Someone with the nick "m-a" posted this well-thought-out advice on the ITS forums:
Beforehand
TLDR:
Use comment sections and forums for the promotion.
Do not be a fanboy advertiser, though.
One thing important in coverage of the games are the comments, corrections and answers to people. I usually just skip plain promo speeches in forums, but often I stick to comments and real conversation about the game. That's why a good forum thread in let's say RockPaperShotgun site is good promotion. An I don't mean silly question answer thread from just registered posters, but real conversation. Pros and cons. Also praise, the game deserves it.
Perhaps even more importantly, in the comments section you usually find pretty good knowledge/critique about the game. That's the good place to promote the game. Often the comments section's critique can go off, like in Rockpapershotgun's article's case. Guy there complained that it sucks how the combat's so difficult that you cannot do anything cool about it. Soon 3 good, explaining and pretty polite answers arrived. Here:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/10/15/the-age-of-decadence-released/#comments
One thing to keep in mind is that most often people have valid critcism about games as well - do not attack them with fanboy rage or "you're just not good/smart enough". I remember comments in RPS or PC gamer about Dead State criticizing the game for valid reasons and an angry fanboy attacking the naysayers for "just hating indie devs". Don't do that - it does not help anything and proves you a very biased and untrustworthy person and therefore strenghtening the opposite view's claims.
One thing that many people will not like about AoD is that it can be hard and dividing XP is often too hard. Do not blame them or attack them - tell them what can they do or where to get information about good character builds.
These are also very important in my mind when speaking about/promoting/defending the game. Goes for official promotion about the game as well.
1. Make it clear that different builds and backgrounds play very differently. If you would not know anything about the game and heard that you can run it through fast (speaker trader, for example), would that sound good or bad? To most, bad. Therefore:
2. Make it clear the game is designed with replays in mind. Your charisma+speech master walked the game through fast? Try understanding the lore of the game next. Try fighting next. Try both next.
3. The combat isn't that hard when you have a fighter build. Really. That is where the official info goes a bit off in my mind, since you emphasize the part that combat is hard in order to fights to be meaningful. It isn't when you have a combat build.
Hard? Hybrid builds. And what is that most newbies most likely try? Hybrid builds. -> problem.
I'd say in Fallouts most people wanted their characters to win fights and also to do something else (speak, pick locks, etc.). In AoD it is fucking hard compared to most games. That needs to be addressed. Therefore tell that:
4. You can't be good in many things. Keep it simple, stupid. Someone want's a fighter, they need to make a
Fighter. Tell them that. Most expect RPGs to be like Fallouts where in the end you can max your skills in many fields. In AoD, that's not the case. Therefore the replay value is crucial information. Well, most likely Vahhabyte or others with over half thousand hours of playing time can min/max even their hybrid characters to be very effective. Most people do not. Most people without good knowldge don't go through Teron if they don't understand the idea of the game. Then they gice the game bad publicity.
Also, a good character guide in wiki would be great. Forums aren't as welcoming place to come get infromation. For example Dwarf Fortress:
http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/ - Game site -> Forum -> Uhh -> Gameplay questions -> Ohh shitt, details details details, lots of text in not-so-readable form uuugh I want away (well, ok, there are sticky threads with gameplay videos as well)
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/ Orange highlighted "new to Dwarf Fortress" -> Quickstart guide (well, ok shitload of text but in much more readable and better divided wiki-form). Therefore:
5. Make a good wiki. Of course background information is great but even more important is to undesrtand how to play the game. What skills should I need, can I make a fighter with low STR, what is most important in combat builds..?
Bonus. This goes expecially to the devs out there. Vince. Do not put so fucking much emphasis on how hard and niche the game is supposed to be!. Say how it's playable and enjoyable! Crusader Kings II has a very steep learning curve. People usually don't speak about that the first thing they speak about the game. They speak about the experiences and good time. Of course, a sandbox strategy is a different approach than a very scripted CRPG but still.
Often the Vince-talk about the game is like going to a date and listing only about your bad qualities, which are truthful. We all have those and some have more than others, but it does not mean there couldn't be good things happening to speak about and excellent qualities in us as well! Speaking about strenghts is not the same thing as lying.
