Never too Early to Community
Heya Snackers!
Here at Dragon Snacks Games, we’ve talked a lot about how community is important to us and how we want it to be a pillar of our development philosophy. That's a fine sentiment to have and all – but how are we going to actually put it into action?
Well, let's talk timing: In games, they say, timing is everything!
In our internal scheduling meetings, we’ve been adamant about doing things differently, including when and how we start to talk about what we’re doing and soliciting feedback from the player base (i.e., you).
Typically, at this stage in production, a game might do an early sentiment-gathering test with a blurb or a single concept image or two and wait until much later in the process to show you all any in-game footage. Actual playtests, betas, or Early Access wouldn’t be until a few months to maybe a year before launch ... usually 3 – 6 months, tops.
Problem with this is, while yes it allows us to control the marketing beats and maybe whip up additional buzz and anticipation, it’s far too late to actually do any course correcting based on player feedback collected during these playtests, betas, etc. Fix some small things? Yap. But fundamental shifts or issues? Newp. Sure hope we nailed the target audience and market and how our game will resonate with them, because if not, we are dragon chow.
Needless to say, we’re not doing that.
Involve Gen-Z Directly
A few weeks ago, we launched our public Discord server and accompanying social media presence, primarily on places like Instagram and TikTok. In addition to Company accounts, most of us here have individual accounts on the major platforms. (Most of us. While I’ve been strong-armed into getting an Instagram account, I am still a grumpy Xennial and TikTok free.)
But there's more to life than just social media. No, seriously! One of the things we’ve emphasized in pretty much every pitch meeting we’ve been in is the importance of involving our target audience in the process early and often, and that includes hiring.
So we have.
Our amaze-balls Gen-Z marketing and social media intern, Paige, has been designing and running the Discord server and crafting the accompanying social posts, and daaaang, they're so much better and more authentic and fun and well done than anything us older people coulda done. (Yay Paige! *waves*)
At this point we’re pretty much just doing and recording whatever she tells us to, and it sure is working. In a short amount of time there’s already a vibrant, kind, welcoming, and fun community on our server. She natively understands what her generation values and how they want to interact, which is invaluable when interacting with a generation that grew up online.
Share Early and Often
Another fantastic thing that I love about the Discord server is that we’re already sharing art WIPs (works in progress, duh), small gameplay videos, and asking for feedback on q’s that help drive development. (I promise, those relationship and fan fic questions serve a purpose.)
To be clear, we’re in the middle of a combined prototype/pre-production phase (which is its own source of madness, but Nemco can speak to that), BUT we’re definitely still validating whether our initial ideas on paper make sense in their initial implementation. Which is why this is the perfect time to get early sentiment and feedback responses from you guys. Not two years from now.
So tell us what you think. Be brutal. We can take it.
For example, just last week we posted our first NPC reveal – the blacksmith Groghan, an Ogret lady you’ll meet very early in the game. As she’s also a potential dating partner we thought it super important to get her out early and see how she resonates with people.
This is especially important to us when designing for types of romantic relationships or orientations that our small dev team doesn’t have personal experience in (such as aroace or polyamory). As we want the world to be as inclusive as possible, we do think it’s paramount to get actual feedback and input from those who do have that experience. The last thing we want to do is design a bunch of characters that a good chunk of the community can’t relate to, or worse, find clumsy, fake, and off-putting.
So, let us know what you think of Groghan. Please!
Let ‘Em Choose
And it isn’t just limited to sentiment gathering, like with Groghan. We want our community to be more directly involved in some of the more creative aspects of the game and the company. We recently ended a multi-tier voting bracket to name our little dragon mascot.
The first round was populated by names internal studio people had suggested. The 2nd round consisted solely of names submitted by the community. Then the face-offs began. And the jockeying. And the election propaganda supporting one side or another.
We couldn’t have hoped for a better response and turnout, even for something as silly as naming our little friend. You guys have been a blast to work with for this, and it fills us with confidence that future collaborations with the community will be even more entertaining and productive.
(And had Brulée won, that woulda been his name, despite my personal preference for Biscuit. We’re not gonna ever say, "Help us name something!" and then be like, "Pfffft you guys chose wrong. We’re doing this instead.”)
Join Us
With all that action, if you’re not on our Discord or following us on the various social thingies, you should do that!
For those who are on the server, we’re gearing up for our first playable demo for when we return from Gamescom. And yes, you can sign up to be a part of it! We’ve got the basic core loop in for the town and procedural adventures, the first look at crafting, home decorating, quests, early NPC interactions, and multiplayer for up to 16.
We think it's bloody cool. But the important thing is, what do you think?!
Hope to see you online. 😊