Useful tool + viral marketing = PROFIT
By
Ad Astra,
Posted on: 2009-06-22 08:21 in Suggestions and Ideas
I like the idea. However I do think it should be free. Something like this could be a great tool to publicize CoH, but why make people pay to use it? IMO all that would do is limit the number of people that could get their hands on it.
QR
They already made one, when they released City of Hero. Legal issues shut down its continued development.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
Well, if they already made one then its that much easier to make a new one. Legal landscapes can change a lot in 5 years, perhaps it is time to revisit the concept and see if it can be done.
[ QUOTE ]
They already made one, when they released City of Hero. Legal issues shut down its continued development.
[/ QUOTE ]
Bingo. Characters made on the actual servers can be policed by players and GMs, in case of copyright/trademark infringement. Whereas an offline creator would not be, which chafes Marvel a bit.
Never surrender! Never give up!
Help keep Paragon City alive with the unofficial City of Heroes Tabletop Role Playing Game!
[ QUOTE ]
Well, if they already made one then its that much easier to make a new one. Legal landscapes can change a lot in 5 years, perhaps it is time to revisit the concept and see if it can be done.
[/ QUOTE ]3 years (City of Hero was released in 2006; City of Heroes was released in 2004), and you don't know Marvel very well.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
[ QUOTE ]
Bingo. Characters made on the actual servers can be policed by players and GMs, in case of copyright/trademark infringement. Whereas an offline creator would not be, which chafes Marvel a bit.
[/ QUOTE ]
But you wouldn't be able to -do- anything with those costume designs except either use them for existing characters, or to speed up character creation, or make AE missions with them, all of which CAN be policed. Otherwise its just a text file on a hard drive. 
The only way the program has a chance is if there's no visual representation of the costume, which wouldn't be very useful.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Bingo. Characters made on the actual servers can be policed by players and GMs, in case of copyright/trademark infringement. Whereas an offline creator would not be, which chafes Marvel a bit.
[/ QUOTE ]
But you wouldn't be able to -do- anything with those costume designs except either use them for existing characters, or to speed up character creation, or make AE missions with them, all of which CAN be policed. Otherwise its just a text file on a hard drive.
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm not going to claim it's that great of a reason, but legalities are annoying like that. It's theorized that it's part of the settlement between NCsoft and Marvel.
Never surrender! Never give up!
Help keep Paragon City alive with the unofficial City of Heroes Tabletop Role Playing Game!
To me it sounds like "You can't publish that paint program! It could be used to paint Superman!" Very thin logic in my opinion... but I do admit legal stuff often seems that way to me. It's still a good idea... I just wish some folks would differentiate between what is speculated vs. a cold fact. /e shrug
[ QUOTE ]
It's still a good idea... I just wish some folks would differentiate between what is speculated vs. a cold fact. /e shrug
[/ QUOTE ]
If you're referring to speculation about the settlement, it's a simple thing to infer. If they were able to release the offline character creator, they would.
Never surrender! Never give up!
Help keep Paragon City alive with the unofficial City of Heroes Tabletop Role Playing Game!
Indeed. If it was a possibility we'd have seen it. Heck, I'd have paid full price for it. But it's not likely - we just had this discussion in another thread just last week.
*Because* NC adequately demonstrated their ability to patrol and snip out infringements, much of Marvel's suit was rendered null. But without that patrol and monitoring ability, this is just a tool for NC to make money off of Marvel's territory - yes that's ridiculous, but it's how law firms think of it.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It's still a good idea... I just wish some folks would differentiate between what is speculated vs. a cold fact. /e shrug
[/ QUOTE ]
If you're referring to speculation about the settlement, it's a simple thing to infer. If they were able to release the offline character creator, they would.
[/ QUOTE ]
Oh and BTW, terms of the settlement were kept confidential (as they always are) so all we can do is infer. But the inferences *are* based off general knowledge of how settlements work and the core issues of the suit Marvel brought in the first place.
Suggest away, TeflonDon. Some of the other posters in the thread have just tried to point out what we already know about why it isn't available and seems unlikely to become available in the future. We could be wrong, but that is the current state of the "forum knowledge" on the topic.
Altoholic - but a Blaster at Heart!
Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
"You gave us a world where we could fly. I can't thank you enough for that."
<QR>
Then it seems the only way this could happen is if a player decided to create a program like that.
Ok, so I've had this idea in my head for a while and if it has been proposed before, forgive me...
Why not create a stand-alone costume editor app?
Customization is at the heart of CoH's attraction to customers, so why not create something that can have a viral marketing component that will help to get people interested in the game?
An app like this would have two main purposes...
First, as a tool for the existing CoH community (folks can plan their builds, why not be able to plan their looks?) and in addition to being handy for character creation/planning, it would be a great tool for AE mission designers.
Second, as a viral bit of marketing... the folks from Spore released their editor (arguably the centerpiece of the game) to generate hype about the game before it was released, and I think that now we are 5 years down the road, something like that could help generate buzz about CoH and serve to expose more players to the game.
Additionally, the app doesn't have to be free, the community has already shown that it is willing to pay for things that they see as valuable and useful, so the investment to create the app can be recovered with the chance that it might actually become a revenue stream.
Finally, there is the issue of compatibility... a Windows app is the obvious choice, and then perhaps a Mac version. There is one other format that I think would be ideal for this app... the iPhone! If you made a CoH Costume Editor app for the iPhone it would be an ideal platform for this... I know plenty of folks that obsess about their costume who would love nothing better than to be able to tweak it constantly, and this is perfect for that. Also the iPhone is where my viral marketing concept really kicks in... a little $5 app that was fun to fiddle with would sell well on the app store AND it would serve as a great advertisement for the game. Not to mention if you ship it with ALL of the costume items unlocked and readily identify where they come from, it might sell a few more of those Super Booster costume packs.
Okay, that's my idea... proceed to rip it apart folks!
-Teflon Don