Living World Marketing.

[Avenrise.3592]

So I'm a no-lifer and spend a lot of time on the forums and Reddit just reading for the most part and like to see what the general feeling is regarding the game. One thing that I feel is coming up more and more (apart from the blight that is AFK farmers!) is the issue of Living World content and in particular the fact that there does seem to be a disconnect between expansions and LW. 

The 'Return To...' events have been a huge success in my opinion. I obviously don't have access to the analytics but content is being revisited and populated by current players and new players are coming in and enjoying, well, the free stuff. But now that we're approaching the end of the 'event' what now? Where is the signposting as to what is needed to get these new maps and content? Apart from word of mouth where are the directions to buy this content?

LW episodes are ridiculously cheap IMO for what you actually get and dont need a promotion/discount. But to players of other MMOs the concept of buying expansions then using gems to buy content in between may seem alien to them and I've seen countless instances of players just playing the expansions and getting confused at the story jump, not even knowing about LW and what it is. 

There needs to be a clearer way of buying LW content. More signposts and a focus on explaining exactly what LW is in terms that other MMO players can understand. It is episodic mini expansion content with story that ties into the main game+expansions and adds a new map(if applicable). In my opinion, and many might disagree or have other ideas so feel free to post below, I feel just charging cash for the content would clear a lot of the confusion up. In that way it would be easier to bundle with expansions and you can basically explain that its, at its core, a mini expansion. Still offer the content for free to those that log in and in terms of cost it should be the same as the gem price is/will be. 

Lets be clear- I understand why they are being offered for gems. Essentially its ANET saying 'you can earn LW content in game if you wish, whether thats logging in or gold>gems' which is a really great business practice but at the end of the day it has caused a lot of confusion and it's not like ANET can come out publicly and say 'buy our content with in game gold rather than give us $'. In my own opinion the game would benefit from just simplifying things and marketing the LW episodes as being very important if you want this extra content. Obviously feel free to state your own opinions :)

Edit: So I feel I went off on a tangent to my original point. If you want just ignore the 'charging $ for LW' thing, that was more me just spit-balling. The main point I wanted to raise was the issue of confusion due to LW being, essentially, an in game buyable thing as opposed to treated like expansion content. Marketing itself would help without my '$' idea.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Thereon.3495

[kharmin.7683]

This has been discussed ad nauseam in the forum.  A simple search would have found several threads on the topic.

[Randulf.7614]

Given the lack of changes on this subject over the years, it is entirely possible that actually we are wrong on whether this is a problem. Sure there’s plenty of anecdotal feedback about confusion, but it’s quite possible that their metrics show that the take up of LS for expac accounts is actually way higher than we think. If that is the case, then there isn’t really a problem to solve. Sure there will be some people out off, but there’s always going to be no matter what they do.

I agree with the comments about it being poorly marketed, but if it’s working for them, then they are in best place to see that

[Vayne.8563]

I've said what they OP has said over and over. I believe in both transparency and clarity. The living world has neither.  The only reason I can think of for this to be okay with the powers that be is if they're worried showing a hundred dollar cost when people are just starting out might drive them away.

 

Sure it's easy to say the game is free. but only the core game is free. No mounts, no gliding. And it's easy to say give me mounts and gliding for $30 please, plus new zones, new stories, elite specs and whatever else comes in expansions.  This is an easy sell. Here you go folks, only $30 and you're set...except they don't say you're set. Nor do they say you're not set. This is where the confusion comes in.

From a business perspective, you have to ask this. How many people will be confused, compared to how many people will just reject a game they know will cost them $100 eventually. These are people who maybe downloaded the free game because it's free and maybe they're scraping together $30 over time. Maybe they live in a country with low income, or they don't have a job. At the end of the day, there's no good answer.

My gut instinct is Anet (or NcSoft) thinks showing the higher price up front will stop people from even trying the game, even if it's free.  My other gut instinct is that leaving that initial bad taste in people's mouths when they find out isn't good business.  It's a conundrum for sure.

 

I'm glad I'm retired and don't have to make those decisions any more.

[Debesyla.7102]

47 minutes ago, Vayne.8563 said:

I've said what they OP has said over and over. I believe in both transparency and clarity. The living world has neither.  The only reason I can think of for this to be okay with the powers that be is if they're worried showing a hundred dollar cost when people are just starting out might drive them away.

 

Sure it's easy to say the game is free. but only the core game is free. No mounts, no gliding. And it's easy to say give me mounts and gliding for $30 please, plus new zones, new stories, elite specs and whatever else comes in expansions.  This is an easy sell. Here you go folks, only $30 and you're set...except they don't say you're set. Nor do they say you're not set. This is where the confusion comes in.

From a business perspective, you have to ask this. How many people will be confused, compared to how many people will just reject a game they know will cost them $100 eventually. These are people who maybe downloaded the free game because it's free and maybe they're scraping together $30 over time. Maybe they live in a country with low income, or they don't have a job. At the end of the day, there's no good answer.

My gut instinct is Anet (or NcSoft) thinks showing the higher price up front will stop people from even trying the game, even if it's free.  My other gut instinct is that leaving that initial bad taste in people's mouths when they find out isn't good business.  It's a conundrum for sure.

 

I'm glad I'm retired and don't have to make those decisions any more.

I mean, LW is bonus content. You don't NEED it. You can play forever without paying for it. It's not a subscription that you must pay for or anything.

...Plus every player gets every new episode totally free. You ever seen any other MMO game giving away DLC's (expansions) completely for free, no subscription or anything attached? 🙂

It's a free game with bonus content if you wish it. If you don't, then don't buy it. What sane person would be confused by this? 

Imagine you go to McDonalds and get a burger for 3 euros. Then you want a drink and get confused that, oh my god, you have to pay extra for a drink? Who knew? On what planet do you pay extra for extra stuff that isn't mentioned in the initial order? Oh god, McDonalds marketing is terrible! 😄 

Edited November 21, 2021 by Debesyla.7102

[Vayne.8563]

4 minutes ago, Debesyla.7102 said:

I mean, LW is bonus content. You don't NEED it. You can play forever without paying for it. It's not a subscription that you must pay for or anything.

...Plus every player gets every new episode totally free. You ever seen any other MMO game giving away DLC's (expansions) completely for free, no subscription or anything attached? 🙂

It's a free game with bonus content if you wish it. If you don't, then don't buy it. What sane person would be confused by this? 

Imagine you go to McDonalds and get a burger for 3 euros. Then you want a drink and get confused that, oh my god, you have to pay extra for a drink? Who knew? On what planet do you pay extra for extra stuff that isn't mentioned in the initial order? Oh god, McDonalds marketing is terrible! 😄 

Well you don't need it if you don't care about getting a roller beetle and a skyscale.

The point is, most people do eventually care about that sort of thing. Even the downed state skill from Season 3 to me is a must have. 

 

And if you want to actually follow the story you do need them.

 

The McDonalds analogy is a bad one. In every restaurant I've ever walked into, there's food and there's drinks. You're expected to know about drinks.

But let's not act like every MMO has expansions and seperate DLC that's not mentioned or particularly  advertised. This isn't a common sense thing. When was the last time you heard someone in a restaurant say, "OH I didn't know I needed to buy a drink."  

 

But we hear the complaint quite frequently that people don't know the living world even exists when they first buy the expansions. It's a problem because people have complained about it. When people start complaining about not knowing there are drinks...and even in McDonalds, when you order a burger and a drink they ask if you want a meal, they don't leave it for you to find out on your own.

[Debesyla.7102]

OK, fair point, I guess it should be mentioned that game also has mini-expantions/DLC's too, I can agree on that.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Debesyla.7102

[Avenrise.3592]

On 11/21/2021 at 7:51 PM, Randulf.7614 said:

Given the lack of changes on this subject over the years, it is entirely possible that actually we are wrong on whether this is a problem. Sure there’s plenty of anecdotal feedback about confusion, but it’s quite possible that their metrics show that the take up of LS for expac accounts is actually way higher than we think. If that is the case, then there isn’t really a problem to solve. Sure there will be some people out off, but there’s always going to be no matter what they do.

I agree with the comments about it being poorly marketed, but if it’s working for them, then they are in best place to see that

Im talking purely as an outsider here and that may be the case. I dont profess to speak for the entire playerbase (like some on the forums seem to want to do!), just writing what I personally see as a potential problem. If I'm wrong then, well, I'm really happy to be wrong as there isnt an issue!

To respond to the 'You dont need LW content'... well, it's the same as saying you dont need the expansions. Technically true but youre missing out on a huge amount of content. LW episodes are integral to the story, provide new maps, new farming/meta opportunities and currently provide a couple of mounts as has been mentioned. They are in themselves expansions. 

With regards to the charging $ thing... if ANET are willing to point, in big neon lights outside of the game, towards the fact you can use gold to get gems to then buy the LW episodes and explain how to do this then no worries, $ not needed. Otherwise my uneducated mind doesnt see harm in charging $2.50 an episode outside of the game (cost of 200 gems) (cheaper for buying all) and listing what you get for your $. Frankly IMO its a bargain even if youre using real money.