MaynardGKrebs Posted January 20, 2013 Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 Long-time visitor, recent poster. You guys at NHL94.com ever think about expanding your social awareness into Facebook? The Tecmo Super Bowl Facebook fan page has over 14,000 fans, and it continues to grow at a rapid rate. Seems like an NHL94.com administrated Facebook page for the same game could only serve to really expand upon the general fan base that populates this forum / community site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingraph Posted January 20, 2013 Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 There is an NHL94 Facebook group! After seeing the techmo bowl documentary on NFL Films, I was shocked by how large of a fan base you guys have! So awesome. I'm seriously considering joining myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA Robbie Posted January 20, 2013 Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 I remember Halifax said to me a while back that he kept the Facebook page invite only so there wouldn't be loads of people on there who weren't really interested. Maybe a seperate Facebook page that people can just "Like" would be a good idea though? A place to put up photos, announcements & videos for the whole world to see. An error occurred You have reached your quota of positive votes for the day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 (edited) I remember Halifax said to me a while back that he kept the Facebook page invite only so there wouldn't be loads of people on there who weren't really interested. Maybe a seperate Facebook page that people can just "Like" would be a good idea though? A place to put up photos, announcements & videos for the whole world to see. I do a lot of social media work in my professional life. Don't take this as being overly critical, but I believe that privatizing your social outreach on connectivity-based communities like Facebook doesn't make a ton of sense. Believe me, I understand the want to have only the most interested be involved. But in extending your outreach by welcoming everyone, you have a greater chance to net in more people who would be very active. All it takes is for a luke warm Facebok fan to share a post you create to friends of theirs, and in those friends you might find someone willing to really commit themselves. It's a numbers by attrition game. Most of the Facebook fans on the Tecmo Super Bowl page were gained long before the NFL documentary came out. This community could only benefit by using a similar tactic, particularly with the NHL season about to commence. Definitely consider it. It's a great way to crowd source interest. The luke warm types will participate, or not; they'll do little harm to the community. Our TSB community and this NHL community are a rarity. The extent members have gone to in contemporizing this classic game is little seen elsewhere. I posted in the TSB forums asking why these two sites haven't partnered, as it seems like a no-brainer to me to cross-polinate interest. Again, nobody (that I know of) is as focused on drawing together an active community of players / ROM editors as these two sites. Edited January 20, 2013 by MaynardGKrebs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trudatman Posted January 20, 2013 Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 who made the Techmo game? Tecmo. who are they? I couldn't tell you. I can, however, tell you for certain that EA are ruthless, cutthroat, capitalist assholes willing to ruin anything fun in the names of power and profit. keeping this whole thing under the radar requires that we not attract high enough numbers to give them insentive to control it. EA knows we are here, but they also know that we aren't worth their time. we are like a failed product testing focus group. if we show success, our ROMmakers would start getting cease and decist letters from lawyers hired solely to squash our fun, claiming it cheapens their brand and steals their profits. sounds far fetched, I know, but that is EA. they don't develop, they buy production rights, tweak existing works, and sue to protect moneymakers. I would love to have this site gain the interest of more hackers, users and the likes, but attracting too many people would not be in our best interest, I promise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smozoma Posted January 20, 2013 Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 I have the same fear; EA don't have the best reputation. Does anyone know what the EA Madden communities are like for the old games? If they are big, then we should be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 (edited) who made the Techmo game? Tecmo. who are they? I couldn't tell you. I can, however, tell you for certain that EA are ruthless, cutthroat, capitalist assholes willing to ruin anything fun in the names of power and profit. keeping this whole thing under the radar requires that we not attract high enough numbers to give them insentive to control it. EA knows we are here, but they also know that we aren't worth their time. we are like a failed product testing focus group. if we show success, our ROMmakers would start getting cease and decist letters from lawyers hired solely to squash our fun, claiming it cheapens their brand and steals their profits. sounds far fetched, I know, but that is EA. they don't develop, they buy production rights, tweak existing works, and sue to protect moneymakers. I would love to have this site gain the interest of more hackers, users and the likes, but attracting too many people would not be in our best interest, I promise. I've been hacking games for a long time now. And believe me when I say, I used to take the same exact approach to this concept as you. Literally, verbatim. Every point you just said, I've said the same thing to the owner of TecmoBowl.org about pimping his site out to the world. And I agree with you completely about the separation between Tecmo and EA. It's with my background in modding and knowing peeps in the video game industry that have finally made me change my stance on this. I don't think these companies particularly care about their old IPs. And even though our TSB community has never been more popular, it's still a blip on the radar in comparison to a week's worth of traffic to modern games. Of the 14,000 Facebook fans, I'd venture to say that only 2 thousands or less actually understand what videogame emulation even is. The Facebook population is not a particularly savvy community. In the end, after much debate (and again, me taking the exact same stance on what you just said), I've decided that it's best to make the attempt, and then see what happens. I don't think EA would shut this site down no matter what. EA's various gaming IPs, particularly Madden, make them impenetrable, nearly. My evolved opinion now says, "Do it. And if they send you a C&D letter, then take action." If anything, take it as a sign of success, should it happen at all, which I personally think is unlikely. Anything else is just conjecture or theorizing, based on the fact that (yes) EA is a behemoth. Unless someone else has been shut down for doing something similar, with a similar antiquated property, you just don't know. And adversely, the benefits of trying to promote this site could be waaaay more beneficial than not doing so--simply because you think action might be taken against you. Predominately, as long as people aren't selling custom carts, you should be totally fine. The kind of press our TSB 2013 release has garnered, on huge sites across the Internet (yahoo sports, etc.) would have made me think it was only a matter of time until the NFL or the owning IP companies dropped the hammer. But the fact is, they're amused. Is EA the big bad wolf? Maybe. But why not take a shot, I say. It's gonna take years to create the kind of press your hesistations revolve around anyway, and the game is nearly two decades old. By the time you get there, you might have already tripled your community's output. Edited January 20, 2013 by MaynardGKrebs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trudatman Posted January 20, 2013 Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 (edited) I have experience with the inner workings of EA and I am active in other communities similar to this one. I know what I know and I am 81% sure that if our site tripled in size, we would incur a particularly harsh version fo the wrath of EA if we were to attempt to resist a cease and decist. EA has essentially been stripped down to executives, lawyers and overzealous hired enforcers. just believe me on this. I would love a much larger community for these classic games, but it is a very risky proposition. this isn't Techmo. this isn't even Nintendo. this is the EA corporation. plus, they are aware of the worth of these games and they do keep their trademarks active. they update the series yearly and they even hack and repackage '94 for inclusion in more recent versions. your thoughts are valid, but I very much disagree with your conclusions. Edited January 20, 2013 by trudatman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2013 Cool, cool. I'm gonna have to take a back seat to you inner knowledge of EA. Let me add, though, that I didn't mean to imply your disregarding of the cease and desist letter. Not at all. You definitely follow that should it come. But before it gets here, you'd have some good time to populate this community with new blood. I still don't think EA could necessarily keep tabs on the pulse of expansion of this site's existence like you might think. Yes, there are metrics tracking Web sites available and Google Analytics to track, but it would take time. Anyhoo, thanks for the thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halifax Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 Interesting thread. I did start the nhl94.com group and I do have it privatized mainly because I went through the group members one day and I removed about 40 profiles, that weren't even people, just made up profiles. So I just add guys as they request to be in the group. I suppose we could have a fan page to create more awareness but honestly, I think there's enough members in the leagues already. We had around 80 guys play in the fall classic league which is largest on the site. If guys want to play bad enough, they'll do a google search and find the site. The most important thing for me is welcoming new members that post on the forums and making it easy for them to start playing online. We have a few members that are great at helping out the new buds. If EA wanted to have the site shutdown, I'm sure they would've done so already. But I can't imagine they're gonna waste time and money on a site that has never and will never ask members for money. As for tecmo football, I visit tecmobowl.org occasionally, and it's a great site/forum. I've very impressed with the tecmo madison that occurs every year. Maynard, Thank you for trying to unite the clans bud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 (edited) Interesting thread. I did start the nhl94.com group and I do have it privatized mainly because I went through the group members one day and I removed about 40 profiles, that weren't even people, just made up profiles. So I just add guys as they request to be in the group. I suppose we could have a fan page to create more awareness but honestly, I think there's enough members in the leagues already. We had around 80 guys play in the fall classic league which is largest on the site. If guys want to play bad enough, they'll do a google search and find the site. The most important thing for me is welcoming new members that post on the forums and making it easy for them to start playing online. We have a few members that are great at helping out the new buds. If EA wanted to have the site shutdown, I'm sure they would've done so already. But I can't imagine they're gonna waste time and money on a site that has never and will never ask members for money. As for tecmo football, I visit tecmobowl.org occasionally, and it's a great site/forum. I've very impressed with the tecmo madison that occurs every year. Maynard, Thank you for trying to unite the clans bud. 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. Edited January 21, 2013 by MaynardGKrebs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA Robbie Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 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. Hhhhmmmmmm...................Who could they be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halifax Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 Fan page created www.facebook.com/nhl94com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 (edited) 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. Edited January 21, 2013 by MaynardGKrebs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingraph Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 Thanks for the information and suggestions! We are always looking to grow this community and utilizing Facebook sounds like a quick win. I'll definitely check out what you guys at TSB have done for some ideas we can leverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 (edited) 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! Edited January 21, 2013 by MaynardGKrebs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halifax Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 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." not sure how to change the nhl94com thing to nhl94. also i wasn't sure what else to classify it as. non-profit organization seemed to be the closest to the options provided. how to fix that bud? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halifax Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 nm...figured it out..it says nhl94 is not available Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 (edited) 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. Edited January 21, 2013 by MaynardGKrebs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefmurray Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 What up homies. I am THAT guy, the Facebook guy. MGK hit me up to show some pointers regarding social media promotion, particularly Facebook. A little about me: I am a social media director by day TSB addict by night I am developing a TSB remake - Gridiron Heroes I am also a husband and father Now, that's over with. Facebook has become about instant gratification for the end-user. They want info now. They want it displayed easily. What does that mean really? Pictures. Lots of Pictures. New ROM coming out? Post a screencap with a link in the body. New site update? Screencap. - Making more sense now? Another huge thing with FB is presence. Users will like what others like. There is little to no independence. If you really desire to grow the page, push its existence locally and get more people to like it. More to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trudatman Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 ....If EA wanted to have the site shutdown, I'm sure they would've done so already. But I can't imagine they're gonna waste time and money on a site that has never and will never ask members for money....right now it's a testing ground, a quirky fansite, a group of idea generators. step out of that box and we run a real risk. they know we are here and they have so far deemed us worth more as an active site of innovators than a defunct and disbanded set of individuals. I know we have fond memories of the company that brought us those classics, but I don't think y'all understand what EA currently is. they are very different from what they were two years ago. they were never a happy and kind organization, but they are extremely different from what they were in the early nineties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) 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. Edited January 22, 2013 by MaynardGKrebs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) right now it's a testing ground, a quirky fansite, a group of idea generators. step out of that box and we run a real risk. they know we are here and they have so far deemed us worth more as an active site of innovators than a defunct and disbanded set of individuals. I know we have fond memories of the company that brought us those classics, but I don't think y'all understand what EA currently is. they are very different from what they were two years ago. they were never a happy and kind organization, but they are extremely different from what they were in the early nineties. 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. Edited January 22, 2013 by MaynardGKrebs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halifax Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 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. Thanks...changed the status....what is link-shortening services? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingraph Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Thanks...changed the status....what is link-shortening services? I'm guessing tinyurl or something else. I'm always hesitant on those because of fear of spam, but if it's coming from a trusted source (US!), it makes sense. Also, major thanks to the TSB folks for linking to our page! https://www.facebook.com/TecmoSuperBowl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 I'm guessing tinyurl or something else. I'm always hesitant on those because of fear of spam, but if it's coming from a trusted source (US!), it makes sense. Also, major thanks to the TSB folks for linking to our page! https://www.facebook.../TecmoSuperBowl 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) 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. Edited January 22, 2013 by MaynardGKrebs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carse Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 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. Don't mind trudatman, he is the household troll. half the people here have his posts blocked so they don't have to read over his disagreeing with the popular opinion 24/7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaynardGKrebs Posted January 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) Don't mind trudatman, he is the household troll. half the people here have his posts blocked so they don't have to read over his disagreeing with the popular opinion 24/7 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. Edited January 22, 2013 by MaynardGKrebs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefmurray Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Funny that the guy so concerned with EA shutting you down deals in the repro carts - http://forum.nhl94.com/index.php?/topic/13513-nhl-94-on-carts-anyone-interested/page__st__60#entry123757 I definitely LOL'd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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