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[Thordur]

I thought it was about time I got my dev blog going and wrote a blog about why I thought it was about time I got my dev blog going. Not sure if that was cleverly meta of me or just really, really lazy.

Full post is here http://blog.loomus.com/the-point-of-a-dev-blog/ but overly long story short I theorized that the reason so many indie-marketing-101's mention a dev blog as a critical part of a successful indie marketing "campaign" was simply so interested parties (i.e. journalists & editors and possibly publishers) had a way of gauging the project's activity and therefor it's potential chance of actually getting finished (cause wasting time and "effort" on writing about a game that never sees the light of day is probably not at the top of any journalist's list).

So now I'm curious as to whether anyone here has had any experience with this? That is; successfully using their dev blog to promote their game (or been turned down/ignored by media due to an inactive or totally absent dev blog). This was at least the only thing I could think of that would justify how highly these indie marketing guides all seemed to value a dev blog but if that's not the case, what would be the point of spending valuable "dev" time hammering out words when it would probably be better spent on hammering out code?

[Ninja Dodo]

Marketing is a bonus. The point is constructive feedback and encouragement. Making games is hard, so getting positive comments on rough early versions along the way can provide a much needed morale boost. The benefits of feedback during development should be obvious. It makes your game better.

As far as getting attention, while the effect of having a devlog should not be underestimated, it's not about showing activity. It's about doing interesting work. If your game has unique ideas, or something about your process is useful to other devs it will be more likely to get attention than if you are only demonstrating discipline at building something predictable.

[joe_eyemobi]

Hey Thordur, I'm probably in the same boat - I haven't had much feedback in my devlog.  However, one benefit for me personally is that I use it almost like a diary.  It's quite a cool way to just look back and see what you've achieved!  When I do it that way, I don't have any expectation that anyone will look at it, and it works out better for me 

[Thordur]

Ok I see your point(s) but I'm talking about a Dev Blog specifically in the context of marketing, i.e. almost every "indie-game-marketing-101" guide/video/blog I've found states that a Dev Blog is one of the key elements in a successful indie-game marketing plan )for some reason).

I get that a devlog like the ones in here (well, especially the ones in here) are immensely usefull (and I've been totally meaning to really seriously think about starting to contemplate doing one tomorrow for at least 4 months now) but I feel (as I gather you do too) that's more of a community thing; keeping in touch with peers, showing of your work, getting feedback and criticism and encouragement and so on, as well as acting a sort of personal work diary.

I can't really see a TIG Forum Devlog (as appose to a Dev Blog on a game's or studio's landing page or web) would contribute to marketing directly (as you also point out), while the Dev Blogs in question do (or so the theory goes according to what I've been reading).

[knifeySpoonie]

Ive discovered about 6 games I've now bought simply cause of their devlogs.. I've also reccommended the Devlogs to people I think will enjoy the games... Not to mention the technical side of it where you pick up things and learn from others..  Personally I love dev logs simply because I'm curious as to how games are made, and what descions lead to a game ending up how it ends up.

It's also good for the dev getting feedback and support.. and quite often someone might sugest somthing you would never have thought about, and suddenly your game is better

As a full on marketing tool... maybe not the most efficent thing you could do.. but if your doing your devlog anyways.. it's just an additional thing that could help with you getting your game known..

[lionfish]

Hey Thordur,

  I haven't really seen my DevLog pay off....yet.  I think of it as a part of my overall marketing strategy at the moment.  I really do want feedback and ideas from my fans, even if the majority of my fans right now are my family and friends or my wife's family and friends (she's really social so that helps). 

  I think having a look into your creativity is a plus for people who will want to be your fans.  I took a course (http://lionroot.com/indiedev-education/indiedev-marketer/) for artists (not a strong artist myself, but I thought it would have similarities), that recommended you show your behind the scenes of how you make your art.  I think it would apply to small studios too, where some gamers want a personal connection to the brand.

  I follow a few devlogs, and sadly they're only on the TIGForums and not their own site.  Of all the marketing I've read up on, you want to have your main devlog on your site, not tumblr, or some other social network that could change it all on you.

  My inspiration comes most from the Wolfire blog, where his DevLog videos have grown his game's awareness.  That's really what I'd like to be able to do, to get many people to enjoy the development process with you.  This way you know you'll have an audience before you launch your game, as opposed to crossing your fingers and hope you get noticed.

-Bryan

[Müsta Klaki]

Somewhat-marketing-but-just-barely.

I've noticed since starting my IndieDB page I haven't been working on my game much. I'm like so addicted to the nice things people say about my game that I just want to show it off to the world ASAP, but it's not ready and I feel like making a dev-blog early will be a bad idea for this reason. You'll either rush it or realize you can't complete it as fast as you want to and will then abandon the project... rinse repeat.

And most people who read Dev blogs are just other devs, so it's not like they're your market anyways.

[Oggs]

And most people who read Dev blogs are just other devs, so it's not like they're your market anyways.

I wouldn't dismiss this part so easily.

It's not outright marketing to your customers, but it's networking with your peers and colleagues. Just like in other circles -- corporate, social, whatever -- the words of a more experienced and respected colleague lend credence (or not) to your abilities.

Assume Derek Yu read your Devlog. He might offer advice or tell you he loves it. People will latch on to what he says because he's Fuckin' Derek. He may tell his circles -- which don't include you -- about you and your game. If it's good things, it's legitimacy for you and your work. Yeah, there's still pressure to put out a good product, but now you have garnered yourself some attention and likely, the eyes of people who could give you better advice based on their own experiences.

[RJAG]

My comment is bit off topic, but I wanted to add my two cents from a developer perspective reading dev blogs.

I really enjoying know what other developers go through, how they feel, what they think, how easy or difficult certain tasks are, and the overall underlying systems they choose- and why.

I recently read a huge post from the developer of NEO SCAVENGER asking "What is the most difficult part of game development?" in which he covered every possible topic, and his thoughts and feelings on each subject.

It was a great read.

[Scott]

Hey Thordur, I'm probably in the same boat - I haven't had much feedback in my devlog.  However, one benefit for me personally is that I use it almost like a diary.  It's quite a cool way to just look back and see what you've achieved!  When I do it that way, I don't have any expectation that anyone will look at it, and it works out better for me 

Same here. At first I thought to get feedback/exposure, but recently, while trying to figure out where to keep a history of decisions and thoughts for future reference, realized that is what I should use my devlog for! I'm much happier with it now as well

[Pandara_RA!]

Im going to be frank because i dont have too much time atm. Forgive me.

Devlogs are super important. Gives you feedback and a slew of people to support you on launch. Though I dont see press conversions off them often.

If your gane is not getting feedback or attention, its likely the game wont sell either. Much like how the data for kickstart greenlight and steam sales are all identical. You have people talking and you get money. You dont have people interested the picky press likely wont be either.

You dont gain a following FROM marketing you gain a following in conjunction WITH marketing. Marketing is a multipler. Thats it

[rj]

while i agree with that 100% i'll also throw in that you shouldn't be discouraged if your game isn't getting mega feedback from day one; if you're posting at least once a week across five months or so and you're still not getting mega feedback, then maybe examine why that is; but if you're in your first few months, it's normal for the ball to be a slow roll. if you start showing something that looks like something cool, people probably will pay attention

[Julien]

Marketing is a bonus. The point is constructive feedback and encouragement.

I totally agree on the encouragement. It's so depressing if you sink hundred of hours on a game and no one seems to care.
But on the marketing side.. Well I don't thing that a devlog on tig as much of an impact

[WhiteSponge]

The main point for doing a dev blog is for me to be able to gather my thoughts and self-reflect on each day's game crafting progress.

Now if it helps in marketing that is definitely an added bonus.

One thing that I find myself doing when visiting other websites is to check their blogs right away to see if they are being updated recently. This tells me that the people running the site are still active.

Not trying to advertise here (if you need this link removed let me know) but if you visit my website (http://whitesponge.com), the latest 3 blog posts are right smacked in the middle, just below the latest game banner at the top.

I do this to emphasize that the blog is always updated lol

[Scifa]

I totally agree on the encouragement. It's so depressing if you sink hundred of hours on a game and no one seems to care.
But on the marketing side.. Well I don't thing that a devlog on tig as much of an impact

^^ This

[hagbardgroup]

The point is to support the sales process, help you to hire people, make business deals, provide better support to existing customers, and to make your company more readily legible to the press, enthusiasts, and fan communities.

If you look at the devlog for Banished, he kept it running for a long time before the game actually released. Years.

Most of the posts had zero comments and most likely no views. However, when it came closer to launch, it became an asset, because it was a legible record of the story of its development. With some timing and luck (with the internet rage around the crappy Sim City launch), it paid off.

It might not have paid off as much if Sim City had not been a disaster! But that's just one of the inherent risks in the game business.

What is misleading is advice that suggests that the blog itself can generate demand for the game. That's a little like saying that an open jar of jam spontaneously generates houseflies.

Blog posts might provide a ready answer to search queries, which might generate useful search traffic for you. They might help people burnish their reputations (make them COOLER DUDES), which might want to make them share it on various social media platforms. It might be a conversation piece, which could lead people to e-mail it, share it over a chat program, or something similar.

Just coarsely thinking of it like blog = mad traffic and infinite $ just blog blog blog blog tweet tweet everyday will result in horrible failure and countless hours of wasted time. I'm also not sure that it helps the credibility of the studio, although it's better than nothing. One thing that all big vaporware projects have in common are websites that make big promises with text and bullshots.

Keeping a blog is not in and of itself marketing. It's just producing marketing material.

Without going out to where the readership might be, it's like printing up a bunch of brochures, putting them in a box, and waiting for people to call you to send them the booklets. Sure, those 'calls' can happen automatically over a server, but you need to get that material to people who can help you sell the product before it really becomes part of a marketing process.

[WildFactor]

The point is to support the sales process, help you to hire people, make business deals, provide better support to existing customers, and to make your company more readily legible to the press, enthusiasts, and fan communities.

If you look at the devlog for Banished, he kept it running for a long time before the game actually released. Years.

You can ask yourself: Is the game promoting the develog or the devlog promoting the game ?
Do most player really care about any old post, or they just want information on updates after the game release ?

[hagbardgroup]

The point is to support the sales process, help you to hire people, make business deals, provide better support to existing customers, and to make your company more readily legible to the press, enthusiasts, and fan communities.

If you look at the devlog for Banished, he kept it running for a long time before the game actually released. Years.

Do most player really care about any old post, or they just want information on updates after the game release ?

I don't think that ordinary gamers care at all.

The people who do care are the influential ones who might get the ball rolling. A good backlog of posts will help them evaluate whether or not the game is worth buying when you're still sitting at 0 reviews and no press. If they really like the game and get hyped up for it, they might start telling their friends about it. Those guys will look like idiots if it turns out that the game either never comes out or winds up being a bad game.

Ordinary people won't buy and don't spend much time seeking out information about games. They may only look at review scores without going into the details and the sales copy. To get to that larger market, you have to convert the pioneers first.

The people who are casual are risk averse, and will only spend money on things that they already know that they will enjoy, and can see a crowd of other people already enjoying. People who are enthusiasts will spend a lot of time seeking novelty. They have a higher tolerance for risk and playing unfinished/buggy stuff.

The sticker price of the game also matters a lot to consumer behavior. The higher the price, the more effort the person will put into purchase evaluation. This is the reason why cheap mobile games have such a hard time getting ahead based on quality. If the price is too low, no one will bother searching for reviews, they'll ignore most of the marketing material, and won't bother telling people about their purchase.

On the other hand, if the price is higher, people will search for reviews, they'll talk more about the game (to justify the purchase to themselves and show it off). So, it makes less sense to invest a lot into writing about a cheaper game (unless it's f2p), whereas you'll get a higher return the more expensive it is. A higher price also means that you'll get this sort of word of mouth behavior:

CASUAL_GAMER009: I heard Murder Simulator 2017 came out on Monday. Is it any good? The reviews seem positive.
xxEXPERT_COOLGAMERxx: I liked it. You can do this awesome decapitation move with your pulse-sword, and then kick the guy's head into the air like it's a football. They could've tightened up the graphics on level 3, though.
CASUAL_GAMER009: Sounds cool. Maybe I'll pick it up when it goes on sale, or when the Sewer Level DLC comes out.

Part of what makes xxEXPERT_COOLGAMERxx feel better about himself is when other people in his office defer to him when they make game buying decisions. He will champion a game and talk about it to his friends if he thinks that it's valuable. If it's cheap enough for him to buy it on impulse, it might sit in his backlog for months, and there'll be no impetus to discuss it all that much on all the hardcore gaming forums and subreddits that he frequents. And more discussion about the game means more chances to make another sale.

CASUAL_GAMER009 will not bother searching for reviews or asking for advice if the price of the game starts off low enough for him to buy it on impulse with no evaluation time.

Part of the reason why you invest into keeping a detailed devlog is to help you to justify a higher starting price for the game. The higher the price, the more work that needs to be done to convince prospects to pay that much.