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Massive Ads In Matrix Online
Gamespot has the word that ads from Massive, Inc. will now be incorporated into The Matrix Online. The ads, like those in sister-MMOG Planetside, will be in the form of billboards and signage. From the article: "One big difference that players will notice is that the Massive ads will be refreshed and updated with greater frequency. Sony notes that current ads in the game for fictional products and services will continue to remain a part of the game. Sony has also said that the ads will not be animated, and will not affect the game's performance. Another effect of the inclusion of Massive ads into The Matrix Online is that player advertising in Mega City will be possible, and Sony might run contests in the future to select player-generated ads and incorporate them in the game. "
....right? Now that they have all this ad money they dont need to charge per month?
Ok, back to reality I go....
The ads are provided by a company called Massive. The ads themselves may or may not be so large as to be considered massive.
Of course, that's another point. Now they have two sets of customers: gamers and advertisers. Hopefully they will see that without a sizeable group of the former, the latter won't pay them much at all. So one would think they will try to please the gamers first and the advertisers second. Of course that may be a little harder to remember once the big bucks start flowing in.
The same people who pay for cable television with ads?
Agreed. Most players of Matrix Online (MxO), including myself agree that the Ad's will add to the environment. Seeing real ads on billboards, is better than "Read More Books". Now if this were WoW, then I could understand some of the complaints, but it only adds to the MxO environment.
Awesome!
While your analogy to cable TV has some merit, I'm going to overextend it as a means of disagreeing with you. :) I think that paying for cable TV is basically just paying for access, sort of like ISP fees. I am okay with seeing ads on web pages because the web page doesn't get a cut of my ISP bill. Likewise, sci-fi channel doesn't get a cut of the cable bill, so they need ads to pay for battlestar galactica.
..." just wouldn't see quite right in a traditional fantasy setting. :)
Now, an MMORPG is a premium service. In this analogy, I'd compare it to HBO or Showtime. I have paid for basic access, but then I pay extra for a premium service, and the content creator gets a direct cut of the extra fee. Sony bills me directly for the MMORPG, HBO gets added to my cable bill, but it is still similar.
So, if I actually played TmO, I'd be annoyed at the ads. Sony is double-dipping. They set a fee, where they thought they would turn a tidy profit. I play TmO because I'd rather avoid all the ads on television and whatnot. Now, Sony is making more money - I have to deal with more ads - and the fee I pay doesn't go down. If HBO started carrying ads, people would be pissed, and they wouldn't be likely to pay extra for it. Personally, I think real-ads in a matrix world would sort of hurt the illusion that it is a fantastic netherworld of the imagination. If the fantasy world is exactly like our world, why do I have to pay extra to be in it?
Though, obviously, the Matrix is a much more appropriate setting for real ads than WoW or Everquest. "Dial Ye Olde Telephone
Hell, when I buy my coffee from a local coffee house, the cup has a car ad on it.
Welcome to the REAL WORLD Mr. Anderson.
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
AO did this, but there was one big difference between the two: you can play Anarchy Online for free. Instead of making revenue from monthly subscriptions, they make their money from advertisers. Last time I checked, The Matrix Online still had a monthly fee... which means SOE will be getting not one but two revenue streams.
My personal view on this is: If you're going to make me pay for a game, don't subject me to advertisements I most likely don't want to see anyway.