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How to Bring a Bracket to Life, Part 2
In the previous article, we discussed how to prep a bracket for launch by assessing the foundation of the bracket, and providing information resources for players. Now, let's turn to the process actually launching a bracket by establishing, marketing, and sustaining bracket activity.
II. Launching the Bracket
1. Establish activity with a live roster of interested players and a timeline. Create a forum thread in the WoW battleground forums that talks briefly about the growing interest in the bracket, and links the information resources available to interested players. Then start a small list of characters "ready" for games (headlined with the phrase "updated on month, day"), and ask other players to post when they too are ready. As the list grows, so will player interest. Keep at least a daily watch on the forums for posts that let you add names to the list -- quick list additions shows liveliness and a greater likelihood of success.
When do you change the forum thread from "interested players", to making it an official launch countdown thread? When you get close to 50% more players than you would need for your activity. Want to start a fresh bracket with 3v3 arenas? Make sure you have 9 players committed before choosing a launch day, because something will happen that keeps 2 or 3 of them from showing up. Looking for that first Warsong Gulch? Make sure you have close to 15 players committed per faction, because a few on each side simply won't make it. Launch days are "prove it to the world" days, and if you want to inspire players with success, don't tempt yourself with starting too early before enough players commit.
On its own, establishing and maintaining a live roster empowered both 29s and 39s to relaunch their brackets at the new year, taking only two weeks to do so in both cases. 59s attempted to muster their numbers through the later half of last year with just a roster, but weren't able to gather enough players. A live roster makes for a powerful tool to generate interest, but it works best in conjunction with other techniques to get a bracket underway.
2. Market the bracket in forums. When the no-XP patch landed and many brackets died out, dedicated players attempted to revive their brackets. Not by accident, the most frequent and constructive posts in the forums made the greatest impact as to which brackets set up shop in certain battlegroups. 49s were dormant for a couple of months with a few loose attempts at reviving, but saw no success until they started a thread in the Ruin battlegroup that set up a one week timeline. Then, every day, they updated the thread with stirring posts, making a big deal out of "the day 49s return". After four days of beating the drum, the thread gained momentum as more players took notice, and by the sixth day, players were abuzz with whether or not 49s were actually going to pull off a comeback. On launch day, 49s kept the thread bumped to the top of the forum with their enthusiasm, and that night, the bracket came back to life with its first no-XP pop of 2010. While 49s had the numbers they needed to get games weeks before, they needed a sustained ramping up toward a launch day to organize and coordinate interested players.
Working in the forums can be tricky business, as trolls and naysayers do appear. When marketing a bracket, don't compete and don't counter. Talking trash about other brackets is a quick way to sour player interest in your own bracket, as many players enjoy multiple brackets, and it makes you look petty. Instead, show respect for what another bracket offers, and then use that as a launchpad to talk about what will interest players in your bracket. Likewise, when a player posts about how much your bracket sucks, invite them to return to a bracket that suits them better and return the conversation to why several players enjoy the bracket you promote. During the 49 ramp-up, a couple of 39s posted in the 49 thread about how the bracket should stay dead, and how players should instead support the lively, thriving 39 bracket. The very next posts in the thread acknowledged the success of the 39s, and then transitioned back to what interested 49s, defusing the issue before it had a chance to poison the thread.
3. Sustain the launch until you reach three consecutive successful weeks of games. The work of launching a bracket doesn't end with the first battleground pop. A bracket needs three consistent weeks of games for players to see that the bracket can last and grow. As the number of players increase, lead the forum input for a second game night to start on the other side of the week. At the beginning of 2010, 49s chose to launch on a Thursday because 59s played on Wednesdays and Sundays, and 29s were talking about launching on Tuesdays (19s and 39s already played every day). After their successful Thursday launch, 49s designated Monday as their second game night, which meant games were only a couple of days away at almost any point in the week. When 49s expanded to a third day, they chose Saturdays to have a weekend day and to include more international players. Likewise, 39s launched in 2012 on Wednesdays, with clear plans for including Fridays and Mondays after games got going. 39s minimized overlap with other scheduled brackets, made a weekend night available, and spaced out game nights to maintain player interest. Having a growth plan helps your bracket manage its success, and gives players a vision they can support. And just like with your launch day, be patient with bracket growth. If it takes a month to go past one day a week, so be it.
You can do several things to increase interest and activity in a bracket, but not all activities help. Beware of sabotaging your own efforts, and consider the following ways to make the most of your time and energy.
Networking makes the biggest impact in a bracket. When pressed, players often care less about the features of a particular bracket, and care more about who they play with (and against). When a twinker talks about how much they love a bracket, the first thing they'll tell you is who they ran with, or who they blew up. Promoting a bracket means promoting opportunities for players to interact. Establishing and growing a bracket is a lot like establishing and growing a guild.
Sponsoring players with gear and gold to roll up a new character in your bracket typically won't help the bracket, because these players don't invest in the bracket. Unless the player is a returning veteran or a friend, sponsored twinkers often leave. Take a look at the longtime players of a given bracket, and see what percentage of them got sponsored. Very little. Spend your time and resources on a better approach.
Understand the difference between doing things for twinkers vs. doing things with twinkers. Leveling by yourself is boring, and having someone give you dungeon runs is also boring. Want to get a couple of players to roll up a character for your bracket? Roll up a new twinker with them. Three twinks blitzing instances and freaking out the other two random dungeon finder players with ridiculous, skilled mob pulls makes leveling a lot more fun. Getting into the tough, upper part of leveling a gathering profession? Aggro mobs on your twink while the other two steal away with the ore or herb. Even using your main to help a couple of twinkers get some gear at the same time builds a bond -- you all did the work together, and soon you'll coordinate on the battlefield together.
Launching a bracket involves much more than just picking a day and telling everyone to show up. Starting with the foundation of understanding your bracket and providing some information resources, launching a bracket takes a good bit of sustained effort and management to keep track of player interest, to promote the bracket, and to constructively guide the bracket's growth. The final article in this series will discuss how to transition a successfully growing bracket to a much larger, thriving twinker community.
In the previous article, we discussed how to prep a bracket for launch by assessing the foundation of the bracket, and providing information resources for players. Now, let's turn to the process actually launching a bracket by establishing, marketing, and sustaining bracket activity.
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| I.e. "getting attention in three easy steps." |
1. Establish activity with a live roster of interested players and a timeline. Create a forum thread in the WoW battleground forums that talks briefly about the growing interest in the bracket, and links the information resources available to interested players. Then start a small list of characters "ready" for games (headlined with the phrase "updated on month, day"), and ask other players to post when they too are ready. As the list grows, so will player interest. Keep at least a daily watch on the forums for posts that let you add names to the list -- quick list additions shows liveliness and a greater likelihood of success.
When do you change the forum thread from "interested players", to making it an official launch countdown thread? When you get close to 50% more players than you would need for your activity. Want to start a fresh bracket with 3v3 arenas? Make sure you have 9 players committed before choosing a launch day, because something will happen that keeps 2 or 3 of them from showing up. Looking for that first Warsong Gulch? Make sure you have close to 15 players committed per faction, because a few on each side simply won't make it. Launch days are "prove it to the world" days, and if you want to inspire players with success, don't tempt yourself with starting too early before enough players commit.
On its own, establishing and maintaining a live roster empowered both 29s and 39s to relaunch their brackets at the new year, taking only two weeks to do so in both cases. 59s attempted to muster their numbers through the later half of last year with just a roster, but weren't able to gather enough players. A live roster makes for a powerful tool to generate interest, but it works best in conjunction with other techniques to get a bracket underway.
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| Screenshot from the first (?) 49 XP-off battleground on January 28, 2010. (Image credit: Adversity) |
Working in the forums can be tricky business, as trolls and naysayers do appear. When marketing a bracket, don't compete and don't counter. Talking trash about other brackets is a quick way to sour player interest in your own bracket, as many players enjoy multiple brackets, and it makes you look petty. Instead, show respect for what another bracket offers, and then use that as a launchpad to talk about what will interest players in your bracket. Likewise, when a player posts about how much your bracket sucks, invite them to return to a bracket that suits them better and return the conversation to why several players enjoy the bracket you promote. During the 49 ramp-up, a couple of 39s posted in the 49 thread about how the bracket should stay dead, and how players should instead support the lively, thriving 39 bracket. The very next posts in the thread acknowledged the success of the 39s, and then transitioned back to what interested 49s, defusing the issue before it had a chance to poison the thread.
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You can do several things to increase interest and activity in a bracket, but not all activities help. Beware of sabotaging your own efforts, and consider the following ways to make the most of your time and energy.
Networking makes the biggest impact in a bracket. When pressed, players often care less about the features of a particular bracket, and care more about who they play with (and against). When a twinker talks about how much they love a bracket, the first thing they'll tell you is who they ran with, or who they blew up. Promoting a bracket means promoting opportunities for players to interact. Establishing and growing a bracket is a lot like establishing and growing a guild.
Sponsoring players with gear and gold to roll up a new character in your bracket typically won't help the bracket, because these players don't invest in the bracket. Unless the player is a returning veteran or a friend, sponsored twinkers often leave. Take a look at the longtime players of a given bracket, and see what percentage of them got sponsored. Very little. Spend your time and resources on a better approach.
Understand the difference between doing things for twinkers vs. doing things with twinkers. Leveling by yourself is boring, and having someone give you dungeon runs is also boring. Want to get a couple of players to roll up a character for your bracket? Roll up a new twinker with them. Three twinks blitzing instances and freaking out the other two random dungeon finder players with ridiculous, skilled mob pulls makes leveling a lot more fun. Getting into the tough, upper part of leveling a gathering profession? Aggro mobs on your twink while the other two steal away with the ore or herb. Even using your main to help a couple of twinkers get some gear at the same time builds a bond -- you all did the work together, and soon you'll coordinate on the battlefield together.
Launching a bracket involves much more than just picking a day and telling everyone to show up. Starting with the foundation of understanding your bracket and providing some information resources, launching a bracket takes a good bit of sustained effort and management to keep track of player interest, to promote the bracket, and to constructively guide the bracket's growth. The final article in this series will discuss how to transition a successfully growing bracket to a much larger, thriving twinker community.
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