Oh wow I thought this was another one of those threads complaining about marketing but I completely agree, the ones who think this game needs more advertising and take initiative!
I myself have a group of friends who I've been convincing to get into the game, though admittedly I told them to wait for GR to come out and buy the complete edition 
Quote:
Nope, haven't noticed. Seems just fine from my perspective. |
AresSupreme has his own perception: As you may have noticed, the population has not been acceptable for such a great game as of late. |
EDIT: That said, there's nothing wrong with more advertising, especially without a price tag.
Dec out.
Quote:
Same here. In fact I've been getting more invites then ever each time I log on. I've had to start using the /hide feature to get some peace and quiet form all the pug invites. |
Originally Posted by Decorum
Nope, haven't noticed. Seems just fine from my perspective.
EDIT: That said, there's nothing wrong with more advertising, especially without a price tag. |
Of course I'll never object to the company doing more to attract more customers.
I've wondered before if a player-run campaign such as various "save our television show" campaigns might work. For example, for reasons I'm not at liberty to disclose, I ran across the Save Our Seeker web site for fans of the Legend of the Seeker television show. They gathered almost $10,000 in donations and used the money to run two full-page ads in The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety magazines. They also gathered over $10,000 in donations to buy DVDs to donate to libraries. What kinds of ads could we run or projects could we undertake to get the game into the hands of new players if we had that kind money to spend on the effort?
On the one hand, I feel like if NCsoft is unwilling to run some of the advertising that the game's fans want, there's really not much stopping us from collecting donations and undertaking such projects ourselves.
I'd be lying, though, if I said that I also hadn't thought that if NCsoft is unwilling to run advertising for the game, do I really want to waste my money on their non-commitment?
The people I really feel sorry for are the developers and reps at Paragon Studios. I really get the vibe that they have little or no control over their advertising budget, that they're simply told my NCsoft, "Here's what you have to spend." Given that situation, all of the appeals even to Black Pebble won't do any good. If they don't have they money, they don't have the money.
Still, I'm not ignorant to the fact that NCsoft is trying to strike a delicate balance between supporting existing titles and investing in new and recent titles in order to generate the most profit that they can. If there's something that we, as players, can do to prove to them that City of Heroes is still worth pouring money into, that could only be a good thing in my book.
Of course, if we did start a player-run campaign, we'd have to quickly decide on a few things up front, such as who gets to decide where the donation money is spent? What endeavors would get the most bang for the buck? What kind of accountability would there be to ensure that money given in good faith would be spent wisely? What community resources would be be able to tap (community writers, artists, machinemists, etc.)? To what degree would we want Paragon Studios and/or NCsoft involved in the campaign, and would they even be willing to be involved? Who would be willing to step up and actually run the thing? I don't just mean who is willing to be a figurehead in charge; I mean, who is really willing to put their boots on the ground and run with it?
We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.
(If you love this game as much as I do, please read that post.)
Quote:
This.
|
Originally Posted by Decorum
Nope, haven't noticed. Seems just fine from my perspective.
EDIT: That said, there's nothing wrong with more advertising, especially without a price tag. |
Quote:
It is perfectly acceptable to say WoW here. That said, if comparing game populations, it is best to toss out the extremes and compare everything that is neither WoW nor whatever the lowest population game is as well (Eternal Lands perhaps). That gives you a better idea of where this game stands in comparison to the others.|
Originally Posted by AresSupreme
As you may have noticed, the population has not been acceptable for such a great game as of late. While inferior games boast far more subscribers...
|
There, I knew that statistics class I had to take years ago would be useful for something some day.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by AresSupreme
As you may have noticed, the population has not been acceptable for such a great game as of late. While inferior games boast far more subscribers, our wonderful CoH has countless empty zones.
|
I totally disagree with your initial premise, which detracts from your point, I think.
That said, more marketing would certainly be a plus.
My Deviant Art page link-link
CoH/V Fan Videos
In the interest of NOT starting a debate of any sort, let's just assume we WANT more advertising/players as opposed to NEED.
I read all of your posts, i'm going to wait for more feedback from the community and speak to more people in game and hopefully get this thing on the ball. Tony brought up some interesting points, but it would be great to see where everyone stands before we really take this out of the box.
I think we can ALL agree, that more advertising would be a GOOD thing.
Quote:
Yes.
|
Originally Posted by AresSupreme
I think we can ALL agree, that more advertising would be a GOOD thing.
|
Quote:
lol, probably CO, did that game even retain any players besides the ones who paid upfront for lifetime subs? never heard of eternal lands...muds/browser "mmos" don't count. Although I've been playing more Runescape than CoX lately if we were to count those :/ marketing NEEDS to spill more new info about Going Rogue...because, frankly, i'm hovering on the verge of canceling for a month or two until it launches because i'm just kind of bored and only log in for brief periods atm. The Ultra Mode shiny wore off too quick. I really hope GR is going to rock...in any case, I'd be killing time turning my fave redsiders into Bluebies and running them through the Phalanx TFs. ha ha, no more having to suffer through the dead redside just because redside ATs are more fun!| whatever the lowest population game |
CoX probably is pretty low subscriber population compared to other games...but I bet CoX paid off its low development costs quickly enough and has been pure profit for quite awhile now. Heck, that's the reason EQ1 is still up...long as it keeps making enough money for itself they can keep the game plugged in forever.
yeah, i can agree with the op, the community is a part of the game, so it stands tor eason that the community help maintain thsi game. this does not remove the responsibility of official marketing, naturally, but if you can help, help.
Quote:
Definitely not a MUD or browser MMO.|
Originally Posted by Iannis
lol, probably CO, did that game even retain any players besides the ones who paid upfront for lifetime subs? never heard of eternal lands...muds/browser "mmos" don't count.
|
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_lands
It is a full-fledged MMORPG for Linux, FreeBSD, Windows, and OS X.
Quote:
You know, it's rather hard to effectively market something that does not seem interested in marketing itself. If and when NCSoft decides that it might be to their advantage to let more people know about their game in the ways that make sense for a game of its kind, I might be more inclined to get on the player marketing bandwagon.|
Originally Posted by rian_frostdrake
yeah, i can agree with the op, the community is a part of the game, so it stands tor eason that the community help maintain thsi game. this does not remove the responsibility of official marketing, naturally, but if you can help, help.
|
This is like eating in a great restaurant with affordable prices and good food, but the owners never bother to put a sign out front. Meanwhile, all the other not-as-great restaurants in the area not only have big signs, but are hiring cute girls to stand outside their entrances and pass out fliers. Gee, I wonder where the customers will end up?
All the game's population problems go away when it goes free to play. And I did say "when".
The best comics are still 10�!
My City of Heroes Blog Freedom Feature Article: "Going Rageless?"
If you only read one guide this year, make it this one.
Super Reflexes: the Golden Fox of power sets!
WARNING: I bold names.
Quote:
I don't see that happening anytime soon. For one thing, contrary to the DOOOOM!-criers, the game does have a pretty decent population of players. For another, the game isn't very conducive to the microtransaction business models that free-to-play games have. Sure, we get a few bonus packs now and then, but those are extras, not the bread and butter of Paragon Studio's revenue. For another, it would seriously piss a lot of people off who would then view the game as a class system based on real-world money.|
Originally Posted by Daemodand
All the game's population problems go away when it goes free to play. And I did say "when".
|
Who knows, I might eat my words for saying it someday, but if this were to ever become a free-to-play game, I can't imagine it happening for at least another five years, maybe longer. It would be a pretty radical overhaul of How Things Work, as well as a pretty long process of slowly getting players on board with the idea, especially considering how long the game has gone as a non-free-to-play game already and the fact that it really is doing pretty well relative to many other games on the market.
I just don't see it happening. Not in the near- or medium-term future.
We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.
(If you love this game as much as I do, please read that post.)
Quote:
Yeah F2P worked so well for Dungeon Runners that NCSoft shut the game down and all the population problems went away.
|
Originally Posted by Daemodand
All the game's population problems go away when it goes free to play. And I did say "when".
|
Quote:
lol
|
Originally Posted by forbin_project
yeah f2p worked so well for dungeon runners that ncsoft shut the game down and all the population problems went away.
|
And I never ever see anyone over in FreeRealms.
**rolls eyes**
Dec out.
Wow I suggested the same damn thing about 8 months ago and all the snobs came to the thread and shut it down. "Oh I dont want to have anything on facebook or twitter" "Thats a bad idea" "Just no".
Did you suggest that CoX do it or the player base individually? Official or viral?
Dec out.
Quote:
Does NCSoft own FreeRealms? From what I've seen NCSoft shuts down games that stop earning a profit rather than convert them to F2P. See also Auto Assault and Tabula Rasa as additional examples.
|
Originally Posted by Decorum
And I never ever see anyone over in FreeRealms.
**rolls eyes** |
I was referring more to "all games lose their population when they go to free". Sorry for the confusion (which I can see now). And it may not even fit, as FreeRealms didn't "go" free, they always were (with an option for more if you pay).
Dec out.
Quote:
That's odd, the only thing I recall you suggested about advertising was the following.|
Originally Posted by Perfect_Pain
Wow I suggested the same damn thing about 8 months ago and all the snobs came to the thread and shut it down. "Oh I dont want to have anything on facebook or twitter" "Thats a bad idea" "Just no".
|
Date: 2/04/2010
Thread: "All Quiet on the Paragonian Front"
You suggested they sell T-shirts.
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...ng#post2588263
Date: 8/11/2009
Thread: "Advertising Going Rogue"
You suggested they Sell T-shirts
Put Posters up in Best Buy
Buy advertising between movie trailers in theaters
Sell Plushies
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...ng#post2106568
If I missed a thread where you suggested what the OP has posted please provide a link to it.
Quote:
NP Decorum we're all friends here. My comment about F2P not working for Dungeon Runners was directed at their inability to maintain a large enough playerbase and how NCSoft responded. DR was designed to be F2P from the start with an option for more if you paid a $5.00 monthly fee.
|
Originally Posted by Decorum
I was referring more to "all games lose their population when they go to free". Sorry for the confusion (which I can see now). And it may not even fit, as FreeRealms didn't "go" free, they always were (with an option for more if you pay).
|
I think we can all agree that more players is a good thing. (edited for the sensitive CoH oldguard)
Firstly, I think GR will bring us new and returning players who will love CoH and thus the population will increase significantly. Now getting to the point of this post and why it is so important to me.
I think advertising is essential to this games success. So why not as a player base promote the game we all love? Here are a few ideas I came up with.
-Post a link to the main site on your social networking sites, (twitter, facebook, myspace, etc...)
-Post links on your youtube page/Video
-Create fan made commercials for youtube and similar sites.
I have already posted a link on my facebook, and I plan to do more. Now it is just a matter of the player base.
We have an excellent game here, let's share it with the world!
VIVA LA CITY OF HEROES!! LOL