[MUD-Dev] Advertising Thread

[Koster]

From: Marc LaFleur
> Raph Koster wrote:

>> The figure is actually low by tens of thousands; I believe we've
>> publicly stated 150,000 already but it's much higher than that
>> too. It continues to rise every week, as well. SWG hasn't had any
>> advertising per se, but there has certainly been marketing effort
>> going on.
 
> You have to admit, you do hold a slight advantage when it comes to
> word-of-mouth advertising of an MMOG. Your simply walking into a
> room and saying "Hi, so I'm making a new game" does tend to start
> to rumor mills churning.

Frankly, only in a very small group of people--thanks for swelling
my head though. Let's not overestimate the impact of ANY designer's
name, much less mine. Right now, the game market is really not THAT
driven by name recognition. Given that I tend to think my name
recognition is (how to put it) mostly undeserved anyway... anyway,
I'd be kidding myelf if I didn't acknowledge SOME factor there, but
mostly it serves to scare me, because it means that I personally get
blamed or credited with many things out of my control or not
deserved.

> And once the words "Star Wars" come out of your mouth?

This is the chief factor, I think. By orders of magnitude. The power
of brands to drive awareness is truly frightening. It is
discouraging how many good ideas will get nowhere because they do
not have a big brand. At the same time, it's discouraging that big
brands, by their very nature, will force conservatism on the game
designs.

> After you get past your name recognition (and the obvious interest
> in everything Star Wars), there is the game design itself. You
> have embarked on the most ambitious project in the history of the
> genre.

I really don't think so. *shrug*

For one, I think that we COULD put EQ with Star Wars skins out
there, and it would still do extremely well.

For another, I do not tend to see what we're doing as revolutionary
at all.  It's mostly evolutionary, as can clearly be seen (imho) if
you break down the aspects of the design.

These days, I mostly feel the ambition in the timeframe, not in the
design.  :)

> Even that said, to have over 150,000 people sign up for the beta
> still blows my mind. Even if you figure that 50% of the people who
> will buy the game day one are signed on for the beta (what is
> normal? 10%? Maybe 15%?), you are talking a huge release.
> 150k... Is your hair gray yet? :)

I'd be lying if I didn't mention that I'd like to do a non-license,
lower-pressure title next. :P Two big licenses in a row
is... tiring. And yes, my gray hairs have indeed multiplied madly.

-Raph 

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