149351-using-realm-broadcasts-to-advertise-the-store

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So I was doing my dailies like I usually do, talking to guildies and what not. Then a realm broadcast pops up. So I think "Oh must be something important" cause they usually only uses those to tell players servers are coming down or emergency maintenance. So I was surprised to see that the Realm Broadcast was an advertisement for the in game store. Like "Hey go get the flask of R&R for 25% off".
 
I don't mind the store. I actually get some stuff from it, like the carrots and costumes. Using a Realm alert style message just seemed...wrong. It felt like a gold spammer message that I couldn't block. (Well I could turn off in the chat but then I wouldn't get messages if the server was going down). 	
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Yeah. It was in pretty poor taste imo. I was tabbed out when I heard the alert, so I got excited, thinking "oh hey, they're gonna restart the servers and fix the prestige bonus/auction house/crafting additives issues!"
Tab back in. Nope. Its a commercial.
3 major issues with the game right now (+plus the mount that was supposed to get added to the store but didn't). Next to no communication with players over the issues.
And you sent a realm message to tell me that there's a crappy sale on a flask that's pretty lackluster to begin with.	
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posted this in another thread....but  it maybe works better here :)
 
Thanks to http://www.twitch.tv/kalscattergood we have discovered the new community and PR team
 
https://youtu.be/yYaQOM5Fq0Q
			
				
	Edited January 29, 2016 by ministabber	
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			Yuck. 	
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			Of all the things of concern, this is probably one of the most petty gripes I've seen as of late. Not everyone realizes when the store is updated. It didn't force open the store on you. It's a one-click-to-go-away message box. If this kind of thing is your biggest concern in the game, though, I envy you heh.	
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Of all the things of concern, this is probably one of the most petty gripes I've seen as of late. Not everyone realizes when the store is updated. It didn't force open the store on you. It's a one-click-to-go-away message box. If this kind of thing is your biggest concern in the game, though, I envy you heh.
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You know what would have been better than a system message?  Make the store icon light up.... oh wait, it does that constantly and was irritating enough that many many people use an addon to remove the flash if not the whole thing. 
 
How not to design a UI for $1000 Alex.	
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			I really need to finish my house before they pull the plug on this thing...	
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I wasn't in game to see the message but as long as it was a one time only thing I don't really see an issue with it. They were holding a flash sale which was only for a limited amount of time and therefore letting everyone know it was available. 
 
But if it was repetitive and your were constantly bombarded with messages then that is a different story as it can be extremely irritating.
			
				
	Edited January 30, 2016 by Scarran	
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I wasn't on so I don't have the bias of an emotional response, but, sometimes the emotional response is just as important. Especially if it's widely negative.
 
My view: 
Advertising a ~sale~ isn't terrible
 
Especially if it's rarely done (once a day at prime time maybe)
 
And doesn't appear to people who are running content, i.e. targets Illium and housing only
 
And is made distinct from the important realm announcements (UI/sound)
 
 
Although... why not just have the sale advertised in the event window when we collect our daily-login?
 
 
But even after all that, the idea of broadcasting shop commercials leaves a bad taste. :( I've hated direct marketing since I was a teen, and for years have been streamiing + using adblock because of it.	
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			One step closer to the Perfect Wrold! Keep it up lol :D	
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I wasn't on so I don't have the bias of an emotional response, but, sometimes the emotional response is just as important. Especially if it's widely negative.
 
My view:
 
Advertising a ~sale~ isn't terrible
 
Especially if it's rarely done (once a day at prime time maybe)
 
And doesn't appear to people who are running content, i.e. targets Illium and housing only
 
And is made distinct from the important realm announcements (UI/sound)
 
 
Although... why not just have the sale advertised in the event window when we collect our daily-login?
 
 
But even after all that, the idea of broadcasting shop commercials leaves a bad taste. :( I've hated direct marketing since I was a teen, and for years have been streamiing + using adblock because of it.
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			It was apparently a 1 hour sale so I guess they were just telling people that were on at the point	
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I don't really have a problem with them advertising sales, and it's interesting to see them experiment with flash deals - but I tend to agree realm broadcast shouldn't be used for that purpose.  Realm broadcasts are supposed to be for passing along important information to players in-game (eg forthcoming downtime), the more it's used for something like advertising, the more it undermines its entire purpose.  Used too frequently, people will just start tuning them out.
 
I suppose it works in the interim, but I think there could be better ways of doing something like this.  Something like the daily log-in pop-up would be good, though I particularly like PlasmaJohn's suggestion.  Making the store icon light up when there is a special until a person opens the store would be less intrusive, while also getting the message to many more people.  The realm broadcasts only work if someone is in-game at the very moment it goes out.  Having the store icon light up during the duration of the sale means anyone who logs in within the window will be aware of the deal.
			
				
	Edited January 30, 2016 by Cantatus	
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Yea I just saw the twitter and realized it was a 1-hour sale. That at least explains, if not fully justifies doing it.
 
They could always try to gamify the concept a bit more. Have a Protostar media screen in-game at the contract boards that actually displays sales, maybe patch in a little quirky fun dialogue, stuff like that.	
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 Here's a brilliant idea.. don't hound the monthly subbers with these stupid pop ups "BINGO"!!! the latest subbing perk... you're already making money off of us...
 
I know this is like trying to whisper through a 12 ft thick wall.. but stop putting fugly costumes in the cash shop and start putting the stuff we keep asking for over and over and you might find yourself turning a profit.. i know it sounds crazy.. but i got a gut feeling that I know more about what Im willing to spend my money on.. and im sure others will agree with me on this.
			
				
	Edited January 30, 2016 by Rebel Angel	
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Weirdest thing happened the other day. I was watching TV and the Emergency Civil Defense Broadcasting System came up. I was then notified that Enrollment for Government Mandated Healthcare was starting soon this year.
 
Weirdest thing.	
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I rather have them calling out sales than adding gear slots to store only (*cough* Rift).
But it doesn't mean they could perhaps announce it a bit differently, to separate the important messages but still get to know that now there is some sale going on.	
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You know what SW:TOR did that I thought worked really well? (Yes they actually do get a few things right)
 
They posted a list of items that would go on sale and when a day or two ahead of time.  My only gripe is that they held it on a weekday.	
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Is NCSoft ever doing sale on NCoins?
Because it's something that has made me spend more money than I otherwise would in other f2p-games.
The most specific example is Planetside2. Well, Prosieben still managed the game in EU then and we had to fight on the forum to get same offer as NA people for christmas... however, we eventually did get the same offer as NA players as in 50% off on prosieben coins that were used back then. And I took the advantage of the offer and bought more than I like to admit.
But it wasn't just that offer, it was also Planetside2 having sales often, I don't know if it was a new sale every day. So I logged in to the game just to see what's on sale in the shop, and I bought a lot as well because I had quite much coins to spend. 
 
I haven't seen any NCoin sale yet, but I would like it if they had such sales every now and then. 	
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 Here's a brilliant idea.. don't hound the monthly subbers with these stupid pop ups "BINGO"!!! the latest subbing perk... you're already making money off of us...
 
I know this is like trying to whisper through a 12 ft thick wall.. but stop putting fugly costumes in the cash shop and start putting the stuff we keep asking for over and over and you might find yourself turning a profit.. i know it sounds crazy.. but i got a gut feeling that I know more about what Im willing to spend my money on.. and im sure others will agree with me on this.
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I said the same thing about the latest costume until I saw somebody that had used it and dyed it. it's actually *really* nice. After seeing it, I bought it and wasn't at all disappointed. :wub:
I also pay a sub and had no issue with the very brief message. To me, it isn't a big deal. How do you propose they alert people of a flash sale? How do you inform the masses that such a sale is taking place? Out of game? How often are people tabbing out to see if a sale is going on? Make the Protostar billboards have actual advertisements? (that'd actually be neat so long as it weren't advertising things outside of WildStar)
 
i don't disagree with you with that I'd like to see a lot more other (read: housing and unique mounts) things in the cash shop that I'd happily throw my money at.
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we still dont have tennis shoes or low cut shoe that dont require knee pads.
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We have ONE skin like that... but you can't dye the socks...
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Going to chime in with what, based on this thread, is the unpopular opinion.
 
I like the realm broadcasts to draw attention to flash sales.  Most people probably open the store once when they play (if they even open the store at all), and that's to see if anything new has been added since the last time they checked.
 
Having the flash sales is a good idea (I bought some Fortune Coins for Madame Fey last night.. and I never buy those because I'm not a fan of RNGBoxes).  Using the realm broadcast at the start of the sale is the most efficient way to communicate to everyone currently playing that a limited time sale has started.
 
They're not spamming it.. they announced it at the beginning, and again about 10 minutes before the sale ended.. no pop up, just a line in the chat log... it's about as unobtrusive as you can get.
 
I think some people just want to find things to complain about...	
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They're not spamming it.. they announced it at the beginning, and again about 10 minutes before the sale ended.. no pop up, just a line in the chat log... it's about as unobtrusive as you can get.
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			Using realm alerts for store sales and discounts seems like a great plan, since there's no more reliable way to reach the players that will probably be able to make use of that sale.If they put it on twitter or the forums alone, you'd log out, see the sale, come here, then complain that you missed the sale because there was no other way to see it.	
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Wait wait wait... it wasn't one of those boxes that pops up center screen? It was just a bit of chatbox text?
 
That's much less worrisome. I mean, baby steps lead to bad things so still not a great outcome, but I thought this was the type of big box that appears when the realm is going down for maintenance...
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Wait wait wait... it wasn't one of those boxes that pops up center screen? It was just a bit of chatbox text?
 
That's much less worrisome. I mean, baby steps lead to bad things so still not a great outcome, but I thought this was the type of big box that appears when the realm is going down for maintenance...
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I just saw the message, it's not even a chat box you have to close like the downtime. It's just text that overlays briefly and that's it. 
 
Hardly worth complaining about.	
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			The first time they did the broadcasts it WAS the pop up boxes used for Realm Alerts. Now it seems they are just system messages in the chat box. Which is slightly better than before.	
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Yeah, a System Message, that's okay. I can ignore that or pay attention to it at my leisure. In fact, if they're trying out "flash sales" as a money-maker, then groovy, that's the way to do it with the minimal interruption.
 
Mid-screen pop-ups are bad though, m'kay?  :lol:
 
That said, I think the "always glowing store icon" might be another avenue to explore. Have it pulse or sparkle or *ahem* FLASH when there is a flash sale going on? Honestly, I don't even see the spinning border any more, so making it change up a little would catch my attention, too.
 
Just a suggestion.
 
I do love the idea of in-game billboards (by Protostar) to hawk cash store stuff. I don't know how feasible that is, but having a "billboard" hovering in the busy areas of the capitals and major villages (Gallow, Hycrest, etc.) that rotated out specials would be both hilarious and brilliant. 	
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			Noticed this last night, and it was extremely obnoxious. Not just a line in the textbox, but a flash across my screen? Gross, Carbine.	
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We have ONE skin like that... but you can't dye the socks...
 
 
 
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I think some people just want to find things to complain about...
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I can't imagine how. I got one during a WB fight, didn't even see it until I happened to scoll up through my logs later.
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It flashed in big, bold letters right across my screen (right in the middle of a boss pull, too xD). Impossible to miss.
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			How are big letters right across the middle of my screen not "pop-ups"?	
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How are big letters right across the middle of my screen not "pop-ups"?
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How are big letters right across the middle of my screen not "pop-ups"?
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How are big letters right across the middle of my screen not "pop-ups"?
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How are big letters right across the middle of my screen not "pop-ups"?
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			Horse shit	
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			Oh wow big deal. Go find something actually worth crying about.	
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You just described the scrolling combat text too.
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It's clear I have a different tolerance threshold than some people in this thread, but I don't appreciate big white letters all the way across my screen right smack in my center of vision screaming about "Sale on flasks!"
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Center of my vision. Technically I guess in the upper half of my screen, but I don't spend much time looking at the lower half of my screen - especially when I'm in the middle of a boss pull. xD
 
I've never seen anything related to realm announcements in UI options, but surely there's something in there. Maybe someone will make an addon like they did for the golden Premium tag. :p
			
				
	Edited February 1, 2016 by Naunet	
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