CoX player population is...?
By
Acemace,
Posted on: 2010-05-19 21:22 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Quote:
of course i did. You haven't seen what state i'm in have you? |
Originally Posted by Slashman
You just reinforced my point! |
I agree with you completely. The way Marketing handles advertising for this game makes me feel like they are deliberately attempting to sabotage their own franchise.
p.s. I'm pointing out you shouldn't use bioware as an example because holding any game company to Bioware standards is ridiculous. Bioware can do no wrong.
Quote:
Well to be fair they can do wrong. But the right that they do kind of overshadows it. Which is as good as one can expect. There are no perfect game companies. |
Originally Posted by Tokyo
of course i did. You haven't seen what state i'm in have you?
I agree with you completely. The way Marketing handles advertising for this game makes me feel like they are deliberately attempting to sabotage their own franchise. p.s. I'm pointing out you shouldn't use bioware as an example because holding any game company to Bioware standards is ridiculous. Bioware can do no wrong. |
In companies like Bioware and Valve(for instance), you see studios that have their program together and flow like a well oiled machine. There is no question or hesitation as to if their products will receive proper marketing and press. They will, no matter how anticipated. Even now, Team Fortress 2 gets a ton of press, updates and constant attention. That's a non-subscription game that is 3 years old now and still gets more push than COX.
And yeah, I agree that I feel like Paragon Studios is sabotaging its own game.
Over the last few months, it does seem like COX has taken a hit in population ... at the very least, my Global list sure has.
Of the people I've played with in the past-- some of whom I've known as long as the game has been around-- there's only one other person I see on a regular basis, another on a semi regular basis. Pretty much everyone else has been gone for at least the last month.
And no offense to Black Pebble, but they need to do some more marketing.
My COX Fanfiction:
Blue's Assembled Story Links
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The reason they're focusing on us appears to be that the game's marketing plan is all about retention, retention, retention. I wouldn't be surprised if someone, either at the Paragon Studios management level or above, has told the devs in no uncertain terms that growing the player base at this point and bringing in new players are next to impossible on the money available. If that's true (a debatable point), then the fact that the game is marketed only to people who already own it starts to seem logical.|
Originally Posted by Slashman
This is what makes me bang my head against the wall. All this work and money spent on a new expansion and the only people who are being informed about updates to their website is...US? We already know about GR and the GR website. Why aren't they telling other people?
|
Again, I don't know if bringing in new people really is impossible, but everything I've seen over the past year leads me to believe that Paragon/NCSoft/what have you believes it to be.
Oh, and I get the "feeling" the population is down from what it was a year or so ago, but that's all it is: a feeling. I'm much more concerned about the community's attitude, which has gotten noticeably more tempermental, closed, and unfriendly in the same period of time, in my opinion, than about raw population, however it's defined.
"Bombarding the CoH/V fora with verbosity since January, 2006"
Djinniman, level 50 inv/fire tanker, on Victory
-and 40 others on various servers
A CoH Comic: Kid Eros in "One Light"
Quote:
This. |
Originally Posted by Olantern
The reason they're focusing on us appears to be that the game's marketing plan is all about retention, retention, retention. I wouldn't be surprised if someone, either at the Paragon Studios management level or above, has told the devs in no uncertain terms that growing the player base at this point and bringing in new players are next to impossible on the money available. If that's true (a debatable point), then the fact that the game is marketed only to people who already own it starts to seem logical.
Again, I don't know if bringing in new people really is impossible, but everything I've seen over the past year leads me to believe that Paragon/NCSoft/what have you believes it to be. Oh, and I get the "feeling" the population is down from what it was a year or so ago, but that's all it is: a feeling. I'm much more concerned about the community's attitude, which has gotten noticeably more tempermental, closed, and unfriendly in the same period of time, in my opinion, than about raw population, however it's defined. |
It sounds right on the money IMHO.
I guess the only thing that can really be done at this point is to continue supporting this game any way we can and just hope for the best. <Not a doom post>
Ignoring anyone is a mistake. You might miss something viral to your cause.
Quote:
Sometimes I feel like it's not so much DOOM as it is kind of a slow decline into decrepitude.|
Originally Posted by MrHassenpheffer
This.
It sounds right on the money IMHO. I guess the only thing that can really be done at this point is to continue supporting this game any way we can and just hope for the best. <Not a doom post> |
Retention is a losing battle. People will move on. If retention is all they are fighting for, then resources will lessen over time until the scope and frequency of major updates to the game will dwindle. You can't truly retain people indefinitely.
It won't happen tomorrow, or next week or next month or even next year. Still, I also don't find myself wanting to be part of a game with a self-defeating attitude when it comes to the future.
I think that an MMO community should constantly have new people coming in and be expanding. I don't want to see less activity on the streets of Paragon and the Rogue Isles. I want to see more. And even though I'm not a big PUG player, an MMO world is made more vibrant when more people are there to share it.
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Qft.
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Originally Posted by slashman
perhaps i'm living in a slightly different universe than you, but in what reality do game companies wait until less than 2 months before release to do aggressive advertising for their game?
Most games and expansions ramp up advertising well before that. Multiple interviews on as many sites as will have them. Banner ads all over the place(these should be going on for an mmo regardless of an expansion being near release or not). Taken a look at the the old republic website? You hype stuff to make sales. Successful game companies and even terrible game companies do this because you want to draw attention to your product. You want people to constantly be in anticipation of what you are bringing. You want your game to be on the minds of potential customers all the time. You do not just sit on your *** and make a few website updates and then post a note about it on your own forums if you want to bring in sales. Take a closer look at the game industry and how it works before you make statements like that. Bioware pushed dragon age so much that folks at bluesnews and other gaming sites were talking about being sick of hearing about it. The people on the forums aren't the ones who need to be reminded about cox...its all the other folks who haven't heard about it or who may not know enough about it to give it a try. Good grief...you realize that there are free to play mmos that do more advertising than cox? That doesn't seem weird to you? |
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I agree with all of this. Yes it is weird.
|
Originally Posted by Slashman
Perhaps I'm living in a slightly different universe than you, but in what reality do game companies wait until less than 2 months before release to do aggressive advertising for their game?
Most games and expansions ramp up advertising well before that. Multiple interviews on as many sites as will have them. Banner ads all over the place(these should be going on for an MMO regardless of an expansion being near release or not). Taken a look at the The Old Republic website? You hype stuff to make sales. Successful game companies and even terrible game companies do this because you want to draw attention to your product. You want people to constantly be in anticipation of what you are bringing. You want your game to be on the minds of potential customers all the time. You do not just sit on your *** and make a few website updates and then post a note about it on your own forums if you want to bring in sales. Take a closer look at the game industry and how it works before you make statements like that. Bioware pushed Dragon Age so much that folks at Bluesnews and other gaming sites were talking about being sick of hearing about it. The people on the forums aren't the ones who need to be reminded about COX...its all the other folks who haven't heard about it or who may not know enough about it to give it a try. Good grief...you realize that there are free to play MMOs that do more advertising than COX? That doesn't seem weird to you? |
Ignoring anyone is a mistake. You might miss something viral to your cause.
Is it then smarter for a lesser known game like COX to do less marketing? Especially with a new expansion on the way?
This is what makes me bang my head against the wall. All this work and money spent on a new expansion and the only people who are being informed about updates to their website is...US? We already know about GR and the GR website. Why aren't they telling other people?