Making a successful WIP thread - from those who have done it before
After many of our successful threads, dark coder and I have decided to reveal our secrets behind managing a successful WIP thread. Mods feel free to sticky this.
Hope you enjoy reading this and learning from it!
1. Always make a WIP thread when you're not sure you can complete the project in hand, and it should be in its infancy stages when you post about it. If the project is already doing well, forget about it, no one is going to be interested. People prefer to root for the
underdog.
2. Always pretend you're a big company. This'll get people really hyped up into thinking (knowing!) that you're producing the next
Halo 3 beater. This also gives you an excuse to
push release dates back as much as you want.
3. Never post [url=file://c:/windows/media/tada.wav]screenshots[/url]. This'll kill the
hype and make people ignore your thread. If people warn you that not posting screenshots will get your thread locked, they are just trying to make you get less attention (see point 8).
4. Always talk about completely ridiculous features that you're never capable of implementing (ie. text output). Big companies do this all the time, for example when
EA declared they would make a decent server browser. It works for them, so it should work for you too.
5. Remember that all posts under your initial one are merely padding for your next one and you shouldn't read any of them. You're far too important to be reading the posts of some lowly
forum members. However, if you have a secretary, he/she can find any good (ie. ego-inflating) comments and show you over
MSN.
6. Never use the edit button, post as much as you can to boost the thread's post count up (and your post count too, which is most important!). Why edit your post when you can just make another! This is also a sign that you are very serious about your project. Filling up an entire page with just your comments shows your dedication.
7.
Flame anyone that says anything bad about your game. They may sometimes say it's constructive criticism to get away with saying it, but don't listen to them, they are just trying to make you feel bad because their WIP thread isn't as popular. Flaming them will make you feel better and thus will raise your productivity to its normal level again.
8. Post on other WIP threads to give negative comments about their projects to shatter their self-confidence and to reduce their productivity. If there is a rating system implemented, rate everything else 1 star and your own 5 stars.
9. If you fear your thread getting locked then change your username to a female one coupled with pictures aquired from
myspace, make sure all your posts have at least three heart emoticons in, and you will never fear the padlock again. Your thread however may be moved into the 'programming talk' section. This is only a minor setback; you can bribe the moderators into putting your thread back into the WIP section by sending them naughty pictures.
10. Make sure your account was created during the first year of the forum, this way if anyone attempts to attack your project you can quickly point out that their point of view does not matter as they are clearly not as experienced as you.
11. If your project isn't gaining as much attention
as you had hoped, feel free to create new forum accounts to buff your topic's status, after all if this ability wasn't intended you wouldn't be able to do it. You can again use these new accounts to post negative comments on other WIP threads.
12. Create a list of current and future features in your project. Be sure to list every possible feature you can think of no matter how insignificant. Prefixing each list item with a tick will reassure the user that these are
vital features.
13. If your topic is getting too much negative attention from rival projects aiming to bring you down then simply copy and paste your topic's content and make a new thread changing the version number by one. Also try adding more
ridiculous features to the list, to give the impression your project is really taking
shape. You can take these features off the list once your thread is starting to get positive attention again.
14. Make sure you setup a
payment method for your pre-order version before you even write anything, big companies do this all the time; don't worry if people start demanding their money back, just say you'll release it next week then delay it.
15. If you wish to sound highly intelligent among your piers but lack complete understanding of how to explain the technical side of your code simply copy and paste sections from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics and re-arrange them slightly and you will gain prestige instantly (note: the longer your post the more intelligent you will seem). However to make this seem realistic you must also post in other sections of the forums on random threads, again with copied (and inaccurate) sections from articles.
16. If people are posting negative comments about your application in favour of another, post 3 videos on youtube whining about how everything they say is opinionated. It is also a good idea to doctor screenshots to make the opponent application look like it gives games a lower framerate.
17. Be sure to add a moderator to your
MSN contacts list. Once you send him a draft of your features list he will become your
best friend, then in the unlikely event that someone posts something negative about your project, demand his comment be altered or removed.
18. If your game features weapons then be sure to model them from the side only, this way users will think your weapons are
photorealistic. Also make sure your screenshots clearly show the high polycounts from the meshsmoothing (higher polycounts means it looks better). Example: [
[/b]img]C:WindowsDesktopgun.bmp[[b]/img].
19. If your project is successful then you can create a competition, the prize of course will be a free copy of your game (this costs you nothing!). To keep suspense and to make your competition professional (like the
TGC compos) make sure you miss the deadlines at which you were supposed to announce the winners and never actually send the
prizes. However it helps to occasionally pretend that their prizes are being delivered (this keeps your topic very active and everyone happy).
20. People are often interested in the development cycle of a game as well as your personal life, it's best to create a topic relating to your girlfriend as they will instantly become
attracted to the topic (note: if you followed point 9 you will have to find a lesbian
myspace account to get pictures from, but this will get even more attention).
