Wanted: Advertisement Tips

[Gnaws]

Hi! I'm starting to plan out my first game on MW as a GM and wanted to tap this resource pool.

I'm looking for any tips on creating a high quality game advertisement. What information do people often forget that is important for players? What's something you wish you saw more of in advertisements? What's something you included once but wouldn't do so again?

Anything and everything the GM talent here is willing to share is appreciated. I didn't see any similar threads (though I did see one on making your final selections) and thought this would be a great topic to explore!

[Vladim]

Some things that I don't see too often, but I think it would be really good to have:

• Some information about themes and genres. Especially for games that can be broad or kitchen sink-like, because it helps focus concepts and expectations. Same for niche games, even if they are focused (simply because they aren't well-known).
• Some information about selection criteria. I think competitive applications are fine, but telling applicants what you're looking for is good for transparency, and it helps them not waste their time.
• Some information about a Session 0, especially for games with potentially sensitive content. I wouldn't do a Session 0 pre-player selection, but at least mentioning the tools that would be used for Session 0 and any potential red lines is useful.
• An expected posting rate and a promise to stick to it. It's surprising that this is not more commonly included.
• Same for other posting expectations, such as length and so on.
• Maybe an "about your GM" section outlining relevant information about your experience and GMing style?

This is in addition to the usual stuff. The main goal should be to communicate expectations early on. Here's one of my better examples (link).

Edited August 21 by Vladim (see edit history)

[matt_s]

a baseline amount of effort spent on the ad whether it be on setting, intro, rules for character creation, etc. shows GM investment and that it won't be easy come, easy go. it should evoke the theme of the game in the aggregate.

have enough stuff for people to make applications from the get-go and be willing to answer questions from applicants in reasonable time.

 

[Eric]

From a technical perspective, you can add a Page to your game and adjust the tab order so that page is the first thing people see when they click on your ad link. That gives you a place to do all the pretty formatting of the information described above, without it getting lost at the top of a growing thread. Definitely add a Topics collection for Applications so they can stay in one place, separated from the ongoing game content.

Double down on matt's comment on being clear about rules. If there are allowed or prohibited sources, being clear about that up front helps you keep things from going off the rails.

[Gnaws]

Great advice, thanks all!

The tip about creating a page and moving it to be the landing page for the Ad was huge. I'm happy not to have the "What's New" feed at the bottom of the advertisement.

[Gnaws]

I've posted my first game ad on MW (gulp) and tried to incorporate all of this feedback. Thanks so much!

[Vladim]

Best of luck! Looks like a good ad, and 5e is popular, so you should have plenty of applicants in no time!

[Valsai]

Expectations, both the DM's expectations of the players and what the players can expect from the DM (such as writing style, game mood, post rate, how developed the characters are, what type of characters, etc.), are a big thing to me, and I like to try to set those early on when I'm looking to run a game, and likewise look for them heavily when I'm applying for one. Things like how you handle combat, such as block vs individual initiative or if you prefer running combat in a more "live" format over Discord and summarizing in the boards, or expectations on handling inter-group conflicts are pretty important things that may not seem so important at the start, but can have a huge effect on the game down the road. I think a lot of times GMs don't make their expectations as clear as they could be (if they're there at all, outside of maybe posting rate), and that would be a place I'd start at.

Formatting and organization of the material are another big point; you won't get anyone in a game if it's a disorganized mess because no one knows where to get the information they need. And if your potential player's eyes are struggling to focus on the important stuff because it's all hidden in one gigantic, mashed-up paragraph, the game's likely to get nowhere. Presentation is certainly important, as it's the first impression players have of you, and a disorganized ad indicates a disorganized game that could potentially take more work to follow and play in than people would find worth. It certainly doesn't have to be beautiful and snazzy, with cool graphics, tables, and sparklies galore, but it needs to be legible with some sort of structure to it for sure.

[Gnaws]

If anyone else does the Game Ad on a separate page thing, don't overlook this setting like I did. Found out today that my main Game Ad page wasn't visible to anyone since Friday lol

[Basil_Bottletop]

I mentioned this on Discord, but it's worth mentioning here for others to see too...

 

Ignore that little voice in your head that is suggesting you run two concurrent tables at the same time. That voice is dumb and mean. If you planned to run one game, then run one game.

[Anthr4xus]

I second Basil's comment. I took over a game that was popular enough I offered to run two groups. Within a month we had enough dropouts in both groups I had to merge them to keep the game moving forward. I will also be setting up a Game Ad page for the Umlaut! game I'm trying to get going.

[CharmingSatyr]

A lot of the answers presented are focused on what goes into an ad, which is admittedly important.

Equally important, in my not-always-humble opinion, is the GMs actions. Showing consistency in your commitment to the game before it starts goes a long way.

For example:

• Read and answer questions players might have on a regular basis. Don't leave them hanging for a week waiting for answers and wondering if the game already died.
• Answer questions about lore, history, geography that the players have in a timely manner. Reward their interest with action.
• If you commit to a date to do something -- close the ad, review character sheets, pick players, start the game, etc., then do everything that you can to meet that date. And if you can't, inform your players in a frank and honest manner.

Remember, especially for first timers, everything will take longer than you think it will. For your own sanity, give yourself time to figure things out.