The Deadly Sin That Is Marketing

I absolutely, completely and, in all other ways, utterly detest marketing. Now that the Surrounded! project is technically finished*, "all" that's left for me to do is sell it. If I can get the word out to enough Gamers-With-Taste (TM), then all will be sunny in my life and I won't have to go get a PJ (Proper Job) and I can continue making computer games.

Following is an example of the BS I've been reading while Googling for advice about marketing:

Create an excitement for your product/service.

1. Using an anonymous email address, post an article asking if anyone could recommend a good place to find "your" product/service.
2. Have a friend respond with your site as the best recommendation.
3. Have another [still creating a non-associated illusion] post that they too loved that site and speak of their experience with "your" product/service.
4. You, as the webmaster, can then go in and speak of your service/product using your real email address along with your signature.

I hate this sort of crap. And I absolutely refuse to send out spam emails. So what's left?

Well, I suppose, posting on gaming forums. Writing to games magazines (I've tried one already, with no reply let alone any acknowledgement; thanks a bunch!). Buying advertising banners (if I had the money, which I don't; I also have great doubts as to their efficacy). After that it's down to word of mouth...

And if anyone has any brainwaves for alternatives, please fire off an email to me or comment at the end of this post - thanks! :-)


* It's finished, yes, however today I began work on a ship-editor. Would be cool. All the in-game ships were plotted out on squared-paper, numbered, triangularized and indexed, then hard-coded into the game. How awesome would it be to do this via a GUI in five minutes...?! I could have hundreds of cool, complex ships to add to Grob's armada... :-D