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So, What's So Different? -- A Look Back.
VanadromArda
Member Posts: 445
in Guild Wars 2
We all fell for it, let’s not lie to ourselves. Okay, maybe not “all” of us, but I know there have been a lot of people who were extremely excited about MMORPGs of the past. How can we not be swayed by the silver tongued, pure and unbridled, enthusiasm from speakers like Paul Barnett who gave us weekly videos of him primarily squawking at the camera without any real gameplay footage what-so-ever. His words were a mishmash of fact and fiction, of hope and truth. The resulting spittle of information that spilling from his lips fueled flame to ever growing, ever enthusiastic fans of the next big thing: Warhammer: Age of Reckoning.
Paul Barnett wasn’t the first, and certainly wasn’t the last. We all know that Warhammer was a massive let down, not at all really measuring up to what the fans expected – or even remotely close to what Paul Barnett continuously kept promising. But the fans of the title were more fans of what Paul Barnett was pitching, rather than the game that Mythic was actually making. When the time came, we all know that EA pushed the game out sooner than expected. A combination of massive hype of what WAS to be, clashed against what was ACTUALLY there – leaving people in a state of bemused bewilderment.
Many others suffered from this tragic line of production, hype, and failure – perhaps too many to really actually count, too many for one person to ever sit down and seriously play. The massive wedge between promised product and actual product, created a rift between players and developers so wide that WAR has been a stagnant mess ever since. Some people like it, that much is for certain, but every game has its niche. But there have been other games that have come out that needed no Paul Barnetts to lead the helm. Games like Final Fantasy XIV.
Final Fantasy XIV was perhaps a rather unique case, because actually there were no key spokesmen for this title. What really fueled the game’s potential promise were the well rendered screenshots and the silent success of the games older sibling, Final Fantasy XI. While not a widely beloved title by all like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI has had a solid, devoted fan base for nearly a whole decade. The game has gone through so much change, so much evolution, so many promising advances in MMORPG history – how could SquareEnix get it wrong? How could SquareEnix not take the structure built by XI, and take it to the very next level?
Any logical player would instantly convince themselves that Final Fantasy XIV simply had to be a good thing. It was SquareEnix, it was Final Fantasy, and it was building off the framework of a game that had been in the MMO realm for practically forever. But we, as a community, didn’t know that the developers of Final Fantasy XIV threw out everything learned from Final Fantasy XI, threw out all basic knowledge of all MMORPGs, and pretty much threw out all common sense – starting a game completely from scratch as though lightning was going to strike twice in the exact same place, the exact same fashion. Why? Because no one told us this is what they had planned. Actually, we really didn’t know anything about the game, at all, until roughly two months before its release.
And even then the game was under strict NDA and embargo. Players who fought their way into the supposed Closed Beta soon came face-to-face with the bitter and horrible truth, but even then couldn’t accept what they were seeing. It just didn’t make sense. There was no logic for this thing to even be here, in this state. The question “Why?” lingered in the air, with absolutely zero response from a purely Japanese development team that gave no care to any English player-base until after boxes were sold. Like Final Fantasy XI, SquareEnix depended on its players to discover the game and reveal it to the community. So they shared pretty much nothing about it! People who bought the game had no idea what they were getting into, because really there was no way to really find out! There was no, real, information available!
Then there was Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is actually still a hot topic as it remains fresh on the minds of many from last year’s Christmas Season. This was also a rather unique creature, because this time, we had a physical Public Relations juggernaut feeding upon the Star Wars fame. Massive public shows would display flashy, bright, lovely CGI movies but really little overall gameplay. In many fashions, these speakers took up the mantle of Paul Barnett before them – but did not exactly have the same panache. This was also coupled with fan generated hopes and over inflamed expectations based on the previous, original Star Wars MMO, Star Wars Galaxies prior to the massive overhaul of its system.
What made the Star Wars situation unique is that it combined elements of WAR’s hype machine and Final Fantasy XIV’s fan-driven expectations, married into one organism. The difference though, is that Star Wars: The Old Republic is actually a playable game, and many people have found it to be quite acceptable. In several points, the hype did live up to what people were told to expect, but it didn’t exactly live up to what people were really hoping for overall. In the end, a lot of people really were disappointed with Star Wars, either because they had too high of hopes or felt they were simply lied to. Whose fault is hard to tell, for there were two massive fronts generating a massive amount of hype before its release.
So what’s so different? What is it that makes Guild Wars 2 different from these previous tittles? As a product, one could argue that nothing is different at all. Guild Wars 2 is ultimately still a game, it is to be sold to the public, it is to be played, and probably enjoyed for only a short period of time – or at great length depending on the person who is going to play it. But as a market plan – Guild Wars 2 is a very different creature indeed. I’ve known about this title for a long, long time. In 2010 in fact they released gameplay footage of it, of course this was low quality, but the footage was roughly about an hour long featuring a female ranger running around in the starting zone.
Even then, it wasn’t a short clip with choice scenes put together – it was a full length, unhindered, rough-cut, gameplay experience of the game as it is was as its current state. Some of the earliest footage of Star Wars can be seen back even in 2009, also featuring a starting zone. How the community embraced these videos were radically different. While the Guild Wars crowd was delighted to see progress in the game, not a lot of people really went nuts over the footage. Not because it wasn’t good, but because the game was actually a long way away. As nice as it would have been to fool oneself that because the footage of GW2 looked pretty solid, the game was likely just around the corner. That obviously wasn’t the case.
For the past few years, Guild Wars 2 has been something of a quiet creature. While Guild Wars 2 remained high on the hyper-meters of many websites, there wasn’t much known about the final product. All people really had were their experiences with Guild Wars and how it handled. Aside from occasional information dumps of class information via the main website, the fair bulk of Guild Wars 2 content was still completely unknown and up to the wild imaginations of the community. That is until February 2012 of course.
Arena.Net pulled an interesting little trick. Since they announced the Closed Beta in December of 2011, they started to feed more and more information about the game to the community. Sort of like a worm, dangling in the water for Game-Press people to hook onto. Then they launched a Press Beta, a pure, unhindered look at the game from the Press point of view. They grabbed as many people with recording gameplay media as possible, and dropped them into the game for a weekend. This sort of thing was pretty much unheard of in the industry!
Often times Press were seen as something of the enemy, people to be avoided! You see, the Game-Press have this nasty habit of spreading information. Games, especially MMORPGs, are supposed to be top-secret development projects, right? No one is supposed to know ANYTHING about the game until like 2 weeks before release, then the Game-Press and can come and go as they please as Open Beta is underway. But Arena.Net pretty much hand-picked a lot of major game websites, especially those who pod-cast regularly, gave them the keys to the car and said: “It’s yours for the weekend.”
After that, it’s like a virtual information bomb went off on the internet. A tsunami of gameplay videos, impressions, blogs, reviews, and more just poured into every orifice of just about every game-related website on the face of the internet. For a week, Guild Wars 2 was effectively everywhere. And this was in the shadow of Star Wars: The Old Republic, that just climbed down from the pedestal of New-Face of MMO-Gaming too. Since then there has been another beta weekend, and since then even more press and media footage has been released. In just a short month and a half, pretty much just about everything there is to know about Guild Wars 2 has been pumped into the gaming spotlight – this game is not so much of a mystery anymore.
Now the information is trickling down to the community itself, who weren’t the first ones to be catered to it at all. With an information overload, the community is still sifting through the mass media. If you haven’t looked at anything Guild Wars 2 related, you should. These aren't simple assumption articles. These are detailed descriptions of the actual mechanics of the game that will not see much alteration between now and the final release. Confident in their product, especially after a record breaking 50 hour beta sign up period, Arena.Net is offering full on pre-purchases of the final product. This too has been seldom done.
Not to be confused with a pre-order, a pre-purchase is a full commitment by the consumer to right out buy, at full price, the final product of the game as though it were on the shelf right now. That means refunds are highly unlikely, and that the consumer is showing a great deal of trust in the developer to provide what they’ve already put on display. While a picture may be worth a thousand words, videos are worth roughly 29,970 words per second. The Game-Press are the ones doing the leg work to really sell this game, offering their genuine excitement and experience in a fashion that can be wildly shared and seen with actual gameplay footage and natural player-like experience. Game-Press appeals far more to the consumer, as they are people, just like you – not a game developer preaching what you want to hear or a massive Review Website offering oddly to-good-to-be-true insights.
So far, I admit I’m impressed with the marketing strategy of Guild Wars, for as a consumer, I feel very confident in the investment I intend to make in the pre-purchase. I feel I have the knowledge and the foresight of what to expect, thanks to the hard and eager work of the Game-Press. While the developers over at Arena.Net seem to have a good game on their shoulders, it is the Game-Press who really have knocked this one out of the park with selling the product for the developer. Never before have I seen a company so nimbly dance around a publisher, almost laughing in the face of NCsoft – because Guild Wars 2 is actually selling itself right now in all the right ways.
Comments
Nicely done. I agree with what you wrote.
It has always surprised me how people could not tell the difference on how the game has been sold to us so far. Anet has had an almost open door policy towards its product. I remember the video you talked about, the hour long ranger vid showing key game mechanics, I was pretty much sold at that point.
I too will be pre-purchasing the standard digital verstion tomorrow. I am sure the game wont be perfect at launch, but I am sure it will be a great game nonetheless.
Nice post, but i think you are forgetting the hundreds of other videos that came from the show floors of conventions starting from Gamescom 2010 and PAX Prime 2010. A lot of people went crazy over those videos. A lot of information was sifted through. A lot of changes were made based on fan site discussions over various features (mana and mana potions...you won't be missed).
I used to TL;DR, but then I took a bullet point to the footnote.
I agree with most of the post, but I would disagree with the implication that a continuation of the "marketing strategy" we've seen to date is proper or sufficient as we get closer to release. All games get gaming press coverage and even when there is no fan access along side the press access, all MMOs give the press access to the game, even if they don't give them free reign on providing videos of their experience. (Arenanet still have forbidden the Press from releasing non-Arenanet provided screen shots, so there are some real limits on press coverage to date).
I've actually been reading up on past comments from Arenanet on their marketing strategy for GW2 and it is still my one area of greatest concern. Yes, the Weekend Beta Events, NDA free, will offer a lot of free publicity, but that's not unique in the current environment. (TERA has been NDA free for a while now with it's twice monthly WBEs and I would not consider that a substitute for real marketing). There is a lot of talk about the role that fan prosthelytizing and social media play in their marketing strategies. However, IMO, their use of social media has been lackluster and asking fans to spend personal capital trying to "convert" friends to a game when we can't tell our friends anything on the expected release window other than "by the end of the year, but hopefully sooner", is just not viable. I already feel like the boy who cried wolf when trying to get friends excited about the game. Enthusiasm has turned to "yeah, if it ever comes out, let me know and I'll take a look".
Traditional marketing is very important in supporting word of mouth. I'd love to be able to point at a print ad, a new trailer or a TV commercial while trying to ensure my friends that this game really might be launching sometime fairly soon, but there is nothing. Even a friend who is very enthusiastic about the game was vocally disappointed that there have not been new trailers to accompany the beta sign ups or the announcement of the pre-purchase program. Why is Arenanet still using the now outdated Manifesto video on the Pre-purchase promotion page? Something just isn't right in the Arenanet marketing dept. (The CSMs are doing what I would expect of them in their positions, but that's only a small portion of what a marketing dept. should be doing and if it's all on the CSMs, something is seriously wrong with that picture).
My concern is that either the game is still 6+ months away from a probable launch, in which case why would I want to start prosthelytizing the game any time soon, or the game is a few months from launch and Arenanet just doesn't have a proper marketing strategy to ensure the success of the game. Sad to think that a game with such huge potential could squander a large portion of that potential because they don't understand the role of traditional marketing or even how to properly leverage new media and social networking to enhance an overall marketing campaign.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
Gamestop is giving a delivery date of 6/26/2012 for the CE. Not sure if that is meaningful to you.
fiontar
You state you concern about Arena.Net's marketing department. Well, I get the feeling that actually it's probably a relatively small department. With this new Smart-Device information age, even the need for official forums to spread news and information about a game's current state is seen as something of an ineffective practice. Twitter, FaceBook, and other quick-outlet medias have been utilized to really be the voice of Arena.Net when they are not out on some sort of trade-show. Even the main website doesn't see as many updates as the free Twitter -- which pretty much has be a constant stream of information for the past several months.
With the sort of care placed on the Game-Press for the marketing of this product, I get the feeling that the department incharge of it is very small indeed. Replacing size with cunning, making a lot of other people outside of the company do the work for them -- pretty much for free.
I heard that the GW2 pre-purchase beta won't have an NDA restriction. Not being so secretive about everything is a great way to earn my trust. The people who still don't trust the game during the beta period could always just tune in to beta player livestreams and videos. Probably the best marketing move an MMO could make before release.
has this thread been bombed yet?
That's not really true. NDA for press was there only during the beta. But day after beta weekend (monday) NDA was lifted and press was allowed to post anything they wanted (except things that are not finished, aka cash shop).
@OP awesomely written article. Would like to see it spotlighted.
Guild Wars 2 Youtube Croatian Maniacs
My Guild Wars titles
I agree with the impressions of the size of their marketing dept. and I am saying it's a huge mistake by Arenanet/NCSoft. Social Media and free press coverage can supplement and magnify traditional marketing, but they can not replace it. Also, if you are going to put so much of the marketing on the backs of fans who are expected to prosthelytize the game, you don't jerk them around with a release window that is 8 1/2 months wide!
I've been very active in discussing this game, providing accurate information and trying to get accross the positive implications of the game's design. I'm a huge fan of Arenanet as game developers and have very high hopes for the game, which anyone who follows this forum can atest to. Marketing is my chief area of concern and the failure of things to ramp up in a positive direction as we (apparently) near release amplifies those concerns.
I find the marketing so far this year to be very paradoxical. Skipping GDW and PAX East makes sense if we are a couple months from release, but make no sense if release is expected for late 2012. However, if we are a couple months from release, the lack of traditional marketing to accompany free marketing signals major deficiencies in the game's marketing strategy which could have a significant negative impact on the game's success! Mixed signals also have a direct, negative impact on fan word of mouth and free marketing in general. Even the pre-purchase program raises these issues. Great move if release is a few months away, but a sure recipe for fan resentment if they plop down cash for a pre-order and don't get the game for another 6-8 months later!
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
Thank you. ^^
That is not true. In addition to not being able discuss some aspects of their experience or show videos of those things, (we know cash shop is one, but there were apparently others), the press have not been allowed to share their own in game screenshots.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
Don't forget that Star Wars the Old Repbulic was recently on the chopping block. I get the feeling that Arena.Net was actually trying to keep a low key during the Star Wars thing, in order to not be overwhelmed or take flak. I feel that was also a pretty smart move.
And right now we're dealing with GW2's Pre-Purchase.. Not Pre-Order. Those are two different things. If you wanna talk about Pre-Orders, talk about those people who have put money down on Assassin's Creed 3 just because they wave an American flag.
I never believed Barnett, the guy is insane.
hm.. but why ban screenshots. Videos are worth 10000x more than screenshots..
Guild Wars 2 Youtube Croatian Maniacs
My Guild Wars titles
The first is irrelavent in the current time frame and the second, well, I don't even understand the second point. I said I was referencing the pre-purchase program, sorry if I slipped back into "pre-order for cash" terminology in the next sentance. I'll discuss the subject at hand, but will not engage in arguements over semantics, espescially not over accidental mishaps of terminology.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
The press didn't have the same tools to make those screenshots as the developers I heard. The developers can take screenshots from better angles. It was probably just for quality control reasons. Forgot the source of where I heard that though.
My question exactly. It would have saved a lot of the arguements over the alledged graphics quality "issue" that resulted from the degradation of the visuals that most of the videos produced due to video compression. Some of the leaked shots were beautiful, but we couldn't use them to defend the visuals.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
as far as im concerned, they can have 60 bucks from me just for trying to be different.
i haven't been too impressed recently. pre-purchase without a release date has potential to be a PR nightmare. it may not be a big deal for the gw2 fanboy, cause they plan to buy anyway. but the casual gamer who is interested in this game could see this as a huge red flag. A-net has done a great job hypeing/gaining interest from a lot of gamers. Not all of them follow the game as closely as others. Some of my friends think i am crazy to pre-purchase without a release date. A-net seems to have the majority on their side but the majority of gamers do not visit mmo sites. the majority of gamers who have gained interest are the ones A-net need to target for sales.
from the outside looking in, the cash shop, region lock, and purchase without a release date has the potential to turn gw2 into the butt of quite of few jokes. That would not be good for A-net. Couple that with the nda lift. Not everyone that does pre-purchase is going to like the game. I would say that most will, but i have no idea, none of us do. Word of mouth advertising and marketing goes both ways. So the recent announcements or lack of them is not all good for A-net. at least imo.
They had great marketing, not so great as of late. They need to start targeting the other gamers, not the fans they already have.
I've got the straight edge.
Well you have to keep in mind that "the vast majority of gamers" isn't exactly Arena.Net's target audience. Were it the target audience, you point would have some merit. But you see that Arena.Net is actually aiming at those people who do visit gaming websites. That may not be a vast majority, but it at least 1 million people if we go by Beta Sign Up numbers alone. People may argue that often Beta Signups are often overblown, that perhaps the average person submits 2 applications. If there were the case, that's still a strong 500,000 people!
I've not seen Arena.Net talking about how they wanna be a WoW-Killer. They aren't WAR, they aren't SWOTR either.. who were constantly boasting about how they would be THE death of WoW.
Frankly Arena.Net doesn't give a damn about WoW's throne, and just wants to entertain their target audience.
Edit - I linked a source to support my edited post ending.
Just to be clear, I am pre-purchasing tomorrow. My concerns aren't over whether or not the game has won my $$$, but what Arenanet is doing to market the game to people who aren't already "converts". I also don't think it's fair to expect fans to prosthelytize a game to friends now when we can't even offer them a better launch window than "sometime in 2012". The longer someone has been a fan of the game, the more limbs they have gone out on when trying to narrow down the release window, only to have those limbs collapse behind us as we reach farther and farther up the tree for support!
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
You do realise that Screenshots are disabled for most BETA's right? I mean... the Printscreen button literally takes a picture of your desktop instead of the game.
It's quite common BETA practice, actually.
"The problem with quotes from the Internet is that it's almost impossible to validate their authenticity." - Abraham Lincoln
I think GW2 has the potential to sell over six million boxes during the first year. That's a huge potential audience, but marketing failures could cut that number by maybe up to 90%. The first half million will be the easiest, the higher the target beyond that, the better the marketing for the game will need to be. Sometimes I can't help but feel that the marketing dept. is following the strategies that an independant game designer who would be completely ecstatic over selling 100,000 copies might follow.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
"I feel I have the knowledge and the foresight of what to expect,"
Even with all the information out there, people are still going to feel ripped off and find blame with A-net.