Gaming Social Networks [Part 2]
A few days ago I ranted about games companies using sketchy tactics to gain exposure on social networks. Today I want to revisit that, but with two more recent and mainstream examples.
The first I came across was an Assassin's Creed Facebook promotion. You are invited to 'Like' their Facebook page in return for an exclusive sneak peak of the next title in the series. Turns out this 'sneak peak' is just a short, blurry and inconclusive looping video clip. Feeling a little cheated? Don't worry! Just use the buttons provided below to share the page, and by doing so you contribute to speeding up the full reveal!
Ignore the totally bogus activity monitor and progress bar, just hit a couple of those buttons and share it with your friends! It's so easy, and it's not like it costs you anything, right? It sure would be a shame if you never got to see that... whatever it is they're going to show you.
Gaming Social Networks
A little while ago, Mortal Online announced an interesting scheme for promoting their upcoming MMORPG.
It allows players to tie a Facebook account in with their game account, which would occasionally be used as a conduit for auto-posted Mortal Online stories. In return these lucky people would receive a subscription discount based on the number of friends they have, starting at .25 EUR for 5 friends, all the way up to a staggering 1.25 EUR for 750 friends!
[How much are your friends worth? About 0.05 - 0.0017 EUR, apparently.]
Effective brute-force leveraging of social networks, or a cheap attempt to get some exposure? I'm going with the latter.
Back to the (Undead) Lab
If there's a game on the horizon that I'm truly excited about, it's the Undead Labs 'Class 4' project. Unfortunately there's not a great we know about it yet, but I have an immense amount of faith in the studio to pull off something fantastic - here's why:
The Gaming Industries Retreat from their Fans
A disturbing new trend is developing in the MMO gaming industry in regards to developers and community manager's − a noticeable and marked retreat from their fans.
It's become more prevalent that community manager's are less interactive with their communities and have turned into a simple marketing tool. It's become almost common knowledge that a developer is simply there to code and meet that impossible deadline, rather then loving a game and participating with their fellow gamers. I don't believe this is the fault of the CM's or developer's themselves, but rather that companies want a tighter control over their message. With that control comes scripted messages, dissenting opinions silenced or marginalized... all the while telling their community that it's for our own good. It's done under the guise that they are providing a clearer message, that they are focusing their communication with fans.
Microtransactions and You
Cross posting from my guest appearance on the Relics of Orr blog, earlier this week.
Last week saw the release of ''A Rewarding Experience', another highly praised installment in ArenaNet's series of articles about Guild Wars 2. It came packaged with the usual promises of innovation and improvement in the MMO genre, and as usual was well received by an eager audience...
Well, generally well received...
OBEY vs DISMANTLE
ArenaNet is running a fantastic viral campaign right now, plugging what I assume is a 5th anniversary content update for Guild Wars. It all started with some fliers handed out at the GDC and Emerald City ComicCon, containing QR-Codes leading to these pages:
- White Mantle (OBEY)
- Shining Blade (DISMANTLE)
For those of you who aren't familiar with the Guild Wars universe, the White Mantle and the Shining Blade are two factions fighting a civil war in the land of Kryta. The White Mantle are seen as religious authoritarians, whilst the Shining Blade are a guerrilla force fighting for freedom from tyranny.
Since the fliers appeared events have progressed rapidly, with new hints and teasers being dropped in on a regular basis - even in-game. If you want to catch up on events so far, check out this recap over on GuildWars2Guru. Alternatively, you can hitch up your jeans and wade into the discussion thread for the verbose version.
My own attempt at a propaganda poster.
It's been great fun so far, and I've really enjoyed watching the community get into it. A great move from ArenaNet, and a tactic I hope they use again in the run up to Guild Wars 2.
Ravious from KillTenRats has been following developments closely, and has done a series of posts about it. He asked me to throw him a few sentences for the latest one, discussing the differences between how the two communities have reacted this campaign:
The GuildWarsGuru community is five years old now, so they’ve seen many changes and additions come and go. Generally they are concerned with game’s current state and how that impacts their enjoyment on a day-to-day basis rather than looking to the future. The important things are trading, achievements, farming, titles, skill balance – and those interests have replaced the importance of a narrative.
Read the rest of that, here.
Illustrating Good Journalism
Stemming from my last post, I got into a discussion with a friend about the varying quality of games journalism. He pointed me towards a man by the name of Kieron Gillen, and particularly his review of Deus Ex from ten years ago.
Definitely worth reading, even if you only have a passing interesting in writing or journalism.
Open Beta: Why Bother?
Cross posting from a KillTenRats comment I made.
Why should developers bother with a true "open beta" at all? Instead, they can use beta invites as leverage for pre-orders, funding from partners, contests to drive traffic and create content… etc.
Why let people in to an unfinished game, for free? You should at least weasel some good for yourself out of the deal. Beta players are generally just going to judge you on your flaws and move on.
Sure, there was a time when open beta was about testing, but that’s long since over. Generally (ignoring the hardcore fans) people will put up with the same number of bugs in beta as they will post launch. The game is either fun or not fun, and if it's not fun in beta very few will come back after launch.
So You’ve Been Hacked…
Congratulations! You have now joined a once exclusive and rare group of people that have had their gaming accounts hacked. This is an honor indeed. No longer are your days and nights consumed by raids with friends, flying around mindlessly extracting aether, grinding through your crafting, spending all your gold buying ale to get that drunkard title, or trying to get a great deal in the auction house. You are now frantically trying to find all your MMO serial codes, your receipt for the game you purchased anywhere from 4 months to 4 years ago and heading over to your friends house to produce scans of all of it. You have emailed every compromising bit of data about yourself from your address, your birth date, your phone number, your game accounts and your full name that you haven't uttered to anyone in months having completely immersed yourself into your "DragonLeetz" handle.
About Dan
Recent Posts
- Forums: The Final Word
- The Google+ News Feed
- Indie Games, and the ‘M’ Word
- Guild Wars 2 – Community Open House
- Gaming Social Networks [Part 2]
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