Plan "W"

also posted on the Titan forums.


Good Evening all,

I'd like to bring up an idea that might sound a bit premature but perhaps it is something we need to be thinking about.

This idea is based on the premise that a new person, or group of people, aquire everything they need to continue/restart City of Heroes. As has been mentioned before, this will most likely be expensive and will lead to reduced development for some time. These people (whoever they may be) will need to devote what money they have to operating and maintaining the game.

This is where we come in.

It's a fact that City of Heroes never had a major advertising budget. Perhaps that led to our current situation, and that can and will be debated for some time but WE the City of Heroes community can do something about that.

The same devotion and skills and passion that we have shown in our attempt to preserve the game will need to be turned into a campaign to PROMOTE the game.

We will need to spread the word to those players that have left the game and let them know that they can come home. We will need to let those people who have just learned about our game know that they can come see what all the fuss was about.

We will need to let the world know that the City needs heroes again and everyone is welcome.

Like I said, this may be premature. There are too many factors in play right now and all we can do is keep refusing to go quietly. But, once we have succeded, we will need to do everthing we can to make sure that we do not win the battle only to lose the war because we decided that we've done enough.

This is my proposal. Plan "W", for "Welcome to City of Heroes."


--JWB

I'm a little confused, here. I get that we'll need to promote a resurrected City of Heroes like crazy. But as you say - isn't this a little premature?

Or is there something you had in mind for us to do right now? Is there, perhaps, a way for us to promote the game to other publishers?

I'm no advertising guy - but I would assume a "pitch" to a publisher like Steam (just to use a recent example) would be different than advertising the game to the public?

I remember Ascendant saying that he tried to make the core of his character concepts, like Ascendant or Doctor Crom, come from what he called "The Elevator Pitch".

It's called that because the idea is to pitch the idea of a TV series or movie to a studio executive in the amount of time you have while you are traveling between floors on an elevator. You have a "captive" audience at that point, but very limited time. (There's a classic story - unknown if apocryphal or not, that Gene Roddenberry sold "Star Trek" on the basis of pitching it as "Wagon Train to the Stars" to a network executive. That's a classic "elevator pitch" if ever there was one!)

So, I suppose my idea here is - can we develop an "Elevator Pitch" for City of Heroes targeted at a publisher?

Remember - you have to time it out: Write something out and then read it aloud. Assume your maximum time is 30 seconds or so. (You've gotten lucky and your elevator is going straight to the ground floor with no interruptions/people getting on.) But 10-15 seconds would be ideal.

So that's my take. I don't have one ready and I'm not sure I can do it. But I thought I'd throw the idea out there.

BTW jwbullfrog? I'm now registered on the Titan network. Can you post a link where you've crossposted so I can crosspost my response back? I'm a little unfamiliar with the way things are structures over there. Thanks!

Edit: Nevermind! Found it!

Yeah, I understand what you're saying (and you clearly state that it is premature right now too, so no worries) and I agree with your whole notion.

This community can carry this momentum into the game's resurgence and beyond.
We've managed to push our way into some media spotlights and we can do it to continue to help promote the game.
I agree.
Not sure what to say or do right this instance, but it is definitely something that I did think about as well and something just simply worth mentioning and nodding in agreement about.
And, certainly, ideas and possible plans and things to keep in mind are all very good.

re: Elevator pitch


A profitable, established, award winning game with thousands of loyal fans is being discontinued by it's current publisher. You might have heard about this in a recently trending topic all over the internet. The creators and players of City of Heroes are looking for a new publisher to help this game continue and grow. You, as the head of <<insert name here>> can guarantee yourself a loyal fanbase by agreeing to take up the reins of Paragon Studios and City of Heroes.


It's not perfect, but it's a start.