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WOULD IT BE WISE TO CREATE A TUMBLR PAGE/ACCOUNT?
Posts
Luiishu535
View playlists
CloseI've been developing games for a few years now and I've been thinking about expanding on my medias in order to gain some following outside of the usual RM community. I've seen a lot of people turning to Tumblr for some time now and I've been thinking about jumping on that bandwagon as well. Do you think it would be a wise idea to do this? Have you done this yourself before, and if so, how did it go?
I already have a YT channel with 400+ subs that I should probably use as well. I have a blog, which I mainly use as my site, but I've come to notice that most people prefer other social medias today instead of the ol' blogs.
Making a game takes a lot of hard work and dedication. I sometimes think it's a shame that the games/creations that we put thousands upon thousands of hours into don't reach out to more people. I'm not unhappy with my current situation, in fact, I'm more like the opposite of that. I still want to get my name out there more, mainly since making games and music, among other things, is something that I really want to do.
Also, I don't care if you see this as "selling out", since it basically is, in a way, at least. I'm not going to argue against that.
I deeply apologize if this is a dumb question. Master can feel free to remove this if he desires.
I already have a YT channel with 400+ subs that I should probably use as well. I have a blog, which I mainly use as my site, but I've come to notice that most people prefer other social medias today instead of the ol' blogs.
Making a game takes a lot of hard work and dedication. I sometimes think it's a shame that the games/creations that we put thousands upon thousands of hours into don't reach out to more people. I'm not unhappy with my current situation, in fact, I'm more like the opposite of that. I still want to get my name out there more, mainly since making games and music, among other things, is something that I really want to do.
Also, I don't care if you see this as "selling out", since it basically is, in a way, at least. I'm not going to argue against that.
I deeply apologize if this is a dumb question. Master can feel free to remove this if he desires.
LightningLord2
230
Tumblr is a blogging website, so if you have the need of communication and presenting things personal to you, whether it's game development or something in meatspace, go for it.
Go for Tumblr if you have strong visual imagery for your work and like reblogging countless useless posts ( or even Instagram, which is starting to overtake Twitter as the new 'go-to' social media platform ). Otherwise, I'd personally settle for something like Wordpress to host all my blogs, images and relevant info.
I'll probably use my Tumblr for just that: visual stuff etc. I'll keep posting the other, more detailed posts on my wordpress. Isn't Twitter and Instagram pretty different though? Twitter is (most of the time) text-based, while Instagram random pics and selfies. I don't use any of these two however, so I might not be fully correct.
It doesn't hurt to try. Heck, I thought that my games would bomb on there for not falling into the general criteria of what types of RM games usually gain buzz on tumblr (horror games get the most attention by far). But I'm almost 200 followers strong and I've gotten quite a few more people to try my games that I wouldn't have had otherwise. Every little bit helps.
Jeroen_Sol
Nothing reveals Humanity so well as the games it plays. A game of betrayal, where the most suspicious person is brutally murdered? How savage.
3885
I don't personally use tumblr, but why do you think this is a dumb question, or that using tumblr is selling out? Go right ahead! Do whatever you want! You don't need to ask our permission or defend your choice to us.
Marketing is absolutely key to getting people to experience your product/art/works/etc, and it's something a ton of game designers, indie and professional don't get. There's a big difference between whoring out and simply letting people know you exist and are cool, and utilizing Tumblr to showcase your game is absolutely the latter.
Don't be afraid to intelligently market your project.
Don't be afraid to intelligently market your project.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
Tumblr has a lot of problems in terms of both platform and community, but it works nicely for basic marketing. The most important thing is to remember that it only pays attention to the first 5 tags.
Yeah, it's probably best to keep it simple bro if you do.
Also maybe pick your screenshot wisely and have good/professional presentstion
Also maybe pick your screenshot wisely and have good/professional presentstion
author=Sooz
Tumblr has a lot of problems in terms of both platform and community, but it works nicely for basic marketing. The most important thing is to remember that it only pays attention to the first 5 tags.
I definitely agree with this. Tumblr isn't a perfect tool, and it shouldn't be used as a crutch, but it's a good addendum.
"Selling out" is a silly idea, anyway. If you're trying to make money from your game, that's a totally okay thing! If you just want to show off something you worked on and you're proud of, that's totally cool, too!
Still tho, IDK how I'd even tag something on tumblr. RPG? Indie game? Superhard game? I guess there's some research to do. I think starting a dev blog might be a good idea, too... maybe it's just cuz I'm a dev, but I love reading about the experiences of other people as they make games :)
Still tho, IDK how I'd even tag something on tumblr. RPG? Indie game? Superhard game? I guess there's some research to do. I think starting a dev blog might be a good idea, too... maybe it's just cuz I'm a dev, but I love reading about the experiences of other people as they make games :)
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
Well, you've got up to five tags (plus I think now it searches keywords within the post maybe? tumblr is kind of inscrutable and the devs never bother to explain things) so you could tag multiple stuff!
Generally, tho, it's good to tag with the kind of thing you'd be searching if you wanted to find a game like the one you're advertising.
A dev blog would be a pretty good idea on any social media platform, just because you'll get more eyeballs if you put out more content.
Generally, tho, it's good to tag with the kind of thing you'd be searching if you wanted to find a game like the one you're advertising.
A dev blog would be a pretty good idea on any social media platform, just because you'll get more eyeballs if you put out more content.
People can't play your game if they don't know it exists. The "selling out" on social media is how you let people know your game exists. Get a twitter, tumblr, use your youtube, whatever. it's all cool.
I don't get involved with the rpg maker community on tumblr, so I don't think my observations would be helpful to you.
I really second sooz's point that a dev blog on any social media platform is a pretty good idea! Just don't mix it with your personal one, if you end up actually using tumblr vs. just using tumblr to promote your stuff. Somehow, many people I recognize from various rm communities follow my personal blog where i go to reblog shit and have public breakdowns rather than the blog where I would post Game Content.
also check out this post about the best times to post on tumblr
I don't get involved with the rpg maker community on tumblr, so I don't think my observations would be helpful to you.
I really second sooz's point that a dev blog on any social media platform is a pretty good idea! Just don't mix it with your personal one, if you end up actually using tumblr vs. just using tumblr to promote your stuff. Somehow, many people I recognize from various rm communities follow my personal blog where i go to reblog shit and have public breakdowns rather than the blog where I would post Game Content.
also check out this post about the best times to post on tumblr
SnowOwl
5188
As someone who has had a tumblr for a couple of years, I say it's a waste of time to use tumblr for anything related to game making. Unless you spend at least an hour a day on networking, which in my opinion, is a waste of time when you could polish the game instead. Use some bigger platform instead, like twitter, which also has the added bonus of having a lesser percentage of really freaky people.
I guess you can always get a tumblr too, and just copy-paste what you post on the other platform. But by that logic, you can get dozens of social media platforms ro post on. I think it's best to focus on one, and tumblr isn't the biggest and best, so get something else.
I guess you can always get a tumblr too, and just copy-paste what you post on the other platform. But by that logic, you can get dozens of social media platforms ro post on. I think it's best to focus on one, and tumblr isn't the biggest and best, so get something else.
Thanks for the helpful answers everyone! I think I'll give Tumblr a shot, together with other sites like Twitter etc. I guess the only way to find out what works best is to experiment, so that's probably what I am going to do.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=SnowOwl
As someone who has had a tumblr for a couple of years, I say it's a waste of time to use tumblr for anything related to game making. Unless you spend at least an hour a day on networking, which in my opinion, is a waste of time when you could polish the game instead. Use some bigger platform instead, like twitter, which also has the added bonus of having a lesser percentage of really freaky people.
I guess you can always get a tumblr too, and just copy-paste what you post on the other platform. But by that logic, you can get dozens of social media platforms ro post on. I think it's best to focus on one, and tumblr isn't the biggest and best, so get something else.
This is all super wrong.
It's good to know the dev blog is a good idea, haha :) It's fun and a good self-motivator for me, too. Splitting your personal/unprofessional blogging from your marketing/devblogging seems like a good idea as well.
It is kind of a bummer - networking and marketing require a decent investment of time, but are becoming ever more necessary for indie developers who want their games seen. It can feel really bad to spend free time just trying to hock your game to people when you could be working on your game. But, on the flip side, people are busy! You can't hope someone will just happen upon your game and see it for the masterpiece it is, you gotta hustle it a little bit.
Somehow when I made Résumé, it ended up on a free indie game blog, and from there it ended up getting Let's Played and reviewed in other places. I have no idea how it happened (looking back, I should've asked). I tweeted about it a couple times (to my 100 followers) and sent one e-mail out to a writer I knew liked those kinds of games, but he wasn't the one that featured it... I have no idea. Also notably, most of the reviewers or Let's Players actually told me they were writing about it, I found out secondhand. I'm not complaining, but it was a huge surprise!
EDIT: I definitely don't see the point in picking just one social media platform, except for sheer lack of time. And the Twitter userbase can definitely be just as bad as Tumblr's.
It is kind of a bummer - networking and marketing require a decent investment of time, but are becoming ever more necessary for indie developers who want their games seen. It can feel really bad to spend free time just trying to hock your game to people when you could be working on your game. But, on the flip side, people are busy! You can't hope someone will just happen upon your game and see it for the masterpiece it is, you gotta hustle it a little bit.
Somehow when I made Résumé, it ended up on a free indie game blog, and from there it ended up getting Let's Played and reviewed in other places. I have no idea how it happened (looking back, I should've asked). I tweeted about it a couple times (to my 100 followers) and sent one e-mail out to a writer I knew liked those kinds of games, but he wasn't the one that featured it... I have no idea. Also notably, most of the reviewers or Let's Players actually told me they were writing about it, I found out secondhand. I'm not complaining, but it was a huge surprise!
EDIT: I definitely don't see the point in picking just one social media platform, except for sheer lack of time. And the Twitter userbase can definitely be just as bad as Tumblr's.
