An interesting way to promote games

[agalvayne]

As most who play Entropia will know, Mindark aren't particularly active in their advertising campaign's , leaving it all largely to word of mouth, and developments like migration to CryENGINE2 to bring new people in.

However, on the opposite end of the advertising spectrum are stunts like this:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle2329321.ece
and a similar one for Resident evil 5

Personally I found this rather amusing, and am more likely to buy a game if they do something interesting to market it and it catches my eye. However I can also see and appreciate why people may not be too pleased with the way it was executed.


What do you think, is it going to far?

[thoreau]

Originally Posted by agalvayne

As most who play it will know, Mindark aren't particularly active in their advertising campaign's , leaving it all largely to word of mouth, and developments like migration to CryENGINE2 to bring new people in.

However, on the opposite end of the advertising spectrum are stunts like this:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle2329321.ece
and a similar one for Resident evil 5

Personally I found this rather amusing, and am more likely to get a game if they do something interesting to market it. However can also see why people may not be too pleased with the way it was executed.
What do you think, is it going to far?

With regards to MA I think they are in a bad spot.

Regardless of how they market the game people are going to eventually end up thinking that it is (or can be) to expensive to play. If MA uses clever marketing to get new players to the game it could add an aura of 'scam' to the universe.

I think with the Let it Rock Competition, Create a Creature, and other type of community based competitions they are trying to have the best of two worlds. One, they provide some type of event for their current players. Two, if those competitions spill over because of social media tools (YouTube) then new players could find their way to EU. My guess is MA hoped people would search YouTube for 'Let it Rock', find a video created by the Entropia community, and be motivated to download and play.

But MA is not the only MMO company with a bad track record for promotion.

SoE has done a terrible job of promoting EQ2. Its almost as if they don't want any new players. It is very strange that you can go into a gaming store and not see any EQ2 boxes on the shelves. No life size cut-outs of new bosses for upcoming expansions. They don't even provide 'trial' DVDs at the checkout for 1.99 like you can find for WoW or GW.

IMO game companies should advertise during daytime dramas. There is a huge potential market with those who stay home during the day and care for their children. Also, those over 50 represent a great demographic for gaming that the Wii seems to be tapping in to.

Of course, it also might be true that MA likes the slow organic growth model. They might be afraid to wake up some Monday morning and find 20,000 new accounts.

[Knuckles]

I dont think CryEngine2 will bring in any real influx of players since the engine is now kind of old and the "WOW AWESOME EFFECT,LETS TRY!" wore off last summer.

If MindArk spread cut off limbs holding a Planet Calypso gamedvd I think the morality assholes would panic and cause headlines about it and then we would see a influx to see "the cool game". CryENGINE2 doesnt make it cool

[agalvayne]

I know MA are in a bad situation, and I wasn't trying to blame them for the way they choose to let it all unfold naturally, I was just making an observation.
I also don't expect CryEngine to be as beneficial for the game as many expect it to, but with the increased gaming site articles relating to the update when it was first announced, and inevitably once it is finally implemented, we are sure to get at least a slightly bigger influx than what we are getting at the moment. I also forsee there being a higher player turnover due to this, more people joining but the same amount as now deciding to stay.

And yes, it is rather unfortunate that Cryengine 3 has been announced before 2 has been implemented. That isn't to say that 2 is bad though, even though its almost 2 years old, it still has very high graphics demands that keep up with the best of systems, even now.

[Nighthawk]

I wouldn't want to play that game anyway..."said by its makers to be the “most violent ever”" doesnt make it sound like a fun game, more like "hey let's shock people by doing this" and then no thought behind it



Maybe MA could promote the game by hiring a bunch of ppl to go around in some major cities dressed as different bots from the game, giving out game-cds to ppl?

[Nighthawk]

Originally Posted by agalvayne

And yes, it is rather unfortunate that Cryengine 3 has been announced before 2 has been implemented. That isn't to say that 2 is bad though, even though its almost 2 years old, it still has very high graphics demands that keep up with the best of systems, even now.

well CE3 isnt much more than CE2 for consols from what I heard

[Knuckles]

Originally Posted by Nighthawk

I wouldn't want to play that game anyway..."said by its makers to be the “most violent ever”" doesnt make it sound like a fun game, more like "hey let's shock people by doing this" and then no thought behind it

Mad World is like 1 of the 5 games for Nintendo Wii that has actually got over 7/10 in reviews...Wii game review average is often below 5/10...plus...Mad World is nice

[agalvayne]

Originally Posted by Nighthawk

well CE3 isnt much more than CE2 for consols from what I heard

True, I heard that for PC the only real improvement is in the physics, but I haven't read too much into it yet.

<offtopic> nice collection of arcade highscores you have nighthawk <offtopic>

[Maduro]

Originally Posted by agalvayne

I know MA are in a bad situation, and I wasn't trying to blame them for the way they choose to let it all unfold naturally, I was just making an observation.
I also don't expect CryEngine to be as beneficial for the game as many expect it to, but with the increased gaming site articles relating to the update when it was first announced, and inevitably once it is finally implemented, we are sure to get at least a slightly bigger influx than what we are getting at the moment. I also forsee there being a higher player turnover due to this, more people joining but the same amount as now deciding to stay.

And yes, it is rather unfortunate that Cryengine 3 has been announced before 2 has been implemented. That isn't to say that 2 is bad though, even though its almost 2 years old, it still has very high graphics demands that keep up with the best of systems, even now.

I agree that CE2 won't be a huge draw. However, I think that Next Island will bring in more people if marketed right. What remains to be seen is whether we will see an exodus of players from Calypso to Next Island, or whether we will see both populations increase. Ultimately, I think that MA is doing a good thing in creating more unique planets, I just hope that their planet-retention strategy is solid.

I am excited for the future of EU... I just hope these damn RL economic woes end soon so we will have an influx of capital back into EU.

[HardWrath]

I suspect that after Cry2 launches, MA will step up their promotion of the EU in a big way.