This game that we're all buying and getting together and playing is made by someone, and, as you already know, that someone is WizKids. I've bounced around between a few collectible and/or competitive gaming scenes in my time as a gamer and WizKids is - by leaps and bounds - the least responsive game makers when it comes to engaging the community fan base. Here's a personal case study.I was a Heroclix player for a good three years. Being a reader and community-engager, I got myself plugged into HCRealms, Heroclix's largest and leading fan site. I was hooked and contributed to discussions and trading and all the good stuff.
During my "tenure" surfing around at HCRealms, one interesting thing caught my eye.
A subforum on the site was entitled, "Dear WizKids." Most of the posts were weird fanboy complaints or rage quits from the hobby, but they all had two things in common. First, they were angry at WizKids for not listening to and engaging fan opinions concerning the game. Second, and more importantly, not one post had a single response from anyone representing Wizkids.
Seriously? I can assure you that ignoring the largest and most active fan site concerning your produce is not going to win you any support. Other companies are engaged to a smaller extent - Wizards of the Coast, for example, or many board game publishers like Stronghold Games. Some few companies really engage their fan base, like Fantasy Flight Games who is notorious for being super plugged in to the people who play their games.
Now, I'm not really angry with WizKids on a personal level. And I'm quite happy with Dice Masters and my experiences thus far. But I think WizKids could take a few more steps in really engaging the fan base that would go a long way to increase exposure to the hobby and rapport with those of us who play it. I've got three of 'em, so here we go.
Key 1: Social Interaction
Before I give my suggestions for this, I want to praise WizKids in two relatively recent developments. First, the Dice Masters Rules Forum is a step in the right direction here despite it's troubling inconsistency. Second, WizKids held several giveaways on Facebook over the holiday season, giving away autographed super rare and such, which was really cool. That out of the way, onto the key.
This is a niche game in a niche hobby in a consumerist world of choices. You have to engage your fan base on a social level. Yeah, this means Twitter and Facebook and such, but it means reaching out through those avenues to be active cultivating the fan base. Another often overlooked aspect of social interaction is podcasting and blogging. The best and most fan-friendly companies often take time out to recognize their fan sites and fan podcasts. This is key. As an example, tune into The Order 66 Podcast and flip through a few episodes to hear lead developers from Fantasy Flight Games appear to talk bout their products.
Key 2: Publicly Respond to Feedback
Here's what this doesn't mean. It doesn't mean addressing every yahoo who thinks that Wolverine's die should be orange and brown always-only-FOREVER is worth a company's time. It doesn't mean that every person who says they hate the game and are never going to play it deserve a soap box or personal attention. It doesn't mean that every piece of fan mail either warrants or deserves response.
What it does mean is that WizKids should be listening. The example I gave above concerning the HCRealms ghost forum to WizKids is unacceptable and this is not a good way to engage the fan base. The key to customer ownership of any product is the feeling that one's investment is not just felt financially but heard. Consumers want their voices heard. Using various avenues - forums, social media, etc. - WizKids has the power to interact with fan concerns, criticisms and praises. It would go a long way.
Key 3: Provide Review Product
Building hype for upcoming products is done through a lot of official channels - in fact the DC set spoilage that Dave posted came from GTM. Even still, lots of bloggers and podcast enthusiasts who
have spent hours writing and sharing their thoughts on this game would be able to reach specific and energetic communities with review product far more effectively than just the mainstream channels. Grass roots reviews of early or just released product serve to create a lasting, engaged fan base.
I guess considering that I'm a part of a fan blog, this might come across as self serving, so I'll temper that by not mentioning The Reserve Pool in the list of great Dice Masters' blogs...wait, no I won't! This blog has been around longer than I've been a part of it, so I can safely say that Dave, Evan & Randy are deserving and would be ecstatic to receive some review product. Many of the other great blogs out there - Dice Anon, Sidekicks & Shields and Dice Masters Rules just to name a few - are producing awesome, free of charge to WizKids content. It would be wise of the company to reward those efforts in a way that continues to create energy and genuine fandom.
Well, those are my three keys, WizKids. In the mean time, keep up the good work - I can speak for all of us when I say that we love what you've done with Dice Masters and eagerly look forward to seeing where the game goes. Maybe with a few tweaks in mind the fan base for Dice Masters could grow even bigger and more robust.
- Chris
This is a niche game in a niche hobby in a consumerist world of choices. You have to engage your fan base on a social level. Yeah, this means Twitter and Facebook and such, but it means reaching out through those avenues to be active cultivating the fan base. Another often overlooked aspect of social interaction is podcasting and blogging. The best and most fan-friendly companies often take time out to recognize their fan sites and fan podcasts. This is key. As an example, tune into The Order 66 Podcast and flip through a few episodes to hear lead developers from Fantasy Flight Games appear to talk bout their products.
Key 2: Publicly Respond to Feedback
Here's what this doesn't mean. It doesn't mean addressing every yahoo who thinks that Wolverine's die should be orange and brown always-only-FOREVER is worth a company's time. It doesn't mean that every person who says they hate the game and are never going to play it deserve a soap box or personal attention. It doesn't mean that every piece of fan mail either warrants or deserves response.
What it does mean is that WizKids should be listening. The example I gave above concerning the HCRealms ghost forum to WizKids is unacceptable and this is not a good way to engage the fan base. The key to customer ownership of any product is the feeling that one's investment is not just felt financially but heard. Consumers want their voices heard. Using various avenues - forums, social media, etc. - WizKids has the power to interact with fan concerns, criticisms and praises. It would go a long way.
Building hype for upcoming products is done through a lot of official channels - in fact the DC set spoilage that Dave posted came from GTM. Even still, lots of bloggers and podcast enthusiasts who
have spent hours writing and sharing their thoughts on this game would be able to reach specific and energetic communities with review product far more effectively than just the mainstream channels. Grass roots reviews of early or just released product serve to create a lasting, engaged fan base.
I guess considering that I'm a part of a fan blog, this might come across as self serving, so I'll temper that by not mentioning The Reserve Pool in the list of great Dice Masters' blogs...wait, no I won't! This blog has been around longer than I've been a part of it, so I can safely say that Dave, Evan & Randy are deserving and would be ecstatic to receive some review product. Many of the other great blogs out there - Dice Anon, Sidekicks & Shields and Dice Masters Rules just to name a few - are producing awesome, free of charge to WizKids content. It would be wise of the company to reward those efforts in a way that continues to create energy and genuine fandom.
Well, those are my three keys, WizKids. In the mean time, keep up the good work - I can speak for all of us when I say that we love what you've done with Dice Masters and eagerly look forward to seeing where the game goes. Maybe with a few tweaks in mind the fan base for Dice Masters could grow even bigger and more robust.
- Chris
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