In-game advertising coming to City of Heroes

[Kokuten]

No more Crey billboards, if you like..
Official Forum thread here
press release here
CoH statement here
I believe I will be setting this option to 'on'.

Today we announced our partnership with Double Fusion to provide
optional in-game advertising for City of Heroes. I wanted take some
time to share some details beyond those in the press release.


In-game
advertising is something that we have carefully considered ever since
the initial release of City of Heroes in 2004. From our perspective it
always came down to a few fundamental questions: Will this technology
make our game experience more immersive or less immersive? In other
words, is City of Heroes an appropriate environment for it? In-game
advertising in other MMOs has sometimes been received as an unwelcome
addition, so could we actually find ways to make this a significant win
for our customers? And with the plan of reinvesting all the revenue
that we make from this, how much will this single (optional in-game
advertising) initiative actually allow us to grow our development team?



These are complex questions that can’t necessarily be answered with
100% certainty, but after discussing this for a number of years we
believe we’ve found the right partner to bring ads to the game while
being sensitive to our community’s needs. I want to make it very clear
that we are not “forcing” in-game ads upon our players. Thus, the word
“optional” is of key importance. None of our players have to change
their game experience in any way if that’s what they prefer. All that
you need to do is opt-out via the Options menu in the game.

Having said that, I should make it clear that we are extremely
protective of our City of Heroes game experience. Only contextually
relevant ads or branding that the development team approves will go
into the game. We will be very careful not to break the immersion and
feel of Paragon City or the Rogue Isles. Additionally, we are a Teen
rated game by the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) and we
will not be displaying any "mature" ad content like alcohol, tobacco,
etc.



So, how far do we plan to take these optional in-game ads?
Initially, we are limiting ads to the exact same fictitious billboard
placements that are already in the game. To get a better idea of this,
check out these screenshot examples.

We estimate that this will go live some time this summer. After
that, what are our plans? We are definitely looking at how this feature
is received by you, the community. If it makes sense, and keeps the
same level of quality and immersion we believe the initial
implementation does, we may look at other avenues in the realm of
optional advertising. There are a whole lot of really fun ideas to
consider, but the core game development of City of Heroes is by far our
highest priority. Another interesting opportunity that the optional
in-game advertising technology presents us is dynamically displaying
other billboard content. We can swap in new signs that we create much
more easily, and we can even display player-created content! This
provides a cool new area for community contests, recognizing great
player art, etc. In fact, we are inviting any interested players to
submit their own advertising materials in our defined horizontal,
vertical and square sizes (see all of the specific requirements here). We will use some of these to test the new optional ads on the Training Room (test servers).



So beyond all of this, what benefit does leaving optional in-game
advertising “on” bring to the players? Why should you not opt-out? All
ad revenue dollars go directly to the further development of the game,
which means more great content than ever before! As we have made it
pretty clear lately, with the acquisition of City of Heroes from
Cryptic Studios last November, we are entering a major phase of
reinvestment for the game (and brand). Our development costs are
ramping up in a major way as we look to literally double the team this
year to accommodate big plans for the short, medium and long term.
Optional in-game advertising is another revenue stream that helps us to
accomplish all of this at no additional expense to our players.
Ultimately, we leave it up to you, the players, to decide which
experience you prefer.

Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[Bob Schroeck]

Mm. I find myself of two minds about this. My knee-jerk anti-ad reaction, which I suspect may be pretty much universal, and the reaction I bet at least someone at NCSoft is hoping for, which is that it will add verisimilitude to the game world if the ads are real. This is of course based on the assumptions that a) they stay on billboards and b) we don't start seeing more billboards in a zone than there are Skulls & Hellions in Perez Park.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Ankhani]

In-game Ads are a plausible component given the modern setting in a megalopolis or Paragon, as it -is- likely that there would be ads there, but so long as we
don't see (m)any more billboards, and/or they don't become obtrusive such as the 'Newsie' NPCs in front of the trams shouting out ads or some
such, I do not believe this is a evil-doom-sinister plan. I do not know of the current budget of NCSoft, but a little padding in the income is useful, if they
keep the ads as unobtrusive as the billboards are right now.
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

[Foxboy]

And let's not forget the number of "your ad here" billboards in the Isles...

The only problem will be getting the sponsors to let the billboards be grungy redside to fit.

Bright Shiny Coke billboard in Port Oakes might not quite work all that well.

Might be kinda fun of they have a group of npcs washing the billboards saying "Can't let... sponsors... DOWN!"
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Sweno]

One thing I liked about the ads is that it added another level of immersion. Billboards for blackwell and crey served to further the idea of them being massive
corporate powers with public facades to uphold. If they are replaced by Nike and Gatorade ads, something is lost.

As others have mentioned, they generally fit with the color scheme of the game as well. you don't get bright attention grabbing ads redside.

I'm willing to give it a shot, but won't tolerate something that yanks me out of the immersive experience.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[Morganite]

Hmmm.

As long as it's not really "no more", I have no problems with this. But they should keep some of the in-setting ads for the flavor and humor.

It's not like they'd really get in your way. Or are out of place for the world.

-Morgan.

[Foxboy]

Right I'm perfectly okay with Coke, Pepsi, or Red Bull replacing the "Red Beast" ads, and some of the Vanguard ads are creepy and not at all
obvious what they're for when you get down to it.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Matrix Dragon]

If there are Red Bull ads, it needs to have the 'Gives you wings!' motto. And underneath, in smaller writing: "Red Bull is not a Costume Recipe
and will not cause Mutation origins. The phrase 'Give You Wings' is a figure of speech. To gain wings, please use Costume Recipes or unlock Veteran
Rewards."

[Acyl]

I'm betting the name is taken on all servers, but I so wanna roll a hooved and horned bright red huge male
character, with the hammer-and-sickle chest logo...and wings! As a Kinetics character, for SPEED BOOST.

-- Acyl

[jpub]

I'll tell you my real concern. Hellgate: London has ads. It also has some sort of spyware that tells it how to customize ads for *you*. I'm okay with
ads, not with spyware.

[Bob Schroeck]

Mm. If COH pulls that kind of schtick, I'll be dropping my subscription just as fast as I can type up an email explaining why.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[ECSNorway]

There's also a lot of cute 'character spot' ads that add verisimilitude, like the 'City of Gyros' restaurant chain. Would not care to see
those disappear.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Sofaspud]

I'm not sure you can call what Hellgate: London does as installing 'spyware', per se. It's certainly uncool, but it does not appear to run
when the game is not running, does not involve bypassing your machine's security in any way, and tells you up-front (if you read the EULA) what it's
doing. In other words, it's not being deceptive about it.

What they do with the data they gather is, unfortunately, less than clear, but its no more information than NCSoft or Blizzard (for example) already have on
their subscribers. It's not sending your personal files back to the Hellgate servers, or scanning your machine for credit card numbers or passwords to
secure sites. It apparently does scan the memory space and basic hardware details... which can be argued to be necessary to prevent cheating -- Steam is a
particularly good (or bad) example of this. But again, it's up-front about it and tells you what it's doing, and does not do it when you're not
actively using the software (the game) that it comes with. I think the big brouhaha is that the EULA wording is particularly broad in this case, AND the
information it admits to actively gathering can be used to construct personal 'dossiers', if you will, that uniquely identify the individual.



Which is naughty, but it's not the same level of naughtiness as true spyware usually entails... if for no other reason than that it only runs when you
activate it yourself (by logging into the game).

(Unless you have information I've missed, that is -- which is entirely possible. If so I'd like to see it. I haven't played HG:L yet... )

Anyway, I'd hesitate to call it spyware, or things like it. To my mind, spyware or adware have strong negative connotations (well deserved!) and
shouldn't be used except when it's actually true.

Now, personally, I'm inclined to give NCSoft the benefit of the doubt and assume their in-game advertising won't use the same method. They've
shown a much higher level of respect towards the playerbase than the other publishers out there, at least with regards to CoX. I'm not sure if it's
them or the dev team, but as long as that trend holds I'm not going to raise a fuss.

Just make sure you read the EULA carefully after the ad launch, right?

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs