In-game Advertising?

[Aussiedroid]

Exciting day as I download the Premium Beta version of ED. Can't wait to try this tonight.

One thing I noticed on reading the EULA (yes I read it lol) that there is the following section regarding In-Game Advertising:

6. In-Game Advertising

The Software Product may incorporate technology (which may be provided by Frontier or third party service providers engaged by Frontier (each a "Dynamic Advertising Provider")) which enables advertising to be uploaded into the Software Product on your PC, and changed while the Software Product is being played on-line. In order that the Dynamic Advertising Provider is able to direct advertising appropriate to your Software Product and geographic region, as well as to the correct location within the computer game, certain non-personally identifiable data and information may be retrieved and retained by the Dynamic Advertising Provider including your I.P. address, geographic location, in-game position, and information concerning the appearance of advertising visible during your gameplay (for example, the length of time an item of advertising was visible, the dimensions of the advertisements). In addition, the Dynamic Advertising Provider may assign a unique identification number which is stored on your PC and which is used to monitor and calculate the number of views of dynamic advertising during gameplay. None of the information collected for this purpose including the identification number can be used to identify you.

The technology employed by Dynamic Advertising Providers may be located outside your country of residence (including outside of the European Union).

Where a Software Product incorporates dynamic advertising technology, the technology which serves the provision of dynamic in-game advertising is integrated within the Software Product. This means that if you do not want to receive dynamic advertising, you should only play the game when you are not connected to the Internet.

I find this sort of thing in games concerning and undesireable. I remember a push to this a decade or so ago but never took off thankfully. To me it would be like buying a copy of your fav TV show on BluRay to find you still need to watch through the adverts as you would with free-to-air TV.

Besides this it would be a real immersion breaker to see a real life company advertising in Elite universe. Doesn't seem it is referring to 'fantasy' adverts ala EVE has with Quafe.

What would you guys think if you saw a station plastered with Coke adverts or something?

Has anyone heard what the plans are around this?

Am I misunderstanding what this could be about?

Would like to know how this will be used in the game.

 

[PacalB]

Uh oh ... you do realise this kind of topic is going to open up a bag of worms? Hmmm? I think I'll follow my friend here:

Spoiler

Good luck with this one!

 

[Daedalus]

As long as they let me print out coupons....hehehe j/k

 

[-o-]

An Aussiedroid locating a Britishbot.

Sounds like the usual legal spiel software give you when they install adware on your computer.

I loathe this kind of stuff.

So, let me get this right ....

If you do not agree to adware being installed on your computer, you cannot play Elite Dangerous?

I paid to play the game, not to participate in some p2p advertising campaign where data from my computer/sessions is used by a third party in order to try and sell me products ..... and who really knows for what other purpose that data is used/stored.

Spoiler

Dynamic in-game advertising

Increasing Internet connectivity and bandwidth has increased the use of dynamic IGA, which allows the game manufacturer or its advertisement vendor to deliver advertisements remotely, update advertisements after the game is launched, and target advertisements based on time or geography. This approach combines the customization of web banners with the functionality of traditional billboards and posters as most in-game advertisements do not link to a website outside the game. Dynamic IGAs allow the game manufacturer or its advertisement delivery service to track advertisements in real time and capture viewing data such as screen time, type of advertisement, and viewing angle. This information may be used to improve future advertisement campaigns and to correct copy problems or make a current advertisement more appealing to players.

Dynamic advertising campaigns allow IGA to be part of a time-sensitive advertisement campaign because they do not need to be designed months or years before the game is finished. Dynamic advertisements can be purchased after a game is released to the general public are featured in a developer determined in-game location. For example, in October 2008, billboard advertisements were purchased in 10 swing states by then-US Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama in numerous Xbox games.

 

[TheOohChild]

That doesn't look very cool out of context, but I imagine it is just industry standard language

 

[Asp Explorer]

I hope this doesn't mean real advertising will be displayed in any space stations - that would be horrible!

I can understand the reason for mentioning it though - information passes to AWS and from there to, well, I have no idea really. Cloud stuff can end up literally anywhere and subject you to anywhere's laws.

 

[Aussiedroid]

An Aussiedroid locating a Britishbot.

LOL

It might very well be a default standard legal spiel since its in beta (I do hope so), but it might be there for another reason. Till there is comment from Frontier I guess we may not know.

The chance that this also opens the door to having adware installed I hadnt though of (was thinking more what it would be like in the game) but this would be even worse!

 

[metatheurgist]

I'm fine with real world advertising in-game, if it helps FD pay for their servers.

I find this sort of thing in games concerning and undesireable. I remember a push to this a decade or so ago but never took off thankfully. To me it would be like buying a copy of your fav TV show on BluRay to find you still need to watch through the adverts as you would with free-to-air TV.

I get that all the time with my BDs and DVDs (they put previews at the start of the disk), fortunately they haven't disabled the skip button yet.

 

[Phaedra]

Interesting. Gives a rather different slant to the line

"... and possibly include some real ones...."

in the description of adverts in this thread on Newsfeeds in the DDA http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6370.

However, it does also suggest they would be adjusted to fit in with the game. So I don't suppose they'd be too intrusive, if, in deed, that is what is meant.

 

[SnowGhost]

I have no problem with in game advertising of real world prodcuts, provided it's done with a level of sensetivity.

Maybe an add in the loading bay, which in the Alpha already exists for non existent, future products & companies.

If there was an add for Virgin Galactic it wouldn't be to bad. But an add for BT or AT&T would be terrible (doubly so, because I'm Australian .... and no, that doesn't mean I want an ad for Telstra either). I can also see Coke Cola being available 1,000 years in the future. But not barkleys bank. They have to get the right products being advertised.

Having said all that, it's probably standard boiler plate stuff so that Frontier can monetise the game in some manner and say "Yeah well, we DID tell you we might do this".

Considering Frontier

1. Have to make a profit
2. Aren't charging a monthly subscription fee
3. Seem to be carefully stepping around micro-transaction

there aren't to many other options left open for ongoing financial support for them.

 

[Asp Explorer]

For me - all the absolute crap at the beginning of physical discs made me determined to never play any of them ever again.

If I want a movie I stream it. If I cant stream it - I buy the damn thing and rip it. All these piracy warnings and unskippable crap just got far too much - they need to cut all that right out.

If I can't put a disc into a player and have that content immediately available - there is no point.

 

[KickahasTier]

I have no problem with in game advertising of real world prodcuts, provided it's done with a level of sensetivity.

Maybe an add in the loading bay, which in the Alpha already exists for non existent, future products & companies.

If there was an add for Virgin Galactic it wouldn't be to bad. But an add for BT or AT&T would be terrible (doubly so, because I'm Australian .... and no, that doesn't mean I want an ad for Telstra either). I can also see Coke Cola being available 1,000 years in the future. But not barkleys bank. They have to get the right products being advertised.

Having said all that, it's probably standard boiler plate stuff so that Frontier can monetise the game in some manner and say "Yeah well, we DID tell you we might do this".

Considering Frontier

1. Have to make a profit
2. Aren't charging a monthly subscription fee
3. Seem to be carefully stepping around micro-transaction

there aren't to many other options left open for ongoing financial support for them.

Yeah, done correctly it can be done. Maybe they could to sell to particular sponsors, and design relevant in game content. Kinda like the ED MadMen advertising agency.

 

[-o-]

Dumbfire vs Heatseeker

The revenue generated from such ads increases based on how targetted they are to individuals. These dynamic marketting methods are designed to increase the accuracy of such targetting (and hence the revenue) by identifying who you are, and what interests who have.

It happens right now with google using gmail/google search/youtube to try to send you targeted ads regardless of where you surf online. Now think of this extending to your gaming sessions, where instead of seeing generic untargeted ads in ED's docking area, you now see ads for a specific hotel in a destination you had recently booked using your gmail account.

Some see this as great, while others see it as an invasion of privacy.

All depends on your viewpoint.

 

[Aussiedroid]

The issue I have isn't so much what targetted (or non-targetted) ads are generated its more that there could be adverts in the game period.

At least with a web browser I can block adverts, but in Elite I could be forced to see adverts which would ruin the experience for me.

I could live with fantasy adverts or even futuristic adverts for current products but how it is used will be very important not to ruin the experience.

 

[Asp Explorer]

The issue I have isn't so much what targetted (or non-targetted) ads are generated its more that there could be adverts in the game period.

At least with a web browser I can block adverts, but in Elite I could be forced to see adverts which would ruin the experience for me.

I could live with fantasy adverts or even futuristic adverts for current products but how it is used will be very important not to ruin the experience.

It's not quite as bad as it seems.

As long as you can configure your gateway - there are some options open to you.

http://pgl.yoyo.org/as/ is as good a place as any to start.

 

[-o-]

Some sci-fi movies have highlighted the positives and negatives of such 'intelligent' ads.

I wouldn't mind non-targetted futuristic ads. I am not against ads, just against the manner in which companies collect and use your personal information for these (and other) purposes.

Heres a simulated dynamic ad example ...

Imagine you playing a pirate and docking. While being lowered into the hanger you expect to be greeted with an ad selling you the latest weapon, not an British Airways ad trying to sell you a trip to Spain.

They are simply immersion breakers as they seek to give you content relevent to your real life within the game - the very place you go to to escape real life.

 

[Mrjupp]

Exciting day as I download the Premium Beta version of ED. Can't wait to try this tonight.

One thing I noticed on reading the EULA (yes I read it lol) that there is the following section regarding In-Game Advertising:



I find this sort of thing in games concerning and undesireable. I remember a push to this a decade or so ago but never took off thankfully. To me it would be like buying a copy of your fav TV show on BluRay to find you still need to watch through the adverts as you would with free-to-air TV.

Besides this it would be a real immersion breaker to see a real life company advertising in Elite universe. Doesn't seem it is referring to 'fantasy' adverts ala EVE has with Quafe.

What would you guys think if you saw a station plastered with Coke adverts or something?

Has anyone heard what the plans are around this?

Am I misunderstanding what this could be about?

Would like to know how this will be used in the game.

I cannot see any issue with in-game advertising, especially if this was embedded on to existing game graphics. For example you could go to the store and buy your brand shiny new Cobra III and be presented with a "Welcome Commander to your new Cobra III, brought to you by the x Corporation of Lave, in association with Coca Cola." You could be docking and inside the bowels of the Coriolis station as you land you see a graphic above the landing zone from a company, or going to the hangar deck you see a series of adverts around the hanger, like bill boards.

I run affiliate programs and digital marketing for a living and I can see the marketing potential without it being intrusive to the player.

 

[Trippyhippy]

I seem to recall Battlefield 2142 had in game advertising at some point and it wasn't that intrusive, just adverts on billboards in the maps and something on the loading screen. That sort of lvl would be fine I guess.

 

[Frank]

The backers outside looked from developer to suit, and from suit to developer, and from developer to suit again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

 

[Gibbon]

The backers outside looked from developer to suit, and from suit to developer, and from developer to suit again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

Animal Farm, yay!! On a more serious note for in game advertising, if it's for in game items or random stuff like 'Drink Lavian Turtle Juice, fortified with extra vitamins' then great. What i don't want to see is McDonalds or Cillit Bang commercials. Hopefully those things won't exist in the years Elite is set. Now if it's some Leesti Grub steaks or some edible students, yum yum