$100,000 UO Marketing Challenge......

[kennykilleduo]

The Challenge find the best way to Advertise UO, and and show how it could work.

Areas must be Covered:

1. Increasing player base of all UO shards.

2. Creative , Fun , can even show off your large guilds.

3. Must be under $ 100,000 US dollars

4. No advertising any site on stratics , just mention costs and plans. ( this is based on any site or advertisers you may use ) Of course you can advertise UO on Stratics ( I would think)

5. Cartoons . TV , Radio , Web , Viral , ect...

5. All media types are ok.


Prizes:

1st prize :

1 month paid UO GameCode
2 Million gold any shard ( will need help from brokers)


2nd prize :

1 million gold ( will need help from brokers)


3rd prize

500k gold ( will need help from brokers)



I am the one offering prizes , EA/ UO /Stratics is in no way involved ( unless they want) , if any other guild / players want to donate to add to the totals PM me , this is my way of clearing my stuff out , as to I am all but quiting UO , unless something huge changes my mind ( Smacks Draconi , Wake up..... j/k) , ohh yea this is not a scam , its only for FUN and I will give prizes..Thank you and have fun..





Rules:

Must be legal ( no email spammage) and not go against any TOS / ROC based on UO/EA /Stratics . Agree this is for fun only , but maybe something good can come of it.Will take submissions until June 21 2008 , the start a poll for the best 5 with top 3 winning...

 

[Lord Nabin]

Ok I will bite!

How about setting up Apple's new Iphone to recieve adds or even better yet third party software that allows you to play Ultima Online from the phone. My first Ultima game was Ultima 1 played on a a brand new Apple 2+ computer. lol

Apple and Ultima have History lets build on it.

 

[Kiminality]

$100,000 dollars is nowhere near enough for anything but a token advertising effort.
Especially if you take into account the international nature of the game.

Internet advertising would be cheaper than physical advertising, though less effective, considering the lengths advertisers have gone to on the internet. Most people who don't block the most common forms of advertising completely, simply ignore them.

So...

Invest most of the money in doing something with the game. Something that would make it appealing to current MMO players.
Do that, and then make a big deal out of offering 21-day trials, or some such. Longer trials than the standard, and people will be more inclined to try it, because they're getting more time to play for free.
You make a big deal of it, and the various commentary sites around the internet will pick it up as news, and it'll propogate.

 

[Pickaxe Pete]

1) Publicly admit KR was a big mistake - this would be a first from EA and win lots of respect.

2) Spend the 100,000 overhauling the existing 2D client to support high-resolution game windows and pay a new incentive-compensated art team only for how close their new high-resolution graphics are to the existing 2D - just an upres'ing job. Client looks good at 1080p and fills monitor with game.

3) Once 'HD2D' is up and running smoothly, the rest will take care of itself (old vets returning, gaming websites re-reviewing UO, etc.).

 

[Kratos Aurion]

$100,000 dollars is nowhere near enough for anything but a token advertising effort.
Especially if you take into account the international nature of the game.

Internet advertising would be cheaper than physical advertising, though less effective, considering the lengths advertisers have gone to on the internet. Most people who don't block the most common forms of advertising completely, simply ignore them.

So...

Invest most of the money in doing something with the game. Something that would make it appealing to current MMO players.
Do that, and then make a big deal out of offering 21-day trials, or some such. Longer trials than the standard, and people will be more inclined to try it, because they're getting more time to play for free.
You make a big deal of it, and the various commentary sites around the internet will pick it up as news, and it'll propogate.

Id say online advertising is the most effective form. Most people spend more time on their computer than TV now which could be good or bad.

Advertising on Myspace homepage for a day would probably bring in some serious numbers.

 

[Azureal]

1) Publicly admit KR was a big mistake - this would be a first from EA and win lots of respect.

2) Spend the 100,000 overhauling the existing 2D client to support high-resolution game windows and pay a new incentive-compensated art team only for how close their new high-resolution graphics are to the existing 2D - just an upres'ing job. Client looks good at 1080p and fills monitor with game.

3) Once 'HD2D' is up and running smoothly, the rest will take care of itself (old vets returning, gaming websites re-reviewing UO, etc.).

OMFG. High Def, High Res 2D.

WIN.

 

[Kaj]

$100,000 dollars is nowhere near enough for anything but a token advertising effort.
Especially if you take into account the international nature of the game.

Internet advertising would be cheaper than physical advertising, though less effective, considering the lengths advertisers have gone to on the internet. Most people who don't block the most common forms of advertising completely, simply ignore them.

So...

Invest most of the money in doing something with the game. Something that would make it appealing to current MMO players.
Do that, and then make a big deal out of offering 21-day trials, or some such. Longer trials than the standard, and people will be more inclined to try it, because they're getting more time to play for free.
You make a big deal of it, and the various commentary sites around the internet will pick it up as news, and it'll propogate.

I'm sorry but this isn't all right.

Internet advertising can be highly efficient, if you know what you are doing. Stuff like google ads is a waste of money for most companies though. You need to target the exact right audience and websites. I agree $100k isn't a lot, but you could definitely get some ads in the right places. With 100k you don't need to think like a big company, but like an underdog.
I used to work in advertising and done it all, run adds in magazines, newspapers, television, billboards and internet. And to put it in perspective: I've seen a $3000 ad run on a smaller website bring in over 1000 customers.

Stuff like TV and magazines only work if you have a very big budget and target a general gaming audience, which UO simply does not do.

Id say online advertising is the most effective form. Most people spend more time on their computer than TV now which could be good or bad.

Advertising on Myspace homepage for a day would probably bring in some serious numbers.

Now that would be a waste of money, if you don't have much cash to burn.
MySpace has a very different usergroup than UO. MySpace is a social thing, so many people that do not game visit it. And because it's a very big site, advertising is expensive. You might reach a lot of people, but a 13 y/o chatting to her classmates isn't going to start playing UO.
Also from what I've experienced, is that a 1 day advertising run usually doesn't work as well as, say, 2 weeks. The first time people might not click it, but their brain does register the UO logo. It means the second time they see it they might check it since they have some sort of recognition.

 

[Uvtha]

Pay me the 100k to stand on a street corner* and yell "PLAY ULTIMA ONLINE" for an one hour a day, five days a week!

*Corner of my choice.

 

[Fink]

Id say online advertising is the most effective form. Most people spend more time on their computer than TV now which could be good or bad.

Advertising on Myspace homepage for a day would probably bring in some serious numbers.

I think an actual MySpace/FaceBook page would be cheap and effective. It works for a lot of artists and musicians. Such a thing would benefit from a dedicated site manager (I guess the $100k would be a year to two years' salary?), with content updates twice weekly.. whether it be KR wallpapers, announcements, commentary, user-supplied media such as links & resources, etc..

I think UO should be marketed as a supported "retro" game instead of trying to compete in the same genre as contemporary mmogs, which completely outclass it in terms of production values. UO's reportedly a very good earner; I wonder if it's strong enough to take a small reduction in subscription fees, say as low as $8/month, to encourage numbers.

 

[Redxpanda]

I'm with you on this one and offer 1 mil of my own uo gold (from what little i have lol), to your pot because i wanna hear some of the ideas.

I am also quitting this game (Perhaps not forever but for now) once i see where this event is going and maybe not even that long.

They can market this game all they want but their success will be dependant on keeping a good player base and they will not be able to do this until Ultima Online is enjoyable for everyone. Lets start with some ideas on how to make it so:

1. Make this game simple -

• As it is now, returning vets and new players are the have nots. Some features seem unreachable to the average player and it's intimidating seeing people selling something you could use for 20 million when you have been grinding it out for 6 months and only have saved up 1 mil.
  
• I know the housing situation could make this impossible but how about we start combining shards. There are plenty of places where housing is not allowed and these areas can be used to combine those ghost shards and bring people together
  
• Make the game easier to put down and pick back up. Games like WoW have such a large number of subscribers because of this. There are tons of people that stop playing that game for months and go back to it because you can come back and your toon is exactly how you left it. You leave ultima online for 6 months and you find that your house fell down and people picked up all your stuff off the ground. I know we can't just have houses sitting there forever and some people make a pretty decent living IDOCing (myself included) but i can't help but get a bad feeling everytime i'm looking through someone's chests mostly because i feel like i'm looking through my own chests.
  You also return to find your character is completely useless since they nerfed your skills and you should put your skills on a soulstone (assuming you can afford one since your earning potential has been reduced) and take up a new skill.
  
• Have a barter system that anyone can use. Someone mentioned once how the auction system in WoW is fair and balanced and i couldn't agree more. Of course, new players would have to get some experience before they are allowed to use it but everyone would be able to peddle their wares and compete fairly and prices will drop because of this. These days if it's not a luna vendor its not worth it to even have a vendor at all. This leaves people who weren't able to get a luna spot dropping runes in luna in a last ditch effort to survive and even some popular vendors from the past went down bigtime because of it.

2. Fix The darkside

• First, PVP needs to be controlled. Right now it's willy nilly and is turning into who can find new ways to exploit game mechanics to win. PVP should be more controlled and governed and rewarding for those who choose to engage in it and this will attract more people to it...Which leads me to my next point
  
• Stop forcing people into PVP. Yes i know that if you want to avoid it then you stay out of fel but why lure people there with dreams of powerscrolls and double resources. Everyone who pays to play this game should have the opportunity to enjoy any feature this game offers regardless of playstyle. What turns alot of people off is being attacked by large groups of PKers when they aren't looking for a fight. They need to realize that PVP is simply not for everyone and unless its more controlled, it will never attract the casual pvmer. People will start playing another game before they change their playstyle.
  
• What happened to thiefs? When i first picked up this game the review gave me dreams of being a great rogue. I imagined myself cloaked, laying in wait to seperate some hunter from his daily spoils. I would appear out of thin air and disappear just a fast...wiser, happier and most certainly richer. Then i woke up and tried it..Sure i have more regs, bandages and food than i will ever need but it sure was a slap in the face.

3. Bring on the fun

• Long events like this bore the heck outta people. Sure there are people participating and following the story but then there are people who are just waiting in boredom to see what happens next. Make events short and quick and have much more of them. Let's save the vague and indistinct for some other feature other than events. I honestly don't believe this will be an event i will enjoy telling new players about.
  
• Invasions!!! I miss the days when the town crier would make a call to arms as a town was being invaded. This could be a simple invasion of lizardmen or orcs and it could even be part of a story arc or a boss at the end. Either, way it should be quick and painless (1 week or less). Wash rinse and repeat for maximum satisfaction. It doesn't even have to involve rewards for participation even though it would be nice.
  
• Be Spontaneous! MMOs mimic life and they will find success in the one thing that makes life exciting (the unexpected).
  
• Treasure needs to be valuable again. I wanna see completely random treasure (item wise and intensity wise) Lets make fishing and treasure hunting exciting again. I for one would enjoy quality over quantity when it comes to treasure and i'm sure most treasure hunters would agree.
  
• Encourage Community. As it is now, player run events get very little attention and they could care less what we do as long as we pay and leave them alone. Get involved in these events and show the players (old and new) that you do care about them (this will likely require EMs).
  

I'll stop there because as a gamer i am constantly evaluating my gaming experiences and looking for ways to make it better so i could go on forever.

Once the game has become enjoyable for all this is the direction i would go in:

• UO is rich in history and alot of our players always have fantastic stories to tell. Build on that.
• Use recent in game events and have fictional accounts related to them in your ads. Tell the tale of the fisherman who encountered pirates at sea and survived or the blacksmith that found himself in the middle of an invasion while mining for ingots. What about the Swordsman who was ambushed by a gang of orcs while hunting ratmen and lived to tell the tale. Maybe tell the story of a rogue who found riches he had only dreamed of in the place he least expected.
• Use in game footage showing players united against a tough foe or fighting off invasions with a nice voice over.
  
  Personally, i think once this game reaches it's potential it will sell itself. You won't need MR. T to give you an endorsement (even though i'm sure you could afford him ) People will be happy to honestly endorse your game because they honestly enjoy playing it.

Oh, I almost forgot...Just forget about 3D and just work on making the 2D experience better. I didn't start playing this game before or again because of LBR or KR or whatever else. I play for the fun and the excitement and nothing else. If you want to make a 3D game just make a whole new Ultima game from the ground up with it's own unique features and experience.

 

[NewThunder]

I would spend the money of updating UO.COM, what a joke that homepage is. There should be a counter that states how many players are currently on, perhaps a second counter that shows how many scripters there are on, so that the gaming public knows that EA turns a blind eye to scripting; you could have it almost like a newspaper with headlines about what is happening in brit today.

 

[snoopy]

Sky Writing or hire some really fat guy to streak across the nba finals with Ultima Online tatooed on his rear

 

[the 4th man]

A hundred K huh, that's worth what these days......75??

Anyways, having cruised through some of these replies, I can see what's what. First off, internet marketing, good for the geeks, bad for for the casual visitor to a pc/mac.- especially this my space.....that's for kids, or kid wannabe adults.

Secondly, the art work on UO is so bad, given the option these days with a blank knowledge base of UO, I wouldn't buy it. I would miss out the benefits of ever knowing the great content the game has. KR and 2D are both awful, though KR has much, much better paper dolls and creature graphics. 2D's a laugh.

If you ARE going to do internet, go with popular sites that reflect the substance of the game.....if someones intrested in knights, or slaying bubbling ooze.......or, out of sarcasm, advertise that you can quit your day job and live off outside gold sales......that's one thing that has butchered the economy........A newbie would look at these idiots selling crap for pathetic millions and run fast in the other direction. They have to stop the bottom feeders from selling outside gold......

 

[Crysta]

1) Publicly admit KR was a big mistake - this would be a first from EA and win lots of respect.

I'm sure they will as soon as it is one. It certainly isn't yet.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

A hundred K huh, that's worth what these days......75??

Anyways, having cruised through some of these replies, I can see what's what. First off, internet marketing, good for the geeks, bad for for the casual visitor to a pc/mac.- especially this my space.....that's for kids, or kid wannabe adults.

Secondly, the art work on UO is so bad, given the option these days with a blank knowledge base of UO, I wouldn't buy it. I would miss out the benefits of ever knowing the great content the game has. KR and 2D are both awful, though KR has much, much better paper dolls and creature graphics. 2D's a laugh.

If you ARE going to do internet, go with popular sites that reflect the substance of the game.....if someones intrested in knights, or slaying bubbling ooze.......or, out of sarcasm, advertise that you can quit your day job and live off outside gold sales......that's one thing that has butchered the economy........A newbie would look at these idiots selling crap for pathetic millions and run fast in the other direction. They have to stop the bottom feeders from selling outside gold......

Word of Mouth.
Take the 100k and develop an in game treasure hunt that pays out the 100k.

Yep. Cash rewards in game.

Let the word of mouth spread "the word" that charactures have the opportunity to find real cash in game.

Ill design the priniciple in a bit when Im on a work break.

 

[Mistura]

1) Publicly admit KR was a big mistake - this would be a first from EA and win lots of respect.

bwahahahaha... yes indeed, the best way to win LOTS of respect is to publicly admit your rubbish at your job and completely incompetent... deffo the way forward.

 

[DJ Diddles]

Here's an idea.

Use the $100,000 to pay subscription fees for new/existing accounts for a month.

If account has been played on in the last month it is eligible, and new accounts are free regardless.

And how to get the word out, send out an email advertising it to every email adress under ALL of EA's databases, not just the dwindling UO one.

I know this breaks all your little contest rules, but oh well.

 

[Flame (DrR)]

My ideas simple and free. EA stops trial accounts and instead allow peeps to play for free, with restrictions of course.

1. Block off all enterences to lost land, (use nice story to do so)

2. Free for anyone to play in lost lands and New Haven, no housing can be built there. (make g8 link to lost lands from New Haven).

3. Free accounts cannot go beyond a max 80 in any skill. (stops scripting, whats the point at 80).

4. Have 2 weekends a year they can visit rest of game to see whats availible if they pay.

5. We tell, everyone whats availible for free, and go visit them.

 

[Nok]

some really fat guy to streak across the nba finals with Ultima Online tatooed on his rear

ROFL'ing!

 

[manufacturedsoul]

This is just dumb....

 

[SilentFoxXy]

1:- A simple , free idea based/akin to - the Dragons & Eggs we see adorned to every second post. Start with A Young UO character, unskilled. Every impression/click improves his/hers stats and abilities. Can be very very cheaply set up, and word of mouth advertised. This could even be developed into a total Click based mini game for forums/websites, along the lines of Trading cards, but with cliks, impressions etc as the required currency.

2:- Micro Cash transactions in game, for items, buffs, skills AND GOLD. Would stop the cheats, the dupers the framers, the scripters overnight.

3:- Higher start skill levels, and a handful of MAJOR skills, Warrior, Mage, Crafter etc, with the various side skills being learnt from that, and a lot quicker.
3b:- Henchmen/Bots with decent AI to enable the solitary player to take on the bigger dungeons. The current NPCs are just a waste of time, money, disc space, when you hire a Samurai with huge stats, he should fight like it, not die to one swipe.

4:- Bring back monthly , weekly, hell even daily in game events, adventures, with unique 'loot'. If a poker house can offer 24 daily 1 hr freerolls with a prize, surely EA can afford one creator of events daily weekly etc etc.

5:- A 24/7 in game , live support agent. friendly, helpful, and with the empowerment to make big decisions instantly, and ability to fix,recreate,check,supervise.....

6:- NO WAY to cash prizes, cheats would ruin, check out Kwari, failed limply.

7:- More housing plots available and accessible to young players.
7b:- Enable landscaping

8:- Account age, rewards based on time spent ONLINE AND INGAME.
A 1 hr a week 10 yr vet =520 hrs.
A 14 hr a day 7 day a weeker -98hrs a week, 5096 in game hours in 1 year, and still cant dye a leather skirt.

9:- Fix factions, crafting, etc. Level the playing fields, enable factions to totally change landscape and buildings they conquer.

10:- Punkbuster

11:- Listen to the 5096 hr a year player.

 

[Sneaky]

I would spend the 100k in advertising solely in Australia to help Oceania's population! Selfish yes... but we need it!

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

Word of Mouth.
Take the 100k and develop an in game treasure hunt that pays out the 100k.

Yep. Cash rewards in game.

Let the word of mouth spread "the word" that charactures have the opportunity to find real cash in game.

Ill design the priniciple in a bit when Im on a work break.

Here is my idea.

Britannia has step out of a dark period. The quest for power via controlling blackrock and the greed of wealth has stirred the fabric of society. Chaos and Order now stand. Sides are taken. Though healing slowly, a permanent memory of this dark period moves sporadically across the land altering its landscape. A strange memorial of sort, to make sure the dark period is never forgotten.

A rift of time and space moves across the lands of the kingdom like a gentle rolling wave. It disturbs little but leaves traces. Things appear and disappear. object may be slightly changed. Often only luck and exploration lead one to discover these changes.




Okay within this backdrop...
100K will be used on the 2 most active shards per time zone. Sorry. We are only working with 100k. But new charactures arent at a loss because this 100k "give away" is about exploration and discovery. Hmmm. What you cant do is script over and over and get the reward. It comes through game play.

More later.

 

[Lord Kotan]

I say just put CDs of the newiest client (once worked) and the legacy client in some gamer magizine. CDs aren't really that expensive... and tack on a free month of UO onto the CD - techinally the free month doesn't cost anything.

 

[Lord Kotan]

10:- Punkbuster

11:- Listen to the 5096 hr a year player.

I agree we need something like punkbuster (if it doesn't bog down computers).

... 5096 hours a year is 98 hours a week (of 168 hours - which should include sleeping)

 

[Kratos Aurion]

I think an actual MySpace/FaceBook page would be cheap and effective. It works for a lot of artists and musicians. Such a thing would benefit from a dedicated site manager (I guess the $100k would be a year to two years' salary?), with content updates twice weekly.. whether it be KR wallpapers, announcements, commentary, user-supplied media such as links & resources, etc..

I think UO should be marketed as a supported "retro" game instead of trying to compete in the same genre as contemporary mmogs, which completely outclass it in terms of production values. UO's reportedly a very good earner; I wonder if it's strong enough to take a small reduction in subscription fees, say as low as $8/month, to encourage numbers.

Not only effective but extremely cheap. Would probably cost less than a few thousand dollars (no more than 10?) and have plenty of money left over. I know TONS of people who play MMOs that use/have a myspace.

Now that would be a waste of money, if you don't have much cash to burn.
MySpace has a very different usergroup than UO. MySpace is a social thing, so many people that do not game visit it. And because it's a very big site, advertising is expensive. You might reach a lot of people, but a 13 y/o chatting to her classmates isn't going to start playing UO.
Also from what I've experienced, is that a 1 day advertising run usually doesn't work as well as, say, 2 weeks. The first time people might not click it, but their brain does register the UO logo. It means the second time they see it they might check it since they have some sort of recognition.

The game is economics my friend Spend money to make money. If EA can turn out a 1 day 10k costing advertising campaign by using Myspace and it attracted people, then its considered a success.

Not to mention the vast amount of gamers you aren't considering who use myspace (my self included). If you goto myspace groups, you can find hundreds of online groups dedicated to gaming, online activities etc. Its a near perfect form of advertising and would cost less than a bucket of water for our fellow EA.

 

[Kratos Aurion]

A 14 hr a day 7 day a weeker -98hrs a week, 5096 in game hours in 1 year, and still cant dye a leather skirt.

who plays for 14 hrs, 7 days a week? scripters? wait no.. theyre 24/7.

I like acc age based on the birth of the account.

 

[SilentFoxXy]

Who plays 14hrs a day 7 days a wee?? Ans:- Scritpers??

Um, I will, rather meekly, interject and say..-OI...ME!!

I play solidly all day from@ 10am thru to 10pm, and some days from server up thru to midnight. I am not , and never will be , a 'Scripter'

OK, Ill admit to being a sad ol' mare, who looks after an ill hubby who is unable to leave home, and finds UO and the community a godsend, but scripter ?? I do play, and am AT KEYBOARD solidly. Scripters ptah, but then I would still say, I deserve to be able to Engrave my weapons, or place a flaming head, or even ride an ethereal swampy.

Sorry , but.....

My 11 points stand....... Account rewards per Hours in game, the only disenters will be the 1 hr a week 10yr vets, not the 14hr a dayers...

 

[linko50]

Personaly i would play way more into the fantasy - mythic "not the company" or mythological side. Picture a commercial, where One man, dressed in full midevil outfit with a masterfull orchistra playing in the background the origional ultima theme song, he is wandering through a forsaken forest, lost. all the sudden he is at the entrance to a Cave "destard" He can hear in the background a man scream his last dying scream, then he sees a white spectrum of light leave out of the dungeon,
so at first, he hopps off his horse, and with Knees shaking wildly, he peaks his head inside. Now at first he doesnt see anything, and he looks for a good minute or two, then once he is re-assured he hops back on his horse, and with his heart visably pounding in his chest, he slowly walks inside..... once inside he starts looking around, and the commercial cuts off right as you see a puff of smoke come from right behind him..... and a deep growl.

then you flash onto the screen in one word statements that back away as fast as they appear, Might, Flash a close up of a 3d client warrior in a darkwood suit, with a black order shield in one hand, and a sword like the soul seeker in the other, standing beside his Black Steed.

Then the word Magic and Flash a barrage of mage spells being whipped out by a large guild, mostly the flashy and colorfull spells.

Then the word Mayhem and have a "2d" battle of either guilds or an active faction war, with very active fight occuring.

Then to top it all off, cut to a quiet scene, a small woman fragile as can be walks out her humble house, to the back where she has a stable, she is carrying something in a bucket, you cant quite tell what it is, but you get the idea she is going to feed something, and you assume it is a horse, or a dog,
anyways, she goes in, comes up to the stall door, and on the inside, there is a Dragon, that towers above her, she reaches in the bucket, gives him a T-Bone Steak, then, while he chomps she pets his head and whistles "Mary had a little lamb.......

Then you flash the final word In Large Pink letters that says " And Tamers!"
and Cut, thats the end of the commercial.
then play in on channels for the target audiences.

and dont underestimate the power or self spread word, Myspace and Youtube....

 

[linko50]

so when does this end again?

 

[Azureal]

Personaly i would play way more into the fantasy - mythic "not the company" or mythological side. Picture a commercial, where One man, dressed in full midevil outfit with a masterfull orchistra playing in the background the origional ultima theme song, he is wandering through a forsaken forest, lost. all the sudden he is at the entrance to a Cave "destard" He can hear in the background a man scream his last dying scream, then he sees a white spectrum of light leave out of the dungeon,
so at first, he hopps off his horse, and with Knees shaking wildly, he peaks his head inside. Now at first he doesnt see anything, and he looks for a good minute or two, then once he is re-assured he slowly walks inside..... once inside he starts looking around and you see a puff of smoke come from right infront him..... and a deep growl.

***Im gonna steal it from here, if I may ***

He starts to feel fear, its a Dragon! His sword arm is trembling, and he drops his shield. The dragon rises up, the smoke coming from its nostrils even more menacing, as it opens its mouth, and a massive fireball shoots forth and smashes into...

...the shield of a Paladin! Dressed all in shiny bright armor and chanting well versed words from his book of Chivalry. He braces himself and advances upon the dragon...

...behind him comes the chanting of a Mage, her words summoning giant earthen elementals from the ground, who along with the paladin began landing blows against the dragons scaly skin. Suddenly, from out of nowhere...

...two smaller but no less dangerous Wyverns appear! The strumming of a harp breaks through their terrifying screams and lulls them into complacency. The tone of the music changes, and the wyverns begin to snap at each other, joining battle against themselves, and the bard grins wicked grin to himself.

The brave adventurer grabs his shield from off the floor, knowing now he isnt alone, joined in battle by friend against foe, in this Massively Multiplayer Online Game!

Ultima Online - Youre Not Alone!

*fade to black*

P.S. Or, you can have an alternate ending where it switches to a shot of a Tamer sleeping soundly on a massive pile of gold coins.

P.P.S. Pay Blizzard to do their awesome animated CG. Funking wicked. Real life actors would suck totally.

 

[linko50]

i was thinking the same thing about the graphic side, not necisarily pay blizzard, but to have a well drawn animated version, you get more thrilling views that way... and thank you for the closing, i liked it

 

[Fink]

First off, internet marketing, good for the geeks, bad for for the casual visitor to a pc/mac.- especially this my space.....that's for kids, or kid wannabe adults.

Geeks, kids, kid-wannabes.. that's kinda UO's audience there, isn't it? You really won't find many new customers outside that demographic.

 

[Joyous2K]

Geeks, kids, kid-wannabes.. that's kinda UO's audience there, isn't it? You really won't find many new customers outside that demographic.

I don't know about you, but I am hip and cool. I love Austin Powers. I learned the Macarena! What else do I have to say?

 

[Azureal]

Geeks, kids, kid-wannabes.. that's kinda UO's audience there, isn't it? You really won't find many new customers outside that demographic.

Well thanks Finky. Id always considered myself to be something of a "cool dude". You know, the kinda guy thats fresh and funky, in a hip kind of way.

Now Im just a geek?

What will my wife think when she finds out?

*starts sobbing*

 

[Maris]

Where oh where to begin!

Having only 100k to work with is the hard part here. If I was in charge of trying to get the word out on this game I would go straight to the players themselves.

1. Figure the 5 largest markets where gaming has been a main stay. Contact the game Stops in the area and day a promo event at some of the stores. Kind of a ( Remember the Original Role Playing Game) Now i would spend about 50 k on this. So it would not be a huge event but it would at least get some advertising out.(since there is none now, anything would help) One thing that could help with costs, you could recruit actual players from the largest guilds and have them work the different stores. Telling future players how the game works or letting them know of the friendships they have built over the years. Bring the human element to the public.

2. Spend 25k at CES for a booth for the 5 days of the event. CES is the Computer Electronics Show in Vegas that goes on once a year. 25 k puts in a small booth but it would again get out to people who look for things to do in the gaming and computer areas. Again, use it as a retro game and try and market the fact it has been around so long and has a long standing following.

3. I would use the last 25k and have a booth at the gaming convention in Cal. that goes on once a year. Again, with the same theme, a retro game that is a lot of fun.

What this might do is at least get the name out in the public again. The only thing you see about Ultima Online is a few computer game cases on the discount rack at the local computer software seller. No one has heard of the game because there is no advertising. One of the nice things about having Ultima at those conventions is all around those towns you can find convention guides and Ultima would be in them just by having a booth.

The 25k numbers I have for the booths is fairly accurate. I live here in Vegas and i have many contacts in the convention center and I have seen prices for the spots. The 50k might not get us but a few stores in a few markets, but again, it is marketing and someone new will see the adds.

Now this is not taking into consideration any improvements to the game or graphics. I did not add these elements because it wasn't something to take into consideration for this type of task. I hope this is the kind of ideas you are looking for.

Lord Mark of VOSS ( Maris's Hubby)

 

[Kratos Aurion]

Who plays 14hrs a day 7 days a wee?? Ans:- Scritpers??

Um, I will, rather meekly, interject and say..-OI...ME!!

I play solidly all day from@ 10am thru to 10pm, and some days from server up thru to midnight. I am not , and never will be , a 'Scripter'

OK, Ill admit to being a sad ol' mare, who looks after an ill hubby who is unable to leave home, and finds UO and the community a godsend, but scripter ?? I do play, and am AT KEYBOARD solidly. Scripters ptah, but then I would still say, I deserve to be able to Engrave my weapons, or place a flaming head, or even ride an ethereal swampy.

Sorry , but.....

My 11 points stand....... Account rewards per Hours in game, the only disenters will be the 1 hr a week 10yr vets, not the 14hr a dayers...

Heres the problems about basing vet rewards off hours spent vs years spent (which is what veteran refers too)

1) people who script would have billions of vet rewards probably
2) I feel veteran rewards are an achievement of age status. Saying "I've played this game for # years" is a social status mark. No one asks you to play 14hrs a day. We all pay for the same game, even those who play less than 1 hour a day.

In all fairness, veteran rewards should remain a yearly based achievement. Thats something anyone can achieve given time, it costs everyone the same, and its the one thing scripters haven't beaten yet

If you really want to be able to ride a polar bear, or bypass the nooby stage and get ethys, why not just buy an advanced account? It would be cheaper than paying for a subscription for # yrs

 

[kennykilleduo]

The Challenge find the best way to Advertise UO, and and show how it could work.

Areas must be Covered:

1. Increasing player base of all UO shards.

2. Creative , Fun , can even show off your large guilds.

3. Must be under $ 100,000 US dollars

4. No advertising any site on stratics , just mention costs and plans. ( this is based on any site or advertisers you may use ) Of course you can advertise UO on Stratics ( I would think)

5. Cartoons . TV , Radio , Web , Viral , ect...

5. All media types are ok.


Prizes:

1st prize :

1 month paid UO GameCode
2 Million gold any shard ( will need help from brokers)


2nd prize :

1 million gold ( will need help from brokers)


3rd prize

500k gold ( will need help from brokers)



I am the one offering prizes , EA/ UO /Stratics is in no way involved ( unless they want) , if any other guild / players want to donate to add to the totals PM me , this is my way of clearing my stuff out , as to I am all but quiting UO , unless something huge changes my mind ( Smacks Draconi , Wake up..... j/k) , ohh yea this is not a scam , its only for FUN and I will give prizes..Thank you and have fun..





Rules:

Must be legal ( no email spammage) and not go against any TOS / ROC based on UO/EA /Stratics . Agree this is for fun only , but maybe something good can come of it.Will take submissions until June 21 2008 , the start a poll for the best 5 with top 3 winning...

Thanks To all who have made the attempt to make this serious..


Though , I can't win my own contest my idea is still coming soon..

.....

 

[Africanus]

How about I get the 100k and we save everyone the effort and heartache.

 

[Joyous2K]

50k to make the game good and fun.

the other 50k to hire botters to go into other MMORPG games and talk about the excitement of New UO or UO2 or UOX or UOisFUNnow

 

[CKTC]

Whats a botter? lol

 

[Loqucious]

You could bring back a ton of players with little or no money involved. Well, maybe to cost of some dev time.

We simply need to have a pre-AOS shard. BEFORE YOU CLICK "Back" HEAR ME OUT.

$100,000 is a drop in the bucket when it comes to advertising dollars, specially with regards to national advertising. The only way an MMORPG is gonna increase it's subscribership is via word of mouth, which is incredibly valuable. So......

Release a pre-AOS shard and I guarantee you will see a ton of former players jumping back in the UO fold. Those players returning to UO will draw attention via the gaming magazines which in turn will report on the happenings. Free advertising.

Then UO could do a couple low cost advertisements, like kiosks at gaming events, stating that they are "bringing back the basics" of online gaming. This is kind of what has happened in the last couple years with older games like Mrs. Packman.

I started this game 7 plus years ago with around a dozen of my friends whom have all left because they hated the changes which created a ridiculous imbalance in PVP. I bet there are MANY friends like mine out there who have left this game because of the imbalance and the loss of simplicity. They can be brought back and IMO it would help this game tremendously.

There ya go.

 

[Nexus]

The Challenge find the best way to Advertise UO, and and show how it could work.

Areas must be Covered:

1. Increasing player base of all UO shards.

2. Creative , Fun , can even show off your large guilds.

3. Must be under $ 100,000 US dollars

4. No advertising any site on stratics , just mention costs and plans. ( this is based on any site or advertisers you may use ) Of course you can advertise UO on Stratics ( I would think)

5. Cartoons . TV , Radio , Web , Viral , ect...

5. All media types are ok.


Prizes:

1st prize :

1 month paid UO GameCode
2 Million gold any shard ( will need help from brokers)


2nd prize :

1 million gold ( will need help from brokers)


3rd prize

500k gold ( will need help from brokers)



I am the one offering prizes , EA/ UO /Stratics is in no way involved ( unless they want) , if any other guild / players want to donate to add to the totals PM me , this is my way of clearing my stuff out , as to I am all but quiting UO , unless something huge changes my mind ( Smacks Draconi , Wake up..... j/k) , ohh yea this is not a scam , its only for FUN and I will give prizes..Thank you and have fun..





Rules:

Must be legal ( no email spammage) and not go against any TOS / ROC based on UO/EA /Stratics . Agree this is for fun only , but maybe something good can come of it.Will take submissions until June 21 2008 , the start a poll for the best 5 with top 3 winning...

Lets see a Blank DVD Costs what? $1.50? So how about the first 66667 copies of Warhammer Online to ship have a DVD with UO:KR or UO:2D their choice packaged in with it. They've done it with AoC why not do it with UO?

 

[linko50]

bump

 

[Tjalle]

Any winner yet?

 

[kennykilleduo]

I was amazed , I was in a few stores this weekend and saw copies of 9th anni , I haven't seen that many in a long time..

Walmart , EBgames , FYE had atleast 3-4 copies , and looked as though some were sold..

 

[kennykilleduo]

Any winner yet?

Will take submissions until June 21 2008 , the start a poll for the best 5 with top 3 winning...

 

[Tjalle]

Ah sorry, missed that June 21 part...

 

[Elffin]

hire some really fat guy to streak across the nba finals with Ultima Online tatooed on his rear

I'd do that for 100K lol... But i'm not fat... just big boned

Elf.

 

[Lily]

some issues...

1. A $100K budget is HILARIOUS. I mean really... that might get you some thumbnails and a meeting, maybe a mocked up magazine ad.

2. Anyone with an actual workable idea probably works in advertising or marketing and their ideas are either owned by someone else, or too valuable to post on some message board for the rest of the world to see.

3. Do you have qualifications to judge a contest like this or are you just another stratics poster? I mean seriously, what do you know about marketing an online game?


lily