we have an eclipse phase thread around here already. repost this there and then report this thread as a accidental duplicate.

>>317116
Well, I don't want to shit that thread with real life marketing stuff. If I knew other creative commons RPGs that apparently do make money, I would mention them in OP too.

My question isn't abotu setting or game mechanics but about marketing strategy of Postuhuman Studios and possibly othar companies that release teihr products under creative commons licence.

It is quite simple.

Put out a decent product, and people will give you money.

Even though they can get it for free.
Even though it costs money to make it decent.
Even though everything you ever learned in marketing says this should fail.

It turns out that people like to reward other people who make or do cool things. I have pdf's of all the Eclipse Phase books. Yet I still bought the hardcover rulebook anyways.

Despite what our politicians and corporate overlords say, piracy, IP infringement and sharing do not actually result in fewer sales.

The most pirated videogames are the best selling videogames.

You've been lied to by the media your whole life.

>>317120
>various claimed facts
[citation needed]
>people are good and will pay for good things
Haha no
http://2dboy.com/2008/11/13/90/
http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/05/Saving-a-penny----pirating-the-Humble-Indie-Bundle
The difference in medium might adjust the numbers but the studio is probably propped up by a relatively small proportion of the people actually playing it who didn't just /rs/ PDFs and rationalise that they're 'too poor' or something.

>>317121
Pirates would not have bought anyway.

>>317122
That is more-or-less what the 2Dboy link says. I am not making a pro-DRM argument here.

However, "preventing piracy does not significantly increase sales" is not the same as "people like to reward other people who make or do cool things".

>>317123
Depends on how charismatic you are. If you can get yourself a dedicated fandom, you can make a profit.

Getting a fandom, let alone a dedicated one, however, is nigh-impossible.

>>317125
...well, without turning to specific fetish work, that is.

>>317125
Well, yeah. Last I heard 2DBoy, Wolfire, and Posthuman Studios are all above-water.

But on available evidence it's from a core of fans who really care enough to pay more than because people are not actually thieving scum by nature.

>>317126
...so this is a discussion about how Ironclaw gets funded now? That was, I say that was a joke, son.

>>317125
>Getting a fandom, let alone a dedicated one, however, is nigh-impossible.

I have to disagree. Even garbage like Ménage á 3 or Drowtales managed to get dedicated fandom. Put anything out there in some major language and chances are someebody will love it.

>>317130
I count those under fetish work, though,

>>317130
Also, you've got the consider the sheer size of the internet. For every webcomic that gets enough fans to make a profit there's 100+ languishing unknown on keenspace/drunkduck/smackjeeves/whatever

>>317136
These unknown ones generaly fail at marketing and on top of that they are too generic and either don't pander to specific group's taste or pander to taste of group that already has saturated market.

According to my observation i order to bee successsful you need to:

-be good at whoring your stuff (eventualy you'll be able to rely on word of mouth, but you have to become known in the first place)
-be different but not too different (being different make your stuff recognizable; being too different would alienate people)
-be specific (targeting single group makes marketing easy and knowing your customer makes it easy to satisfy their needs)
-be good looking or at least don't look like crap (humans are sort of "visual" creatures, you know...)

Thinking about it this applies to to pretty much everything.

>-be good looking or at least don't look like crap
This doesn't really matter on the internet.

>-be good at whoring your stuff
Depends on what it is. If you've got something great, a thread or two on the relevant board on 4chan will get a huge audience.

What you really need is dedication. You have to really fucking want to do the shit you're doing, and you have to do it consistently and for a long period of time. That's the biggest thing for webcomics, and it's huge for every thing else too.

>>317141
>If you've got something great, a thread or two on the relevant board on 4chan will get a huge audience.

I strongly doubt it. You'll get called on "viral" and ignored even if you are actually good at what you do.

>>317149
Well that's just a matter of knowing your audience. You don't go into /tg/ and say "Hey this is my game check it out!" You go in and say "Hey I heard about this new game, has anyone else played it/heard about it? It might be neat!"

>>317150
>You go in and say "Hey I heard about this new game, has anyone else played it/heard about it? It might be neat!"

Even this will bee recognized as viral.

>>317150
>>317152
No, you're better off going "hey look at this awesome thing I made!" If you own up to being the creator, folks won't call viral on it. In places that aren't /v/, folks don't really call anything viral, though.

>>317152
Probably because that's what it is. Or maybe astroturfing. I'm not quite up on terms used for shitty social marketing practices.