Rebranding Gamers' Plane?

The name Gamers' Plane is old at this point... I created it years ago, and needless to say, I'm not a very creative person. It took a while to come up with the name, and that was back at a different time (hell, in web development, 6 months is a long time).

I was talking with some family friends yesterday about marketing, what I can do to improve GP, and one of them verbalized something I've been considering for a long time: the name. If you think about what other sites in this same market are called (Roll20, City of Brass, etc), Gamers' Plane is rather uninspired and on the nose. I feel like it's ok, but not really great, lasting, memorable.

What do you think? If you think about the name Gamers' Plane critically, does you really like it? Your honest opinion won't offend me, so don't worry about that. Any thoughts to another name?

The name is a little mundane but certainly not bad. Its biggest advantage is simplicity. It is straight to the point. While roll20 is fairly straight forward I wouldn't know what City of Brass is without looking into it. Being a business owner myself I know two key things about marketing.

A: Customers prefer simplicity over creativity, they want to know what they are getting more than they care about semantics.

B: Never change the name of your business. Its like starting over completely. All previous marketing is lost, because no matter how much you try most people will miss the memo about the change.

Well, I disagree about never changing the name of a business; the thing about GP is right now, its not very well known, but the people who are here don't care about the name. If I'm going to rebrand, its better to do so now, when branding is just getting going, rather than later.

Never is perhaps a strong word, but without good reason is usually an accepted truth. I am not sure there is a good enough reason to change the name. I do agree though that now would be the time since GP is still a small fish in the ocean that it is the internet. My biggest thing is you just handed out business cards and shirts. Been posting as GP for years, change it now and its like starting over. Just my 2 cents. Plus as stated in the past, I am all about function over form...Gamers' Plane suits that mentality.

Aye, I appreciate the feedback. And yah, I've handed out business cards, but maybe a few hundred, most of those, as far as I know, haven't been acted on. As for the shirts, those haven't been handed out yet. I have been posting as GP for years, but I don't think the transition would be too crazy.

To me "Gamer's Plane" doesn't tell me what the site is about other than it has something to do with games. "RollD20" is obvious, even "City of Brass" has a fantasy feel to it (although it's still not really obvious what it's about). How about leaving the "Gamers' Plane" as a tag line to whatever new name you choose? Something like (only with good names, not the crap I'm coming up with)

"Slay the Dragon - A Gamers' Plane Website" or "Roll for Initiative - Brought to you by Gamers' Plane"

Not a bad thought. I do feel Gamers' Plane at least tells you its a place for gamers of all kinds. Really having a fantasy vibe here would be pointless since the site is about games beyond RPGs and not all RPGs are fantasy anyway. I do feel Gamers' Plane tells you more than City of Brass does, Again though I do like your thought of using it as a tag line or something if a new name is chosen.

I think if you do a re-branding you'll want the new name to reflect the core nature of the site - which is probably the Play-By-Post games. Since there are many different systems you could go about this two ways I feel.

You could use a name that reflects how many systems are available to play -or- you could use a name that shows the core concept for the site off.

I think of something like BoardGameGeek which has a sort of straight forward name about the sites intent, but doesn't really tell you what it does. Something you do have is a name that can be shortened easily, GamersPlane becomes GP which is useful to some people. We like things that aren't a mouthful.

Some thoughts that come to my mind would be like "Play By Post Empire (PxP Empire)", "MultiVerse Gaming" (MvG), Post-ocalypse, Posting Playground, PC Haven, Game Masters Gambit....
Just some random thoughts in directions you could go with it.

Two domains I just bought:

allthedice.com
rollonthetable.com

While not exactly bad names, I'm pretty lukewarm about them. While it is indicative of tabletop gaming, I don't feel they represent the site's focus on play by post...

Make it obvious. postRPG.com. tabletop-forums.com. playbypost.com. I like GP but the only way to improve is make it the go-to thing by naming it AS the thing

While I agree, that might be a bit too straight forward or generic.

Look at sites like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, YouTube, Netflix... I just looked at a list of the most veiwed websites for 2014, and fairly disproportionate amount of them are 2-syllable names. The only not 2-syllable name on the top 10 is Wikipedia.
Now this doesn't mean we need a site that's only got a 2 syllables of course, but it's definitely a trend to keep an eye on. People notice little things like that, even if they don't realize it.

Gotta get something catchy. You could also always use the meta of course.

GamePage? :P

Yeah, but that's close enough to GamersPlane to not bother changing it for I think :P

I vote for keeping it as is. I like the name Gamers Plane. It's unique and tells me it has to do with gaming. Is the name a problem or are you just getting bored with it?

Neither. I'm the type of guy who constantly wonders about improvement, and I keep all avenues open for improvement. I've always known the name isn't really solid; its good, but not great. When I get the rebranding up (hopefully in a few weeks), I think it'll improve significantly, but I don't think I'll ever be completely happy with the name as it currently stands (unless it becomes an RPG household name... then I'll be like 96% happy with it :p).

metapost.com I do think a name change would be good but along with a redesign or v2 of the site so to speak. Gamersplane makes me think of whiney gamers at my FLGS that want to rule-attack everything and ruin others fun while explaing their views. Gamersplain... gamers plane. IDK how many people have heard the term mansplaining so gamersplane really stuck out for me. Just make sure there are emails/lead up for us already here. I've been on other start up web games and the redesign/name/mechanics surprise everyone so people bounce because they weren't ready.

I understand what everyone's saying about picking up a name that's play-by-post specific, but I have two issues with that:

1) It prevents any future growth. I have plans on adding wikis to games (making it far more useful for managing RL games), adding a blog at some point, etc. Play-by-post is what is getting this site going, but I feel like the community aspect of it is important too. I've seen too many sites restricted by their name. Maybe I'm over reaching, but being locked in by a name doesn't appeal to me.

2) It's hard to be creative with a play-by-post related name. Yes, people in general like to know what they're getting, but the RPG community is also a creative one. Something too on-the-nose sticks out too much in my opinion (previous iterations of this site included penandpaperonline.com, which people were not a fan of).

Nexus. I wanna see what can be thought of with Nexus. It works with the new logo too (I really like the new logo and what I have planned for it, heh).

I, too, like GamersPlane, but maybe it has grown on me. The "Gamers" is evocative, and "Plane" indicates some kind of unbridled 2D growth, or that it encompasses everything that intersects with "Gamers". It's pretty clever in that it can make sense in multiple ways. The only issue with marketing to the unwashed, uninformed masses is that it may sound like GamersPlain, haha.

Your URL doesn't have to be super clever for success. Facebook is a really stupid name - there is no book unless you're thinking a play on Yearbook which already has faces so wtf? So is Standard Oil. Microsoft (software for micro computers?) isn't clever.

Your core has been pbp, and you want to expand into other RPG stuff. So maybe you're looking for something like: GamersHub, RPGCentral, GamersPage, ...

Synonyms for hub: nerve center, core, focus, heart, middle, pivot, polestar

==> Gameheart , eh?

You could even use the word "story" it seems to go good with a lot of titles and it captures, in a sense, Roleplaying in general. Problem with this is that it may be too generic for a title. However, The "StoryNexus" sounds really cool...

You're right in that Facebook isn't very clever... on the surface. Its unique, and actually, the concept of a facebook has existed for quite a while. Its not a widely known idea though, and that's kind of what made the name work. Its straight forward, but for most people, original. Microsoft is also very simple, but its biggest strength is it was in a market without much competition. Standard Oil NEEDS to be obvious for success.

It's best to compare the name Gamers' Plane against other RPG (or tabletop) gaming sites or companies. Think about our favorite developers. The least creative I can think of is Monte Cook Games, and its success is based on the name Monte Cook (being an amazing designer). Otherwise we have things like Catalyst, Wizards, Pinnacle, Evil Hat. In sites, we have a bunch of names specific to certain systems/genres... not too much out there that's broad. One example who's name I love is Obsidian Portal (my direct competition). Obsidian Portal gives this impression of entry to any place, its a very strong, memorable name. Gamers' Plane is much softer. It's easy to become comfortable with it, but it doesn't have a strong first impression.

I really wish RPGNexus.com was free, or has a listed contact. I'd buy it from them.

Let me be clear. I don't hate Gamers' Plane or anything of the sort. I just know, from experience, its an average name. If I keep it, it's success will be based entirely on what you guys make this site to be. People will come here for the great community that already exists, and its one of the reasons I'm considering rebranding now. Other people might shy away, at the work of having to rebuild the name, but with fantastic users like you, my work will be severely reduced. I've got a visual rebrand of Gamers' Plane coming up, and so I figured now's a good time to look over the name as well, given we're still small enough to consider it without severe repercussion.

How about "realm"? It evokes a large and rich expense to explore with many things to do in it...

Realm is good, but it would need a very good, strong word with it. It's also very soft sounding, but secure.

Legend seems to be an equally strong word, but the two don't seem to mix well... "Legend Realm"; "Realm of Legends"; "Legends and Realms"...

Legend is a great word! Very solid sound, hard enunciation. I always worried it may be too fantasy-related, but maybe there's a good way to make it world!

Modifier is also a good, general RPG word. The problem is it doesn't do well in a 2 word name, heh.

My two cents. I like the name Gamers Plane but something that actually lets people know what the site is could also be helpful. I know I searched around a lot before being informed of this one. That being said if you do decide to change the name I like Modifier a bit more than Nexus mainly because it seems for fitting for an PbP site since almost all RPGs have some type of modifier associated with them.

RollInitiative.com. :D

I would love to find something that works with the new logo I got... but... rolltopost.com?

That sounds really good.

As promised, here is a massive list of name ideas. (My favorites are bold.)

Post Nexus
Game Nexus
Play Nexus
RP Nexus
Story Realm
Dice Realm
Game Universe
RP Universe
PbP Universe
RP HQ
Game HQ
Gameplay HQ (GPHQ)
Worldwide Gaming
Worldwide RP
Worldwide PbP
Global Gaming
Global RP
Global PbP
Awesome-by-Post
Fun-by-Post
Fun-by-Post Games
Fun-by-Post Community
Dice-by-Post
Community-by-Post
Games-by-Post
RPG-by-Post
Role-by-Post
United Play
United Gaming
United PbP
eRP
eRPG
eGame Nexus
eTabletop
eTable Games
ePlay Games
eDice Games
eDice RP
eDice Nexus
RP eGames (RPeG)
RP Nation
PbP Nation
eGame Nation
Tabletop World
Story-Game Alliance
Story x Game (SXG)
Tableverse
Tableverse Games
Role Online
Role ’n’ Roll
DiceRole
Roll dX

I know that you want to leave your name open to expand to other areas, but I think you should focus on play-by-post first. Then, when you expand your services, you can brand them as has already been suggested.

"Wikiverse – A [Gamers’ Plane] wiki tool"
"Sinister Sounds – [Gamers’ Plane] audio resources"
"Gamers Playing – A [Gamers’ Plane] actual-play podcast"

Whoa! Thanks for the list! I'll have to give them all careful consideration!

It's funny, having talked to a number of you guys here and on Twitter, and some friends, and I'm a bit assuaged about the name. I still don't think its powerful but lets see where it goes :)

Michael's comments about the dangers of rebranding are true. Make sure you're happy with the name, but don't psych yourself out too much.

I have said from the beginning how rebranding is not usually wise, but regardless I will throw in one last thought. I am still vehemently against a name change; that said, if we are to do so I think we should follow the route of keeping Gamer's Plane a network name and having numerous smaller sites as members of that network. I do not actually prefer this idea, but if you have your heart set on rebranding this is how I would do it. I would prefer it all to stay under gamersplane.com but its not my site. I feel gamers' plane is just too perfect a name. It implies a place for gamers, of all types. It tells people what the site is, but isn't too specific to limit growth. Going the route of rolltopost and what not basically precludes wargaming tutorials, products reviews, video game discussion and what have you. Play by post RPG might be the strong selling point, might always be, but it can be so much more without losing focus. I like the idea of a place for gamers...all gamers.

" Gamersplain... gamers plane."

This is the exact same thing I thought of, FWIW.

I found another site here simply called "PBP House"... A bit bland and uninspiring, but still to the point: a place where you can play games in the pbp format...

But that's the thing... to the point works out really well when you're small and focused, but leaves little room for overall growth. Still, as nothing better than GP has come up, I obviously haven't moved to change it :) I will be doing a page redesign soonish.