Tip To Increase Media Presence

[Phyb.6704]

Or just pay some big streamers to do a promo stream. Have them give some free codes for some gems. EASY.
ALSO.... the best player housing of mmorpg is by far rift of telara. Yes it went really p2w and fell off but the player housing was basically a private zone with dev tools to build whatever you wanted. Total 3d minecraft kinda thing. Player housing zones with waterslides... whole islands... everything. If you want player housing go look at that. It has never been done better in an mmorpg. 

[Gotejjeken.1267]

Player housing is going to lead to dudes that like to dress up in cat outfits and run nightclubs like FFXIV--do we really need that kind of attention?

Big streamers also tend to avoid it because GW2 is kind of weird.  Like Summit1G played for a bit but then uninstalled on stream as he got wrecked in sPvP, and Asmon I believe doesn't like GW2 as there is no gear treadmill.  

They do need to work on the streams though as they are either awkward or in the case of balance ones just way, way too informal.  

[LSD.4673]

6 hours ago, ohericoseo.4316 said:

Or just pay some big streamers to do a promo stream. Have them give some free codes for some gems. EASY.
ALSO.... the best player housing of mmorpg is by far rift of telara. Yes it went really p2w and fell off but the player housing was basically a private zone with dev tools to build whatever you wanted. Total 3d minecraft kinda thing. Player housing zones with waterslides... whole islands... everything. If you want player housing go look at that. It has never been done better in an mmorpg. 

I can't remember a thing about Rift's housing. I think i gave it a quick go and didn't think much of it. But i remember LotR:O's well, and that was by far the best system i've ever seen. It was great getting trophies from playing and having them in your home. It had the best emote system, too, bar none.

[JusticeRetroHunter.7684]

17 hours ago, Adry.7512 said:

This game is underrated, especially for being one of them best if not the best MMORPG of all time, hands down I will argue over this if you want to debate it. This game has one of the most loyal fanbases of all time. This game has a enormous amount of content. So why doesnt it have a larger media presence? Media meaning, Youtube and Twitch primarily. The answer is simple, there isnt enough small group or single player content that makes people want to brag about it online. Media presence is really influenced by viewer count, not the amount of people making videos about it. If you go on Youtube all you see are videos about why this game is great...ok we know its great, what other content can you find online? Yes there are channels and streamers that play, but nothing attention grabbing. This game needs personalized content, meaning content for the INDIVIDUAL player. For example player housing....guild halls require loads of resources and for any content you want to make on it, will require loads of resources...barrier to entry. I only see one player in Youtube making solo boss content...and we all know who it is....and the videos take for ever....barrier to entry. I am not saying make bosees easy, I am saying also focus on single player options. This will decrease the barrier to entry for people who simply want to make some videos. Every time someone wants to be a GW2 content creator, all you see are random videos, reading dev updates, nothing in particular...it can be boring to watch. Let players have individual access to more content in general to ease the requirements to content. If there are videos of METAS, but no guides are actually required...I have never had to use a guide for METAS and the content online demonstrates the lack of necessity for it (dont take my word for it). There has to be a drive to make content for the game, that's what is lacking. There is no lack of drive to play it, the game is GREAT, I am saying a lack of drive to make content about it.

I am going to paste a comment and my response below as I feel it better explains the point of this thread...

"

After playing WoW for years, I don't think individual content has much to do with it.   And there are a lot of content creators who make great videos and tutorials.  It's about advertising budget, and GW2 tends to be more word of mouth as opposed to big flashy ads.

Why would you showcase filler content?  Fishing and guild halls and player housing (this topic smacks of a request for this) are filler.  They are icing on a cake of battles and quests and group content.  I have zero interest in watching videos about a game unless it's for information that I need, and that's largely what creators do...put out information to help others.  Someone just decorating their house ....no thanks.  I love solo content but it is an MMORPG.

What you may have interest in or not doesnt matter. Main content can only be showcased so many times until it burns out until the next big updates....UNLESS it has an element of surprise, which is doesnt. For example, the main content in WOW now is hardcore content. Element of surprise? How long can you go until you die and rage. Nobody watches videos over and over about a boss or meta that players just rush through. I love solo content too, but you cant be closed minded. If they have ZERO interest in media presence, then fine. But if they have an interest in it, these are things they HAVE to consider. Individualized content....not necessarily SOLO content. Solo content would be good too, but the main one is individualized. What makes your video about the SAME content different from the other player who makes videos about that content? Just to piggy back on WOW, the difference in hardcore is the rage and the ways in which player die and lose their stuff....same content, individual outcomes."

I know exactly what you are talking about. On this forum you will not find people who understand. I’m going to reword what you said in more simple terms…mostly just as a comfort to you but possibly to help others get the bigger idea:

Game Design

Generally speaking, Guild Wars 2 is a rather bland, simple game. The reason it’s bland is that it’s a “theme park” mmo, which is the idea that arena net creates content, and the player base consumes it. In contrast to this type of game design is the “sandbox” mmo where the game does not create content, the players do…and the game simply makes the systems that facilitate the creation of content by players.

For example: Games offering the ability to mod them like Skyrim…is sandbox design. Bethesda provides the tools, the player use the tools to make things and this tailors self driven and self perpetuating novel experiences for the players of the game.

Another example of sandbox is as you said, player housing. The game provides the tools (the ability to build a house) and players use those tools to build houses and if the tool is robust, the experience will be novel and self perpetuating.

Eve Online is another, ideal example, of what this kind of design is about and what it’s capable of.

Sandbox was at one point in time a design tenet of Guild Wars (1 and 2). The creation of builds, as player generated creations, had been what made the franchise successful over 20 years ago. But Guild Wars 2, aside from builds, would mostly be designed as a themepark mmo…

The problem with themepark design is the fundamental fact that it is not sustainable for content creation…and game quality suffers for that design choice…Anet is forced into taking months, to create mediocre “rollercoasters” that get consumed within hours by the player base, rather than focusing on powerful game design, that would facilitate consistently novel experiences.

As previously mentioned, builds are primarily the only powerful game design this game really has going for it. It’s single handedly carrying the unique and fun experiences of the game, including WvW and PVP which have not received content in what…10 years? But it is still manages to be fun to play and is persistently novel, and that’s a testament to the power of that design. Even the build creation of the game is not…not great either…so that’s even more of a statement to how good the underlying foundation (the basic concept) is.

 

Marketing

Once upon a time Machinima was a thing in this game…there’s a somewhat long and boring history about why it never came about…but this problem of just “poor game design” and the lack of cinematic tools, was the primary reason. For instance a /talk emote did not exist at launch and it took Anet 6 years to implement it (and begging from the machinima community) By then it was far too late for the machinima crowd which had long since moved on to other games and engines. Content creation has also evolved since then away from machinima so that didn’t help things either.

Today’s content creation revolves around how shocking and clown-like someone behaves on the internet. So if Guild wars didn’t have good chances then, it surely has an even worse chances now because it does not have those two properties and doesn’t fit the content narrative that youtube wants to fuel its money machine.

So it’s a tough question…How could Anet do better marketing? They have improved considerably since launch in terms of their marketability…such as making cinematics and improving the shallow game design here and there. But ultimately guild wars 2 is a too little too late situation. The world is moving fast and guild wars is not ahead of the times or seem much aware of the climate…so Anet latched on to something they could bite on to…the “PVE-sologamer-whales” and the “mobile gamer” crowd and are not letting go until it dies of slow blood loss. 

That’s not solely Anets fault. The internet revealed just how clown the world really is, and it’s only getting worse as shock and clown tactics get more rewarded over substance and depth. Yes, I’m a cynic towards humanity, but I’m also a hopeless romantic…I always manage to carry a pocket full of hopium, which is why I make comments like this…cause maybe theres people out there like yourself that think about these things too…and that maybe something will eventually change…one stone at a time.

Conclusion (TLDR)

It’s hard to TLDR this…but: Anet has a themepark game design to it that holds back it’s possibilities. Even if it did have more powerful game design that unlocked aforementioned possibilities, it might not guarantee better marketability because the world is a toilet seat.

Just some closing remarks…is that right now, Anet is doing fine with it’s current status quo, because game design generally speaking is devolving elsewhere…what I call “the streamlined expierence.” Nobody else has really made the “good mmo” yet and the process of making games is only becoming more streamlined as people ogle the next recycled triple A release as if anything had really changed other than the graphics.

But many people are bidding their time until that day comes and it’s only a matter of time. GW2, so long as it stagnates like all the others…will just be the king of the shitheap. It’s up to them if they want that for themselves.

[Phyb.6704]

7 hours ago, LSD.4673 said:

I can't remember a thing about Rift's housing. I think i gave it a quick go and didn't think much of it. But i remember LotR:O's well, and that was by far the best system i've ever seen. It was great getting trophies from playing and having them in your home. It had the best emote system, too, bar none.

Rifts was basically letting you build as if it was minecraft. Your home zone was just a base format you built on. Such as a island, field, oasis, ect. You could literally build like it was minecraft. You still could get trophies and such as well. 

[Linken.6345]

26 minutes ago, ohericoseo.4316 said:

Rifts was basically letting you build as if it was minecraft. Your home zone was just a base format you built on. Such as a island, field, oasis, ect. You could literally build like it was minecraft. You still could get trophies and such as well. 

Think swords of legends online had something similar.

And I did hear alot of good things about wildstars housing system aswell.

Edited January 5 by Linken.6345

[Freya.9075]

15 hours ago, Gotejjeken.1267 said:

Player housing is going to lead to dudes that like to dress up in cat outfits and run nightclubs like FFXIV--do we really need that kind of attention?

Ah, yes you’re right. We definitely do not have this already. Oh, wait 👀

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/s/QE85mM7yJE

At least with player housing, they’re not stabbing other players eyeballs with their glorious (and in my opinion hilarious) fashion choices. if they choose to create their own “nightclub house” that is. 

[River Valley.2396]

My opinion is next to useless as I don't watch streamers but.

If I watch a video about video games it'll be because of one of the following: A) Looking up gameplay before making a purchase, B) A youtuber I already follow making a video essay, C) Video essay about something that interests me for some reason (IE got clickbaited), D) Random meme videos about funny things happening IN SPITE of the game ("GIVE EM STEEL LADS, GIVE EM STEEL!").

Really, the simple answer is for Anet to make content that gets people theory crafting and talking about lore. PVP always pulls eyes onto videos. Blow some money into a trailer with CGI for a major expansion. Lure streamers by doing promos and whatnot.

Player housing technically fits into D above, but D requires the algorithm to get my attention so it's not a viable strategy. Unless they want to the uploader to go viral in a decade.

But personally, if I was some big shot producer at Anet or their parent company I'd tell Anet to focus on intriguing bread and butter experiences; design is king in video games. Then I'd ask the marketing people to try to use the gem shop to get some dumb funny things out of it, like asking people to show their cosmetics or whatnot. Basically, I'd give the marketing people a headache as I'd just tell them to go strike gold with whatever's at hand.

Main point, though, is design. There's a reason why Soulsborne games get constant coverage.

 

 

 

[Gotejjeken.1267]

2 hours ago, Freya.9075 said:

At least with player housing, they’re not stabbing other players eyeballs with their glorious (and in my opinion hilarious) fashion choices. if they choose to create their own “nightclub house” that is. 

It's not just 'nightclub housing'--it's an entire scene:

I don't think every MMO needs this, and this kind of thing only happens when housing / RP is opened up.  It just takes too many dev resources for a niche part of community, and will not generate traffic that some think it will.  

[Poormany.4507]

They need to advertise more with Kung Fu Tea and Quiznos

[Yttris.2945]

On 1/4/2024 at 2:23 PM, LSD.4673 said:

ANet needs to strategize the synergy in its current media presence paradigm with a pivot towards emerging AI and LLM.

Ergo. Vis a vis. Concordantly. 

*cues up Mission Statement by Weird Al*

[voltaicbore.8012]

On 1/4/2024 at 3:50 PM, Omega.6801 said:

Isn't what individualizes the content in your meaning the individual that creates the content? And by that the game does not need to be adjusted as long as there are individuals that create individualized content?

I agree, and OP doesn't seem to subscribe to this perspective at all. I don't play WoW (never have, probably never will), but some of the most memorable content I've seen about MMOs are longform WoW videos from creatorswith interesting (usually hilarious) perspective. And they're just playing classic WoW - no hardcore, no nothing. Just the same quests, dungeons, raids, and whatever else everyone has to do on the journey to level cap. What makes that content interesting is the creator's narration, perspective, and editing skill. There's no needlessly complicated concept of finding-the-individual-within-the-collective-experience required.

I think the only widely marketable things about GW2 are its combat and great consumer value. Don't get me wrong, I love so many more things about this game, and am heavily invested into it. But in terms of making content that might actually mean something to someone who doesn't already love this game, I'm not sure anything else is really going to connect.

[ProtoGunner.4953]

Honestly, if you don't check niche or other MMOs than FF and WoW you won't even know GW2 exists. It is not even on the radar most of the time in the typical news sites like gamespot or IGN. They won't test the new expacs etc. It's dire and after the bit of momentum they had back with HoT and PoW it vanished into thin air. I liked EoD since I like Cantha but there are a lot of missed opportunities and no real endgame (yeah yeah, don't tell).

[frazazel.7501]

My kids watch Minecraft creators who build elaborate worlds, and then play out stories in those world. Guild Halls could potentially be used to do something like this, if players wanted to. I feel like it has a pretty high upfront cost of time spent collecting and placing decorations, but it could be fun content. Maybe they could build on this idea?