Ads turned off in the US
By
Col_Blitzkrieger,
Posted on: 2008-08-02 16:39 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
I fell into the trap of thinking that 99p burger ad was for burger king (well it looked awesome and made me want one) but then got told its always been there 
Personally i WANT the ads to come in for two reasons:
1) Adds a more realistic feel to the game
2) If they cant find companies to sponsor them, then they should still let us the players make our own sg/personal adverts like they said they would.
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If they give me loads of money I'll happily advertise my business in game!
tbh even though my In-game ads option has been turned on I haven't really noticed not one single ad at all which I find is kinda bizarre heh speaking of which I wonder how Warcraft would do with in-game ads? 
I actually want in-game ads for realism.
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I actually want in-game ads for realism.
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So do I, but that involves them getting a lot more advertisers than one, and doing something special with ads in places like Boomtown (like aging them) - from the posts I've read on the US forums, neither was in evidence.
I'm surprised Nike advertised (or that NC's ad people approached them in the first place) the sterotypical MMO player isn't really their market.
I'd have thought a more likely set of advertisers would be ISPs, PC sellers and fast food companies. 
Indeed I was expecting ads for things like Mountain dew (or the EU equilivent), Dell computers and the like.
The main thing that did disappoint me most is that they said they still had creative control on how the advert was displayed ingame, saying that it would look appropriate for the situation it was viewed in, if it was in the Rogue Isles they said it would have a grubby texture filter applied to it to better fit in with the rest of the adverts. If it turned up in boomtown, the advert would be completely damaged showing only a hint of what was left.
This didn't happen, the Ads in the Rogue Isles and the ones half-buried still look brand spanking new from what I've seen on the US forum.
What also annoyed me is that the Advertisers clearly didn't do anything with regards helping the setting ("Nike, for keeping your super speeding feet cool" or the like) and just took a blown up mag advert and lumped it ingame.
I want ingame ads for realism but I don't want just 1 ad and I want them to look appropriate as to where they turn up.
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I think my opinion of the ad system was fairly well established in the thread that was running when this was first announced. I'm therefore going to smirk and chuckle quietly to myself.
Seriously though, I wonder how much creative control NCNC really thought they were going to get when allowing someone like Nike to advertise in their game? In a deal like that, whether we like it or not, a giant household consumer brand is going to call the shots, not (with the greatest respect) some two-bit games company.
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Well of course NCNC do call the shots - they can always decline the revenue offered by advertisers if they feel it is damaging to their own brand, ie CoX.
I think in game ads are pretty good but I'm surprised they haven't gone for smaller businesses, more localisation etc. I also imagine that once the system has been proven it will attract more advertisers
Thelonious Monk
I agree, surprised though it is handled all through this DoubleFusion company, I had a company in mind perfect for this (they sell Superhero/Film memorabilia), they seemed Interested speaking face to face with the Director albeit they would probably go stateside for the numbers.
If it hasn't been a success maybe someone should look at what DoubleFusion have done so far and are doing to advertise the opportunity.
They don't sound like a tinpot company that don't know what it takes to make this a success. They should pull their finger out.
DoubleFusion.com:
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About Double Fusion
What we are all about
Double Fusion is the game advertising expert. The company brings together the leading in-game ad serving technology, the broadest network of games across a wide variety of genres, and a sales force that has helped create and evolve the in-game advertising industry. Double Fusion provides marketers and their advertising agencies with the broadest range of in-game, around-game and web-based solutions with which to engage and sell the valuable and hard-to-reach gamer demographics. Double Fusion is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Jerusalem, London, and Tokyo.
Mission
Double Fusions mission is to transform interactive games into an efficient, effective and accountable advertising medium that offers advertisers better access to critical audiences, and brings new revenues, profits and business models to the games industry all while maintaining or enhancing the quality of game play to the gamer.
Experience
Double Fusions seasoned management team brings to the table years of experience in advertising and media businesses, interactive games and 3D technology. No one is better poised to create the most effective marketing program for you in games than Double Fusion.
Innovation
The first company to support dynamically changing 3D objects and rich media formats, Double Fusion has established itself as the technology leader in the market and pushes the creative capabilities of in-game advertising closer to the full marketing potential contained in the worlds most interactive medium. Double Fusion continues to lead the field in advancing, through technology, the core value that games provide advertisers as a medium.
Creativity
Understanding that games are more art than technology, Double Fusions sales force leverages the system's platform supremacy to offer the most creative advertising vehicles to the marketplace. This ingenuity helps advertisers maximize their in-game ad spend, publishers to maximize the value of their inventory and gamers to preserve or enhance the escapism of their games.
With established offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Tokyo and Jerusalem, and backed by leading venture capital firms: Accel Partners, Jerusalem Venture partners (JVP) and JVP Studio, Double Fusion is well positioned to get you in play.
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Press Release:
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NCSOFT SELECTS DOUBLE FUSION AS GAME ADVERTISING PARTNER FOR CITY OF HEROES
SAN FRANCISCO Apr. 3, 2008 Leading independent game advertising provider Double Fusion has entered an agreement with NCsoft®, the leading developer and publisher of online computer games, to represent the successful comic-book inspired massively multiplayer online game, City of Heroes®. Double Fusion will provide the technology and sales force to bring brands into the popular online role-playing game which takes place in a modern urban setting, an ideal environment for unobtrusive in-game advertising.
Double Fusion and NCsoft are focused on providing value to the players through this advertising partnership. While real world ads will lend realism to the urban world of City of Heroes, NCsoft also plans on taking advantage of Double Fusion's technology to display player-created content within the game. The publisher will dedicate all advertising dollars it earns to fund further game development for the online title, yet still allow players to opt out of advertising in order to provide flexibility to community members.
Our partnership with NCsoft is a clear showcase for two of our guiding philosophies: bringing value to the player through appropriate use of advertising spaces and bringing new business models to the marketplace by creating new revenue streams that can help fund game development and community support said Jonathan Epstein, president and CEO, Double Fusion.
City of Heroes is a key property for NCsoft and we take great care to grow and nurture our player community, said Brian Clayton, General Manager of NCsofts Northern California studio. We are pleased to work with Double Fusion on City of Heroes, as they have demonstrated sensitivity to the needs of our community and fundamentally understand how advertising can bring value to the players when executed gracefully, and in the appropriate context. In addition to allowing any of our players to opt-out if they so choose, their flexible technology will not only allow us to bring brand messages into the game but also provide a fun, new platform for displaying player-created materials.
The addition of City of Heroes to the Double Fusion network demonstrates the companys commitment to offering their advertiser and agency partners a wide array of in-game advertising opportunities, to maximizing revenues for its publisher and developer partners and to building a portfolio of top titles among retail PC and console games, massively multiplayer online games, social networks, casual downloadable games, advanced online games and virtual worlds.
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Where would such advertisements be placed anyhow?, I haven't come across of DoubleFusion's ads myself.
Scanning back pages of publications like Edge magazine, Wired, all the PC magazine press and 3D/Software Industry titles yields nothing... these people direct marketiers?
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their flexible technology will not only allow us to bring brand messages into the game but also provide a fun, new platform for displaying player-created materials.
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At least if they threw out the Ideas to the creative community through an official Ideas submission thread I know they would get in some great Ideas from the U.S and E.U.
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I think in game ads are pretty good but I'm surprised they haven't gone for smaller businesses, more localisation etc. I also imagine that once the system has been proven it will attract more advertisers
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Smaller business's are going to get a better return for advertising pretty much anywhere other than here, especially localised ones.
Unless its a very game or computer related company, and then it would have to be a national one wouldnt it, the chances of them getting any local people in a particular town in this game are gonna be slim to none with this population.
NCSoft are going to run into a brick wall trying to dictate terms to big brand companies regarding how the adverts will look ingame. They're more likely to get the required flexibility from smaller businesses, or perhaps even bigger tech related companies, but not from the likes of Nike.
Unfortunately it comes down to subscribers. If WoW or maybe Guild Wars turned around and said to a company like Nike they were going to begin ingame advertising but wanted ads that were in keeping with the setting I could see the big boys playing ball given the potential audience. CoH player numbers are just too small to get the same sort of movement imo.
My fuzzy memory stops me from remembering, was there any talk of localisation by the powers that be when this was originally announced?
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NCSoft are going to run into a brick wall trying to dictate terms to big brand companies regarding how the adverts will look ingame.
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They don't really have to - they can just show what the game looks like, where the ads can be placed, and ask if the company is interested in using the space.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
a simple way to attract more players, use playboy adds :P
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a simple way to attract more players, use playboy adds :P
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Pushing the rating up (you're advertising for a mag/videos which are 18 rated) and thus losing younger subscribers (legal ramifications assumed).
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well, i have to say, for me, for example, if i wanted a pair of trainers / sneakers, i wouldn't be swayed by an advert in a game. Id go out and look for a design i liked together with the correct size and comfort for my feet.
It'd be the same for anything. I wouldn't go out and buy fast food because that was advertised. I wouldn't buy a chocolate bar because that was advertised.
But for the realism, displaying in bus stops etc around paragon city and rogue isles would be good.
Talking of which - has anyone ever SEEN a bus?
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Talking of which - has anyone ever SEEN a bus?
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They're the big secret for I13. I13 being the route number...
As for ingame adds: 150k people is still a lot of people and advertisers hunger for all the juicy revenue from anywhere they can get it.
They do tend to think in terms of Demographics and generalisations BUT CoH is seen as a "casual" MMO: a lot of folks dip in and out at their whim. I'd say this means Norcal, should they need to, can justify any advertisement by saying the audience is the general public rather than specifically "Computer Nerds" or "Comic Geeks" or whatever weird bracket you want to tie people up with. Ads in this game will never break the game so they're welcome, when they come here that is :P
The majority of adverts dont sway me, then again the adverts that I see (usually in the cinema) are pap...but a lot of it works subliminally. You may not overtly go out and purchase a chocolate bar because you've seen an advertisement, however I'll bet that when you fancy one those adverts will aid your choice.
I don't wanna save my soul now,
I just wanna lose control,
And even if it takes a lifetime, to learn:
I'll learn!
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I wouldn't buy a chocolate bar because that was advertised.
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You're obviously not a woman.
Ooh, Kitkat.
If they manage to make something look really appealing and delcisious... like that chocolate ice cream i bought a few days ago, which btw was DIVINE!. Then yea ads would have some impact.
Also i do look at clothes and such and go, ooo thats pretty. And might end up buying that eventually.
I don't however fall for everything!, i'm not gonna start drinkign coke zero hoping for a bunch of scantily clad girls come whisk me away, tho it'd be nice.
Awww Curses, *puts Coke Zero back on shelf*
I don't wanna save my soul now,
I just wanna lose control,
And even if it takes a lifetime, to learn:
I'll learn!
There is a post by Niviene answer a question about the ads saying that the ads have been turned off in the US (then the thread was locked which seems...odd even if it did go onto the whole 'paying for respecs' discussion).
We in the EU haven't even seen adverts ingame (part of me is glad, the US only had 1 advert total, the Nike one which turned up everywhere over and over again though we in the EU would be getting a different set of adverts).
Since it seems only 1 company decided to take them up on the offer and that nobody new has signed up, making the ads look like a failure.
Of course the other thing could be that they've been turned off for a couple of days while they get updated with new sets of ads.
Curious speculation of course.
I mean I can understand the idea behind it but perhaps 150k subscribers world wide really isn't a big enough market to draw in the big spenders and I doubt Nike saw a massive upsurge in the sale of their shoes thanks to this.
Anyway...just an interesting thing I noticed, feel free to ignore, flame or discuss as you see fit.
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