DUST Search - Wiser Marketing Choices

Aeon Amadi wrote:

Mostly an offshoot from this thread which details my thoughts toward a better use for the notorious Omega Boosters:
https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=1348598#post1348598

Though, this doesn't just apply to Omega Boosters - I feel that Marketing needs to make better choices all around. I don't think I need to remind the CPM about the conundrum in which Marketing implemented a sale on Contact Grenades when we legitimately had no ISK alternative and they were the source of many unnecessary tears.

In this player's opinion, marketing choices need to appeal to a certain type of player rather than the player with the most cash on hand at a specific point in time. While Dust 514 =/= Eve Online, Eve Online has some intriguing options for spending money and none more paramount than the Barbie Doll aspect (clothing from the Aurum store). It's apparently a great way to get people to drop cash and considering the amount of threads wanting Corporation Logos on Ships, let alone Ship Customization, I think CCP Iceland is missing out on a big revenue opportunity in that aspect.

But, we're talking about Dust 514. With the removal of the cosmetic options such as the 'Carbon' Assault Suit, players only options for money are the Boosters and faster Weapon/Dropsuit Access. Sure, the 'Neo' variants have some shoddy camo but I don't feel like dropping 100,000 Aurum for something that I'm going to set as my Favorite dropsuit to look sporty in the War Barge and never actually use.

While not as prominent or favorable an option, a few members of my own corporation have hinted that they'd spend money for Mercenary Quarters cosmetics... Something I find a little odd considering they're the only ones able to see it but if they're willing to spend money on it it might be worth looking into.

To that end, I'm sure there's a great deal of corporations that would pay a hefty sum of Aurum to have their own Corporation Logo - this might be something to look into as a player's identity is everything to them.

In summary:

More cosmetics
More opportunities for new players to close the gap on older players
Less over-broad, disparity INCREASING effects (omega boosters)
Edit: Less BPOs while we're at it... We never needed those things...


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Vrain Matari ZionTCD 1021	Posted - 2013.10.05 16:32:00 - [1] - Quote Aeon Amadi wrote: Mostly an offshoot from this thread which details my thoughts toward a better use for the notorious Omega Boosters: https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=1348598#post1348598 Though, this doesn't just apply to Omega Boosters - I feel that Marketing needs to make better choices all around. I don't think I need to remind the CPM about the conundrum in which Marketing implemented a sale on Contact Grenades when we legitimately had no ISK alternative and they were the source of many unnecessary tears. In this player's opinion, marketing choices need to appeal to a certain type of player rather than the player with the most cash on hand at a specific point in time. While Dust 514 =/= Eve Online, Eve Online has some intriguing options for spending money and none more paramount than the Barbie Doll aspect (clothing from the Aurum store). It's apparently a great way to get people to drop cash and considering the amount of threads wanting Corporation Logos on Ships, let alone Ship Customization, I think CCP Iceland is missing out on a big revenue opportunity in that aspect. But, we're talking about Dust 514. With the removal of the cosmetic options such as the 'Carbon' Assault Suit, players only options for money are the Boosters and faster Weapon/Dropsuit Access. Sure, the 'Neo' variants have some shoddy camo but I don't feel like dropping 100,000 Aurum for something that I'm going to set as my Favorite dropsuit to look sporty in the War Barge and never actually use. While not as prominent or favorable an option, a few members of my own corporation have hinted that they'd spend money for Mercenary Quarters cosmetics... Something I find a little odd considering they're the only ones able to see it but if they're willing to spend money on it it might be worth looking into. To that end, I'm sure there's a great deal of corporations that would pay a hefty sum of Aurum to have their own Corporation Logo - this might be something to look into as a player's identity is everything to them. In summary: More cosmetics More opportunities for new players to close the gap on older players Less over-broad, disparity INCREASING effects (omega boosters) Edit: Less BPOs while we're at it... We never needed those things... I agree Aeon, i'm glad you posted the topic here. I've never been able to wrap my head around CCP's recalcitrance when it comes to cosmetic RMTs. I'm sure they are as aware as we are of the gold mine awaiting them in this area. In EVE in earlier years, there was the possibility that there were technical considerations, but any such are only of historical interest today. CCP has expressed their concern over TTP(time-to-*****) multiple times in the past and that is certainly a valid consideration. CCP has done an admirable job of establishing a strong and unique design ethos for New Eden, and i would expect them to be naturally cautious in allowing players to affect their IP. That still leaves a lot of room for 'safe' cosmetic modifications, however. Regarding marketing itself in DUST, there is a jarring psychological disconnect between the face 'DUST the game/community' presents to a player/customer/reviewer and the face 'DUST the marketing venture' presents to the same player/customer/reviewer. Speaking for myself, it feels genuinely as if CCP-DUST suffers from multiple personality disorder. The experience for a player is a jarring and immersion-breaking transition from the battlefields of New Eden to the increasingly distasteful and obvious marketing tactics presented in the in-game market. The human animal's most finely-honed faculty, owing to evolutionary necessity, is the sense of social justice/fair play. The reason peeps are uncomfortable with what marketing is presenting to them is that it fails the smell test. Marketing needs to realize(and should already know) that there is no way to out-smart this faculty, no amount of obfuscation that will serve their purposes here. If CCP wants reviews that don't consistently raise a flag and inspire reviewers to include a cautionary line or two about the AUR market in DUST, they need to reform their marketing practices and find a more wholesome revenue stream than 'more money = more capable/powerful/flexible character faster'. It's not a question of alternatives, it's not a question of technical ability and it's not a question of expressed player interest. It's a question of will, and of what is best for DUST and New Eden in the long run.
Vrain Matari ZionTCD 1021	Posted - 2013.10.05 16:55:00 - [2] - Quote Aeon Amadi wrote: SponkSponkSponk wrote: I bet corp members would pitch in a bunch of aurum to kit out a hypothetical shared merc quarters with stuff. But tbh an isk booster is a pretty standard desire. That's an interesting take. Have a social quarters available to corporations that drop Aurum... Nothing pay-to-win about it at all, just if the corporation wants to view their mates standing around pointlessly they can pay for it. Kind of a love/hate idea. Serves no purpose but if you want to have that face-to-face communication it's definitely something. Or how about this, to make a soft transition for CCP: Allow corp-based cosmetic modifications that get applied to every individual merc's quarters who is a corpie. (EDIT: credit to Sponk-Sponk here - didn't see you post above, mate, apologies.) CEOs, Directors, or the Corp Designer could buy and apply esthetic mods that render in all merc quarters identically. I imagine there would be a whole mini-game and meta-game around critiquing the CEO's bad taste, with ensuing flame wars, corps splitting along esthetic lines and entire alliances falling because of a bad design review in EON ;)