EFFECTIVE WAYS TO PROMOTE AN RPG MAKER GAME?

Besides what's been mentioned and what you're already doing, you could always give feedback/play other people's games around here and ask for them to check out your game in return. That's always a nice trade off I've seen.
Kinda keeps the circle moving ;D

Review Request Here's a good place to start!

Here's another: Comprehensive List
Under "Give Feedback" would be a good place to start with people that can be trusted. Could always shoot a few PMs with an offer of feedback for feedback.

I think those are a good way in, rather than going through the Games list. But don't let that stop you from looking anyways! :)

edit: Might not hurt to post here too: Help Me! If you want to straight up ask in a topic :D

^Definitely what Sooz said, and she made what I was suggesting better because it doesn't hurt to strut around here with some clout ;)

Welcome!
Yeah people already said a lot : ) the more you interact, the better people will know and rely on you in return.

Also, as someone who feedbacks a lot, if in doubt check the newest game additions (under games -> new games, listed by added date). New games mean the devs are likely around and there to respond and take things in.
That said, doing so alone (without writing proper reviews for everyone to show off) will not garner you AS much attention as the regulars won't necessarily notice. So the forum sections for that definitely are the icing on the cake.

And yeah, I do agree it is really hard to promote rpgmaker style stuff, but since it's story-driven a good description as well as selecting the best screenshots will go a long long long way.
So far a couple of the screenshots show violent scenes n stuff, but I can't really get a feel for it. Other than "some bad stuff is happening to kids". (a lot of the scenes are in the trailer too, it's all okay so far, just nothing outstanding in either directions)
I know for visual novels a nicely-captured moment in game can make or break the impression.
Offering a demo can also be really helpful to allow people to get an impression. It seems yours has one, tho I haven't played it yet so *shrug*

I have seen trailers too. And good trailers really hammer down the feel of a game (for me), so I LOVE seeing them.
Yours I feel could be polished up as it is very slow-going right now and while the scenes show some hint of direction (you can reverse some events and try again? tho no idea how much, when where, what ..) It .. gives little else. Where does that power come from? What's the turning point where you start jumping in? It shows the main idea, and little else. The music is a little dull too.
I see:

-> reverse time something something somehow
-> "some" bad stuff happening, trying to change it

I don't even know who I am playing :/ or what. Does it change? Is it episodic? I have no idea.


I remember Erayu's trailer just nailing it, as a good example.
It's kind of a standard thing with "epic classical music" but I like it, haha.
you see

-> game in game thing
-> item puzzles
-> world vanishing
-> saving it? -> possibly multiple endings
-> high fantasy feel (green meadows n hills n ice + music), trying a little hard to be EPIC

And the Soma Spirits one that came up was pretty good too.

-> perfect depiction of changing worlds/main exploration gimmick
-> turn-based battles
-> 2 man party, metaphorical yay!
-> cutesy stuff
-> customization

(I still feel you could've cut out a good 10-20 seconds tho and kept the battle n
descriptions part brief. Still, all within measure)

Even then, of course. people still need to find your game among the masses.

That said, it seems you are already doing all kinds of good things to promote it and that it got a lot of positive feedback is a lovely thing as well. : ) It will likely still be a for a niche audience, that's okay in my book.
Wishing you the best with it! Me loves some good story focused games.

what we need is some investigative journalism with interviews from BadLuck, Erave, Reives, harmonic and others who have gone on to make commercial games with roots in the RM community, and then to pull together an article discussing the ins and outs and pitfalls and successes.

it'd be super cool to put together some sort of advisory consulting board of people to help out others in this endeavour.

Echoing what has already been said in this thread, it's not the engine that you're promoting, but the game that you make in it. it's perfectly okay to promote it as an "RPG Maker game" in a community like ours because we all understand the engine, but once you make the jump to Steam it's the product that you need to emphasize.

Once I made the jump to Greenlight, I only mentioned RPG Maker if people specifically asked. It's pretty obvious that it's the engine I'm using in Soma Spirits. Even with all custom assets, anyone who's played two or three RM games can tell I'm using the default battle system and other aspects. As a result, I'm not shy about admitting the game was made in RM, because it's better to be honest than let the "lol rpg maker" stigma bring me down.

That stigma is something that is not going away, as much as we want it to. But it's important to be aware that those folks are a vocal minority. And as long as you never concede to it, you can do anything you put your mind to.