Grass Roots Player Promotion of CoX
By
Atilla_The_Pun,
Posted on: 2010-12-15 11:42 in Suggestions and Ideas
Is this some kind of pyramid scheme?
Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.
While I am a great admirer of wit and levity in general, I do hope that the worth of the original message is not lost to readers of this thread among the many posted witticisms that will inevitably trail in its wake.
Yet, the constant /bump of such posts has its own value as well, and is appreciated.
-- Vivian
Sorry, you lost me at Amway....
^
"I am a Tank. I am your first choice, I am your last hope." -- Rune Bull
"Durability is the quintessential super-power. " -- Sailboat
Terrible photo, you can see the shadow of the lower-left person, and with an aspect ratio wider than the circle that is the focus you have significant amounts of useless space on the left and right edges.
Issue 16 made me feel like this.
Warning: This poster likes to play Devil's Advocate.
I'm done that couple of times 
Sadly they were only couple of months visitors but basically they liked the game. They just had other intrests to do.
Prunejuice is warriors drink.
Been here, done that just like the only people who were interested. They got sick of waiting for the endgame.
Tyger (50), Mutation-Controller Mind/FF - oldest Mind/FF on Union
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Originally Posted by Dispari
I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.
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Congrats and salutations to you, Zach, for doing it!|
Originally Posted by zachary_EU
I'm done that couple of times
Sadly they were only couple of months visitors but basically they liked the game. They just had other interests to do. |
But it's only to be expected that not all of these people will "stick" and become long-time heroes and heroines.
In fact, I daresay it would be a minority. Player "churn" will always happen.
Which is why, perhaps we can't let up. We need to continue reaching out and promoting City of Heroes.
Perhaps -- even beyond our immediate circle of friends, into the realm of strangers.
I am thinking of having a B&W poster made, that can be distributed here as a PDF. Players could print copies out on their own laser printer at home and put them up -- in schools, laundromats, comic book stores, roleplaying shops and other bulletin boards. The poster would have little tear-off strips at the bottom with the URL of the free trial, so interested people could take one and visit at their leisure.
This kind of outreach is something that couldn't be accomplished through any normal marketing effort on the part of NCsoft, and would reach people across all walks of life.
Might this be of interest? I can get some posters designed fairly quickly.
-- Vivian
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Crickets. Definitely crickets.|
Originally Posted by Doctor Vivian
Might this be of interest? I can get some posters designed fairly quickly.
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-- Vivian
Personally, I think CoH not (nor ever) being mainstream as far as MMO contenders go is what's made this community so great. We have a very low population of trolls/*******.... the devs, GMs, and other people who work here aren't completely overwhelmed with work and childish griping. The forums are relatively positive (And by positive I mean there is no "LOLUMAD SON?" A.K.A. the WoW forums syndrome).
Trying to get this game into the mainstream and actually succeeding would effectively morph this community for the worse I think. The only way I'd support marketing this game openly is if it was tauted for roleplay, and the development of the game took a drastic turn towards overhauling aspects of the game that enhance (And otherwise promote and sustain) roleplay. I don't see that happening any time soon, and I'm perfectly happy with the population we have now. Obviously the devs would like more money to work with but it's not worth the price imo.
I'm not talking about taking CoH mainstream, nor bringing in millions of new players.
I'm talking about bringing the active player base up to around 200-250k users.
Right now, with no exact numbers, signs are pointing to there being less than 100k users.
Having 200-250k users would guarantee that the game would survive and continue to be improved.
Having sub-100k users in a volatile currency market and in the wake of the cash outlay for GR is perilous.
We can sit here and pooh-pooh it, wring our hands and give up or we can try to help.
It's not in our natures -- being fans of the heroic as we all are -- to surrender, or sit idly by.
Who can I count on, to help print and distribute promotional flyers, if made available via PDF?
Raise your hands! If not here, then via PM. Let me know! I'll SPEND the money!
-- Vivian
Honestly I wish you luck but your message is just not rubbing me the right way.
I've regularly tried to recruit my own friends and none of them have ended up staying even the full month. They all go right back to WoW and their other respective games for the shiny epics.
In theory, NCSoft has a department for this sort of thing.
Far as I can tell, they are doing almost nothing to promote their game. Why should I put any more effort into this than the people who are being paid to? I've been around this game for near on 7 years now. I've had a good run. If NC's nonexistent marketing lets it fade into obscurity so it can die with a whimper, then so be it. I've done my part to support this game, both in recruitment and in subscriptions. I wish you the best of luck, but at this point, I'm too damn cynical to care.
My story arcs: #2370- Noah Reborn, #18672- The Clockwork War, #31490- Easy Money
Sartre once said, "Hell is other people." What does that make an MMO?
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It's great that you did recruit people. I've been here for almost 6 years myself, and I also have recruited all the friends that I could.|
Originally Posted by Basilisk
Why should I put any more effort into this than the people who are being paid to? I've been around this game for near on 7 years now. I've had a good run. If NC's nonexistent marketing lets it fade into obscurity so it can die with a whimper, then so be it. I've done my part to support this game, both in recruitment and in subscriptions. I wish you the best of luck, but at this point, I'm too damn cynical to care.
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But I'm not bitter about giving what I have, or doing what I have done over these past years. I would prefer to see the game remain alive, and continue to grow. That, in itself is the reward, the incentive. We need look for nothing greater.
While I think a grass-roots movement of poster-based promotion and actively passing-the-word to remind players to recruit friends could help reverse the downward trend that seems to be taking place in memberships, I'm open to any other better suggestions.
Even if you and I, long-time veterans of the game, have already reached out to our friends, that may not be true of new players of the game. It is with these new players that the recruiting would bear the greatest fruit.
-- Vivian
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I'm sorry if I have offended you in any way -- it was never my intention to offend anyone.|
Originally Posted by SenseiBlur
Honestly I wish you luck but your message is just not rubbing me the right way.
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I've thought about it but I'm just at a loss as to how we can help, if not through this route.
Any suggestions as to better ways to help ensure CoX's survival would be happily received.
-- Vivian
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No. No, it doesn't. And that's the cornerstone problem with your suggestion. If we could get people to join the game, we would have done so already. The truth of the matter is that most people can't. Convincing people to play a subscription-based game has proven completely and utterly impossible for me, outside of that one friend of mine who alternates between WoW and Aion.|
Originally Posted by Doctor Vivian
The answer to the question "how" is simple. Each one of us needs only recruit a SINGLE friend, co-worker or family member to join the game.
It seems almost too simple... |
Suggesting we simply go out and bring new people to the game is kind of like telling a person to go out and make friends. It doesn't work that way.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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Yet people do play (and pay) for subscription-based games, and CoX gains a certain number of new players every day.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Convincing people to play a subscription-based game has proven completely and utterly impossible for me, outside of that one friend of mine who alternates between WoW and Aion. Suggesting we simply go out and bring new people to the game is kind of like telling a person to go out and make friends. It doesn't work that way.
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On the basis of that indisputable fact, I would have to say that any effort, however small, on the part of the player base to market CoX to additional people, and expose more potential players to the game can only be a good thing, and would result in an increase in the number of subscriptions being signed up for.
Under this grassroots concept, recruiting of friends would mostly be done by those who haven't done it yet (i.e., new players). Since you, like most veterans, have already reached out to your friends, all you would be doing would be the poster effort.
-- Vivian
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I'm not offended, but as I said simply promoting the game for the sake of promoting the game does not seem like a positive stance. The way I read it your message said to me "I love this game, but it's dying... please take pity an play it to save it!" Not only that but you suggest that the developers have an unfavorable view of their own game by saying we should change their view on it.|
Originally Posted by Doctor Vivian
I'm sorry if I have offended you in any way -- it was never my intention to offend anyone.
I've thought about it but I'm just at a loss as to how we can help, if not through this route. Any suggestions as to better ways to help ensure CoX's survival would be happily received. -- Vivian |
I don't see the game dying. I see it alive and well, and as you said we get new people every day. If NCsoft wanted more people for City of Heroes and more money, they would make a commercial or something and continue to actively advertise it. I think they did a decent job promoting going rogue.
In other words, I just don't see this idea as needed or warranted which is what I meant by "rubs me the wrong way". Your message, to me, has a heavy air of pity and defeat to it, and I don't believe it has any place here.
And I did give a suggestion. I'd love City of Heroes to begin promoting itself as the only MMO that truly caters to RPers above other things, and I'd love to see their development shift towards that. I think that in itself would attract an exodus of disgruntled RPers who are oppressed and left in the dust by other games -to- city of heroes. All other aspects of the game (except maybe pvp) profit through roleplaying elements in my opinion so it's a win-win for City of Heroes as a whole. Combine that with this game never really having a hardcore raiding/pvp scene and I think it's the most logical direction for the game to take. When I promote CoH, I promote it through all the wonderful things it's done for RPers like the mission architect (Which is the single greatest tool for RPers in MMO history IMO and it has the potential to be the greatest for years to come if they gave it an overhaul and added a swath of further customization to it). Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't.
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What I meant by that (and I apologize for it being unclear) was that I see core team members like BAB being laid off. I.e., the maintenance team is apparently shrinking in the wake of GR. To be clear, I meant that if the active population increased, and the revenue increased, there logically would also be an increase in the budget set aside for the maintenance team. No longer would they be announcing the unfortunate departure of Senior members but rather the addition of new, stellar talent.|
Originally Posted by SenseiBlur
you suggest that the developers have an unfavorable view of their own game by saying we should change their view on it.
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Originally Posted by SenseiBlur
I don't see the game dying. I see it alive and well, and as you said we get new people every day.
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Couple that with the fluctuations in the currency market given the threat of war -- quite possible a nuclear war -- on the Korean peninsula, the shrinking maintenance budget and the corresponding loss of Senior team members, it should be clear that CoX is in a less than ideal state.
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Originally Posted by SenseiBlur
If NCsoft wanted more people for City of Heroes and more money, they would make a commercial or something and continue to actively advertise it. I think they did a decent job promoting going rogue.
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With a possibly lukewarm reception to the development and marketing of GR, it is very likely that NCsoft -- given all the other concerns on their plate -- may be less interested in throwing good money after bad on what is one of their smallest titles.
Moreover, even if NCsoft spent more on Marketing CoX, it is very likely that they could not accomplish what an ongoing grassroots campaign of users printing out 10-20 posters and putting them up around their schools and neighborhood would accomplish.
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Originally Posted by SenseiBlur
In other words, I just don't see this idea as needed or warranted which is what I meant by "rubs me the wrong way".
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Originally Posted by SenseiBlur
Your message, to me, has a heavy air of pity and defeat to it, and I don't believe it has any place here.
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After all, I'm the one who's trying to propose solutions and pump people up into getting the word out there and make a difference. Everyone else who's posted here -- including you -- has been of the "I don't care", "Meh", "I tried, I give up" or "It's NCsoft's job" variety.
I don't believe that pointing out the declining revenue in NCsoft's own documents, raising the red flag and suggesting ways that we, as the players, can help the game we all love continue to prosper and grow is evidencing any sort of air of pity or defeat.
If somehow you gained that impression, I would like to make it clear that it was not my intention to convey anything of the sort. I simply would like to help CoX's membership grow, with all the benefits that entails to the player base.
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Originally Posted by SenseiBlur
And I did give a suggestion. I'd love City of Heroes to begin promoting itself as the only MMO that truly caters to RPers above other things, and I'd love to see their development shift towards that.
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Hard-core Roleplayers have always been a minority in the gaming population of CoX, and from launch to today this has never changed. Any advertising effort, grassroots or corporate, should be aimed towards the widest possible playing demographic in order to generate the largest possible response.
-- Vivian
Am I too late for the wit and levity?
It's never too late for wit and levity!
-- Vivian
Excellent! Then....
....
TL;DR
Hmmm.
TS;DR!
-- Vivian
Dear Fellow Heroes and Heroines,
This is an open letter to all of you, written in the hope of not only bringing about most of the changes and features that we have wished for in CoX but also to help ensure the continued success and growth of our world.
After reviewing the NCsoft Stockholder Reports, and seeing the value of the Dollar's continued decline against the value of a strong Korean Won since 2009 (19%), combined with the threat of war looming larger and larger on the Korean peninsula, I am convinced that there is a grave danger in this ongoing reduction of revenue to NCsoft of CoX some day being sold off or even of the maintenance team losing more core Lead and Senior members like Back Alley Brawler.
Yet we can avert this. The power lies in our hands, the players. We can change the entire dynamic and outlook of City of Heroes -- not only how it is viewed by NCsoft but also by the rest of the gaming world.
The answer to the question "how" is simple. Each one of us needs only recruit a SINGLE friend, co-worker or family member to join the game.
It seems almost too simple, but if every person on CoX did this it would DOUBLE the playing population -- and consequently double its revenue for NCsoft, which will far more than overcome the drop in the KRW. Such an influx of new players would allow a larger budget for the maintenance team, enabling them to staff up and more rapidly bring new features and polish to the CoX experience.
If you can bring in MORE than one person -- that's excellent! But if nothing else, even just bringing in one would be great.
Don't let this thread die. And don't rely on others seeing it, lost as it is among a million others. YOU have seen it. Get out there and spread the word. Tell your friends online, your SuperGroup members, your Coalition partners.
Encourage everyone you know to reach out a hand to someone in the physical world, show them CoX and try to bring them in. And then practice what you preach -- bring in one or more friends of your own.
The chance for a bright future lays in our hands... let's work towards it!
-- Vivian