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General: Five Goofy MMO Promotions
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Everyone needs a gimmick and MMO promoters are no exception. In The List today, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy takes a look at five of the goofiest promotions that the PR departments have come up with for the MMOs they represent(ed). Check out Bill's random list of Five Goofy MMO Promotions. Did he miss your favorite? Let us know!
But thinking outside the box is always a sure-fire way to garner attention when you really need it, and the following List is what I consider to be five of the goofiest (but effective) ways to get people to take a second look. If nothing else (though two of the games ultimately died a painful death), these promotions got people talking about the titles they were tied to. And hey, all press is good press right?
Read more of Bill Murphy's The List: Five Goofy MMO Promotions.
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Comments
I always felt that Shadowbane's ‘Play to Crush’ slogan was supremely goofy, but I suppose that's not a promotion.
I remember the /pizza command all too well. I opened it before, never ordered one though.
Anybody remember the promotion for RYL (Risk Your Life, I think) that offered 1 million dollars in prizes? I may have the wrong game but I think I'm right. They ended up not going through with it after using it to get people to buy the game. If not goofiest its at least one of the shadiest.
I loved "No Elves" GA campaign, really.
After all i've a dwarf soul
My blog about (no more)MMORPG Addicted - a bog about videogames, cinema, politics and other things (in Italian)
Actually the /pizza command was great. I think that was the first time I ordered pizza hut online. The only problem was they did not deliver in my area to far away from the closest store. So I had to get up and go get it.
I still order via online just not through the game. Saves me time order it and by the time I get there it is ready saves a ton of time.
What about Evony's refusal to even explain what kind of game it is, and relying entirely on animated sweat on scantily clad women?
Important facts:
1. Free to Play games are poorly made.
2. Casuals are not all idiots, but idiots call themselves casuals.
3. Great solo and group content are not mutually exclusive, but they suffer when one is shoved into the mold of the other. The same is true of PvP and PvE.
4. Community is more important than you think.
What about Outwar's go post crap on MMORPG.com quest?
Mortal Online's recent basshunter arnold imitation was.... amazingly goofy too
Btw, /pizza should be in EVERY MMO.
One year for april fools Blizzard and Panda Express (not sure if they were in on it) teamed up to offer Panda Express for all those Pandarians in Azeroth. Though, you couldn't actually order anything
I likes me some panda bear!
If there's one thing that SOE has ever done right, it was /pizza. i likes me some pie sometimes too. Too bad it went away.
Haha, I always chuckle when someone reminds me of the Global Agenda Promotion^^
scribble scribble scribble
/pizza ...the best!
Neocron did do the No Elves promo before GA but HiRez did a much better job with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk-phCfH5ro
The Celestial Steed was outright ridiculous. But it was more of a money grab than it was really a promotion. It's saddening that so many people were all too happy to open their wallets and drop $25 for the Sparkle Pony, or my preferred name for it (on acronym form) "T.R.H.".
Promotion wise, I would say the Mr. T. commercial was also ridiculous. Though, considering the average WoW player, it doesn't suprise me that they went that way considering who their target market apparently consists of. I can honestly say that I did not feel embaressed to admit I played WoW, until that terrible commercial came out.
@ uncletoma - Don't we all.
@ Athcear - Not to mention it was a horrible missuse of those pieces of art as far as I remember.
Advertising is what the entertainment world is all about. That's how WoW overshadowed everyone else, and I quote "SHUT UP FOO!!! I'M A NIGHT ELF MOHAWK!" If you can't win the hearts of millions with mister T. I don't know what would work. I don't play because of personal taste just putting that out there heh.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
"Love can be innocent and can be sweet, but sometimes about as nice as rotting meat."
Hi Rez also just put this funny video up on youtube showing a banned commercial for GA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
they definately do a good job with marketing.
/escort would be great.
The one I remember: Friends don't let Friends Solo.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
I remember Popcap Games' "Plants vs Zombies" Evony spoof...
Follow my tweet (:
lol yeah that was a good one thanks for the link
lol. I actually used the order pizza function in EQ before....
I'm surprised APB (the first go-around) wasn't listed on here with their "human avatar" promotion.
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. - Marie Curie
Play to crush the best slogan ever. It can only be used for full loot open world pvp games. We use it even in darkfall, but not for advertising.
No elfs. I seriously like this one since im tired of seing elfs being the most popular races in most mmorpg's where you can take them.
C:\Users\FF\Desktop\spin move.gif
I remember the /pizza command. Never actually ordered but I think almost everyone /pizza the first day just to see what it was.
"Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better." parrotpholk
Yeah I think operation immortality really deserved No1 status above all else.
Are you kidding me? You didn't look very hard.
How about SoE Senior VP of Sales Don Vercelli's bar sl... uh girls Ad to get more women to play EQ. (This was a legit TV AD!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr-FkWsvEcg
Or EQoA's embarrasingly forgettable "TIME TO SLAY THE DRAGON" Mantra of shame? (Also from the booze addled brain of Don Vercelli)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-CHG_To7Ag
Compared to those /Pizza looks pretty tasty.
'Sandbox MMO' is a PTSD trigger word for anyone who has the experience to know that anonymous players invariably use a 'sandbox' in the same manner a housecat does.
When your head is stuck in the sand, your ass becomes the only recognizable part of you.
No game is more fun than the one you can't play, and no game is more boring than one which you've become familiar.
How to become a millionaire:
Start with a billion dollars and make an MMO.
Yes a sparkle pony which is very useful for anyone who has may alts in the game i such a goofy promotion. Bloggers really are so darn one sided.
Rift's advertisments that said "We are not in Azeroth anymore". I found that funny because ITS THE SAME THING XD