by Samantha Sims
How to build a successful gaming/game-related community
It is best to begin by determining your niche market so that you can direct your appeal towards a specific group of users. There is so much competition, in the forum-based community industry, that you may be unable to compete with 'general' game-related forums.
What markets are available?
The niche markets that are available, within the game industry, are countless. You could create a forum using PHPbb based forums or invisionfree based on: MMORPG games, specific game releases (i.e. WoW "world of warcraft", City of Heroes, Etc...), free online games, or even new and independent games that you or some friends are developing! That is what game developer Tempest Games: thetempestproject.ipbfree.com/ did for their community, and now they average a minimum of 5 new members per month. That may sound small, but it adds up. Already, they have over 100 members in their community alone.
Governments which have a regard to the common interest are constituted in accordance with strict principles of justice, and are therefore true forms; but those which regard only the interest of the rulers are all defective and perverted forms, for they are despotic, whereas a state is a community of freemen.
—Aristotle (384–322 B. C.)
Another Idea
If your community begins to die down, and you cannot find the problem, simply restart your community by deleting all threads posts etc... this will encourage new users to join as they will see it as a fresh start with newer posts. All of these posts can be done by you and this would still be just as effective of a strategy.
Other Strategies
A final and last resort strategy, would be to advertise like mad in any and all places you can. Commission Junction is a great option to use as a reliable advertiser. Give them your information, a banner, etc and they will send your ad to millions of eager users for a price. It does cost money to use this option, but it is EXTREMELY effective! You may also consider using advertisers to make money for yourself, as a publisher! Commission Junction, Clikita, and many more suit this role and will help you increase sale dramatically if you fully utilize SEO (search engine optimization). Some other networks to consider are: Text-link-ads, adbrite, and Google AdSense! Also, the new Yahoo Publisher Network and MSN Publisher Networks are a high-end alternative that, once your community gains enough traffic, can gain you tons of money.
The people needed to be rehoused, but I feel disgusted and depressed when I see how they have done it. It did not suit the planners to think how they might deal with the community, or the individuals that made up the community. All they could think was, “Sweep it away!” The bureaucrats put their heads together, and if anyone had told them, “A community is people,” they would not have known what they were on about.
—May Hobbs (b. 1938)
Final Notes
Remember, whatever you do, NEVER stop posting in your community! Once the leader stops posting, members begin losing interest and then it becomes extremely difficult to bring the community back on its feet. Always remember that if you do not post consistently, your members (and perhaps future customers) may not feel safe with your service, and may not enjoy their time. This leads to a chain of events. One members stops posting, the next few follow suit, etc... The chain continues until there are 1 or 2 remaining active members. It is a MUST to continue posting. If their is any tip I would give to a community manager, it would be for them, as a leader, to be and to remain as active as possible. If you MUST leave, post a message notifying your members that you will not be available for a little while. Also, if you can, specify the time and date at which you may return. This keeps your members/communities in your trust and keeps them interested in coming back for more.
Hope that this article has helped you, and good luck with your Gaming Community! =) The author of this article is involved with The Tempest Project team located here: [http://thetempestproject.ipbfree.com/]