Scourge of War Boards

Yeah, the guys on the east coast cover those battles reenactments quite frequently. Still, as goody goody that all this talk sounds, solicitors of any kind are not welcome soliciting their wares among the battlefield audience. A couple of years ago at our team meeting/get-together in Gettysburg, I was stopped by a GB guide from handing out SOW game promo cards along the battle routes.

Back to this thread's title...

I too would luv to see SOW for Mac, there's a big audience there just waiting...not just time, but Norb's time will tell.

Thats a mistake. You cant solicit within The National Park. You can however in town (where the majority of people go to wine and dine - perfect time to look over a flyer at the dinner table) and The Reenactment site. You can get a kiosk and hold tournaments to attract event goers. Not only will you develop word of mouth for your game but sell a bunch of copies as well.

"Also why don't I ever see your company at any Gettysburg reenactment events? This is a great opportunity to interact with your fans and receive feedback for future titles and improvements."

Hi JeanAllTrekkie

A nice thought but, as a newcomer I guess, you don't really appreciate the way that Norb Software Development works. It is basically a very small niche company which puts a very large part of its effort and finance into value-for-money game development and even then a lot of effort in testing for instance is contributed in by what amounts to a dedicated army of volunteers. The word "shoestring" fits in here somewhere I think.

Just imagine how many extra games would need to be sold to pay for the travel expenses, the accommodation and the feeding of just one person for one day. Never at all viable. Rather I think this is a task for individual forum members to do their best when there is a re-enactment in their neck-of-the-woods. Also this is a listening forum and ideas can usually get very good mileage, if not immediately from the Parent Company then from the number of people regularly publishing sophisticated modifications to the basic game.

Easy for me to talk, I suppose though, when I live 10,000 miles away from any possible re-enactment. Still plenty of present-day wars going on here in Africa as it is.

Geoff Laver Late of Her Britannic Majesty's 57th Regiment of Foot

By the way, I hope you all got a good laugh from the supposed sight of her same Britannic Majesty parachuting into the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday.

Ingles of The 57th.

Trust me marketing makes or breaks a company. Those who dont market, even if they have a amazing title, wont receive any success. Now I know you guys have a great niche community, but imagine one that is double the current size or even 4x the current size. Imagine the resources you will have at your disposal. The expense is greatly worth the outcome. Trust me I work for the largest tech company in the world. You need to reach out to your audience. Its not a question of If... its a must.

Now to reduce the expense you cut corners. Items such as hiring a local team based close to Gettysburg that is willing to help. ( I for example am available if you need... and I have years of Customer Service experience... the best in the industry - You guys probably already know who I work for by now lol). Other items such as asking for non paid volunteers to man the kiosk for a few hours in return for some swag or discounts on future titles. Theres always things you can do to shave $$$$ off a marketing campaign. And even with paid volunteers you can reduce their pay allotment by making them honorary members of the development team. Instead of a pay check offer them a voice in designing future titles. Im sure many of the forum members will jump at the chance to add their 2 cents to the design of the next Norb Soft Game.

Trust me without such marketing your company and products wont receive the attention it deserves. One good example is myself. I only found out about your company and Take Command 2 from the marketing that was done. The marketing Activision Value provided for your title was indispensable.