E.D should be advertised in newspapers

[kilvenny]

Here's another 50 plus year old who scans the gaming pages. I spotted it a couple of days after the KS kicked off.

We are seeing one or two ships so far, but if I was FD I would be keeping some back till at least gamma so there are new things to add.

 

[Patrick_68000]

I started a similar thread months ago (http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7449), because I felt that Star Citizen got more attention than it deserved compared to Elite Dangerous.

It is probably not of any statistical value but I recently met two guys online, on separate occasions, of my age (ancient+) who had no idea Elite Dangerous was in the making. They were so unbelievably happy when I told them as they were true Elite fans of old.

It seems many older guys do not tend to follow the news on gaming sites like I do. So they just never encountered any coverage on the subject.

For me personally, having been a gamer all my life, the advent of Elite Dangerous is the most important thing in gaming I can think of. I feel there are many more true fans out there who have no idea what great things are happening right now.

Of course. Frontier said that FE2 was sold to 1 million copies in Europe, I believe. And we are at present almost 45000 backers. Many of former commander, do not know, still

 

[Simo3583]

even though im a big gamer, I would feel a little weirded out if a Tescos Express employee started chatting to me about Elite when I only went in there for some milk and a loaf of bread.

Haha I guess its a good job I'm a good judge of character In fact I talk to most customers about all sorts and have many a laugh. I,m guessing u were raised in a city where its unusual to find friendly people

 

[metatheurgist]

Of course. Frontier said that FE2 was sold to 1 million copies in Europe, I believe. And we are at present almost 45000 backers. Many of former commander, do not know, still

I wouldn't take the backer number as an indicator. There are lots of people that won't pay for a product in advance, never mind something that's still in development.

 

[ste]

I have been waiting for a new Elite for years. I'd say about every 6 months I have googled it, expecting nothing which was usually the case.

Then this December I finally stumbled on this website.

So I went out actively looking for Elite 4 and was lucky to find it, so the chances of someone stumbling across it without looking for it is slim.

But advertising costs a fortune, these big publishers that seem to put more effort and money into the adverts than they do the game can afford it, but wasting money at this stage when that could be invested in the game is not what proper game makers do.

 

[Rog]

I kinda suspect FD have a decent publicity drive planned... soon.

Hopefully the BBC will be all over it too: BBC original game, intelligent expansive gameplay, 30 year anniversary, Oculus Rift support, etc. After running that on half a dozen news slots, there'll be a LOT of interest - including 30/40 year olds who played it originally and may have dropped out of gaming. Who'll suddenly be purchasing it 'for their kids/grand-kids'.

 

[baddog]

I work in a small Tesco express, I've been talking to customers about elite and definitely think many 40 years plus fans don't know about it, I feel there less likely to source info on the game using the internet and I've not seen any article in newspapers.

Are the dev team waiting to make a bigger impact?

You can't buy it yet! There isn't much point advertising it yet as most people have a short attention span and will have forgotten all about it by the time it does come out.

I don't actually think it will need much advertising, if any at all. The reviews I have seen of the alpha have all been very favourable and I bet when the finished product is available, every computer magazine and every gaming magazine will have screen shots splashed all over the front covers and have articles drooling over Elite inside.

I'm sure it will get many articles in the mainstream press too.

What I suspect they might do is release it in October so it gets the number one spot in the games charts in the run up to Christmas, which would generate more of a buzz and make spotty teenagers pester their parents for a copy.

Stop worrying! It is going to be a SMASH!

The only problem is the day it is released the internet is going to grind to a halt as half the planet tries to download Elite all at the same time!

 

[Patrick_68000]

I wouldn't take the backer number as an indicator. There are lots of people that won't pay for a product in advance, never mind something that's still in development.

It is difficult to me to imagine that many of the former players of Elite, do not commit in advance, £35 for ED. Especially with all the videos, concept art, newsletters and forums available. I believe all the same that many do not still know that ED is in progress

 

[Herik]

Of course. Frontier said that FE2 was sold to 1 million copies in Europe, I believe. And we are at present almost 45000 backers. Many of former commander, do not know, still[/QUOTE

I think you're right Patrick_68000

 

[baddog]

Of course. Frontier said that FE2 was sold to 1 million copies in Europe, I believe. And we are at present almost 45000 backers. Many of former commander, do not know, still

"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"

"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard'."

 

[metatheurgist]

It is difficult to me to imagine that many of the former players of Elite, do not commit in advance, £35 for ED. Especially with all the videos, concept art, newsletters and forums available. I believe all the same that many do not still know that ED is in progress

Before it was successfully Kickstarted, I'd agree with you. But now many of those guys know they just have to wait, and since most of them are older people they're probably not the kind to jump onto a bandwagon just because they can. £35 is a lot of money for some. By your logic there should be no pledges for less than £35, but there are around 3000.

 

[kilvenny]

For the 3000 maybe its also worth factoring in a question. Is this going to be the game I remember or something that I will never play?

In my case I committed far more than 35 but couldn't afford Alpha and trusted that it would be.

However the real truth is that given my current work and home situation I am going to struggle most days to even play for a few minutes. That's the reality of being fifty plus with a long commute, wife and three children. So I can well imagine quite a few old Elite folks thinking. "Hmmm. Can I really afford it, will I really play it and will it be what I want to play?"

On the flip side, I suspect once its released there will be a lot old Elite folk who buy a copy for old time sakes.

 

[Dejay]

I disagree with "you can't buy it yet" since you can. But it's rather high in dollars (£35 = $58.54) so that might be a hurdle to get people invested.

But I think one problem is the website. There is virtually no in depth info or juicy stuff there. The interesting info is spread around in wiki, videos, forum. That isn't very enticing. I totally agree that advertising would be a waste now, but marketing and PR and word of mouth could be handled much better.

 

[baddog]

I disagree with "you can't buy it yet" since you can. But it's rather high in dollars (£35 = $58.54) so that might be a hurdle to get people invested.

But you can't but it yet.

You can only buy the alpha, which costs £200, not £35, and is incomplete, a work in progress.

You can pay £35 and pre-order it but I cannot see any advantage in doing this.

They seem to have plenty of willing alpha and beta testers, so the website has done its job (it worked on me, I forked out £100 for the premium beta).

Any marketing campaign needs to come only when Frontier has something to market. This will be when the Standard Beta phase is completed.

I am sure they have got their strategy planned out.

 

[Iskariot]

But I think one problem is the website. There is virtually no in depth info or juicy stuff there. The interesting info is spread around in wiki, videos, forum. That isn't very enticing. I totally agree that advertising would be a waste now, but marketing and PR and word of mouth could be handled much better.

This.
The website could be much tastier. This game deserves it like no other.
The website should be the focal point where everything concerning elite can be found. All dev diaries should be up there, the cool news letters should be presented. All available/released concept art should be proudly shown.
A big thing should be made of procedural generation and what that entails. I love the stuff David Braben already told us about that, but would like to hear more about it.
Also information about the Federation and the empire should be given and about the big corporate players and the factions.
Plans for the future could be hinted at.
Some ships could be shown in detail.
Information could be given about tactics like cold running, about which one of the alpha players made a cool video that really makes you salivate and want to buy the game immediately and play it now, now now...
This game as a concept is already so rich, there is so much to show and tell even though it is just in Alpha.

 

[Phobos]

print may be overlooked by younger gen but I watch daily as hundreds of middle aged people buy newspapers every morning. and to write it off is stupid.

but waiting until launch is prob best

What are those hundreds you see every day against the billions using digital media?