Fan Suggestions for Devs

This post is intended for indie game developers and is written from the prospective of the fan. Any mid-size or larger indie game project may benefit, smaller projects might not see a need for it.

Read more after the jump!

If there's one thing I appreciate when I get interested in an indie game, it's community building. This doesn't mean you need to be on Twitter (though that helps) or Facebook, nor does it mean you need to have a forum. What it does mean is that you should be responsive.

Set up an automatic Google Alert for your project. You need to know when people are talking about your game on their favorite forums so that you can register and answer questions. This builds hype in your project, but more importantly it builds good will. Gamers appreciate that you've taken the time to find them and interact with them on their home turf. Set one up for free.

Don't act like a huge corporation. Talk to your potential customers as equals. Encourage feedback, accept criticisms without melting down, and never let yourself fall into the "corporate drone" monologues. Every good game creator is a game player. That's your common ground. Don't try to be Sony or EA when you communicate with people. As Han Solo would say, "fly casual."

Don't over-promise. Many indie fans are very forgiving and understanding of your plight when things don't go well. Maybe you miss a release date, or maybe you can't deliver a feature that you absolutely thought you could. No matter how careful you are, someone (or several someones) are going to have issues with how you react to these things. Remain calm, polite, and apologetic, even if they don't deserve it and act like assholes. This goes back to generating good will with everyone else.

Live patch notes are a good thing. Post-release support is expected, and adding features along with bug fixes is going to go a long towards keeping interest in your project high. A great way to build hype and understanding in what you're doing is to post (in an obvious place) a pseudo-real-time list of changes for the next release. Every time you fix a bug or finish writing a feature, update the list. Your fans will love it.