Exposure on baseball forums

[BradC]

Do many folks around here also spend time on various baseball forums, whether general ones or ones focused on certain teams?

I've wondered about posting on baseball forums to raise awareness of the game, since that would seem like a receptive audience, but I see two issues:

1. There are tons and tons of such sites. Given that this is one of a few part-time jobs for me, I don't have the time to post and monitor threads on dozens of forums. I could post on a few high-profile ones, though.

2. However, even if I do post on a few of them, I could very easily be accused of spamming. I'm also doing PR and marketing for Title Bout, which PISD bought from OOTP last month, and I've posted on boxing forums where I've met with some resistance from people who've accused me of spamming.

It would probably be better for our customers to talk about the game on such places - then it would seem more natural and the posts would be less likely to be flagged as spam.

Any thoughts on this? As I said, I don't mind posting on a few high-profile forums, so maybe if a few folks from around here come in after me and lend support, it won't come across as so spammy.

Thanks.

[VanillaGorilla]

Originally Posted by BradC

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It would probably be better for our customers to talk about the game on such places - then it would seem more natural and the posts would be less likely to be flagged as spam.

Instructing customers to post on other sites regarding OOTP in order for it to "seem more natural" is a bit troubling.

My suggestion to you, as OOTP Marketing dude, is to post what you want about the game, but include in your signature disclosure of your capacity with OOTP.

I have no problem discussing a product that I love, and I have contributed to reviews to game user sites when the call was placed on the boards for assistance in getting an unfairly low average star rating bumped up.

Asking for people to discuss OOTP in any forum for any reason other than that the user is naturally inclined to bring OOTP into the discussion is beyond being 'less natural'...it is unnatural.

I talk about OOTP IRL and on-line because I love the product. I do not mean to speak for anyone else on these boards, but my guess is that the forum users do not need any marching orders to discuss OOTP when appropriate.

Attempting to have something come across as 'more natural' prerequires that the motivation for the post is less than 100% natural, in the first place.

No thanks.

[Charlie Hough]

What about buying paid advertising on some of the top baseball forums? I've actually seen ads for competing baseball products and other sports sims delivered on these forums. I don't know what the cost would be, but that's a way to get attention without wading into issues of spamming.

Otherwise, the only way to do it appropriately on any forum is to create a thread that is for those who play the game. The discussion might attract people to learn about OOTP. But that assumes that there is already an audience of OOTP players on these other sites.

[The Game]

White Sox Nation on Facebook is one page i visit daily for the past several weeks. i promote OOTP on there often. I have made a BB card set for teh White Sox Great Players team so far and shared then with WSN. I also did a BB card set using Klaviers new 1983 Donruss set. The owner of WSN is an Aussie and I told him about many of the ABL mods he could play and the fact i play the ABL in one of my leagues. As far as other sports forums I dont visit them all that often. But I say the more promotion the merrier.

[JMDurron]

There is already a dedicated thread to OOTP on my Red Sox board, but it's behind a membership wall where a newcomer couldn't get to it, and would have to pay in order to do so. There's generally a new thread for each version, I talk about it there and recommended purchasing OOTP14 after I had enough time to play with it for that to be an honest review.

[Pdubya64]

I could be completely wrong about this- but with today's internet search (and destroy!) functions as creepily accurate as they are, my contention is that a fair majority of OOTP's market (serious baseball simulation gaming) is already aware that Out of the Park is available and what it brings to the table.

Not sure what else to say but most of us end up being your goodwill partners at some point in our lives- OOTP is good enough to warrant that. As a personal note, one of my best friends has yet to get the game due to having two young ones and very little extra time. We do belong to the same two fantasy leagues (he got me started) and I prod him once in a while- but the learning curve and time involved are a bit much for him I think.

Your previous exposure with some of baseball's real players, etc. goes a long way towards making potential customers take notice. Not sure what else would be of real help at this point...

[BradC]

Well, I didn't mean to come across like I was issuing marching orders. It was meant to be more of a note that if folks are participating in various forums, bringing up OOTP when and where appropriate would be much appreciated.

Of course, I realize many people sing the praises of the game already - I just wanted to plant that thought in the minds of people who maybe hadn't considered it. I realize that can come across as a bit icky and astroturf-y, but I wasn't sure how else to broach the subject.

I'm happy when people talk about the game online - I have Google keyword searches set up, and I see many forum posts where people talk about OOTP. I typically stay out of those threads unless I see someone say something wrong - then I step in with a correction.

Guy Kawasaki's approach to evangelism at Apple is something I think about a lot RE OOTP - I realize we're teeny tiny compared to Apple, but I think we can learn a lot about how to spread the gospel of OOTP from how Apple has done it in the past. (Not sure how much they care about such things anymore, given their current status.)

Here's an idea in a different vein: What about creating user groups in various cities, kind of like the Mac user groups that are out there? (I don't know how prevalent they are these days, but I do know that at one point Apple supported user groups - I know a guy whose job at Apple used to be liaison to user groups. I was a contractor at Apple from 2000-2002, when this guy worked there, and they actively supported user groups then.)

I was thinking some of the folks around here who are our diehard supporters could start groups in densely populated areas where there are likely to be a fair number of other OOTPers, as well as an audience of new customers to draw from. They could host meetings where they could talk about the game, discuss new features and so forth, and hopefully bring new people in. They could even demo the game for newbies.

OOTP could support them in various ways. For example, early each year, the user groups could show off Beta builds of the new version of the game. Maybe OOTP could pay for them to use a Holiday Inn meeting room or something like that, and Markus could appear via a Skype chat to talk about the game. While I don't live in an area that would be good for this, I'm about 3 hours away from the Bay Area, so I could personally help with such a meeting there.

I can start another thread for this idea, depending on what folks think about it. Thanks.

Originally Posted by VanillaGorilla

Instructing customers to post on other sites regarding OOTP in order for it to "seem more natural" is a bit troubling.

My suggestion to you, as OOTP Marketing dude, is to post what you want about the game, but include in your signature disclosure of your capacity with OOTP.

I have no problem discussing a product that I love, and I have contributed to reviews to game user sites when the call was placed on the boards for assistance in getting an unfairly low average star rating bumped up.

Asking for people to discuss OOTP in any forum for any reason other than that the user is naturally inclined to bring OOTP into the discussion is beyond being 'less natural'...it is unnatural.

I talk about OOTP IRL and on-line because I love the product. I do not mean to speak for anyone else on these boards, but my guess is that the forum users do not need any marching orders to discuss OOTP when appropriate.

Attempting to have something come across as 'more natural' prerequires that the motivation for the post is less than 100% natural, in the first place.

No thanks.

[VanillaGorilla]

Brad-

I think cultivating user groups in the manner you outline is a worthwhile effort re the promotion of OOTP.

My post in response to your OP was considered, and natural. I understand what you are saying in your follow-up about broaching the subject being a difficult task.

When I see a post from the staff, especially a Sticky, I read it with the presupposition that because it is from someone representing the OOTP staff that it has been constructed with more thought than I give when I read and respond with an extemporaneously composed post (and create awful run-on sentences in the process).

Yes, I did read your OP as a call for Astroturfing. I am pleased to read that this was not what you intended to convey.

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by Pdubya64

I could be completely wrong about this- but with today's internet search (and destroy!) functions as creepily accurate as they are, my contention is that a fair majority of OOTP's market (serious baseball simulation gaming) is already aware that Out of the Park is available and what it brings to the table.

It's how I found it all those years ago by doing a search, I mention it when I can and hopefully that helps. I don't do facebook but ESPN America are getting alot of flack at the moment as their about to stop broadcasting in Europe maybe someone could go on there and post "if you want to get your baseball fix go to OOTP", I still say the way to go is someone streak at a game with OOTP on their buttocks although some on here maybe be able to get away with OOTP Rules on their buttocks

[The Wolf]

Try these two:

Baseball Nation, Baseball News and Fan Opinion

A Saber-Slanted Baseball Community

[Honorable_Pawn]

Originally Posted by BradC

Do many folks around here also spend time on various baseball forums, whether general ones or ones focused on certain teams?

I've wondered about posting on baseball forums to raise awareness of the game, since that would seem like a receptive audience, but I see two issues:

1. There are tons and tons of such sites. Given that this is one of a few part-time jobs for me, I don't have the time to post and monitor threads on dozens of forums. I could post on a few high-profile ones, though.

2. However, even if I do post on a few of them, I could very easily be accused of spamming. I'm also doing PR and marketing for Title Bout, which PISD bought from OOTP last month, and I've posted on boxing forums where I've met with some resistance from people who've accused me of spamming.

It would probably be better for our customers to talk about the game on such places - then it would seem more natural and the posts would be less likely to be flagged as spam.

Any thoughts on this? As I said, I don't mind posting on a few high-profile forums, so maybe if a few folks from around here come in after me and lend support, it won't come across as so spammy.

Thanks.

Yeah...sure thing. Be happy to help. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

[FlipCup]

I have posted to my teams forum a few times, trying to start a league. Not too much success.

[NateAndStuff]

I saw someone post about OOTP on r/baseball on reddit about a week or so ago. It was very cool seeing it there.

[mpejkrm]

/r/baseball has a large following of OOTP fans. I've been trying to promote it more over there.