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How long before shareware registrations?

ernestw · 2001-12-07T16:41:00

I released my game back in mid-September as shareware and now (early December) have not gotten a registration yet. My game not being the most revolutionary thing in the world since Ginger (*ahem*) I definitely didn''t expect registrations after day 1, week 1, month 1, nor even year 1. I''m just curious on other people''s experiences on the timeframe on receiving a game''s first registration (and subsequent registrations). I did go through the trouble of submitting to many shareware list sites (good for hits only while your game is "new" to their list), signing up with banner exchanges (actually quite a good source of hits and downloads to my surprise), and the occasional news item on a gaming site so I think I''ve covered most of the ground in terms of self-promotion. My website''s daily statistics show a good number of attempted downloads of my game but only show a small number of clicks on my order form page. I originally was afraid that the e-commerce site I had signed up with was possibly screwing up orders but then I figured that if orders were being screwed up I''d have received lots of angry e-mail by now. On a semi-related note, anybody have good experiences with BMT Micro? I initially signed up with them mostly because they handled software like Opera and games by Longbow Digital Arts so I figured they''d be pretty good. When I released my game, I started getting a number of registrations almost immediately and I began to think "hot damn!". Unfortunately, every single one of them turned out to be fradulent orders :-( I''ve since moved to RegNow (mainly for a better web interface, customizable order pages, and to keep my reputation in good standing) and have heard nary a peep from anybody -- not even fraudulent orders :-/ although test orders have gone through just fine. Actually if I play the numbers/statistics game, then I could justify being in good shape even now. That is, so many hits on website lead to downloads; so many d/l lead to people curious about ordering (hits on order form); so many hits on order form lead to actual orders. That means I''m still waiting for step 4 to achieve some critical mass. Of course then I''d be waiting probably another year for the statistics game to pull through :-D So again, what kind of timeframes have you guys gone through before receiving steady registrations after a game''s release? *shamless plug* -- http://www.amorphous-productions.com If there''s some glaring faux pas in web design, game design, etc. please do tell.

Games Business and Law Business

Started by ernestw December 03, 2001 04:43 AM

10 comments, last by ernestw 22 years, 6 months ago

lutas

122

December 06, 2001 05:01 PM

Well I have had some registrations but I didn''t exactly expect to see many from a puzzle game that looks like Tetris... (incidently it plays like Columns on the Genesis)

There are 101 clones of this but I can still say the experience I''ve gained from it is definately going towards my next project - I''m more confident in how to go about releasing shareware and have seen some benefits to it.

Just a few more registrations to my first million heh

Philip Lutas
CEO of Optical Realities

Philip LutasMy site of randomness

Anonymous

December 07, 2001 04:41 PM

One thing you can consider is doing some announcements via e-mail (especially after you have some e-mails from previous customers) or announcing it at Game-oriented websites and forums. Just be careful not to spam!

We did this for our last game, and as a result didn''t have to wait long at all (less then an hour, actually!) before the first registration came in.

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How long before shareware registrations?

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