]

How about a different reviewer that doesn't get 1000 requests per day? Someone like Capt. duck.

Solid, comical, and a good following.

[Pepisolo]

I'm really surprised you never got a TB video on either AVWW2 or SH.

That was just bad timing, I think. TB was at PAX (not sure of these game shows) at the time, so AVWW2 probably got stuck at the bottom of the WTF pile by the time he came back. Then it just got too old to review. I think he prefers games just newly released. Not sure why he didn't do SH, although I really think the tiny screen thing doesn't help.

How about a different reviewer that doesn't get 1000 requests per day? Someone like Capt. duck.

Solid, comical, and a good following.

Actually, it wouldn't be a bad idea for use forumers to help Arcen compile a list of Let's Players that might be interested in playing the game. Yes, I know they already send out free copies and stuff, but we might be able to help them target who they send stuff to a little more effectively.

[x4000]

Yeah, we're always up for more LPs.  I know TB a bit more personally than most indies, although not too well.  He had promised on twitter to us to get to AI War and Valley 2 WTFs right after he got back from PAX East.  Then some stuff hit the fan for him, and I didn't push the issue because he had some of his own troubles to sort out.  He's a huge fan of AI War, though, and so when he heard Arcen was in trouble in 2010, he reached out to me personally, and we met on skype and so on.  I had never heard of him before then, but I was incredibly touched by his whole thing.  The quote was basically: "I heard you guys are struggling.  I am not okay with that.  Not. At. All."  That was pretty awesome.