I want more content. You may say that's a strange statement considering that I don't know how much content there will be, but assure you, my greed has no bounds. More content requires more money. One way to raise more funds that the devs may not have considered is in-game advertising. I don't mean banners or spam mail. I mean Coca-Cola bill boards, a Goodyear Blimp, and Mercedes-Benz cars prowling the streets. As always, this is a vague concept that is meant to start a conversation, so please don't fill the comments with how you can't have blimps in game.
I hate to setup a false dichotomy to put you in, but I'll do it anyway. Do you want to see more content or an advertising free game?
Can you think of any other alternative fund raising to help the game?
I remember seeing, those billboard in Steel Canyon with...what was it 300 or a Vin Diesel movie and being blown away by them. I think it's a good idea, just dont put stuff everywhere, a billboard here and there is fine...adds a touch of realism to it all.
However, if you can make some of them look worn (especially in a crime ridden area), that would be extra great.
Discussions for advertisements in the game are also available [url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/game-advertisement-done-right]here[/url] and [url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/game-advertising]here[/url].
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I'm officially "for" the product placement idea. I'm also not against other forms of in-game ads, as long as MWM is getting paid for it, I don't want indy 3rd party powerleveling services and gold miners etc spamming me with messages.
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
What do I care if I see a Coke or Pepsi machine at the train station or even a Holiday Inn billboard or Pizza Hut and Taco Bell building with lines of NPCs getting served at take out windows and such. If it generates real revenue for the game I'm dear to and keeps it open longer, then I am all for it . Also a quick add on the load screen like some web pages have that I'm not going to pay attention to anyway won't bother me as long as it helps keep the game going =).
I reserve the right to have an opinion. You reserve the right to not agree.
Since I hate advertisement...
Most definitely ADVERTISEMENT FREE GAME.
(Personal opinion)
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I support the idea of ads in the game world for two reasons: (1) It can bring in more revenue and (2) in a way that doesn't apply in almost any other genre, it actually adds realism to the city. Because of 2, I'd rather not see ads on load screens but just in the world where they would be irl.
Spurn all ye kindle.
I recall seeing (real) ads, but only in missions and never in static zones (not saying they weren't there, just never saw one).
Also, they seemed to go away rather quickly and I never saw them anymore. I always assumed they got stung by some asinine patent over it.
I always argue the patent office should follow the rule: If it is done in reality, doing it in a virtual world should not be patentable.
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The very existence of the taunting tank irritates, for it requires idiotic AI that obeys the taunt.
My wife is like this and I just don't get it. We live in a capitalistic society. CoT will have to market and advertise--and already has--just like everyone else. I'm not saying I'm right and you (and my wife :P) are wrong, it's just that after many conversations with her, I still don't get the advertising hate. I definitely want CoT to have the revenue source for the health and survival of the game..
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
Personally, I would rather this be a Last Resort thing. I play video-games to escape reality, and I get weird, semi-uncomfortable deja-vu moments when I turn a corner and see, say, a Coca-Cola vending machine, for instance. Sure, it brings in money, and money is needed to support a game, but I would really only want to see this if other sources aren't pulling in enough.
That, and the idea of in-universe brands is just a cool detail that I like to see, as opposed to just shifting in new ones. Not sure why.
[color=#ff0000]Composition Team[/color]
What the heck is the difference between having a Coca-Cola ad on a Titan City billboard versus having a "Drink Jookie!" ad? I think the addition of REAL product ads adds realism to the world. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see some fake ads too, especially if they're as funny as the ones CoH had. But if you like a game, I don't understand why you'd want to cut off a potential revenue stream like this.
Some complaints might be:
1. It harshes my sense of immersion. Okay, well, in a game that's set in modern-day America, the kinds of ads we can do wouldn't really do that. I can see this kind of stuff having no great place in a game like WoW, but this isn't WoW.
2. The game is supposed to be dark and mysterious/gothic horror/spooky and the ads ruin that. Okay, again, THIS game isn't really horror, so the ads are totally in character for Titan City circa 2015.
3. Games that do this are "selling out, man". My response to this is "Grow the F$%^ up." I've seen many a comic shop go under because the people who "shopped" there simply didn't spend enough money to keep the place going. They spent HOURS hanging out, they loved talking to each other about comics, playing tabletop wargames, playing collectible card games, etc. Did they actually spend enough money to support the store, no. They bought pre-painted armies on ebay, bought the rare cards they needed for tournaments on the internet, etc to save money or out of laziness. So the store closed and they had to go someplace else. If my local comic shop had been able to sell ad space to Coca-cola to keep itself profitable, I would not only have applauded that, I would have drank more Coke. I would have switched to different beverage brand if I felt it would have made a difference. If you like the game, you need to allow it the success it needs to have to survive, financially.
4. Advertizing dollars pay for things like new costume sets, new missions, new areas to explore, new everything in a game. Less operating budget means less cool stuff, more budget means more stuff, and I for one don't begrudge the people who bring us this stuff the right to make a living doing it.
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
One of the things we're looking at is having ads with a modicum of optional interaction. Click on the Levis Jeans ad and get a costume piece for your character that are a pair of said jeans, for example. This not only will give players something fun and hopefully make ads more exciting and less irritating to see, but will help us track just how much attention players actually pay to the ads, which will help us price and sell ad space to sponsors. If we get really ambitious, it might even give you a $5-off coupon for those jeans IRL, so you can find the ad in-game, interact with it, and then save money on the jeans if you actually want to buy them. (This would also, from a marketing standpoint, let MWM show sponsors exactly how many customers they get from buying ad space!)
Ad space would likely be priced based on the same things that price it in real life. A billboard in an out-of-the-way location would be cheaper than one that provides a backdrop to high-traffic locations.
[color=#ff0000]Business Manager[/color]
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Of course, the question is, 'who would want to pay us for those billboards?'
Personally, I'd like something a little more interactive than that. A mission chain sponsored by McDonalds. Sure, it'd be goofy, but we could have fun with it.
Or, to promote a rock tour, have something at our stadium based around the band itself - maybe they're superheroes, maybe they've been kidnapped. Something like an early Beatles movie, or one of those 1960s DC comics. Something where it's active instead of passive.
Optional, no special badges, just fun. I bet people would like it. And we could probably get good advertising metrics off it, too. The equivalent of a focus group, on the advertising company's side, with no pain on our end or theirs.
I mean, this is just an idea I'm kicking around, but I'd rather go for the _investment of time_ over the 'show your face' kind of advertising.
[color=#ff0000]Project Lead[/color]
What a McDonald's mission might look like.
[img]http://drmcninja.com/comics/2004-08-12-0p10.jpg[/img]
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What a McDonalds mission would look like:
[img]https://i.imgur.com/N32NH.gif[/img]
OMG! Remember the Journey arcade game? I would KILL to be able to do a Task Force where we have to rescue the members of, say, Weezer, and get them to the show on time. Complete with Weezer soundtrack in the mission maps, that would be AWESOME. You could have a mission where you have to defeat all the Buddy Holly and Mary Tyler Moore clones, the giant monster could be a a gigantic sweater that you have to "undo" by attacking it to death, you could make one outdoor map a replica of Beverly Hills, and make us defeat zombies of famous people to rescue Rivers Cuomo, then, once you've got all the band members rescued, you have to convoy them past the throngs of adoring fans, through the backstage maze, and onto the main stage, then just when you think it's over, the band plays a song and the crowd reveal themselves to be aliens, and you have to defeat them before the song is over.
Also, if you could get Hanes or Underarmor to sponsor a costume or something, I personally would by a piece of their apparel just to get an unlock code from proof of purchase. I mean really, who doesn't need underwear or a shirt, right? Why not buy the one that get's you the cool new cape or whatever in CoT? Or a boots unlock for buying, say, Addidas or something. I'd be totally cool with stuff like that.
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
Bwa ha ha ha ha! Denied!
Mission: Chase Hamburglar and catch him!
Reward: New alignment: Lawful Unhealthy.
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Ever play Sneak King?
And, god, that Journey game. Thank you for bringing back... well, actually, I kinda liked it better than Aerosmith's Revolution.
The Weezer example could actually work for them - pretty much only them, but that's basically a Beatles movie.
Seriously, it's an early phase idea, but it's better than just billboards.
[color=#ff0000]Project Lead[/color]
Aerosmith game? Is that the one about a giant asteroid threatening to hit Earth?
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Oh, sponsored mission chains are definitely on my radar. I was trying to avoid my usual marathon-length posts by focusing on just the billboard topic.
Sponsored missions would also include sponsored rewards. The "Stop the Hamburgler" mission might earn you a daily McMuffin that is an inspiration-like one-shot, or something. (That one's off the top of my head, so may not be the highest-quality idea.)
[color=#ff0000]Business Manager[/color]
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I wouldn't mind seeing real product being advertised. It would bring more realization to the game if its not over done
~The Shadow's Are Coming~
Don't stop believin', warcabbit. :)
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
And, of course, Axe Melee would be way more fun if you could use an actual Stratocaster.
[color=#ff0000]Project Lead[/color]
And warcabbit sneaks in a reveal about Apokalyptykult!
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This sponsored story arc could raise all sorts of interesting alignment questions: e.g. would it be an act of good or evil to rescue One Direction from certain doom...?
Segev: I think this was asked but not answered in another thread where the idea of real world reward was mentioned -- how would you implement such a thing when you have players in various countries across the world?
Spurn all ye kindle.
That's a killer, isn't it? I know in Canada you need to make it an element of skill.. so there's usually some very stupid math.
[color=#ff0000]Project Lead[/color]
"Real-world reward" in this case would largely be "coupon from Levi's to buy their jeans."
I don't think that qualifies as "gambling" so much as "company handing out coupons." We would, of course, have to look into this.
The real problem is when Levi's, for whatever reason, isn't selling that style of jeans in Canada, and so our Canadian players can't use the coupon as a practical matter. This would also require some thought. I imagine a fair bit of this will be resolved by virtue of online stores being a thing. Many of our sponsors, I'm sure, will have online marketplaces; after all, they're advertising in an online setting, so are at least that savvy.
[color=#ff0000]Business Manager[/color]
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doesn't Amazon just sell everything now?
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
Yeah, but what's available on amazon.com can be quite different from what's available on amazon.co.uk or amazon.de -- and if you are outside the US and have to order from .com there are increased shipping fees and possibly import duties as well.
Also, coupons are usually measured in a currency amount -- which means its value in other countries could vary from day to day. I'm not saying it can't be done; just that there's a lot of stuff to think about if we don't want to disenfranchise folks outside the US.
Spurn all ye kindle.
Don't forget Europe and the rest of the world as well. Hell, Pizza Hut and MacDonalds (for example) only sell certain products in certain countries... or there is a *limited* time offer for "American style" burgers in the UK.
Levi's are similar as well, where there are (granted this is from a *quick* search of each regions website), where there are "US Only" colours/variations (Yes, the Americans have 3 times as many "trousers" (not jeans) to choose from than the UK people as an example).
Apple are the same, even through their own store, they have accessories that they *themselves* only sell in certain countries (possibly due to licensing agreements with the supplier). Once again, I only checked US and UK regions, and was already finding differences between the stores in just a couple of minutes.
And they are one of the *cash richest* companies in the world.
Hell, even with *ONLINE* advertising, they are resorting more and more to geo-location for adverts. So that you only receive adverts that are relevant (and if applicable offers) to you due to regional locations. About the only time I see "US Adverts" is when I am watching Hulu via the Mediahint plugin. Those adverts are of NO use to me...
Sure, the brands are getting more global, but there are still enough variations *between* those brands in terms of what they offer (ie in the UK, Pizza hut do 2 different version of a "stuffed crust"... one is in the edge crust of the pizza, the other is pullable "chunks" of of stuffed crust, almost like a mini garlic bread) makes coming up with only 1 voucher for the "WORLD" almost impossible.
Not to mention as well that most of those companies are regional for tax purposes and separate from each other, even though they are owned by the same "global office". That doesn't stop creative accounting from happening though.
Side Note: You can still be hit by customs tax and other stuff, even ordering via Amazon US to the UK. There are also certain things that is legal to be sold in the US but just isn't allowed to be sold in the UK (for example, some of the food additives that is in US food has been banned in the UK and Europe)
Games like sneak king, spot or any other advertisement game is paid for by the company it advertises so they choose exactly whats in that game.
You don't see a fat greasy kid eating a Whopper in Sneak King.
Deals with any large company always comes with strings attached....a diner not serving both coke and pepsi for example. They also tend to impose content restrictions. Shows like pawn stars or Chapelle show saw this. I would be worried that a large company would gain a greater influence in the games content or direction.
I am not concerned with in-game advertisements. I am concerned with immersion breaking advertisements.
For example, I can't imagine playing Forza or Gran Turismo without seeing advertisements for things like Mobil 1 motor oil or K&N air filters. The lack of car related adverts in those games would be immersion breaking for me.
Similarly, I think in-game adverts (posted on billboards, radio-style ads playing near the train stations, upcoming/newly released movie posters on buildings) can really help build the immersion. If it helps fund the game and keep more content flowing then I am all for it!
I'd be curious to see a Red Bull advert in a superhero game.
"Red Bull didn't literally give me wings! Heck, I can't even fly! Lawsuit!"
If MWM could somehow get some of the usual suspects to 'sponsor' some of the Titan City sports teams, I believe that would be a first for this kind of game.
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What if clicking on the Red Bull ad really did make wings available to that character? Or maybe you have to find 10 Red Bull billboards or something like that...
Spurn all ye kindle.
You mean discriminate against all those poor NPCs who cannot get wings from Red Bull? You fiend! Someone call the ASA!
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add netflix in game Watch tv show movies/animes
whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster and when you look into the abyss, the abyss also look into you, -Friedrich
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Add a movie theater in game!
As long as adds are subtle, I won't have a problem.
Obtrusive ads with sounds and send you mail-spam . . . no thanks.
I'm still trying to flesh out that Weezer Task Force (I get giddy thinking about it).
Edit: There definitely needs to be a freeway where you fight some kind of monsters that do severe knockdown "trip" attacks. And you have to rescue Shirley Appleby from the clutches of the maniacal volleyball-playing AV, Kevin Green. Gawd, this thing writes itself... link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUCEVQ0x2D8
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
You want arts and crafts? How's this for arts and crafts?
[color=#ff0000]Project Lead[/color]
trouble maker....
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
same here i not like Obtrusive ads with sounds and send you mail-spam y add netflix in CoT if u wait friends to come online do a Dungeons u Watch tv show movies/animes
The best constructive criticism I could offer would be to travel back in time to the first gameplay planning meeting with a large hessian bag and some day laborers with cricket bats
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Suggestion made with no particular amount of seriousness:
Providing players with the option to purchase the ability to deface billboards and the like with graffiti.
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I could see letting the street-level gang themed NPC mobs do that after the advertize had stopped paying to advertize. Like instead of mugging people on the street they'd be defacing old ads.
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
And Heroes that are in the Neighborhood Patrol group, try and prevent such destruction on public property, and increase their Morality standings. :)
Hey, I'd love to gain faction with Dr. Pepper and earn a coupon for a few cents off my next purchase.
Be Well!
Fireheart
Now I want to make a character called Captain Naughton (who also might be a werewolf).
Spurn all ye kindle.
I just had the thought that advertisers could also sponsor temporary powers, temp pets, and even (temporary?) pet skins or costume pieces.
Mind you, I'd want any such things listed in their own tabs rather than mixed in with my characters' regular stuff.
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Hehe... Loving the movie references here! Just saw the beginning of this the other night/morning.
-Wolf sends
This made me think of "Trojan Man" for some reason. [insert your joke here]
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
On the note of billboards vs videos vs missions vs temp powers, I say this:
"Why not both?"
They pay very little for a billboard and much more for a mission, since the latter is more work-intensive.
Maybe MWM could throw in a billboard or bench ad for free(-ish).
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I am certain that they have been looking at packages as well as piecemeal offerings for any potential advertisers.
I doubt MWM would be so disingenuous as to create a mission for an advertiser and then fail to make the player base aware that it was available, so it seems safe to assume that such 'big ticket' items will have their fair share of additional advertising baked in.
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My take on this is as simple as it is complicated (If that makes any sense.) I am 'for' in game advertising of real world products. It does allow for the devs to increase the amount of operational capital involved which then allows them to do more for the game, in which case it's good. However. If the basic outline is to see Coke Build board's or Taco Bell restaurants in the game, my question then becomes, exactly how much benefit will there be vs how much hassle will it create? My thought process- Coke wants to promote their brand, they're willing to pay a certain amount of money for a certain level of exposure, If they can buy every billboard space in the game I'm sure they would, because it's a promotion for them. It goes into a whole other world of promotion, How much of this virtual world will they lay claim over? My thought... and fear is that Coke (Or Whomever) Will constantly be pushing for more and more of the cyber real estate. And if the Devs decide that they've had enough and pull the adverting from them altogether, they lose the funding generated by the advertisement. I've worked in situations where I've seen vendors being very pushy and overbearing in an attempt to gain ground for their product. I'm simply stating that sometimes it's not worth the hassle. But if the right company comes along, I'm not opposed to seeing their products advertised in game.
Love is like a Rhino, short-sighted and hasty; If it cannot find it a way, it will make a way.
-Flavor text on Crash of Rhinos.
Heheheheheh... "insert"
On a more serious note, one possible advertisement source might even be Didney/Marbles (That's Disney/Marvel). Marvel's not got its own MMO (and I haven't heard any probable rumors), and who better to buy comics than a bunch of nerds on a superhero MMO?