One challenge that every competitive gamer faces is how to demonstrate their skills and talents in order to network with other more established and experienced gamers. Players want to meet the best players and want to get their attention. In short, new players want to get known.
Read more after the jump!
Assuming that you have taken the steps to get a capture card, join a community, and perhaps started looking for a team, you still must understand how to get the attention of experienced gamers. I want to share a few pointers that will help speed up the process by which people come to easily recognize your name. This process includes creating personal montages, posting on forums and adding people to your friends lists (Xbox Live, steam, in-game, etc.).
For the purpose of this discussion, I'm going to assume that you have your capture card working and you have installed software that will allow you to edit the footage that you have captured. A few important things to remember when editing your montages:
* Focus on your strengths: As an example, let's say you're a great sniper. Be sure that you include numerous examples of difficult sniper shots (target in cover, target moving quickly, etc.).
* Make it organized and specific: For example, put all of your headshots together. If you're going to highlight how you move or communicate, make sure that it is very clear as to what makes this footage special. Don't be afraid to use voiceover to make sure your audience does not miss why you are proud of this particular segment of gameplay.
* Keep it short: There are many, many montages in existence today. If I were a hunter, and I was killing dozens of montages every day, believe you me, montages are not at risk of extinction. Your audience has probably seen dozens of these montages. Make it interesting, to the point and keep it short. Think of it as an audition tape. Make it short and focused so that the viewer can immediately identify your best skills.
Forum Posts
Just like montages are used to demonstrate your gameplay, forum postings are designed to demonstrate your knowledge about the game and showcase your personality. Do not be afraid to ask questions and offer polite advice related to the games you play, as well as, and I really mean this, show people you can have fun. Demonstrate your intelligence and sense of humor. People want to team with people they like. Always write your forum posts thinking that a future teammate could be reading and deciding whether or not to team with you (or practice with you).
Are you a gamer, a bot or a stalker?
Friend Requests
Never send random friend requests with no explanations. A polite message introducing who you are and why you sent the friend request is critical. Many players will reject friend requests because they get them from random people all the time. Take the time to introduce yourself, and you will increase your chances of meeting new players.
Something often overlooked by players is keeping in contact with the people who already are on their friends list. If you're looking for a team or need a player for your team, politely let people know what you need and also ask them to spread the word for you. Again, don't blindly spam your friends list, but pick and choose the people who would be interested or are in a position to help you.
If you take the time to do these three simple things, you will stand out from gamers who make terrible montages, troll forums with inflammatory and derogatory posts and send random friend requests. These simple steps will do more to help you get known because the often anonymous world of online gaming is filled with some of the worst behavior, and by taking just a little bit of time to demonstrate maturity and professionalism, you will quickly earn the respect of people who will be willing to evaluate your skills and help you develop your game.
Read more after the jump!
Assuming that you have taken the steps to get a capture card, join a community, and perhaps started looking for a team, you still must understand how to get the attention of experienced gamers. I want to share a few pointers that will help speed up the process by which people come to easily recognize your name. This process includes creating personal montages, posting on forums and adding people to your friends lists (Xbox Live, steam, in-game, etc.).
For the purpose of this discussion, I'm going to assume that you have your capture card working and you have installed software that will allow you to edit the footage that you have captured. A few important things to remember when editing your montages:
* Focus on your strengths: As an example, let's say you're a great sniper. Be sure that you include numerous examples of difficult sniper shots (target in cover, target moving quickly, etc.).
* Make it organized and specific: For example, put all of your headshots together. If you're going to highlight how you move or communicate, make sure that it is very clear as to what makes this footage special. Don't be afraid to use voiceover to make sure your audience does not miss why you are proud of this particular segment of gameplay.
* Keep it short: There are many, many montages in existence today. If I were a hunter, and I was killing dozens of montages every day, believe you me, montages are not at risk of extinction. Your audience has probably seen dozens of these montages. Make it interesting, to the point and keep it short. Think of it as an audition tape. Make it short and focused so that the viewer can immediately identify your best skills.
Forum Posts
Just like montages are used to demonstrate your gameplay, forum postings are designed to demonstrate your knowledge about the game and showcase your personality. Do not be afraid to ask questions and offer polite advice related to the games you play, as well as, and I really mean this, show people you can have fun. Demonstrate your intelligence and sense of humor. People want to team with people they like. Always write your forum posts thinking that a future teammate could be reading and deciding whether or not to team with you (or practice with you).
Are you a gamer, a bot or a stalker?
Friend Requests
Never send random friend requests with no explanations. A polite message introducing who you are and why you sent the friend request is critical. Many players will reject friend requests because they get them from random people all the time. Take the time to introduce yourself, and you will increase your chances of meeting new players.
Something often overlooked by players is keeping in contact with the people who already are on their friends list. If you're looking for a team or need a player for your team, politely let people know what you need and also ask them to spread the word for you. Again, don't blindly spam your friends list, but pick and choose the people who would be interested or are in a position to help you.
If you take the time to do these three simple things, you will stand out from gamers who make terrible montages, troll forums with inflammatory and derogatory posts and send random friend requests. These simple steps will do more to help you get known because the often anonymous world of online gaming is filled with some of the worst behavior, and by taking just a little bit of time to demonstrate maturity and professionalism, you will quickly earn the respect of people who will be willing to evaluate your skills and help you develop your game.
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