When the game was launching and people were fresh and excited STG encouraged people to call stores to set up times that they could show up and demo UFS. Is anyone doing this now? Is anyone promoting the game now? is anyone handing out decks of commons for free to get people playing? Is anyone requesting that there store or a different store in the area put up posters and begin promoting OP? If your in an area that tried it and lost it's playgroup you may have a hard time, but if so try demoing in other stores, other places where the game can be seen with new eyes. With the latest rotation out of the way, a new desgner, a new publisher, and a new property to promote in Tekken, UFS has essentially reinvented itself. It's time to get motivated and starting talking about the game again.

Is anyone organized and working on this? If so, I want to hear about it. Post what you are doing to promote the game now.

weve been demoing it at our store but everyone that seems interested never sticks with it there was 2 guys a couple weeks ago that we taught how to play with the demo decks and they bought starters.....we told them to come back on sunday and wed help them build a good deck to play in the tourney that night but never showed.

The problem isnt getting people interested its getting them to stay once they start trying to play the game everyone seems to like it but for some reason we cant push it over games like magic or warhammer

i'm gonna try and be creative today. there's a huge street fighter 4 tournament today and i'm gonna bring my UFS decks there to meet up with another friend and play a couple games lol. i should have a few Street Fighter decks lying around. now if i could find my demo decks

Jtakas4, try calling FFG main HQ. They should still have demo decks about and they may be able to mail you some or your scout some.

Originally I was at the Guardtower. Beginning of the game. Players were plentiful. Rotation made people grumpy. Some started trickling out before that. I made a new store location at the Soldiery. Heroclixers started playing a bit before gmae,s then stopped Clixing and playing UFS a bit even occasionally. consistent players at the guardtower switched to play Ruto, Poke and WoW MMO. Some kiddies still said they wanted to play but they were super young, couldn't get rides there, and I couldn't get older players to show up because the kiddies had really old decks and the standard had to be legacy as a result, which they got slaughtered in when my older players showed up.

I got another store to start carrying the game. I had another night there (thursday that replaced my thursdays at the GT) that we played. I had the same playesr that I had on my other night at my other venue, plus one guy that would play one game before he left our events to play heroclix, and some other guy that occasionally showed up three times. This was during Darkstalkers set 2. Things got dicey with some of the cards, some players got disgruntled I think.. I wasn't able to do Thursdays at that store anymore, and had my hands full with my one new primary store, the Soldiery. Anniversary event showed up, had a full crowd. next week had 12 people, week after 10, week after 8, week after 7, week after 5, and now pretty much 3 every week.

I have very little free time now. Partially working on higher education, got a bit of an MMO bug, my playerbase isn't interested in promoting, and I don't blame them as more players now = less prizes, significantly for them, OR they don't have time to promote either.

I've tried anime clubs at colleges. They play only magic and only ever magic. I've tried video game tournaments... they are interested in videogames. I've tried anime conventions, they express interest and you then never hear from them again.

I enjoy promoting the game though. If I get some free time, and lose my addiction to OTHER games (I'm discovering that I like playing other games once in a while too. no not magic or any of the other big three), I can start promoting again. But I would need fliers, and demo decks, and a new venue that isn't MtG addicted. I would use my own fliers but my color printer is dead atm and I see no real good reason to get a new one, my old UFS cards I was making demo decks out of got water damaged and all the Venues in CBus OH are either already attempted with the UFS and am hesitant to repromote it there after they have booster boxes they had to discount to purge themselves of, and also, again, all stores seem to be MtG addicted and/or want cash prizes or some kind of grand tournament structure that gives scholarships and/or playmats out the wazoo, and/or electronics and tshirts and such.

Hope this was helpful to you Shoe. what have you been doing to promot the game?

Hehe, I don't actually play anymore. I just read the forums sometimes and have been noticing the game is in a great state for new players but I don't see any of the old fire to pull them in.

That's because when I request demo decks, I get like three. There are a few game stores I could drop them off at, but I don't have any. I have to use my old legacy stuff, which is a reason why I don't play legacy anymore.

I've been in a very similar situation to vermillian, working hard , creating me own posters, flyers, character cards fronted with tiny info leaflets, and demoing at three different stores, including a model shop, a comc shop (with a SF fanbase) and a card shop. Every time the same story, some interest, interest starts to wane, eventually several players becomes one or two hardcores as other games drag them away (YGO and MTG being the worst culprits). Seriously, its not for lack of fire and enthusiasm, I get players involved in their own game (like egging them on to smash me one last time!), giving out buttloads of prizes, free decks from me own collection, organising a league, the works. And whats happening now? "Can't afford it" "Sorry, practicing for YGO/MTG/bleh" or the new classic "Can't be bothered" Honestly, we had one guy turn up to the last event, the shop owner just gave him back his entry fee, I played him a few rounds, then just gave him all the prizes. I mean, I'm staying positive (one more player is one more player!) but it is tough, and I can't figure out why!

If your TCG isn't sold at Walmart / have an adult swim cartoon based on it / is the first TCG ever you're out of luck.

That's the only way some TCGs are getting any interest IMO (*cough* DBZ / battlespirits).

vermillian said:

Actually Battle Spirits is getting interest because of it's creators and the fact that it is the number 1 TCG in Japan and the fact that it has RIDICULOUS prize support.

Or At least those are the reasons I would play it if I was actually planning on getting into the game.

did FFG do anything to promote the game when the tekken videogame came out?

If i was them i would have made an advertisment to stick in the game case/instruction book so that everyone who bought the game could see and maybe have some interest in the game

Or even offer some kind of promotional card if you bought the game....yeah i know it makes a card that not everyone has access to but if its not that overpowered then i dont see it as a huge problem while the game is getting a huge promotion

I wonder how the Hell BattleSpirits is the number 1 card game in Japan, because that game is terrible.

TripsEX said:

Japan likes terrible games.

Da_ghetto_gamer said:

Tekken 6 hasn't come out yet.

October 27th is the North American release date.

Antigoth said:

oh ok i thought it had for some reason. Either way are they going to do anything like this or does anyone know?

Hopefully they won't include a box of cards with pre-orders, that aren't ever legal. That was some brilliant marketing right there.

That was a timing issue, and I want to see UFS cards packed with Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion when it comes out. If not, then FFG drops the ball again.

TripsEX said:

I'd settle for a promotional character.

at game crazy you get a metal jin card for preordering, but it's not ufs

FFG also doesn't send out staff members on store visits.

Unifiedshoe stated that STG sending out Josh Morris and Seth Morrigan was what really made the game take off for him. They handed out 20 of each character promo to his group, which is a definite plus when you want to attract a playerbase.

Jonathan Ledezma and George Hancock were sent out on the East Coast Visit, demoing to multiple stores in three or four different states. Although I was already playing UFS for the entire time it's been alive, I went to a store than Jonathan and George were visiting and they gave me and Chubbs tons of promos just for showing up.

It's odd, but people tend to take more of an interest in the game when they are actually speaking to a staff member of the company rather than just a regular player. No matter what tho, charisma has to be there. You can't half-ass your demo and expect people to jump in right away.

I guess charisma is why we were able to get so many players to play UFS in Hanover.
Nobody could resist my boyish charm and muscular physique!!!!!!!

Shaneth said:

Not available for everywhere, so not an acceptable solution.

Yeah, which is why I said "No matter what tho." You can be as charismatic as Josh Morris or Jonathan Ledezma was and rack in players the same way.

It's not available for everywhere but it does bring in new people, which is the core of demoing.

Shaneth said:

Me charismatic? Hell naw.

Sol Badguy said:

Its creators are the original Duelmasters creators yes?

And there is a HUGE list of reasons why games take off...

1.) Cartoon based on it that is already popular
2.) Wallmart sales
3.) Previously existing MMO
4.) Being the first
5.) Rediculous prize support
6.) and more

I'm a scout now, but I barely have time to run the tournaments once a week. I don't have time to do additional demos. If FFG paid me in money (instead of cards) it'd be a different matter. But with a full time job, a wedding to plan for next summer, school this winter, and a fiancee I only get to see on weekends, and a game store that's a half hour drive for me, when am I really expected to demo?

I know many folks aren't in exactly my situation, but most folks are busy. That's why I always wished STG (and now FFG) would seek out some form of advertising, or *gasp* actually start selling product in places where other people shop (such as EB, Best Buy, Target).

I'd rather not see UFS start popping up at Walmart and the like. I remember some article when UFS came out stating something along the lines of "We don't want to be something a mother picks up to make her 12 year old shut up in line." That was atleast the guist of it. The game stores and our gaming circles are the core market to promote in.