I have been looking into the different mag's and online sources and I find it somewhat unsettling that with about two weeks to go (as of this post) there is a significant lack of media for the game. Now someone please inform me why that would be, if I have completely missed the picture.
Usually these typical computer gaming magazines give plenty of previews in advance. Why is it that GW has missed out? Is there some animosity out there against ArenaNet jumping off the good-ship-blizzard? Do they lack the funds for advertising? So many questions and no answers.
For myself I thought GW may end up similar to the Star Wars phenomenon when it first hit theaters in '77. I should know I was there. It went from an unknown to a blockbuster in a short time. Perhaps we will see that with GW. Maybe we can hope anyway.
Anyone notice the lack of media for GW?
Halfy
Cain
Right now they're more or less relying on word of mouth which is actually the most powerful form of advertising...and it's free. 
EDIT: Think about it this way...they had 400,000 people sign up for the WPE in October. Pretty impressive considering the "lack" of advertising.
EDIT: Think about it this way...they had 400,000 people sign up for the WPE in October. Pretty impressive considering the "lack" of advertising.
Inde
I remember when NCSoft released CoH there was a massive blitz two weeks leading up. I think we are going to see the same here.
Lansing Kai Don
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Inde
I remember when NCSoft released CoH there was a massive blitz two weeks leading up. I think we are going to see the same here.
|
Lansing Kai Don
Aladdar
You've already got 250,000 rabid fans waiting to buy and tell all their friends about you. Why pay all the magazines to write reviews?
I'm sure we'll see some more advertising, but even if they don't, I believe you'll see a packed Tyria on release day.
I'm sure we'll see some more advertising, but even if they don't, I believe you'll see a packed Tyria on release day.
Loviatar
pc gaming
computer gaming
EVEN
pc magazine
all have articles and page spreads on it
just to mention3 of them i have personally seen
computer gaming
EVEN
pc magazine
all have articles and page spreads on it
just to mention3 of them i have personally seen
Sin
One consideration might be that magazines have a tendency to be scheduled, laid out and ready for print months in advance. Since most game companies aren't on time, even arena.net had a delay, they might have figured it wouldn't be ready. Also the other guy, the more famous diablo programmer has a game he announced this month, me thinks it was on purpose.
www.flagshipstudios.com is the link to their site.
I tend to believe this is the guy that got the credit but isn't that guy that did all the work. The reason is the small staff at Arena.net . Note there are alot of talented people but the one that caught my eye was Patrick Wyatt, a former Vice President of Research and Development from Blizzard, a Vivendi-Universal pictures company. Not hard to see how much Mr. Wyatt gave up for Arena.net, and IMHO I think he is probably one of the more unconventional geniuses as that is what you have to do to be a VP of R&D.
*Edit* I noted some other people in their team here.
www.flagshipstudios.com is the link to their site.
I tend to believe this is the guy that got the credit but isn't that guy that did all the work. The reason is the small staff at Arena.net . Note there are alot of talented people but the one that caught my eye was Patrick Wyatt, a former Vice President of Research and Development from Blizzard, a Vivendi-Universal pictures company. Not hard to see how much Mr. Wyatt gave up for Arena.net, and IMHO I think he is probably one of the more unconventional geniuses as that is what you have to do to be a VP of R&D.
*Edit* I noted some other people in their team here.
Fetter
NCsoft tends to do things a bit differently than most of the other mmo companies out there.
Take Lineage II for example. They had barely any advertising in the U.S.
I think they were relying more on the Lineage I players in Korea moving over, and word of mouth.
Take Lineage II for example. They had barely any advertising in the U.S.
I think they were relying more on the Lineage I players in Korea moving over, and word of mouth.
Halfy
Well this is all certainly comforting, and I agree that the beta's have seen a large degree of success. I made the comment after wandering into Chapters the other day and looked at every gaming magazine for evidence of GW and found none. I proceded to look around the net a bit and found nothing (other than fansites).
That's a relief. 
Quote:
|
pc gaming computer gaming EVEN pc magazine |
Grymlock
The more money they save on promotions will help them in the long run, as long as sales are strong. I'm sure they will be. I can barely sleep waiting to play thie weekend!
fawgre
I can't walk into an EBGames anymore without noticing the huge display of 2 foot tall Guild Wars boxes.
There's some pretty blatant advertising, but I'll admit that's really all I've seen.
There's some pretty blatant advertising, but I'll admit that's really all I've seen.
ScottishLegend
I agree that there is not much advertising. I myself just found out about the game this past weekend at a 30 hour Age of mythology lan party.I found out about it because i overheard my friend saying that it would be a mmorpg without any subscription fees. This was all i needed for me to go check it out online and a few days later i rushed to eb games as an informed buyer to get the preorder.
I think there should like be atleast one commercial with one of those videos online. probly the cinematic trailer that can be found here
If that happened i bet that sales would jump.
I just was there to pick up my preorder and found no displays or posters showing Guild wars. This may be due to us going to different eb game stores.
I think there should like be atleast one commercial with one of those videos online. probly the cinematic trailer that can be found here
If that happened i bet that sales would jump.
Quote:
|
Originally posted by fawgre I can't walk into an EBGames anymore without noticing the huge display of 2 foot tall Guild Wars boxes. |
Cotton Swab Bob
The newest PC Gamer (U.S) has a Guild Wars back cover ad featuring the necro girl and I'm sure other magazines released around the same time all have similar ad's. I have also seen the gigantic boxes around a nearby Gamestop. It seems to me that the game is getting quite a bit of attention in places where mainly only gamers would notice it. I don't think there's anything wrong with that since most people who are interested in this game are possibly..uh.. gamers.
Could it be possible that the release box will be that big for no reason?
Could it be possible that the release box will be that big for no reason?
Fetter
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Cotton Swab Bob
The newest PC Gamer (U.S) has a Guild Wars back cover ad featuring the necro girl
|
Halfy
I remember that Gamespy used to feature GW and then they seemed to drop off the face of the planet, as far as talking about the game. Perhaps they grew tired of waiting.
I agree word of mouth is an effective tool, but advertising has its niche, and getting coverage in magazines within one month of release seems rather foolish. Surely they could have done more in advance, so catch more people who were out of the word-of-mouth range. Especially if they are going to draw revenue out of the sales of games and not monthly fee.
I agree word of mouth is an effective tool, but advertising has its niche, and getting coverage in magazines within one month of release seems rather foolish. Surely they could have done more in advance, so catch more people who were out of the word-of-mouth range. Especially if they are going to draw revenue out of the sales of games and not monthly fee.
Arlin Merrick
I'm sure I've seen the trailer on TechTV(G4TechTV now.) Also they've shown gameplay for it from one of the BWE's on one of their gaming shows.
Olfin Bedwere
I found out about Guild Wars from an article in PC Gamer about the E3 event. They have had a couple of short articles on it and there has been advertising in PC Gamer for about 6 months. If not on the back cover, 2 page spreads. I don`t think there is anything to worry about.
MuGz
I think that because the game requires NO monthly fee that the marketing strategy greatly differs from other mmorpgs.
mmorpg's need to do a massive blitz because they want large community’s right off the bat. Plus most mmo's die off quickly because of bugs and glitches... Most company’s try to get as many people to buy the game then purchase the membership early, before they all figure out the game sucks and move onto something else.
Guild Wars is different in the aspect that they will not have to worry as much as other mmorpgs in regards to customer retention. Even if you get bored with it, you can take off two months and then come back without having to purchase a monthly membership.
P.S. If anyone is interested in some GW media I have posted a few movies at this link CLICK HERE
mmorpg's need to do a massive blitz because they want large community’s right off the bat. Plus most mmo's die off quickly because of bugs and glitches... Most company’s try to get as many people to buy the game then purchase the membership early, before they all figure out the game sucks and move onto something else.
Guild Wars is different in the aspect that they will not have to worry as much as other mmorpgs in regards to customer retention. Even if you get bored with it, you can take off two months and then come back without having to purchase a monthly membership.
P.S. If anyone is interested in some GW media I have posted a few movies at this link CLICK HERE
Jaythen Tyradel
Besides online articles, and a few magazine articles that have been mentioned above, the only other advertising I have seen for Guild Wars was today on Cinemetech on G4tv.
Roken
Im waiting to see a review for it on G4 somewhere. They usually don't review online oonly games, though. GW will turn out fine, even if there is a lack of advertisement. Just like Inde said, your ganna see a rush of players when the game is released fully.
TheRealDecoy
They advertise Guilds Wars in the US edition of PC Gamer on a monthly basis. The most recent issue even has a Guild Wars ad on the back cover. Also, I would think Guild Wars fits in the "sleeper hit" catagory when it comes to games. Not a whole lot of people know about it now since all the big titles take up most of the space. However, I think one of the cool things about Guild Wars is how it has spread just because people talk about it. Player X tells Player Y about Guild Wars, and Player Y tells Player Z, and so one and so forth.
Oh, and screw G4TV.
Oh, and screw G4TV.
Redfang
I have seen a number of print ads and interviews. And I assume they plan to release the cinematic trailor in movies somewhere. But it has been a long time since I went to the movies.
davisz
I think the fact that it is Free + word of mouth = People being interested.
I mean, i knew nothing about the game, but since its free im willing to give it a try. =D
I mean, i knew nothing about the game, but since its free im willing to give it a try. =D
Roken
My friend just told me they showed clips on Guild Wars on Cinematech. Its a show on G4 thats shows clips of games in a certain genre or catagory. Today's must have been MMO's becuase he said they showed FFXI and WoW, and told me that the WoW trailor (not actual gameplay) looked the best. 
But from all the complaints I heard about WoW on these boards, the game doesnt seem too appealing. 
To Decoy : Im not a real big fan of G4 after they changed from TechTV, either, but G4 still has its shows worth watching. (Arena, The Screen Savers, and Cinematech. X-Play is constantly reviewing crap games) If I knew how, Id be downloading the 'Call for Help' series from Canada, seeing as thats the only place it shows now.
But from all the complaints I heard about WoW on these boards, the game doesnt seem too appealing. To Decoy : Im not a real big fan of G4 after they changed from TechTV, either, but G4 still has its shows worth watching. (Arena, The Screen Savers, and Cinematech. X-Play is constantly reviewing crap games) If I knew how, Id be downloading the 'Call for Help' series from Canada, seeing as thats the only place it shows now.
Therdach
Quote:
|
I just was there to pick up my preorder and found no displays or posters showing Guild wars. This may be due to us going to different eb game stores.
|
I'll be honest with you; since Wow came out I have been pretty dedicated to it, but the more and more I see on GW (including the super high glossy high quality display boxes we just got in) the more and more I want to play it and leave wow and it's problems in the dust. Me saying that does not come lightly, as I believe it to be a great game, but slightly lacking in a couple areas.
Anyway, since we put up the materials they've set us, we've seen an increase of preorders of about 75% in two days. I imagine that by this time next week, we'll have *at least* quadrupled (sp?) our pre orders. At least at this rate.