MaynardGKrebs

^ Good stuff. And isn't it whacky? Whacky, whacky Facebook land.

Good points all.

Knobbe was practically a ghost when I first started really participating on the TecmoBowl.org forums as more than just a lurker in 2007-ish. It took some creating activity by me and others in the forums to get him back on track. It's too bad to hear the people with the editing permissions don't come around too much anymore. I wish 'those in charge' would have the foresight in their own disinterest, and hand the reigns off to someone who plans to stick around and keep the community active.

This is something that we're working on over at TecmoBowl.org, too. Staff pages would be a great addition to both sites. It's hard to know who does what and why on either site, and creating some clarity would help, we think, establish a better basis for communication to new members about whose interest is directed toward whichever specific part of the community that they oversee, so questions could be filtered through the proper channels, and etc.. Categories like Online Play, Hacking, General site information, et al. When I first landed on this page, I had no idea who owned it, or if there were moderators / staff that focused on specific aspects of the community-building here. Just a thought.

re: fan page timeline photo. I would stick a 'classic' gameplay image in there that shows off the game's graphics. When people visit the page, it'll help job their memory / nostalgia interest to see something they can identity right in the header and get excited about.

Facebook advice: do a Google search for best times when to post on Facebook. If I'm not mistaken, you can even line up posts in a queue to be released later (I may be wrong at that). At any rate, posting three fan page stories in the span of 30-minutes is not going to help as much as you might think. You gotta spread out the love. Find the times that are best, in terms of Facebook traffic for viewership. And encourage your 119 fans to share the page. If someone is handling the Facebook now, and acting as NHL94.com representative, encourage them to Like other retro game pages / NHL game pages and spread the word.

www.nba-live.com handles NBA LIVE from all generations, including 16-bit era hacks and resources.

Hi gang, I'm a big fan of trying to understand Web site traffic. These forums are usually populated with several members at any given point, but down at the bottom of the page where it lists members / guests / etc., I also see that there are usually anywhere between 75 - 125 guests visiting the forum. Is this accurate? Is there anything inflating the numbers? The reason why I ask is because of the comparison to the TecmoBowl.org forums. Usually, at any given average time, there will be 10-15 members with around 25 - 50 guests, which is a far different ratio. And I'm totally curious now, about where the guest traffic is coming from for you guys. Thanks for any insights you can provide!

This is an excellent explanation. Many thanks, Segathon! One thing I noticed from some recent postings of the very average video game fan on Facebook (The Tecmo Super Bowl fan page linked ot the new Facebook fan page of NHL94.com) is that in a series that has lived for so long, you're going to have people preferring their nostalgia from different eras of the game's lifespan across the board. The NHL series isn't Tecmo Bowl, in that Tecmo Bowl has, basically, four generations of (popular) games. The NHL and NBA EA series' have lived for over a decade, so you're going to have fans who were introduced to the different series all throughout this lifespan. From that fact, my opinion is that it will be VERY helpful in creating greater awareness of this site, by having documentation about the various differences between years in the series. You have a lot / most of that already in the form of forum discussion. So, perhaps, the task of creating this documentation is as easy as finding those conversations, and stripping them of the necessary information? Having this documentation, and readily posting it for all to see somewhere (and in your social media outlets) will go a long way in educating the general passersby as to the lead differences, pluses / minuses of each, which will not only cut down on the nonsensical arguments that I'm sure will live throughout the lifespan of this Web site, but help people get into the details of the game, and encourage them to recommit themselves to it, and by doing so, the community here.

And then Knobbe / Rod found the obvious... http://www.nba-live.com/ Um. That's a huge site. Trudatman, if the above site exists as it does, then I think NHL94.com is safe.

Hi guys. I'm MGK. I came to this forum because I talk with Knobbe, who runs / owns TecmoBowl.org all the time about how to expand outreach of the Tecmo Super Bowl universe or update Web site concepts. I'm an administrator over there. I got into re-coding ROMs in 2007, and was heavily immersed for three years. I don't have as much time these days to commit to game hacking, so I spend more of my time trying to find ways to expand the base of users. My favorite hobby now is to 'make things better.' This past weekend, I finally found some time to come over here and start a conversation about the work on the NHL series you do, which I have a lot of respect for. Our communities and mission seem very similar, so it only made sense for me to create a point of conversation and develop our efforts in symbiosis. I come in peace. Thanks for doing what you do!

Yeah, dude! I think you guys do good stuff. I'm interested to see if you can expand that into new directions.

Suggestion, in one of your upcoming posts (and every once in a while), I would direct-link to a fancy little pre-packged ROM pack (including emulator and instructions) of the NHL '94 2012 total conversation ROM. Them Facebook peeps love to have things spelled out for them, complete with coloring in the lines. And you'd have a heck of a piece of content to post on Facebook if it were a link to a download package here on the forums. Again, I'd take a look at TecmoBowl.org's 2013 ROM thread as an example. Lead them calves to water! Also, reading up on when / how often is best to update your Facebook page will be important. There's reading about this stuff all over the Internet, accessible from a Google search.

Yeah, at this stage in the game, it might be too late to switch if a commitment has been made to the current page. The "Message" button at the top of each fan page will go directly to the admin of that page, though, FYI.

Also, did you guys ever consider trying to get in-touch with the previous owners of the NHL '94 Facebook page that has nearly 2k fans, and ask if they're no longer interested in running it? And possibly transferring ownership over to you? That page has the best Facebook url, and it's sadly defunct. Just a thought. "Fans" who run pages have a tendency to think the peeps who actually generate game changes or edit ROMs are pretty terrific. There's a chance this person might have just handed over the reigns.

I don't mind him at all; I appreciate his adverse stance, actually. I'm all about discussion / debate--it's when a lot of great ideas are generated. Unrelated, I used to "get into it" with users of the TSB forums, but I stopped doing that a few years ago; if someone doesn't want to hear what I have to say, then so be it--I'm moving on regardless. I don't have a lot of time to play videogames anymore, but that's not to say I still don't appreciate the hell out of the development side of ideas and community awareness in things I THINK are cool, even though I don't have the time for them.

Tidbit, Dave says it's a bad idea to use link shorteners in Facebook with Photo posts. I'm guessing that means use them exclusively with status updates, or not at all. Again, I've been out of it for the past year+ int he metrics game regarding best practices of these little details, so I'll defer to Dave.

Totally. Peeps will trust your short link if it's created by the admin of the Facebook page itself. Here's some info. http://searchengineland.com/analysis-which-url-shortening-service-should-you-use-17204 I'm a little outdated as to which service is currently best (possibly not even listed in the link), since I haven't had a project requiring my using said service in a year or so. Dave might have an opinion on this.

Again, dude. I mean no disrespect. I believe your opinions are well-written and well-intentioned. But the majority of what your writing is conjecture. MVPmods.com is a fine example of EA sitting out. Until you have the metrics to back it up your stance, it's an educated guess predicated from a fearful mentality. Again, I say that with all due respect, particularly as someone who would have sided with your stance a few years ago. It is highly unlikely that if a wave of effort goes to further the expansion of awareness into this small gaming community, that EA is going to shut it down, one-and-done-style.

You can change the Facebook 'non-for-profit' status to 'games/toy' by editing your page. Top right corner. 'Edit page' ---> 'Update Info.' Also, you guys might want to look into link-shortening services.

I'm pretty sure it was this: http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/nhl-95 I might have upgraded my system to Windows 95 at that point. I'm not entirely sure. Can't remember--been so long. Funny, I can remember playing games on my Commodore 64 more than I can remember ever using Window 3.1.

I've spoken to Dave, our Facebook page admin about dropping by here to lend his opinions. Hopefully, he'll swing by and throw some suggestions this way. I have a background in Facebook promotion, as well, but I figured it makes sense for Dave to come, say hello, and drop some quick science on Facebook promotional developments. He's good as gold, and I think can help point suggestions in the right direction. You guys here are clearly capable of handling everything. Facebook categorization of Fan page. URL ideas. Best times to post content. Best practices. Etc.

I don't have as much time to spend hacking TSB these days, so I've shifted my efforts towards concepts like this--helping create awareness and expansion to properties that I think are worth it. And you guys have done some bang-up s**t over here. Knobbe is a big fan of this site, and so am I. I'm glad to help, believe me. And organizing outreach / generating ideas towards building on a property's awareness is what I enjoy. My pleasure!

Very cool. My recommendation is to try to make your Facebook url NHL94, as opposed to NHL94com, as Facebook searches will make it more difficult to pop up with the "com" addition. Also, categorizing it as a non-profit is a good disclaimer in a sense, but that too, will make finding the page more difficult. As I see it, there is another NHL94 Fan page, with over about two-thousand fans. It doesn't look to be utilized much. Their Facebook url is NHL1994, though, so that leaves you with "NHL94." You can push people to the .com site and this forum once they find the Facebook group. But realize that a good portion of the Facebook population that will eventually be fans of the NHL94 page are going to primarily stay on the Facebook page. It, essentially, becomes a portal to NHL94 content, as created here. Then I recommend to populate that Fan page with some content! I'm sure there enough images that have been created here, videos and whatnot to last months and months, in addition to new stuff that gets pumped out. Dave handles the Tecmo Super Bowl Fan page pretty well if you're looking for some inspiration in what draws attention / keeps people conversing. I created a graphic of Tecmo Tim Tebow Tebow-ing last year (I 'hate' Tim Tebow, btw), and it was picked up by major online media outlets. Dave made a spoof image of the college football girlfriend scandle going on right now, and that blew up, too. It's a fun game in a way to keep a pulse on cross-over interest like this. A subtle blend between contemporary pop-culture references linked with the game, stock footage of old school stuff, and new developments in hacks seem to really energize a crowd. Anyway, bla bla. Love it, though.

It's not just about members to play in tournaments online, though. These members have the passion to create their own live tournaments, once they realize communities like this exist. Again, let me stress that as it stands the Facebook population isn't, generally, as adept as we all are in searching out content that interests us. Some of them have to be lead to water. And Google searches don't fulfill that need. Some of these people haven't had the itch to check up on their nostalgic interest because they've never thought to. But once they do, you'd be surprised in their commitment to re-activate their participation. Lots of the old game players have become programmers of one variety or other, which means there might be people out there to make new hacks, new editing programs, and etc.. Really, the possibilities are endless. Check out the TSB Facebook page sometime and do some looking at who finds out for the first time that customized TSB ROMs actually exist. It's, literally, 90% of them. What I've realized is that people don't search for nostalgia that isn't a part of their daily lives. But using social networks, friends can help remind them by sharing a post, video, tournament notice, etc.. Even though emulation has been around since the early 90s, most of the people who fit into the demographic in these social networks, specifically, that would be interested by this stuff (old school retro videogames that have been updated) are in their late 20s, 30s, or even 40s. They have kids, jobs, and aren't exploring what's going on with that beloved videogame from yesteryear. Again, I've spent a lot of time with this research. Some of the ROM updates you guys have going around here would really blow old school gaming fans' minds. And hockey fans are some of the most die-hard fans going. I live in Boston, believe me, I get it. People think this is a baseball town, and sure enough it is, but not-so-secretly, under the surface are a bunch of beer-swilling, hockey-loving maniacs that truly run this town's sports authority. Personally, I think it's worth the effort. I'm sure Dave (guy who runs the Facebook TSB page) would be happy to help cross-promote, considering most of us admins over at tb-org have a lot of respect for this site and the work you guys have done on it. I'm all about uniting these clans. I think the same extent of craftsmanship and effort is put into turning out contemporary ROMs as is some of the work over in the TSB community. There aren't many 8-bit or 16-bit (retro) era sports gaming sites out there that do what we do. To me, it makes sense to push traffic towards one another, especially since they both deal with completely separate sports genres. That's my take, anyhow. Thanks for reading. Part of my 'job' over at TecmoBowl.org (other than editing the ROM for yearly release), is to throw ideas of expansion and polishing at the guy who runs the show over there, Knobbe. My ideas come from my professional life in media and technological outreach. I spend most of my personal time acting in, directing and producing theatre in Boston, so I'm constantly tuning myself into gorilla marketing techniques--it's what I get off on, publicizing shows and events (i.e., products). I think between these two communities, really anything is possible. I'll even go so far as to say that even some of the personalities on this board mirror the contributors over at TecmoBowl.org. You have the classic know-it-alls, the quiet but resourceful hackers, the casual admins trying to keep the peace; it's actually pretty hilarious. Reading some of the threads that I have in the past few days has made me think this is, like, some bizarro world counterpart to our own TSB forums.