Wacky idea to generate revenue for a free MMOG
by Danni · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 02/14/2007 (8:31 am) · 12 replies
Advertisements are everywhere and provide a pretty penny. Being old school, I still use the traditional 480x60 banners on my websites, which brings in a nice amount to cover the monthly cost of the servers.
Why not do the same with games, especially MMOG where the potential is huge. Build it into the game, playing on TV's, posters on the wall, actual objects, soda machines. The list goes on and on. Does anyone know of an attempt in this area? I can see numerous advantages, disadvantages and issues but it would be a great way to get products in the face of players.
Why not do the same with games, especially MMOG where the potential is huge. Build it into the game, playing on TV's, posters on the wall, actual objects, soda machines. The list goes on and on. Does anyone know of an attempt in this area? I can see numerous advantages, disadvantages and issues but it would be a great way to get products in the face of players.
#2
02/14/2007 (9:01 am)
Minions of Mirth has a free version which does paused 'ad breaks' where the entire world pauses for the ad to display. If you pay, you can move off the ad servers onto non-ad servers. 
#3
02/14/2007 (9:58 am)
Jonathon, to clarify that a bit; Minions of Mirth USED to have a free version with ad breaks. Back then prairiegames tried out a lot of things (the ad breaks being one of them), it didn't really work and was thus removed.
#4
02/14/2007 (11:00 am)
Thanks for clearing that up, it's been quite some time since I touched it. Even more of a reason to mention that it tried it at least! 
#5
the GGE sigs are cool, but i sorta wish they utilized space more horizontally and less vertically,
as they cut down on the amount of actual posts one can see on a single screen of forum.
02/14/2007 (11:25 am)
You should definitely try out for the ".sig - to - post - ratio hugeness" awards. ;)the GGE sigs are cool, but i sorta wish they utilized space more horizontally and less vertically,
as they cut down on the amount of actual posts one can see on a single screen of forum.
#6
*RANT*
Also, while this makes me sound like an a-hole, posting 3 different badges and icons every post tends to be an eyesore and a little annoying. I love the idea of GGE badges, using sparingly. But three badges, come on....that's just overkill.
*ENDRANT*
02/14/2007 (11:44 am)
Since someone finally brought it up, GGE does have a more horizontal badge posting, but most don't use it. *RANT*
Also, while this makes me sound like an a-hole, posting 3 different badges and icons every post tends to be an eyesore and a little annoying. I love the idea of GGE badges, using sparingly. But three badges, come on....that's just overkill.
*ENDRANT*
#7
02/14/2007 (11:50 am)
Geez, yeah. Imagine if everyone had as many badges as that, this site would not work. 
#8
Back to topic:
I wouldn't mind ads in an MMO as long as they follow a few guidelines.
1) They make sense within the world - For worlds set in fantasy this is tough to do. A good solution here for when an ad doesn't fit within the world would be to place the adds in the client updater. So when a player goes to update the game you can have a box pop up that shows adds like the game is patched.
2) Either the game is subscription based with a free client, or it's non-subscription based and you have to buy the client. - This is honestly my main pet peeve with MMO's in general. I can't stand the usual price model for MMO's. Let's charge $40 - 50 for something that you'll be able to play for a month and then charge per month afterward. That's a broken business model in my mind, granted it isn't considering people will hand over the cash for games that use it on a regular basis.
@Magnus
I noticed on Prairie Games' site that the free version is still up for download. Is it still up and just doesn't work now? Just curious.
02/14/2007 (12:25 pm)
Since it was brought up, I second Michael's rant. That's been a mild annoyance for me the last few weeks.Back to topic:
I wouldn't mind ads in an MMO as long as they follow a few guidelines.
1) They make sense within the world - For worlds set in fantasy this is tough to do. A good solution here for when an ad doesn't fit within the world would be to place the adds in the client updater. So when a player goes to update the game you can have a box pop up that shows adds like the game is patched.
2) Either the game is subscription based with a free client, or it's non-subscription based and you have to buy the client. - This is honestly my main pet peeve with MMO's in general. I can't stand the usual price model for MMO's. Let's charge $40 - 50 for something that you'll be able to play for a month and then charge per month afterward. That's a broken business model in my mind, granted it isn't considering people will hand over the cash for games that use it on a regular basis.
@Magnus
I noticed on Prairie Games' site that the free version is still up for download. Is it still up and just doesn't work now? Just curious.
#9
In this incarnation they're pretty clean looking but future incarnations will definitely have a grungier, dirtier feel. eg torn up posters, filthy bustop ads, etc.
we used the resource which allows you to dynamically change textures on DIFs, and it's great because the ads take on the lightmaps.
02/14/2007 (12:41 pm)
The Music Lounge has a few in-game ads which are worked into the environment.In this incarnation they're pretty clean looking but future incarnations will definitely have a grungier, dirtier feel. eg torn up posters, filthy bustop ads, etc.
we used the resource which allows you to dynamically change textures on DIFs, and it's great because the ads take on the lightmaps.
#10
02/14/2007 (1:16 pm)
@Scott; There's still a free version of Minions of Mirth, it has other limitations than ad breaks now though. (Can't remember the exact limits, but it's more like a "demo" in the sense that there are limits on how far you can level up etc).
#11
One problem would be accounting, since most advertising is sold based on how many people see the advertisement. (At least in the www world)
02/14/2007 (2:55 pm)
I agree, they would have to be worked into the environment and be unobtrusive to the game play. Posters, perhaps commercials running on a tv set for ambiance. If the ads are in your face and annoying well that's not going to help build someones brand now is it?One problem would be accounting, since most advertising is sold based on how many people see the advertisement. (At least in the www world)
#12
we are/soon will be measuring "impressions" based on stuff like percentage of screen covered, viewing angle, etc.
02/14/2007 (2:58 pm)
.. as in the MMO world.we are/soon will be measuring "impressions" based on stuff like percentage of screen covered, viewing angle, etc.
Employee Michael Perry
ZombieShortbus
EA caught a lot of crap for its in game advertising, which was streamed from the internet based on what default advertisements you looked at the most in game (not spyware).
It would also be hard to advertise in MMO games that are fantasy based, which most are.
But hey, if it made my monthly subscription fee go down, I'm all for it. I could care less, as long as the game play isn't borked by it.