[POLL] DOES RPG MAKER NET HAVE LOW ENGAGEMENT RATE?

In addition to the presentation and marketing issues already brought up, I think one of the main things going against you is your lack of activity.

Regarding the presentation - I agree with halibabica; your game just doesn't stand out here and there's actually several aspects of it that's harming it as a commercial product. The main image you've chosen is a really poor choice considering this is usually the first thing site members see and you've chosen a really bland and unappealing map - it's especially strange as you have a really neat piece of artwork at the top of your game's profile which would be perfect. Your screenshots in general need to be more enticing and appealing. One of the other main sticking points is the lack of any CSS customization which for a commercial game I'd considered a must; compare your profile to Ara Fell's or even the dozens of free games that make the effort and it becomes really obvious.

The other point being your activity; In the two years of being here you've only made a handful of posts, all of which centre on your own game. If you don't engage with the community and leave feedback and support for other devs then why do you expect for them to do so for you? The reason unity's games get traffic here is because she's active and helpful in providing feedback, testing and reviews. So learn from unity - if you want others to help you, start by helping others.

The "no demo yet wanting reviews" is another issue that sticks out to me as there seems to be no mentions of review copies in any of your review requests. Why should anybody take time to review your game as a favour to you when it seems like you expect it to come at their expense.

In short if you're game is commercial then you need to treat it as such; your presentation, marketing & community engagement all need to be on point and please for the love of god get some review copies available if you're so against providing a demo.

I had to watch the demo daze video because you cited it over and over (despite being at work with no sound.) and I think your game's problem is not really all that related to the the demo video.

The problem is more a kind of obscurity. Now apparently there are let's plays of it and I wouldn't doubt let's plays do just as much damage as demos when looking at it from the perspective of the video you posted.

The thing is that you've basically scrubbed your profile of all of your old games. Within the tiny rpgmaker community there would probably be more people interested in your commercial games if they realized what older games you have made. (I know your situation is a bit of a special case but even so, sharing through weblogs the progression of past games could work wonders when it comes to promotion)

There's only extreme edge cases where the work stands on its own.

I don't mean that you need to re-release the old games. It's more about sharing the development stories (and screenshots and whatnots) of the old games to build hype for new games. Even James Cameron directed Piranha 2 once and it's a lot of fun to see where one started.

from Tuomo_L
English is my third language. It's very hard to try and get past my tip of the tongue syndrome at times.

It is? You do a lot better with it than most. That's actually pretty impressive!

{hali's thoughts are in bold}

from the gamepage
BUY IT NOW FOR ONLY 3,99$!!! {Jesus Christ the price tag is the FIRST THING}

{BIG IMAGE} {good looking picture, but takes up tons of space}

{LINK TO STEAM STORE} {offsite link, disinclined to click}

{POPULARITY BANNER} {this thing flip-flops constantly and is always in the thousands. Impressive if you think about it, but not a good at-a-glance statistic}

Abstract: "Save your Mother" is the final version of a highly successful RPG Maker game; originally created within one month for the "Quest for Fun" contest. The original version won the first place and was downloaded by 39288 {memorized to the last digit, eh?} people before the download was removed at the end of the contest. This new version improves on every single aspect of the game, including a rework of many key components in preparation for the game's commercial debut, but still staying true to the charming spirit of the original game. {lots of words saying improvements were made with few specifics} Nearly three years of work and love has went to making the game as lovable as humanly possible!
Genre: Fantasy
Engine: RPG Maker VX Ace

Gameplay {can't even see this trailer without scrolling}

{LAUNCH TRAILER} {another block of space consumed. Trailer != gameplay in my brain}

{no description of how the game plays? Video only?}

Story

Alice Andersson, a world-renowned scholar, faces a dilemma of grand proportions when her mother falls gravely ill. No traditional cures have been able to save her; not even the most unconventional methods have worked! Join her as she discovers the legend about the Elohim Cube, {generic Maguffin} a mystical artifact that might be their only hope. Long lost to the sands of time, the Cube is said to possess incredible healing powers. {expounding on Maguffin} Over the ages, many have attempted to retrieve the cube, but to no avail. All were foiled by the long and arduous path that leads to the cube, and in turn, salvation. Will you be able to unravel the mysteries of the Elohim Cube?

Setting
The game takes place in the same Megaverse as all my other projects, as such there is a rich and robust world to build with the mythos of over 15 years of game making. The timeline for the game takes place about 500 years in the New World after the Old World was destroyed by the War of Gods, if anyone is interested or well versed in my mythos. {not familiar with your mythos, you have no other games here; this part tells me nothing}

Characters

There are quite several colorful characters in the game, here are just few important ones.

Alice {nice artwork, but it's taking up MORE SPACE}

Alice is the main character of the game, as well as the avatar the player controls throughout the game. She is a renowed scholar nicknamed "Silver Scholar" due to the coloring of her hair. She uses her knowledge and skills to find out about the legend of Elohim Cube as well as making use of it in solving the various tasks that wait inside.

Jenna {this picture shows twice???}

Jenna is the rival you meet early into the game. She wants to obtain the cube as well for her own sake, though she wishes to sell the cube and earn a fortune from it. Jenna is unlike Alice, very streetsmarts girl and doesn't shy away from using dirty tactics. She and Alice are against each other but for no personal reason but rather them both having a common goal.

Elisa.jpg {of the .jpg clan, of course}

Elisa is the mother of Alice who has grown ill. Alice knows that nothing can cure her mother but the Elohim Cube, she has already tried everything but no ailment has worked, not even out of ordinary cures. The game ends if she dies.

Features {how far did we just scroll to see the game's FEATURES?!}

Save Your Mother! is a turn-based RPG with puzzle elements. While this combination may seem all too familiar, the fast-paced combat scenes and intricate characters set this game apart. {uhuh}
Rapid combat with epic special moves! {uhuh}
Hand painted cutscene art and character with a variety of emotions, blinking and mouth movement complements the intense and emotional plot. {oh cool}
The inspiring but eerie soundtrack will evoke a variety of emotions from fear to happiness {oh will it?} and will set the stage for intense battles and emotional story scenes. {uhuh}
Unlock the special "hardcore" mode to add challenges and replay value! {uhuh}
Steam achievements and Trading Cards are included, so happy collecting! {uhh, that all sounds very generic. Really non-plussed}

Praise for "Save Your Mother"

JukanHirokutora {who?} says:
"Definitely one of the best RPG maker games I played!" {could this be more generic?}

Misami-Chan says:
"This game is outstanding!"

thatbennyguy says:
"I really enjoyed your game "Save Your Mother". It was a joy to play, and it really did deserve first place. Hope you're using the prize money wisely!"

Artoken says:
"I just played it and like it! I didn't feel the time running by xD, nice work!" {IGN 10/10}

First problem, it's way too long. The artwork and videos extend the page by several screens. You have to scroll really far just to get anywhere. You may not have any comments simply because the bottom of the page is so far down!

Game pages have compartments for this reason. Artwork can go in the screenshots. Character art and descriptions can be made into a custom page. Gameplay vids can go on media pages, which you can link to from the description. The Features should be at the TOP as these are the things that distinguish your game. The price should be at the BOTTOM after the player already has some incentive to check it out. Also, the description of the features doesn't do them much justice. They all sound so standard issue; these are things I would expect from any RPG that takes itself seriously. Evaluate what makes your game stand out and cater the descriptions to that. Custom artwork? Common. Voice acting? That's more like it! Nowhere on here did you mention this game has voice acting!

Your description of the setting is basically: "well, it's just like all the rest of my world that I spent 15 years building." That doesn't tell us anything! You need real details to sell that concept. What's the time period like? Is there much technology? Do people rely on magic for everything? What's the political climate? If your world is as robust as you say, you can at least spare some real details. And that praise section? It's nice that some internet randos enjoyed your game, but unless it's a big name that's widely recognized, these quotes carry no weight. This part's so bland, you'd be better off without it.

I hope this doesn't come across as too mean, but this game description is practically working against itself. It should be concise, informative, and easy to read. It is currently none of those things.