GameAmp: How about this for a suggestion?

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wanderson75

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How about this for a suggestion?

I sent this to ANet through the support link and of course they closed it and said to go to a fansite forum. So, here I am.

QUOTE

I don't think we can deny that the user community right now is getting spread pretty thin between the three GuildWars worlds right now. I mean, even your numbers are saying it. You broke 3 million in sales since the release of GuildWars: Nightfall, but if you break it down...I'd have to say that more than likely, you have just over a million total users.

The events that you have on the weekends are great and all. I really enjoy them, however, these types of events are geared towards the currently registered user community, and not towards the millions of potential gamers out there.

What I would recommend would be weekend events promoting new users trying out the games themselves. Heck, have them with a holiday, or even do something special (like reopening the minigames) during that weekend.

You could promote this by having the current users invite people they know, via e-mail, with a trial key to friends of theirs to use. Put a limit on the key for the weekend, but don't limit the number of hours they can play.

Understandably, I'm sure that some people would be able to clear the an game within a 48-hour timeframe...with a lot of coffee and no sleep. But they won't be able to clear all three. Plus, if they're hooked enough to play that much in a weekend, chances are that they'll purchase at least one of the three games.

One, to two weeks after the event, since you'll have the e-mails of the people that participated in the event (provided they give you permission to e-mail them during registration), send them a coupon...or some type of discount (10% seems to be standard) that they can redeem at their local game shop to purchase one of the three GW games.

If you were feeling really generous, you could increment the discount if they purchase the other two...like 15% for buying two, and 20% for buying all three.

The user base is seriously stretched thin. And with the upcoming fourth installment, it's about to get thinner. One of the big problems with GuildWars is that you made the replay value way too good. So many of the people go back to Prophecies, or Factions, and it spreads everyone out. You really need to increase the user base if you're going to get anywhere.

Just my 2 cents.

Personally, if they were to do something like this, and I remember that they did once way back when, it could be a potential boost to the player community. OK...yes...there would probably be a lot of lag that weekend from the server loads...but even still...an increase in revenue for them, plus an additional user base benefits us. It'll give us more people for PuGs, more Guilds, more Guild recruits...and probably boost the economy as well...not to mention that they would probably add additional servers if they got enough people.

And if we get enough people Stateside, we might be able to hold favour for longer than 12am-8am on this side of the planet. :-D

03/14/07 01:42

TheBeano

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

Very interesting idea. It has some merit in my opinion. It has a nice marketing slant to it. I would love to hear that ANet's thoughts are on this. Broadening the user-base would be a good thing for everyone involved, methinks.

03/14/07 01:46

wanderson75

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

Yeah...I just posted it in Guru's forums. Hopefully someone will read it.

03/14/07 02:43

PoW_SparePart

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

I agree that something like this would be very good.I have several people at my work that are somewhat interested in playing GuidWars.However some of them have said they prefer to try it before they buy it,to be sure it's the kind of game for them and if it's worth there money.Also some have said they were not sure if thier PC could handle it.I would have to say tho A-net would have to limit the amount of weekend time or playable time.And I think the discount idea is nice aswell.I hope A-net looks into this.

03/14/07 02:50

laggy

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

I know that there is a demo for WoW, I'm not 100% sure but I think it lets you do whatever you want no restrictions (except I don't think you can trade) for 48 hours. So for the normal person probably about 2-5 hours a day max. You can't get very far in a MMORPG in 10 hours, especially in a new game your still trying to learn the ropes for.

If A-net made this demo available on their site, and get us players to send out emails and maybe even put some disks into EB or game shops of the like, I think a lot of potential players would pounce at the opportunity.

The special events they had where we could invite a few people are to few and far between. I don't know how the demo would work; content wise. I suggest give the demo-player access to all 3 games that means they would have less chance to progress to far because they would like to try them all.

I hope they do start to listen to us players, because we have some great ideas that can improve this game immensely. And who better to get tips on how to get gamers to play GW than gamers themselves?

Siggy gone on a little holiday. He promised to return when I thought of something witty.

03/14/07 04:20

Il Onlyblue Il

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

Interesting idea indeed. I was actually brought to the GW universe by a friend who recently converted from WoW. He gave me his trial key and I do admit 10 hours may not be long enough for someone new to the MMORPG genre, but coming from a MMO background, that 10 hours was enough to actually pursuade me to buy my first copy of GW Factions and the other two campaigns later on.

Perhaps Anet could offer a free 24 hour limited trial to those players who may not know a friend with an access key. Limited meaning that they would be given an opportunity to play GW as it was set during the Nightfall Preview Event where they could not buy/sell or even trade to players/NPCs which could affect the current economy. Just enough to allow them to do a couple quests and touch on some aspects of PvP. After the trial period, the account would be locked and if they wished to continue playing, purchase the game and input a retail key. In other words, a taste of what the game could offer them.

Now, coming from Anet's perspective, if such potential players had access to try out the game, those players may not like it and look elsewhere. With their current setup, someone would still have to buy a copy of the game in order to get that buddy trial key which still translates into another game sold. Regardless if that person liked the game and continues to play doesn't really matter much since Anet has already made a sale on the game. The concept is similar to console games.

If, for example, I really wanted to play a game because it sounded and looked super-awesome-cool and could not find a demo disc to try out, knew a friend I could borrow it from, or even a local video store to rent the game, I might have to buy the game just to try it. The publisher makes money on my curiosity regardless if I thought the game was over-hyped and quit playing after the first 10 minutes.

I'm sure with some brainstorming, Anet could come up with a strategy that might actually prove beneficial and increase their customer base in the future. Nevertheless, fans of Guildwars should continue to offer great ideas in hopes that their voices will be heard :D

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

03/14/07 05:07

wanderson75

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

I've posted this subject in the Guru forums also, just because they're an Elite site and supposedly ANet only reads the Elite site forums. So I hate to do this, but if we want to be heard by ANet, here's the link:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/showthr...d=1#post2629672

I think it's a really good idea, not just because it's mine, but because I think it could really make a difference for us all.

03/14/07 05:16

mriswith

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

QUOTE

ANet only reads the Elite site forums

We are being read as well. With new realesases and such one GW-dev also posts news and such (cant find his accountname atm) and most people from Anet scout this site 'undercover'.

We might not be an elite site; but are being read and watched by Anet :D

edit:
found him; it's AlexWeekes

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

Necromancer all the way

03/14/07 06:25

wanderson75

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

Yay! I was not aware of that...thank you:) should I remove the link?

03/14/07 07:00

Keo

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

QUOTE

Understandably, I'm sure that some people would be able to clear the an game within a 48-hour timeframe...with a lot of coffee and no sleep. But they won't be able to clear all three.

Heheh...12 hours for Factions and 36 for NF. I think If I pushed it I could do both in 48hrs including leveling!!

Maybe if you don't count the leveling you could finish Factions, hammer through NF and then sail to LA, run to either Sanctum or Beacons/Droks and finish Prophecies in a few hours.

A new title methinks?!?

^_^

Forum Rules |-| Adding sigs and images |-| Guidelines for Guides |-| GuildBase

03/14/07 07:59

wanderson75

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

*bump*

Sorry...I'm hoping I'll get a couple more opinions on this.

03/14/07 17:42

Mr.Hobo

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

I'd enjoy it, my friends won't play because they trial just isn't long enough for me to play with them... I hope A-net does something like this.

Mr. Hobo : )

03/14/07 17:49

Evinmeer Montala

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

I think it's a very good idea. I also agree on limiting trial players from influencing the economy in some way. If they do this, I think it would be a good idea to give the players access to all three campaigns, regardless of the fact that they probably won't make it through all of them. It offers more variety, and since each chapter seems to cater to players w/ different priorities (Prophecies: PvE, Factions: PvP, Nightfall: Titlers) it would be a good way to hook a wide base of new players.

There are the good, there are the evil, and there are the clueless... and really, the clueless are the ones who have all the fun; the rest are too busy with their respective purposes. - Evinmeer

Yes, I am a dorky MySpacer

03/14/07 23:27

wanderson75

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

QUOTE

And hooking is what we need....to feed our own habit^_^

03/14/07 23:37

Mr.Hobo

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

If Absolutely nothing else we need longer trials. I mean, who plays ten hours and actually gets past Zen Daijun in factions? Or to Nolani in Prophecies?b I mean, if my friends aren't level twenty, it's not as much fun to help them as it is to have them play along side you. Just my 3.28 cents. :)

Mr. Hobo :)

03/15/07 06:29

wanderson75

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

I agree, 10 hours isn't enough for the normal human (I'm sure Keo is some kind of high tech caffeinated GW Cyborg now. :-p ) to even get off of the starter islands...especially in Nightfall, unless you blaze through and just do the minimum quests to get the missions.

They really need to get off the starter island and get into the story to really get hooked. Then BLAMMO! Ran out of time...oh! Wanna see how it ends? Here's your coupon. :-p

*sidenote* lol..Hobo...nice sig...I guess I'm an idiot. :-p

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

03/15/07 07:36

silvershock

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

QUOTE

I sent this to ANet through the support link and of course they closed it and said to go to a fansite forum. So, here I am.

QUOTE

Anet has people on the payroll who do your job dude. It's really nice and well intended, but far from needed. If Anet runs into trouble regarding number of active players they simply come up with a plan themselves, instead of checking forums for some wise dude who comes up with plans for em.

03/15/07 18:04

Carl Jenkins

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Joined: 09/13/2006
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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

QUOTE

ANet only reads the Elite site forums

Maybe this "Alex" person is really a man from Costa Rica who just sold this idea to Anet without giving wanderson any credit at all and is making a profit from every game sold from now on, making millions that wanderson will never make.

I apologize for my bleak outlook, I haven't had my mocha latte with soy-milk and whipped cream today...

And of course, I think it's a good idea for ANet to use.

My hidden talent is invisibility!

03/15/07 18:17

silvershock

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RE: How about this for a suggestion?

QUOTE

ANet only reads the Elite site forums

I met Alex weekes in guild wars once, he's a gm working for Anet, and less stuck in childhood like gaile:P (no offence there gaile:P)

03/15/07 18:20

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