UnrealWikiPromotion

Maybe I should have put a space in name?

The purpose of this page is to hash out ideas (and track the results from said ideas) for the promotion of the UnrealWiki. This includes educational efforts.

Here is one:

Maybe someone can get QAPete to do one of his quality BU interviews or have an UnrealWiki week at BU. This would afford an opportunity educate and promote the wiki. I would suggest that it be done during a peak interest time so that it reaches the widest audience possible. A peak time would be at the release of the Bonus packs and maybe coupled with some interviews with Epic or DE guys. Those draw lots of eyeballs and as people get this game for the holidays there is going to be a surge of folks looking for resources. Somehow we also need to draw in more users from other Unreal engine games. If you've ever hung out on the forums of some of the other games like WOT or RUNE there are whole groups of people starving for info that don't realize the whole Unreal engine information connection (so to speak). Unreal has drawn in so many people from non-FPS mod backgrounds they don't even realize what is possible or how to do it. I am not saying anyone or everyone from other games is ignorant but I think the non-FPS titles have a higher proportion of people who are unfamiliar with modding but who want to do things with their games just as badly.

This promotion should cover:

What the wiki is and isn't
Why it was created
What are its advantages
The best way to make use of it
How to avoid creating problems (etiquette, downloading)
Basics of Quickstart
How it becomes more valuable the more people contribute to it
How it serves EVERY Unreal engine based game

It is important to consider when and where these types of promotions are made to reach the largest possible audience for the longest time (news items disappear from front pages pretty quickly nowdays). It is also imporatnt to consider the impact of the success of such promotions (more users, more bandwidth used, more editing, etc.).

Comments

Hopefully this page will serve as the basis to develop a promotional program for what is going to be the next huge surge of interest in the Unreal Engine with the release of so many Unreal Engine based games, especially Unreal 2. Furthermore I think we have only seen the tip of the iceberg as far as UT2003 since the holidays are yet to begin and bonus packs are in the pipeline. While I have heard grumblings (and felt them myself) over the difficulties the new editing ways entail and there is a lurking 'been-there-done-that' attitude as far as UT2003 is concerned, I still think that it is going to be huge. I know I was always more exicted about the customizing of Unreal/UT than the games themselves. I think the same will hold true here, but the newer systems are harder for the inexperienced to master than the earlier games were, so sharing our knowledge and this wiki are needed more than ever (IMHO).

So that is my piece. Feel free to add, edit, subtract so we can all see some kick ass mods. That is the whole point right? -Githianki

Great ideas. If this page is a specific promo project, can I move it so it's a subpage of Wiki Public Relations? – tarq

" forums of some of the other games like WOT or RUNE" – I've only ever found one forum for each There's a list of forum URLS on External Links I think – could you add to those please? I have a standard-ish forum posting I've spammed all over, I'll post it on the PR page so anyone can use it as a basic text to post on forums.

I guess I should have searched first. Oops. Move it wherever you think it will do the most good and refactor away. I have outlined only one project but I really meant for the page to cover all types of promotion for the UnrealWiki. Just from the title I would assume that Wiki Public Relations has broader coverage but looking it over it seems specific to this wiki. No problem though. I keep forgetting that this wiki is more focused than others and that wiki references aren't always to just wikis in general. I see by the postings there that you are well aware of the need for proper timing of promotions and the need to get the house in order before having the horde descend to devour the info. Place this however you think best, even if it means jsut deleting it and integrating the info to what is there. I'll have to wait until I get back from my trip in Dec. to get to the forum info request. I have too much to take care of already in this last week before I go. I'll put it on my to do, on my page for when I get back. I suspect that there are only one or two forums left for those games that are still active anyway. -Gith