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[Silent|away]

Good Idea for Trailheads?

[konamouse]

Postcards & packages sent snail mail can target specific narrow audience.

Cards left in books. Posters or flyers posted. Broader audience potential.

[Agent Lex]

Of course, you can greatly increase your potential for a site being seen if you're willing to shell out a few dollars for an ad. I believe Metacortechs was found via a paid google ad, and many websites are starting to use the Project Wonderful system that lets you easily and cheaply stick an ad up.

[BubbleBoy]

The above are all nice, but I would just like to add that "it depends on who your audience is". Just like how elements in your game need to make sense to the story, your launch should have the same focus.

No one seems to question the whole "mysterious person IMing me via my AOL screen name" approach, but I hate it for a number of reasons that I will not go into here.

Understand your audience and create a trailhead that will not only reach them but grab their attention while your story keeps it there. That is probably the best answer that I can give to this question.

[notgordian]

Seconding BubbleBoy here, it depends on what type of story / what type of game you're aiming for.

Ideally, your trailhead should be something to showcase why your game is worth paying attention to -- it's your pitch. And the most popular pitches seem to be the ones that either involve the most consideration or the highest level of commitment: whether that means sending a jar of honey, mysterious fragments of paintings, or seeding a video on *insert popular streaming media site here*. What impresses the community the most, I think, are pitches they wouldn't expect seeing.

As a general guideline, your best bet is to add a personal touch to the trailhead -- a lot of the guidelines suggested for pitching to bloggers may be of service.

[FLmutant]

Ideally, that rabbit hole should also be an amuse-buche: a nice, single-bite appetizer that suggests what the meal to come might be like. My advice would be to let the trailhead be one of the last things you design about an ARG and let the style of your rabbit hole come from the style of the game you've built.

[Shutaro]

Re: Good Idea for Trailheads?

[Rekidk]

IMO, there's a very fine line between 'strange and interesting' and 'confusing and off-putting.'

Eg. Wow! What a strange and interesting plant!
vs.
Wow! What an incredibly confusing and pointless message!

[Shutaro]

[Nik_Doof]

Packages, all the way. Nothing gets the receiver hyped up like a strange letter/package to arrive on your doorstep. Due to my previous experience with uF I *had* to get the word out about it. While targeting specific addresses can limit the impact, directed at the right people and it'll carry on its own.