RPG Evolution: How to Fan

Buying your favorite game designer's products is a good start, but there's other ways you can help.

Picture courtesy of Unsplash.​

Review a Product​

The most direct means of helping a creator is writing a review of their product. This can range from simply rating a product by giving it a score to writing a full review. If the creator gave you a product to review, you should be sure to disclose it.

Become a Fan​

Following a creator on their various platforms helps a lot, and in some cases have real consequences. Both YouTube and Facebook pages allow the creator to customize their URLs. For Facebook that's 25 fans and for YouTube it's over 100 subscribers. Early fandom engagement with these platforms is critical to success, so simply following the creator can make a big difference.

Subscribe​

It's one thing to be a fan with a casual like, it's another to sign up for a subscription. Subscribing to a creator on Patreon, participating in a Kickstarter, or purchasing a subscription box all matters. These subscriptions matter even more when creators are just starting out, as more numbers encourage more subscribers.

Spread the Word​

Social media algorithms look for three attributes: recency, relatability, and frequency. It's important that any creator publish social media frequently that's native to the platform (and is therefore recent and frequent), but it's equally important that people find it relatable. That's demonstrated with views, likes, and other engagements like shares. Liking content is good, but sharing content is better because it provides legitimacy to the content. Your share can go a long way to ensure a creator's post is seen by other future customers.

Send Them a Note​

Creators can often face a crushing uphill battle in getting noticed on the Internet, and when they do, negative reviews and other Internet churn can be really demotivating. Want to support a creator? Tell them how much you value their work. A simple note in whatever format you choose can go a long way to bolster a creator's spirits and keep them producing the content you love.

Your Turn: How do you support your favorite game creators?

 

[Morrus]

Creators can often face a crushing uphill battle in getting noticed on the Internet, and when they do, negative reviews and other Internet churn can be really demotivating. Want to support a creator? Tell them how much you value their work. A simple note in whatever format you choose can go a long way to bolster a creator's spirits and keep them producing the content you love.

As a creator I can attest to this -- these infrequent comments can completely turn a day around. We live in a world where negative commentary rises to the top, so if you do like a creator's work, please do spare a moment to tell them. It will mean the world to them.

 

[JohnF]

And please don’t turn on a creator when their work or delivery evolves and, for whatever reason, you are no longer a fan.

For example, some creators start off as fans themselves — they freely share quality content with folks as they engage in the hobby, gaining a bit of a fan base of their own. When they begin to make more quality content but for pay, it’s pretty awful to call them “sell outs” and the like.

Or for the ones who were always making a profit and you were down with them up until a certain point, it’s better to understand their actual intentions than to make assumptions and comment accordingly.

 

[Morrus]

For example, some creators start off as fans themselves — they freely share quality content with folks as they engage in the hobby, gaining a bit of a fan base of their own. When they begin to make more quality content but for pay, it’s pretty awful to call them “sell outs” and the like.

Yeah, that's just toxic. I got a lot of that when I tried to make EN World my day job. In fact, I'd say it was part of why it happened so slowly.

 

[aco175]

I find it poor taste when people leave feedback on a site and bash the creator or product when delivery was the problem and the package came opened or ran over. I can see people having a problem, but take it out in the right place.

 

[mykediemart]

I find it poor taste when people leave feedback on a site and bash the creator or product when delivery was the problem and the package came opened or ran over. I can see people having a problem, but take it out in the right place.

100% That's not feedback on the product but how a 3rd party delivered it. I read reviews to see if the product is for me. Not if UPS was lacking.
Also give a fair review of the product that you used or played.