A lot of good points raised in the thread, and the main concern is the marketing of the Telepath games. There is the issue of how to try to deliver the message to the target audience and be able to persade them to buy the game. So far, due to the change in the marketing model, we see an expected shift in demographics as the illumination of non-free TPA2 occurs on slightly different sites than that of the freely distributed TRGP2. However, it does mean that we are in a transition state at the moment, and the reach to the target audience is currently rather small. I don't know why, but even back in the day of TRPG2 release, although the hype was big and it was quite popular, it did not get well embedded into the teenage community that visits the main free-game flash portals (possibly due to the lack of presence on several key sites) and there was little to remind them of afterwards, which is a shame as TRPG2 is one of the best Flash RPGs out there, and yet it isn't mention in the same breath as, say, Mardek (and even this very successful RPG, although rather popular, isn't generating much income for the developer, but he does have a rather large and devoted fan base). The big question now is how to reach the new customers who are willing and are able to pay for the game? Where to focus the attention? I mean, it'a all well and good- there is a twitter account, now facebook is up, but there is a need for initial illumination, to jump-start the process of vrial ads for Sinister Design so that the mediums catch on and do their job, 'cause so far twitter has about 20 users... which isn't much at all, really. Hence, there is a need for breakout, to generate that initial amount of interest again in Sinister Design, and expand, then feed off that interest and keep up the momentum. Given that it takes a long time to develop the next project, it is difficult, but still possible, to maintain the momentum in downtime and keep SinisterDesign at the back of people's minds. A good example of that is Pseudolonewolf: he hasn't released Mardek 3 as planned, and this has been going on for almost 3 years, yet interest in his site has hardly waned and he generates new interest from his old games because there is enough exposure and discussion. At this moment in time, taking into account the transition model and all, I think it might be worthwhile going back to those big portals like CrazyMonkeyGames, JayIsGames, Newgrounds, Armorgames and Kongregate and plug in the holes, so to speak, by uploading TRPG2 to those sites that still don't have it- generate some more interest. After all, TPA1 was all and well, but it was just a showcase for the engine, not a stand-alone game, and people perceieved it as such- we got a little interest going, but didn't generate the critical amount of momentum required.
Now we have the presence on the most curcial social media, now we just need to get the folks from the freeware market to look at us again, then keep those who are willing to accept the change in the marketing of the products and pay for the games, and then we need to try and find how to reach out to the new audience- older, financially able to afford the game. Where do they go? What they read? What do they like? A good start will be to try and raise the profile, as CraigStern noted, with reviewers for indie developing games, then keep in touch with such large flash portals which carry a mix of free and demo versions on their sites and where there won't be any backlash to a paybale game version (ie Jayisgames, rather than newgorunds, for instance). Then we can hook up and keep those potential customers on facebook and twitter. For the younger audience, the wiki, for instance, and the website can eb of use, whilst the forums is a blend of the two.
Ads is a tricky business and I don't think we're in a situation where we can afford to dabble around and experiment with them as we have just a critical enough mass of paricipating individuals to carry us through at the moment. From where we stand now, CraigSterns strategy is the most sound and fool-proof: slowly generate momentum, get the profile up, then expand. We have a very specific niche in the game market, and it has its cons and pros, such as a relatively low appeal percenatgeto the whole gaming community, but much higher than average retention factor. Presentiment, for your part, if you're willing to help, methinks you can lay out the basis for covering SinisterDesign on facebook and twitter and generate interest in that.
As a final point, one example of a success is MSkutnik, the creator of Submachine series: he managed to generate enough ineterest, expand, leave day-work, keep some projects free, some pay-as-you-go, went into iPhone development, covered several genres with his games and has a very wide demographical coverage with his games. And he managed to take escape-the-room type games to prominence, generating much more interest in them during the last few years. The situation is slightly different here, but we can aim to build along the same lines and try to keep good folks interested and try to find and appeal to those gamers who love RPGs. TSoG is certainly raising the standard here on TRPG2, and it's up there with the best of Flash RPGs at the moment both storywise and battle-design wise, in my opinion.
