EA's thoughts on marketing strategy

willie nelson

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Join Date: Jan 2007

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Quote:
Another big change will come in the way that EA markets its games, in fact marketing is one area that they are committed to spending more money, as well as making better use of the possibilities offered by the internet. Pleasants explained it thus: "The game-development process has evolved, so the marketing should as well. It's less about 'We have an idea, we go away for 24 months and spend $30 million working on a game, then put a little buzz out there and hope it works.' We need to have a dialogue with the audience, take a longer lead time and make sure we have the right mix of digital and traditional."
source

This seems directly opposite to GW2's marketing strategy. Mind you I'm not very fond of EA, but the dude has a point on this one...

Dr.Jones

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i think anet/ncsoft needs to follow blizzards working example and start talking about gw2. will anet do that no not at all.

on the subject of EA they need much more then to change there marketing strategy to save them selfs, but this is a good step for them. will i get another ea game for pc probably not unless it is super fantastic, and a lot of there games had the potential of being epic (command and conquer 3 and red alert3) but i have had too many bad experiences with bugs, and too few updates that were way to late and or didn't fix a bug or balance the game correctly. the other thing i have seen them do is release a game and then, put out maybe one patch and then never come back or give any more support for it.

simply put they got to big to fast.

zwei2stein

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Movies and Books are where they should look for inspiration. Games ain't that different from them.

Gli

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Join Date: Nov 2005

I can't fault them for not going public with GW2 if it's still almost 2 years away.

Dr.Jones

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gli View Post
I can't fault them for not going public with GW2 if it's still almost 2 years away.
oh yea forgot about that. (the fact that anet failed once again ie released Gwen too soon and announced guild wars 2 too soon they should have made gwen a stand alone campaign with no new professions but have it so there are more skills for the classes that don't have as many [para derv sin rit] and then waited the six months after eotn came out and then announced guild wars 2 when that actually had something to show us.)

4thVariety

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Join Date: Jun 2005

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http://twitter.infinityward.com/

A good rouse to pretend feedback counts while making sure they can directly advertise to a lot of people if the day of release draws near.

A game is more than people desperately asking for one feature. Imagine IF there were democratic ingame votes on game topics. On every single topic the community would divide into two sides with no interest in neither dialog nor compromise. Best way to chip away your customers minority by minority is to include majority decisions. People then loose the interest in the product the same way they get disenchanted with politics.

ArenaNet's challenge is not to have people vote on controversial topics but find the middle ground both sides of an argument can live with.



So what if we knew stuff about GW2? What would it achieve? All we'd do is take it apart into little pieces and carefully trample them into the ground. We can start with the back story, Anet already released it.

Example:
OMG, not saving the world again, how juvenile is that, and what's up with the adolescent evil dragon fantasies, why are all characters in GW so one dimensional and either good or evil. Look at all members of a race are defined by the attributes given to the group as a hole, that's racist suggesting all individuals within one group were the same.

Right after that we descent into the pits of the web by leading a discussion on the whether showing breastfeeding charr women is unacceptable public nudity or a shoving of 18th century misogynistic world views, depicting women as keepers of the family only, down our throats.

Tullzinski

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Join Date: Mar 2006

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EA should spend its money elsewhere, Spore for example...The first two patches to Spore BROKE the game for more people than it fixed issuses. The First MAC patch also destroyed the game for that platform. EA's support was sad, they let the people on the forums fix the game, they still owe all those people money for all their time and effort fixing the game for helping people who received absolutely no assistance from EA/Maxis.

EA/Maxis did this with Spore and it did nothing but fail. The game that was released was nothing like what they had promoted and discussed with the community during its development. Load on top of the DRM issues and patch issuses and instead of fixing the game they put out an parts pack expansion. They ignored the community and released what they wanted to in the end and pissed off alot of people.

ANET should NOT do anything like EA ever!

JupiterStarWarrior

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Join Date: Jun 2008

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Um. The title of the thread is totally misleading as the article doesn't mention Guild Wars 2 at all. However, there is a point; the Guild Wars community would love to hear more information about Guild Wars 2. Like, for example, how far ahead is it in production (did it even pass "pre production"?). What are some of the design concepts for certain areas? What does the new interface look like (okay, maybe not that last one, but still)?

Anyway, at the same time, I can understand ArenaNet's reluctance of releasing too much information; they don't want anyone coming up and stealing the idea behind the upcoming game.

distilledwill

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Blighty

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Well... I got all hyped up over spore and that was a huge letdown. Maybe the less I know about GW2 the better. XD


Nah, I can't wait for more info. (by more, I mean some at all).

Lycan Nibbler

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2006

AZ

I love the armchair experts - what the should have/should do - without having any idea of the business decisions that were discussed and decided within anet.
Just going to turn into another anet tell us about GW2 thread...../shakes head

Dr.Jones

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Join Date: Jul 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by 4thVariety View Post

So what if we knew stuff about GW2? What would it achieve? All we'd do is take it apart into little pieces and carefully trample them into the ground. We can start with the back story, Anet already released it.

Example:
OMG, not saving the world again, how juvenile is that, and what's up with the adolescent evil dragon fantasies, why are all characters in GW so one dimensional and either good or evil. Look at all members of a race are defined by the attributes given to the group as a hole, that's racist suggesting all individuals within one group were the same.

Right after that we descent into the pits of the web by leading a discussion on the whether showing breastfeeding charr women is unacceptable public nudity or a shoving of 18th century misogynistic world views, depicting women as keepers of the family only, down our throats.
this is exactly what would happen on this form.... sadly but i also think that like this forum the ideas put forward are a much smaller part of the guild wars gaming community as a hole.

as for the back story your right guild wars two's story right now is sooo one dimensional that my only thought was wow guild wars more like dragon wars. and my other thought was what happened to the hundreds of Ascalonions (sp?) that fled and did all this epic questing in guild wars1 did they just stop all at the same time? just to let the world that they just got done saving from evil "bad guys" 3 times over?? like i highly doubt that it all just goes to shit and that at least my toons would let that happen after everything the had been through.... anyhow i am losing track of what i am trying to say and that is i think allot of the backstory will be reviled in the books that are comeing out who knows when.

newbie_of_doom

newbie_of_doom

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Join Date: Oct 2006

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Truth is GW2 is still is in the real early process, like the concept. Also EA is total shit + they don't actually say anything about GW2.

Kattar

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Quote:
I can't fault them for not going public with GW2 if it's still almost 2 years away.
They already went public with it.

Dr.Jones

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Quote:
Originally Posted by JupiterStarWarrior View Post
Anyway, at the same time, I can understand ArenaNet's reluctance of releasing too much information; they don't want anyone coming up and stealing the idea behind the upcoming game.
its hard to say how innovative anet is and what they are going to try and steal from wow. with that said you can still be vage and tell people about things that are going to be in the game with out giving them the hole picture.

OH WAIT... thats exactly what anet did but more Vage then anything else.

Dr.Jones

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsumi View Post
They already went public with it.

when did that pcgamer come out....? ugh damn pcgamer websites redirecting you to another site...

Kattar

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PC Gamer
May 2007 Issue #161
"Guild Wars Reborn"

Link was on guru a while ago. Right here.

Dr.Jones

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Join Date: Jul 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsumi View Post
PC Gamer
May 2007 Issue #161
"Guild Wars Reborn"

Link was on guru a while ago. Right here.
um the image you posted is says " buy this mag and get two exclusive guildwars 2 in-game items for the beta release" that was not in that may 2007 edition. this is one that hasnt come out yet i dont think. the cover is different image as well. SOMEONE has inside info.

Free Runner

Free Runner

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Join Date: Oct 2005

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Its a cover that a fan made i believe.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/idrawdesigns/3130806123/

Rocky Raccoon

Rocky Raccoon

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Quote:
Originally Posted by willie nelson View Post
source

This seems directly opposite to GW2's marketing strategy. Mind you I'm not very fond of EA, but the dude has a point on this one...
All I see here is another (thinly veiled) bash ANET thread. Each company has their own business template, let the finished product decide what was right or wrong.

Dr.Jones

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Join Date: Jul 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by Free Runner View Post
Its a cover that a designer made i believe.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/idrawdesigns/3130806123/
aw that must be it because on that site the issue says May 2008 volume 20 number 5 or i could be wrong on the 2008 seeing how its hard to see the 8. but that's more wishful thinking then anything, right?

tricked ftlol

turbo234

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2006

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It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for 'em.

rohara

rohara

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Join Date: Nov 2006

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr.Jones View Post
i think anet/ncsoft needs to follow blizzards working example and start talking about gw2. will anet do that no not at all.

on the subject of EA they need much more then to change there marketing strategy to save them selfs, but this is a good step for them. will i get another ea game for pc probably not unless it is super fantastic, and a lot of there games had the potential of being epic (command and conquer 3 and red alert3) but i have had too many bad experiences with bugs, and too few updates that were way to late and or didn't fix a bug or balance the game correctly. the other thing i have seen them do is release a game and then, put out maybe one patch and then never come back or give any more support for it.

simply put they got to big to fast.
their RTS games fail because they are poorly coded and don't know how to properly balance them from the get-go. they hand them over to GameReplays to balance - and by the time the patch is finished and goes through EA's rigorous approval process, everyone has moved on and nobody cares anymore because it is too little, too late. (i was on GR's balance team for BFME and BFME2, so i say that with certainty.) however, this is the case with just about any RTS game with the exception of SC and Warcraft - the fan base is so small, it does not make economical sense to release regular patches. the best they can really do is release a few big patches that address critical issues.

on one hand, it is cool that they allow players/fans of the game do 100% of the balancing and bug fixing, but on the other hand...the players/fans don't get paid to do this, and it makes EA look lazy.

as for GW2...i'm sure their marketing team has a plan that will kick into action when they are good and ready. i don't believe for a second that the itsy bitsy "buzz" they've put out is the only marketing they plan to do.

Ctb

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

W/

Marketing is really the only thing EA is good at, so I'd tend to listen to them. The fact that EA usually manages to actually sell the utter crap they produce is a bold testament.

FengShuiDove

FengShuiDove

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Join Date: Sep 2007

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*sigh*

Too late now I realize I've stumbled into yet another "omg anet is fail" vs. "nuh-uh anet is r0xx0r" and "giv us gw2 nowz!" vs. "im so patient an gunna weight for gw2 infos!"... thread.

If Beta is to be in 2010/2011 as we've seen, then there's still plenty of time to advertise and release more and more information as time progresses and launch nears. Time enough to grab the attention of new players without them getting bored with the commercials and forgetting about the game itself. Time enough to grab the attention of older/previous/GW1 players and get them reanimated on the idea. At that point we'll see screens, gameplay, get feedback from ANet... it'll be okay. And best of all, it'll be pretty independent of how much discussion/whining goes on at fansite forums.

Zorgy

Zorgy

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Join Date: Jun 2007

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[any]

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"...Developing a new MMO requires a lot of money and a lot of time. If you are starting today and don’t have at least three years and $30 million dollars, consider developing in another genre. Also be prepared to attract and manage a large development team. We have 140 full-time developers working on Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 at ArenaNet, and that number will probably have to grow throughout the Guild Wars 2 development cycle. It is much easier and less risky to make exciting, innovative games in other genres. Unfortunately, some of us just can’t make that decision – we’re intoxicated by the thought of building the ultimate MMO, and we feel compelled to dedicate our lives to that pursuit. If that describes you, then by all means jump in and let’s keep pushing the boundaries of possibility together. But bring cash – lot’s of it – and make sure that you are working with people on the business side who are willing to let you make the best game you can make, because there are no successful B-titles in the MMO industry.

I’ll end by paraphrasing the famous Japanese game designer, Masaya Matsuura: Go forth, and do weird and difficult things! Thank you..."

From Jeff Strain: How to Create a Successful MMO

http://eu.guildwars.com/press/article/jeffgc2007/

Markaedw

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Considering the finacial trouble EA is in, I wouldn't do anything the way they do it.

pumpkin pie

pumpkin pie

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How come my PC Gamer #161 does not says i get 2 special item for GW2 beta?

EA does not listen to their customer, try saying something bad on the Sims2 BBC (the official forum) you be censored so fast you don't know what hit you.

TheodenKing

TheodenKing

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Your thread title made me think EA mentioned GW2, which they did not. The quote is pretty general and typical.

Ctb

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

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Quote:
EA does not listen to their customer
They don't have to. EA could hire bloodthirsty third world mercs to raid their customers houses on an hourly basis to make sure they aren't copying the game and I swear you'd still have hundreds of thousand of goombas out there making excuses for them on their forums and buying the latest "update" to last years sports titles...

Sniper22

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Join Date: Apr 2005

I don't think that marketing strategy applies to MMOs. Anyone know about age of conan? ahahahah fail...

Gun Pierson

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Anet already has a dialogue and enough information what the fans want through forums like Guru.

Fans will buy GW2 anyway and a lot of new people will arrive too.

Anet should stick to the 'no information till we're ready for it' strategy.

Buster

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Elona

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I am sure they will market when they are ready but the bottom line is that you can't love something if you have no iea what it is.

zwei2stein

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Markaedw View Post
Considering the finacial trouble EA is in I wouldn't do anything the wat y they do it.
Actually no. If they are in trouble, and talk about new marketing strategy, that strategy is direct result of them realizing how not to do things. Learning from mistakes of others is FTW.

Gigashadow

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Quote:
Originally Posted by zwei2stein View Post
Actually no. If they are in trouble, and talk about new marketing strategy, that strategy is direct result of them realizing how not to do things. Learning from mistakes of others is FTW.
That just means what they were doing before was bad. It doesn't mean their new experimental strategy is good.

Personally, I think they should focus on making games that don't suck, instead of just continuing to churn those out and just changing some marketing strategies around. But that's just me.

Shadowmoon

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sniper22 View Post
I don't think that marketing strategy applies to MMOs. Anyone know about age of conan? ahahahah fail...
Funny how this is the statagy anet is going for. Remember AoC beta was short, and only let you explore the main city, which was very polished, then when you get the game and leave that area, the polish goes away. Same with TR. Personally I wonder what Anet has to hide is the is going to be a awsome game. Remember we we're told a beta in 08, and we have nothing to see as of yet.

Thierry2

Thierry2

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Join Date: Oct 2006

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You know.. GW is about 2 years from release. They probably don't really have anything to show yet. Or nothing good enough.
Btw, we're talking about NCsoft, their marketing sucks. (Aion is coming in Q3/4 of 2009 and I don't think many people have heard about it yet, because they didn't start marketing yet)

HawkofStorms

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Join Date: Aug 2005

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What we want, as fans, is more info about GW2.

What NCSofts marketing team wants is for GW2 to make money.

Which of those two groups do you honestly think A.net is going to listen to more?
What we want (info and a super cool game RIGHT NOW) has nothing to do with what A.net needs (money and success). I'll let people who have years of experience and college degrees in the field of marketing make their own corporate decisions. The people on this forum with their armchair advising would probably run a company into the ground.

-rightuos-

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by HawkofStorms View Post
What NCSofts marketing team wants is for GW2 to make money.
You got something mixed up. Arenanet handles marketing.
http://www.massively.com/2008/12/29/...s-2-marketing/

NCSoft is the publisher and developer of Aion. I would imagine theres a bit of conflict of interest happening between the two. See if Anet does well then Aion might lose possible subscriptions. GW2 profits will be shared between Anet & NCSoft. While Aion profits would be all for NCSoft.

On topic, EA may have sub par games in the end but there is no denying their marketing skills are of the best. When you can churn out mediocre and post good sales, your doing something right.

Ctb

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

W/

Quote:
I'll let people who have years of experience and college degrees in the field of marketing make their own corporate decisions.
You know.... that's normally my opinion too. I don't know much about <field>, so I should just leave it to the "experts", right?

Well... I might be more inclined to believe that if I'd ever met anybody who holds a marketing degree and appeared to be capable of gaining an expertise in ANYTHING.

In fact, I'll set my standards a little lower and accept a marketing major who can put his own shirt on without hanging himself.

I just have a really hard time believing that coming out with an announcement and then clamming up for 2 years can possibly be an effective marketing strategy.

HawkofStorms

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Join Date: Aug 2005

E/

True... business majors... ewwwwww

But I don't know, we are talking about it right? Must be doing something right