Guerilla marketing idea: Ryzom on eBay...

[keoni]

As most of you are probably aware, items from EQ and other MMORPGs are regularly sold on eBay. If Atys items were posted there, I think that would be an effective guerrilla marketing technique - especially if the people posting the items included some really nifty screenshots as part of the promotion for the item. Most of the folks there would be looking for EQ or WoW stuff, but if they happened to see something for Ryzom it might well spark their interest. Basically, a way to put the game in front of a lot of eyeballs, that should pay for itself...

...that is, if there is anything that the community here would bid on. If the stuff posted was gathering no bids, it would not only be a net loss for the seller, but also only serve to make Ryzom look dead.

So, towards that end, I'm interested in what you would bid, say, US$10 or more on, if it were available. Possibilities that come to mind are...

• Aen/Lixie/Sirgio/Pei armor sets
• supreme weapons with exceptional stats, 200q or more...
• supreme player-crafted heavy armor sets above 150q
• 250q jewelry sets, with boost of your choice
• 250q light armor sets, HQ, custom tailored with color/racial pattern of choice
• 20M dappers

...but I'm sure you will think of others that would be more valuable to you - and that's the key question. What, if anything, would *you* be seriously tempted to bid money on, that's a transferable item in Ryzom?

[figgybee]

As most of you are probably aware, items from EQ and other MMORPGs are regularly sold on eBay.

... and doing so is probably against the EULA for those games, as it is (and it is, I just checked) against the EULA for Ryzom. Nevrax own your character, and all "created or manufactured objects, guilds, groups and titles".

Blizzard have already started sending out cease-and-desist letters to people selling WoW items.

[keoni]

... and doing so is probably against the EULA for those games, as it is (and it is, I just checked) against the EULA for Ryzom. Nevrax own your character, and all "created or manufactured objects, guilds, groups and titles".

Blizzard have already started sending out cease-and-desist letters to people selling WoW items.

Pffffft. *Flush* goes another idea down into the swirly oblivion. It makes no sense to me though, why they try to stifle free market dynamics. Some people have more gaming time than money, other people have more money than gaming time... Being allowed to sell virtual items for RL cash is a way for the one group to help the other, as I see it, with the side benefit of promoting the game in the process. I know that some virtual worlds, e.g. There, actively encourage such transactions...

And hey! Devs/GM's - if you're listening, I think you should modify the EULA to allow for this sort of player-driven marketing dynamic. Considering the dicey circumstances Ryzom is in, seems like now might be the time to allow some flexibility.

Further insight, perspective, and commentary are always welcome

[aylwyne]

I think selling game items like this is something that works fine for the person that spends a TON of time in the game powerleveling characters and acquiring game items or for the person that does have a lot of disposable income.

However, for a more casual gamer that doesn't have endless hours to spend leveling nor plenty of extra cash, this is the kind of thing that can ruin a game because 1) it devalues game items because more and more people start farming the system for more and more stuff to sell and 2) the really cool items become nearly impossible to get for the average player because the power players have even more motivation to camp them so they can sell them.

All that being said, I don't really see Ryzom as being a game where there would be too much market for this anyway. There's just not the same level of "uber loot" you see in so many games.

I applaud the effort to come up with unique ways to promote Ryzom but I, personally, wouldn't want to see the game market bridge the gap to the RL market.

[totnkopf]

I fail to see how this would bring people to Ryzom. Ebay gets millions of auctions a day. Unless one was to search for Ryzom items, there is only a slim chance anyone would actually see them, and even then, the person has to be interested enough to actually look into the game.

Also, our own bazaar section of the forums doesn't see much actual trading (look at the rate of posts). Considering we don't snatch up every last item on our own (free) forum, why would a crafter go to the trouble of paying to have such a lackluster response?


Also your question of spending 10 bucks or more on those items. 10 dollars is 2/3s of the monthly costs of the game. IMO none of those items are worth more than a couple dollars tops to anyone. So, in response, no there really isn't anything I'd spend RL cash on. If I wanted any of the above, I could go out and buy/get/kill to get them and have more fun in the process than simply paying for them.

[keoni]

I fail to see how this would bring people to Ryzom. Ebay gets millions of auctions a day. Unless one was to search for Ryzom items... (etc.)

It's simple really, Morg. You include keywords in your auction that would lead it to show up in searches that WoW or EQ'ers would be initiating. Although you would make it clear in the item description that it wasn't a WoW or EQ thing, just having the right words in there would put Ryzom in front of many pairs of MMORPG-playin' eyeballs.

As for comparing the cost of an item to the cost of a month's subscription, I fail to see how one has anything at all to do with the other. As evidenced by the good money people have spent on EQ items, or the plot of virtual real estate in There that sold for several thousand US$, people pay whatever they think it's worth to them.

You spend a lot of time on Atys - but if you really wanted a set of 250q jewelry, what would you do if nobody was willing to sell them to you for game capital you had to give? Spend several hundred hours working up your jewelcrafting to that level? Do without? Or slip somebody who already could craft them a ten spot? Maybe you would choose option A or B - but a percentage of folks in the same situation would go for option C, if they had it to spend.

Moot point though, as previously discussed in thread it seems to go against the EULA (although it only seemed explicit with regard to the sale of characters, rather than items).

[totnkopf]

There will always be a small percentage who would rather buy the items than gain them themselves. However, simply annoying other gamers with searches they didn't want won't bring many people to SoR.

Also a bunch of auctions that no one bids on would not present a very good image. As I already said above our own bazaar section is rather slow, which would indicate that only a few items were hard to get and thus the bazaar was a last resort, or that many of the items that would be offered in the bazaar could be found on merchants.

For gettin more attention to the game, things like Enfinitys mmorpg.com idea or just general advertising on places like gamespy or ign would acheive much more. However, that being said, I encourage you to try the ebay thing. Put a post on there for some jewelry and see how it goes. As long as you specify that the bidder is paying for the time and effort you put into making the items (and not the items themselves) you should be fine with the EULA.

[dakhound]

the items on ryzom are not worth buying online because of two things.

1 theres no unique items
2 the degrade on any item makes it not worth it (e.g jewels and amps could last probably 5 days of hard play)

[archerke]

i'd pay for special crafting plans for sure

and being a marketeer myself (ye i'm not as dumb as most think) well in fact i am i think this would give a rather negative outlook to the game: as in peeps with lots of monay can buy more fancy stuff etc etc.

[borg9]

Word of mouth is the best advetising for anything.

If you play the game and enjoy it, tell people. Tell them why you love it.

Attacting the kind a 'instant win' players that tend to buy premade characters and unique items, are the kind of players, IMHO, that will bore quickly with Ryzom.


Ryzom is about the journey, not the destination.

Most (definately not all) of the power players who rushed to max level as quickly as possible are the ones that left. I think I to would have gone, if I have stood for a month killing the same set mobs, in the same set patten.

Selling stuff on Aution sites, is just you trying to make money by sell other peoples property. Doesn't matter to me what words are used to avoid the EULA, its still selling something that never belonged to you in the first place.

Yes, we want more players ...... but we want the players who will add to the strengths we have.