Curse

Computerwiz1990 · Feb 27, 2008, 01:09 PM // 13:09

I dont know if Anet already does, or NCSoft....Atleast i never see it on my local channels... But they should advertise Guild Wars on TV.... There are so many people that know of the game but probably think it has a subscription. There are so many people who hasnt even heard of the game period... It would help a lot...

Granted it is expensive though....

Divinus Stella · Feb 27, 2008, 01:27 PM // 13:27

Thats one of the main reasons Guild Wars never took off to the extent of WoW, ive played both games and the only reason i can find as to why WoW has consumed the majority of the market share is thats its advertising is superior and its managed to pull players from the RTS Warcraft games.

TV advertising pulls in the wrong people, you tend to end up with (for the lack of a better word) retards.

Gaming magazines is the best place to advertise and build hype, they tried a few times with minipets but that doesnt really pull people in who dont already play and was way too late.
If you pick up any magazine even remotely linked to games its guaranteed that you will see a WoW advert or article somewhere.

Zahr Dalsk · Feb 27, 2008, 01:30 PM // 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divinus Stella

TV advertising pulls in the wrong people, you tend to end up with (for the lack of a better word) retards.

Guild Wars is already full of them.

Brimstonez · Feb 27, 2008, 01:30 PM // 13:30

Not a bad idea, though they already have a huge fanbase. If they were to do this, I would more suggest it for GW2 when it is soon to be released. Not only will it attract attention to the new game, but also get people curious about the previous releases.

For this matter, I rarely see advertising for ANY videogames on TV anymore. I guess the governments are starting to crack down on it, and get kids to be more interested in education as opposed to games...not a bad ploy in my opinion. I've lost count of how many people I've ran into online in these games, who can't even string a sentence together with the correct spelling and grammar.

aapo · Feb 27, 2008, 01:32 PM // 13:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divinus Stella

TV advertising pulls in the wrong people, you tend to end up with (for the lack of a better word) retards.

- So you're claiming that people who watch television and buy advertised products are generally "retards"? Interesting point of view. Care to elaborate?

Brimstonez · Feb 27, 2008, 01:37 PM // 13:37

I watch television, and bought products based on that advertising. I played with one of those products, created something new from it, and now earn 6 figures a year in royalties because of it.

Television can be mind numbing, and it can also be used for useful information.

Hotaru_Reiki · Feb 27, 2008, 01:38 PM // 13:38

I agree with Stella. Not to say that all people that watch TV are retards, just that it does tend to pull people in that aren't quite what you'd want in your game.

The only thing that turned me off from WoW was the 'tards that seem to populate every server. There are a lot of ace people that play, but the whole experience is ruined by people that think it's fun to wreck other peoples gameplay and that your epeen is the be all and end all.

GW2 should definitley advertise more than GW did, but only in specialist area's.

Cargan · Feb 27, 2008, 01:39 PM // 13:39

yeah, it's not very often you see a TV advertisement for a PC only game at the best of times. I can understand why they didn't advertise the game on TV to start with , and once it has gone a while without advertising it's not worth it to start advertising an old game. The cost of advertising would outweigh the gains from advertising such a game.

With the increased popularity of MMO's over recent years, and the now more competitive nature of the market, I would be surprised if they didn't choose to advertise GW2 on TV.

Cargan

Divinus Stella · Feb 27, 2008, 01:41 PM // 13:41

Its about target audience, if your gonna sell viagra then dont put adverts in the beano.

Tutis Evito · Feb 27, 2008, 01:58 PM // 13:58

Ive seen a few Wow tv ads with Mr T on them...funny

stretchs · Feb 27, 2008, 02:05 PM // 14:05

I am a bit surprised that gw hasnt done a better job of marketing itself via the television. I hope that with gw2 they decide to get some tv ads and whatnot to bring us new blood

Pleikki · Feb 27, 2008, 02:05 PM // 14:05

Yeah probably if Ncsoft would go for Tv we would get many new players to play guild wars cause "playing with no fees" gather ppl buy Mmo :d

*Darcy* · Feb 27, 2008, 02:05 PM // 14:05

You need to remember that WoW's MMO started with an existing fan base. It wasn't surprising that it was popular.

GW was an experimental on-line game format with a limited development budget from NCSoft (the publisher). No money was spent on marketing beyond the packaging. The increasing popularity was a surprise to NCSoft, who didn't think it would take off as it did.

ANet does have a marketing staff now, which is the reason for the magazine/internet articles and interviews. TV ads - too expensive for the possible return on investment. Print and internet ads can be more easily targeted.

Zahr Dalsk · Feb 27, 2008, 02:20 PM // 14:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by aapo

- So you're claiming that people who watch television and buy advertised products are generally "retards"? Interesting point of view. Care to elaborate?

Staring at a TV as the idiotic shows break your sanity takes no conscious thought. Gaming, on the other hand, does (to a variable degree depending on the game) require conscious thought.

Operative 14 · Feb 27, 2008, 02:43 PM // 14:43

Considering GW's pricing structure, I'd be surprised if they could run enough commercials to draw enough people in to pay for their expenditure. They would have to run quite a few commercials before the average person would get up and say 'darn it, that looks like a neat game and I'm going to buy it!'

I have no idea how TV commercial pricing structures work, but it seems like they wouldn't be able to recoup their investment. In order to get a few more people, they'd have to pay a lot more money. That works out fine for WoW, because they have, what? 9 million x $15 a month = a heck of a lot of income every month. So they basically have money to burn in that respect.

GW's pricing structure is casual player friendly, and I hope they do advertise GW2 on TV (party because I think their commercials would be really, really neat). However, I don't see them making enough return on the commercials to justify them.

WinterSnowblind · Feb 27, 2008, 02:50 PM // 14:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tutis Evito

Ive seen a few Wow tv ads with Mr T on them...funny

Not sure who they got to do those adverts, but I have to say it's one of the best advertisment campaigns I've ever seen. Even almost convinced me to play the game, and I usually hate ads.

Rushin Roulette · Feb 27, 2008, 02:51 PM // 14:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by aapo

- So you're claiming that people who watch television and buy advertised products are generally "retards"? Interesting point of view. Care to elaborate?

Well, its quite obvious isnt it... they arent playing GW

But enough said... why invest in advertizing if you can get publicity from good reviews (just ignore GWEN for now) and have the game in the top 50 most bought/played games displayed at any Wallymart (at least NF and Factions always seem to be displayed in the top 50 here in Germany along with other "old" titles such as CSS which is nearly always in the top 5

.

They seem to rely quite heavily on word of mouth and sales statistics to keep up the momentum. However... at some point this momentum will peter out and generate less paying customers for GW. When that happens (or before) they will start working on a new project.
Thats the time for a new game. Maybe we should ask Anet think about working on a concept or a second GW game with maybe better Graphics (maybe even toggleable dx10) and a more revolutionary gameplay. We could call it GW2.

pumpkin pie · Feb 27, 2008, 03:06 PM // 15:06

advertising = more unnecessary costs = players paying more

best is for everyone who buys guildwars and enjoy it to tell their friends about it, which i did yesterday while buying a new computer, I told the guy about it, he was very enthusiastic and swears he never hear of it before,

Isileth · Feb 27, 2008, 04:19 PM // 16:19

Its not at all cost effective to advertise on TV.

The main market for games is gamers. So advertising to a gamer rich audience gives you much better bang for your buck.

Thats why you hardly ever see games being advertised outside of gaming mags, sites etc.

llsektorll · Feb 27, 2008, 04:24 PM // 16:24

the guild wars niche market does not spend its time watching tv.... the people that watch the shows aired are probably not gonna be willing to play an MMORPG