AlleyKat
Gallente The Unwanted.
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Posted - 2011.05.19 00:17:00 -
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Originally by: Trebor Daehdoow What advice would you want us to give him about seducing unsuspecting gamers into paying for the privilege of being podded?
Well, you have the incentives in place already with the free trial and the free download of the client. Some more incentive to play the game would be good, as gamers tend to know that an MMO is a commitment.
Trying to obtain gamers who do not want to play an MMO is not going to give you ROI, what you need to do is obtain gamers who do want to play an MMO. From a trailer perspective, I think 'The Butterfly Effect' was a very positive step in the right direction and as you are using Youtube and Google Analytics (or you frickin' should be!) I guess you can see what the conversions are like and what your traffic breakdown is like to the all-important 'download client' button.
So, find what MMO gamers want and apply your marketing along those lines. A few knee-jerk thoughts would be:
1) Give the would-be MMO gamer confidence the game will not die out. So, stable independent company, measurable growth in game content, lively and committed player-base, etc. This will mean their investment of time will not turn into a barren wilderness, full of poorly managed content.
2) Adversity, challenges, rewards, variety [this is not covered enough in trailers - too much 'kaboom', EVE has extensive PvE] - make them feel if they download the trial and try it out there will be enough for them to do, with people to make friends and enemies with.
3) NO GRIND! I have yet to see this advertised anywhere. Why? It is one of the key differentiators of EVE to every other MMO.
4) You've got the woah-factor down pat with the presentation, but are you focusing too much on the end-game/0.0 aspects when marketing? As much as it makes for exciting trailers I would be surprised if it would not alienate would-be MMO players who [at this moment in time] you just want to play the game, not create an alliance and take over the universe - you must be scaring some people off with that type of marketing.
Originally by: Trebor Daehdoow And what honey could he set out to lure back the elusive bittervet?
It's hard to know how to answer that without knowing what the statistics are:
1) Average Subscription Length 2) Average time to High End Content [biggest ship] 3) Reason for leaving
In general I'd say you could:
1: Look at their friends list and see if the people they associated with are still playing the game, so use the social aspect/angle. "I will play again if I knew that my friends are still playing/active" This could hypothetically have a double bonus to it, as the person who is still active could be thinking "It ain't the same since xyz left...maybe I'll quit the game" and 'boom' you just gave them their friend back.
2: You've got the cost thing down just fine, so use another aspect...something tangible ONLY for veterans, like 5 years plus sub time that is in game...waiting for them. I don't know what it could be, maybe a shuttle - hell even a 'veteran' tag in their info window or pink writing for chat channels! Or even a veterans-only club when you do WIS...just some sort of tangible game content which only veterans can have.
Make them feel special, singular...that you value their custom in some way other than just a free hall pass for a few days. They might have been demi-gods in control of a 1,000 starships at one point. Make them feel that way again, make them question their decision to leave other than using cheap psychology.
3: See what is in their hanger(s) give them an appraisal/market value in Jita pricing - make them remember what they left behind, get them thinking. A pretty picture may paint a thousand words, but nothing you can think will be anywhere near as awesome as the mind of veteran with 1,000 hours of gametime under their belt. They know what they left behind, you just have to remind them about it - in a positive way.
Regards,
AK
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