I've never touched it never will but its nice to know what I'm missing out on is a game for bored accountants
Evony & Irony
- Thread starter Shamus Young
- Start date
Yeah, a huge load of publishers seem to feel they need to have breasts on their covers or ad's to sell. Is there anyone here who actually bought a game because of the hot chick on the cover? I'm sure you did, I know a friend of mine bought "Wet" for only one reason (he has a thing for girls with guns) -the male brain is indeed mysterious^^.
I guess some games need the extra help, but many that do this really don't! I often decide not to get a game because to me it seems like this game was made for guys that doesn't know porn is free online, and I know I've missed some good ones because of it. Do guys really want it? What makes a game with a girl infront of a car on a cover more appealing than just a car? I mean, are you there for the racing game or the girl?
I guess some games need the extra help, but many that do this really don't! I often decide not to get a game because to me it seems like this game was made for guys that doesn't know porn is free online, and I know I've missed some good ones because of it. Do guys really want it? What makes a game with a girl infront of a car on a cover more appealing than just a car? I mean, are you there for the racing game or the girl?
Evony is far more clever then they are given credit for...oh god no, they arn't good at makeing GAMES...but there marketing is genius. And there genius has nothing to do with pulling in guys who want to see tits. Nonono. Let me put it this way: You put Evony in your article title, and EVERYONE knows what you're talking about. Sure, everyone hates there ads to an extent, but everyone recognizes the name. Everyone has a strong opinion on there sleazy tactics. And I at least have been so shocked by there terrible ads, that I can't help but be a touch curious about just how disjointed the advertising is from the game. I'm curious about the community that were pulled in to this, and just how different it is from the softcore porn advertising. For marketing this bad, I am genuinely curious how bad the game is in comparison. While we all scoff at blatant use of tits, we havn't even noticed that this very controversy has made the game heavily iconic, discussed, and referenced in a large number of communities. And that pulls in some players. Hate on the advertising all you want: I do. But just remember that because of that blatant use of tits, you have had a huge amount of brand recognition forced upon you. They arn't getting the perverts pulled in, there getting the people with a serious interest on gaming culture. They are sneaky.
The thing is, as I understand it, this is a Russian game. Russians don't understand the concept of not advertising things with sex. "Oh, you sell baby furniture? Use sexy lady for ad."
To be fair, those ads would be mostly appropriate if the game being advertised was Red Alert III. Or Red Alert II. Sigh... I love the Red Alert series...
To be fair, those ads would be mostly appropriate if the game being advertised was Red Alert III. Or Red Alert II. Sigh... I love the Red Alert series...
As I recall, when Evony first started advertising they used ads that actually showed game shots behind some generic warrior guy. I mean, they only had one of these and then added a girl, but it wasn't like they started off on the wrong foot.
I wouldn't play this thing anyway. There are dozens of cheap, 2-D Age of Empires rip offs for sale everywhere, which I think Shamus pointed out.
I wouldn't play this thing anyway. There are dozens of cheap, 2-D Age of Empires rip offs for sale everywhere, which I think Shamus pointed out.
There are actually laws against that here (specifically, deceptive or intentionally misleading advertising; hyperbole is allowed though). I'm a little surprised if that's not the case elsewhere. (Not that local laws apply to the Internet though.)The_root_of_all_evil said:The thing is though that there is no comeback against these things. Adverts lie, cheat, insult and (metaphorically) steal every day; and action against private corporations is minimal at best.
TBF, why shouldn't they say anything up to outright character assassination? Because it's only people like Sony etc. that will get slapped for anything, and that usually takes 6 months and half the tax-payers fee.
It's a sad state of affairs, and the only way to deal with it is to make advertisers liable for their adverts. Heineken probably doesn't reach the parts other beers cannot reach, and Carling's probability of being the best beer in the world is really rather low.
Until then, advertisers can smear anything they want over a game in our name and then walk away with our money.
We even have amusing ad campaigns that play up honesty (eg. being self deprecating); for example there's one going on right now that's proudly advertising itself as "the fourth favourite [chocolate] bar" in the country.
And we have a beer company whose entire marketing is pretty much "(Strange quote/fact)"/"Yeah, right."
People don't play games because they are good anymore. They play games because of the advertising.Shamus Young said:
Frankly I won't accept a single remark about sales of a video game until you can actually return games. Every other product in the world (basically) has to actually be good enough to not get returned, video games however force people to keep them.
Shit Modern Warfare 2 can't even be resold because of the steam trick they used. I can think of tons of people who bought it and only a few that still play it (not to say that is normal I just mean in my life and friend base). All these people would have resold it but they can't.
ANYWHO the point is games like MW2 and Evony and any other game with a pretty sizeable marketing campaign is just selling advertising. They know that as long as the advertising is good enough they'll be fine because there are enough suckers to make a buck. I assume that Evony is entertaining enough to get the average smuck to spend a dollar or two on something which means they make bank in the end.
The Zynga fella knows that as well. You just need to be good enough to sucker people out of their money with some sort of non-refundable system. It is the sleazy way of modern times for many companies.
Problem being is that all it takes to change a deception into a hyperbole is the addition of verb like "probably" or "allegedly" or even "50% whiter".Miral said:
Evony never actually promises that there is/isn't a woman thrusting her chest out in the game.
And even if it was 100% sure it didn't, it'd need people deliberately campaigning against it.
And even if they did, who would adjudicate on something that fills the entire web?
And even if they found someone, how would they stop the illegal sites ("probably" (haha) half the web)?
And even if all of that came in and they prevented any half-truths, what about doing the same to adverts that actually tell the truth? You must have already seen the bag of peanuts with "May contain nuts", would Portal need a warning "May contain a psychotic computer that attempts to kill you with nerve gas...oh whoops, there's the spoiler gone"?
One of my favorite games is Dominions 3, a turn-based strategy game. It's published by Shrapnel Games, and they run adds very similar to Evony's for Dom3, even though there's probably even less of a connection between Dom3 and its adds and Evony's vice versa.
Why? Because those kind of adds are "the most effective" as in, they get clicked the most. Interestingly, on the official forum it's not uncommon for new members to start threads protesting against the adds. My conclusion is that they are in fact ineffective, because the game's audience is more likely to be offended than attracted by the adds. The people who clicked for boobies absolutely do NOT want to play an extremely deep strategy game with bad graphics where a single turn can take upwards an hour to play.
Not only is it dishonest, it's really working the wrong angle.
Why? Because those kind of adds are "the most effective" as in, they get clicked the most. Interestingly, on the official forum it's not uncommon for new members to start threads protesting against the adds. My conclusion is that they are in fact ineffective, because the game's audience is more likely to be offended than attracted by the adds. The people who clicked for boobies absolutely do NOT want to play an extremely deep strategy game with bad graphics where a single turn can take upwards an hour to play.
Not only is it dishonest, it's really working the wrong angle.
Well said, these adverts are notorious in their shamelessness and I too immediately assumed that such obvious appeal to baser instincts must be a ploy to get you to download some virus. Its a stupid ad campaign and I wish it would stop because it makes perfectly innocent browsing look dubious with those gratuitous ads sitting boldly in the margin.
I can't imagine this game being any good, and I too would be wary of any company willing to go that far to mislead you into trying their shitty "free-to-play-but-not-really" game.
But damn those ads are attractive. Call them raunchy, offensive, abusive, or what have you, but they picked some awfully nice models for them. I'm surprised they don't charge the viewer to see those ads. If their game really did have something to do with the models they show, they might have an actual business at hand.
But damn those ads are attractive. Call them raunchy, offensive, abusive, or what have you, but they picked some awfully nice models for them. I'm surprised they don't charge the viewer to see those ads. If their game really did have something to do with the models they show, they might have an actual business at hand.
That was a particularly wonderful way of putting that. You hath made mine day.The Big Eye said:
Pop... me....LTK_70 said:Wow, Evony ads have become so infamous that there are even parodies. Check this out:
Bwahahahaha. Okay, that's a winner. You get one free Internet. Choose any one off the third shelf in the back.
I think Evony is taking the "MW2 airport scene" approach to marketing. They are not trying to fool you into thinking that the game is about sex, they just want everybody to get Evony on their minds (much in the same way that the airport scene served no purpose whatsoever but got MW2 a load of press).
Thing is, if I'm on the Internet and see an ad with a half naked woman for a game and get interested there are two things I can do. Either I check out the ad, knowing I'll probably be wasting my time because nobody would advertise a game that way if they actually believed in it. Or, I could just open my "hidden folder" and get all the boobs I want without hassle. It just seems weird to me that they assume people are gonna choose the first alternative.
Thing is, if I'm on the Internet and see an ad with a half naked woman for a game and get interested there are two things I can do. Either I check out the ad, knowing I'll probably be wasting my time because nobody would advertise a game that way if they actually believed in it. Or, I could just open my "hidden folder" and get all the boobs I want without hassle. It just seems weird to me that they assume people are gonna choose the first alternative.
Sorry to answer on your behalf Shamus (good rantage by the way), but you have only addresed some of the issues Therumancer. I think the biggest issue - for me anyway - is that the game and the advertising are only related in a very rudimentarey way in that it takes place in a fantasty setting.
I agree about the cover art example on fantasy novels, but said novel normally has a love interest or a strong female character involved. What does Evony offer? Quick and false gratuity albeit by a talented artist about a game that would make a maths graduate like me bored.
Now I love slow moving games being an owner of every Civ game going and loving them all, but at least Firaxis and Sid Meier (all hail) have never tried to make us believe that in controlling an empire for 6,000 years that we may get some soft core - pixelated or otherwise.
Haakong, good spot about the freaky porn who doth protest too much.
I agree about the cover art example on fantasy novels, but said novel normally has a love interest or a strong female character involved. What does Evony offer? Quick and false gratuity albeit by a talented artist about a game that would make a maths graduate like me bored.
Now I love slow moving games being an owner of every Civ game going and loving them all, but at least Firaxis and Sid Meier (all hail) have never tried to make us believe that in controlling an empire for 6,000 years that we may get some soft core - pixelated or otherwise.
Haakong, good spot about the freaky porn who doth protest too much.
Not in some of the ads, but it's hard to interpret "rescue me now, my lord" as anything else. And the ads that are nothing but boobs and "click here" (with Evony in microprint in the corner) also seem pretty misleading.The_root_of_all_evil said:
That's a problem, of course. Which is why I said that local laws don't really apply to the Internet.The_root_of_all_evil said:
Actually, no. That's quite funny though (the obvious response being "one would hope so!").The_root_of_all_evil said:
Which does remind me of a completely off-topic point, though: I occasionally wonder how hard it is for people who have nut allergies to actually find food. Whenever I actually look at labels it seems like 80% of food is labelled with "may contain nuts" or "processed on machines that also process nuts"...