Massive Ads In Matrix Online 64
Gamespot has the word that ads from Massive, Inc. will now be incorporated into The Matrix Online. The ads, like those in sister-MMOG Planetside, will be in the form of billboards and signage. From the article: "One big difference that players will notice is that the Massive ads will be refreshed and updated with greater frequency. Sony notes that current ads in the game for fictional products and services will continue to remain a part of the game. Sony has also said that the ads will not be animated, and will not affect the game's performance. Another effect of the inclusion of Massive ads into The Matrix Online is that player advertising in Mega City will be possible, and Sony might run contests in the future to select player-generated ads and incorporate them in the game. "
OK (Score:2, Interesting)
So there goes the monthly subscription costs... (Score:3, Insightful)
Ok, back to reality I go....
Re:So there goes the monthly subscription costs... (Score:2)
Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away? (Score:1)
Re:Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away? (Score:5, Insightful)
The same people who pay for cable television with ads?
Answer: Most everybody (Score:3, Insightful)
Hell, when I buy my coffee from a local coffee house, the cup has a car ad on it.
Welcome to the REAL WORLD Mr. Anderson.
Re:Answer: Most everybody (Score:3, Interesting)
Effectiveness? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Effectiveness? (Score:1)
Re:Effectiveness? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Effectiveness? (Score:2)
Personally, I'd like to see World of Warcraft start advertising inside these MMOGs that have in-game advertising. Blizzard could flaunt their lack of in-game advertising.
Then again, I've been playing City of Villains since the pre-order head start, so maybe I'm just thinking in-character.
Re:Effectiveness? (Score:5, Interesting)
1. Brand recognition. If you see enough ads for a product, then go shopping, you may recognize the advertised brand and consider purchasing it over similar products.
2. Repetition. When things get hyped over and over and over, people tend to try it out just because its something they've heard about so many times. Imagine being beaten over the head with adverts for some new drink, then when you go to a gas station or restaurant or wherever, you see another advertisement or the product itself. The odds are high that you will give it a try just to see what all the fuss is about.
Hopefully you don't find the product disgusting (vanilla pepsi) and will buy again.
Re:Effectiveness? (Score:2)
Well, it works on most people for those two reasons (and you're spot on about those).
Regarding point 1 ... I've somehow managed to train myself to use "generic" terms for common products when I ask for or talk about them; I ask for a "tissue" or a "napkin" instead of a "Kleenex." I offer people "soda" when they visit, instead of a "Coke" (I don't like carbonated stuff, so all the soda branding in the world will never squeeze a dime out of me). My lifestyle already limits what advertising I'm exposed to (n
Re:Effectiveness? (Score:2)
There you go. Changing the world, one word at a time.
"A telemarketer who calls me once to sell me something gets an earful."
People who do this are jackasses. You do realize (and I have worked in telemarketing), that the people making the calls are rarely personally interested in the product or service they're selling right? They took a job telemarketing *drumroll* to get paid. They read a script and you giving them an "earfull" is either ignore
Re:Effectiveness? (Score:2)
Most people get buyers remorse because they didn't spend enough effort making sure they wanted what they were buying... instead of just buying something they 'wanted'.
Nowadays you and I can find product reviews online for just about anything from restaurants to ladders to pillows and so on.
Advertising works, but unlike the past, there's no reason people h
Re:Effectiveness? (Score:2)
People who do this are jackasses. You do realize (and I have worked in telemarketing), that the people making the calls are rarely personally interested in the product or service they're selling right?
"Duh, no, I never thought of that." People who make assumptions like you did are also jackasses. Telemarketers who pester me don't get an "earful" of insults and rants; they are interrogated, squeezed for information that is useful to legally stop the telemarketing company from bothering me further. I work
Re:Effectiveness? (Score:1)
I can think of some ads ... (Score:2)
Like ads from lawyers seeking participants in class actions suits for rootkits?
Or ads from apyware companies with sneaky payloads to piggyback on the Sony rootkits?
I wonder wonder wonder but I don't know boo
Wow, talk about a misleading headline... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Wow, talk about a misleading headline... (Score:2)
Maybe Misleading, but Revealing Nonetheless (Score:2)
I mean, that can't really be the best way to advertise *their* service. They could have just as well have called themselves "Really Obnoxious, Intrusive, and Invasive Ads, Inc."
With a name like that, you can be sure I wouldn't be hiring them as *my* advertising company.
I would read them (Score:1)
Having played Matrix Online (Score:5, Funny)
Makes perfect sense (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course, that's another point. Now they have two sets of customers: gamers and advertisers. Hopefully they will see that without a sizeable group of the former, the latter won't pay them much at all. So one would think they will try to please the gamers first and the advertisers second. Of course that may be a little harder to remember once the big bucks start flowing in.
Re:Makes perfect sense (Score:1)
We know that the company isn't doing this to enhance the gaming experience. They're doing it to make money and trying to pretend otherwise
Re:Makes perfect sense (Score:1)
There's already been advertisements in MxO, even in the beta for the game, they had billboards for the movie Constantine. It's billboards, you don't need to stop and stare at them just because they're there. They've already been in the game.
If they were to say, implement more billboards instead of swapping the billboards already in place, that would then be a problem since it'd ob
Re:Makes perfect sense (Score:1)
"Ads will not affect the game's performance"
Full-blown lie. Even if the ads are at the same resolution as a plain grey wall, they're being refreshed. That's a loss of performance because your machine has to do more work to update the ads. What they meant to say was "will not noticeably affect performance"
Re:Makes perfect sense (Score:2)
Re:Makes perfect sense (Score:1)
How dare they!
Re:Makes perfect sense (Score:1)
Re:Makes perfect sense (Score:1)
Re:Makes perfect sense (Score:1)
Player-funded advertisements would be an interesting new addition to the MMPORG economy as well. Imagine being able to post a want-ad, or promote your clan with in-game money, or real-money. That said, what is to stop these advertisement areas from becoming grafitti-like, libelous, or childi
Re:Makes perfect sense (Score:1)
Like those storm troopers in SWG? That was pretty funny/whacky/intense/bordering on psychotic stuff. Anybody know if they're still at it? The last I heard was that Darth Vader himself came to inspect the troops.
I think you have some great suggestions. You shold send them to somebody (tech support? customer relations?) at MxO if you're a current subscriber.
Why should I be bothered by this? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why should I be bothered by this? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why should I be bothered by this? (Score:2)
Re:Why should I be bothered by this? (Score:2)
As far as the cable TV system we pay for the internet, that gives us access to almost anything, comedy central, FX ext.. You pay extra for premium services like HBO which do not have any commercial interruptions. So you see how the correlation between MMO and premium cable channels fit.
Re:Why should I be bothered by this? (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, an MMORPG is a premium service. In this analogy, I'd compare it to HBO or Showtime. I have paid for basic access, but then I pay extra for a premium service, and the content creator gets a direct cut of the extra fee. Sony bills me directly for the MMORPG, HBO gets added to my cable bill, but it is still similar.
So, if I actually played TmO, I'd be annoyed at the ads. Sony is double-dipping. They set a fee, where they thought they would turn a tidy profit. I play TmO because I'd rather avoid all the ads on television and whatnot. Now, Sony is making more money - I have to deal with more ads - and the fee I pay doesn't go down. If HBO started carrying ads, people would be pissed, and they wouldn't be likely to pay extra for it. Personally, I think real-ads in a matrix world would sort of hurt the illusion that it is a fantastic netherworld of the imagination. If the fantasy world is exactly like our world, why do I have to pay extra to be in it?
Though, obviously, the Matrix is a much more appropriate setting for real ads than WoW or Everquest. "Dial Ye Olde Telephone
Re:Why should I be bothered by this? (Score:2)
They may not get a cut of your cable bill, but the cable company is paying someone for the privelege to distribute that channel....
Re:Why should I be bothered by this? (Score:2)
You see, in advertising, its all about getting noticed above your competition and above the "noise". Now, there are two main ways of doing this. Producing a SPECTACULAR ad which gains eyeballs merely because people want to see it and seek it out...and producing an ad that is more attention grabbing than
Re:Now why would Sony do this? (Score:2, Interesting)
Advertisers just want to get the best return on their advertising dollar. If there's a small population being touched upon, the return is lower. However if that small population is also precisely the sort of people who'd buy the product then the return is higher. I'm guessing that if they want to bother sinking money into MxO for advertising, they'll be advertising somethin
Viagra ads? (Score:5, Funny)
Ads in COH and COV (Score:1)
I can see it now... (Score:1)
Re:I can see it now... (Score:1)
Billboards in MxO (Score:1)
In the original release (pre-SOE) they've occasionally been used to provide ads for WB movies.
Those billboards will be there whether Coca-Cola or "Slumberil" is displayed on them. They'll also allow player-created billboards on occasion, so that the things are not just a bit of polygonal fluff but a bit of revenue, a bit of storyline,
What you said! (Score:1)
At times they've even been relevent to the plot of the game. There was story arc that included coded graffiti on the billboards. It didn't influence me to buy any particular products, but it was fun.
Like most of Sla
Anarchy Online did this (Score:3, Insightful)
My personal view on this is: If you're going to make me pay for a game, don't subject me to advertisements I most likely don't want to see anyway.
Re:Anarchy Online did this (Score:2, Informative)
Just a bit of extra info for folks who have never played AO: Subscriptions are still necessary for the expansion packs, but classic AO is ad supported. Paid accounts have the option to turn the ads off. So, to an extent, Funcom is also supported by two revenue streams.
I agree with your post - in game advertising in addition to a monthly fee is just plain silly. Although, now that I think about it, I'd probably leave the ads on even if a had a paid AO account (I'm on a free one) just to see the player creat
Re:Anarchy Online did this (Score:2)
Re:Anarchy Online did this (Score:2)
Still wondering if this will work in mxo.
However planetside was freaking retarded (Score:2)
Re:However planetside was freaking retarded (Score:1)
Re:However planetside was freaking retarded (Score:2)