Envisioned: get some more people to play your game!

[__________NicholaSix]

honestly seems like the player base is really thining out. My 114 guy goes to BS this morn, hangs out an hour looking for a group, no group to be found, goes to mort, hate camp hunting but when you can't find an experience mission group in 1 hour ya got to do something, place has people but its pretty thin, about half as many as a month ago. BTW same deal yesterday. It's getting hard to find a team.

What's going on with your playerbase funcom? Is it shrinking? Has everyone suddenly re-rolled? What's going on? RK-1 seems pretty empty. I don't think it was the patch or anything, seemed like a pretty successful patch compared to the rest.

WHATS UP?

Seems like we are kinda falling below a critical mass here.

[___________Jamescole]

It does seem empty not like the days when you could barely make it out of newland with out bieng asked to join 3 different teams. Time to either Re-Release the game or start a heavy ad campaign. To bad it wasnt just released now. I think a lot of people who left out of frustration, if they had bought the game at this state would have stayed with it for the long haul. Maybe they will come back?

[Zerosignal]

Its Christmas time, believe it or not many people go on holidays at Christmas, too see family ETC, thats where alot of them wil be

[__________NicholaSix]

Hmm, well it could be the holidays but I tend to doubt that. Usually some people go away and some people, who hardly play, play more and it tends to balance out to no net change. It does feel like there has been a steady decline in players.

Also, having been a marketing director, I can say outright that affiliate programs never work. There is no real incentive to push the product. The affiliates tend to view the product as a 0 maintenance addition that will cost them nothing to have and may generate a few dollars. It's not a sound marketing plan, and I've never seen an affiliate plan that has worked.

Same with referral programs, you already have sold yourself on the idea of paying monthly for a product. Not having to pay monthly for 1 month is no incentive since in your mind you have already committed to spending that money. The concept is not dissimilar to coupons. You cut them out but you never use them.

Both of these programs are "desperation" tactics. They come from having no ad dollars to spend. They are employed because they are free to the marketer, and free to the reseller or the person who makes the referral. They are simply very cost effective but not very effective in selling product.

Anyway, I’m glad I don’t have the marketing director’s job. He’s in a tight spot with little leverage and big meanies on the horizon. I wish him luck, for my own sake.

[Naima]

They're trying to do anything to augments sales... price decrease, 7 days trial, free december for ex-players, affiliate program, referral program... everything here is good, but I think that it is a campaign that doesn't hit really people who are not yet into the game..

They should advertise more out of the gaming site (well, maybe they haven't got a budget for ads, but heck, that would be worth it..).
And they could do a better campaign for the BOOK! It is GREAT! And it could appeal to MANY non-aoplayers in the world, but sci-fi lovers, and even to non-mmorpgplayers, it would be worth it (distributing it via "standard" channels, like the good ole bookstores, and online stores like amazon, and not onl digital river).
I just think that the people in Funcom putting the money in the project are just disappointed by the low results (compared to previsions back this summer) in revenues, and aren't gonna spread more money 'til the situation changes... So marketing people have to do the only things they can do without spending more bucks (affiliate, referral, free months, trials, and all).

I hope for the best... I'd really like to see more than 100k people (at least) playing the game everyday, but that's not gonna happen if they don't wish to spend some money, in order to repair the mess they've made in the first months. It could seem pessimistic... And I really would like to participate to this game 'till the 4 year long storyline ends, so I just wish that FC will do its best from now on...