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McCormick

McCormick

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Since the early days of "Project Entropia", people on the forum were trying to advice MindArk, on how to do proper marketing/advertising.

Even MindArk themself made some efforts on the forum, asking for help, on how and where they should advertise on the net.

But MA was born to do publicity stunts.
Treasure Island & Club Neverdie. You could read about it across the whole internet.

But beeing the 1st MMORPG using CryEngine 2 (July 2007) wasnt such a big marketing campaign anymore. Even if John Bates and Frank Campbell mentioned CE2 together with RCE in every single interview they did. We werent really in need of a new gfx engine back then, as the Gamebryo was still very, very powerfull at that time. ("The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion" was using it) And hell, MA even tried to bring in nvidia PhysX at that time. Whatever, MA wanted to be the 1st MMORPG using CE2, no matter the cost.

MA is good at doing advertising of "advertising of advertisements", just to nearly completely ignore it after advertising. Cars in Hadesheim ? Cashcard anyone ?

It started in 1995 with uber-ideas about their "online-commerce system", possibly financed through the Value Venture Capital AG, Zurich, (yes, Project Entropia) , which was owned by Benny Iggland back then.

What they wanted was truly different to the "thing" they created. But sometimes it feels we are moving into that direction.

You can read about their visions (3D ebay, online casino etc. here): (2001)
3D ebay, online casinos etc.l

Maybe Benny Iggland, CoFounder of Entropia in 1995, is still a silent investor ?

Maybe you want to have a look at my "Content of Oblivion" thread for a minute ?

Link:
Content of Oblivion

Do you remember the stock exchange at Hadesheim ?

MA brought in this Fred Rosenthal guy from Bridge Investment.
Now MA gets ruled by Bridge Investment from time to time.

They brought in Michael Zolotas (Manager of Deutsche Bank & Central Bank of Nigeria).
But he only stayed for 9 months(?)

They brought in General Motors marketing Ace, Steve Shannon.
Hes working at Hyundai now.

They brought in (Sony) Ericssons Klas Moreau.
His goals for 2013, to double the amount of players. Does that sound familar to you ?

They outsourced their "support center" to Mexico. (thx to Rookie for correction)

They made "deals" with GNN to promote Entropia in Brazil (10 Oct. 2007), but the site is gone.

Brasil

GNN

They made a deal with Vexed Generations (New Oxford selling real clothes)
They made deals with artists like Mark Kostabi. (also New Oxford)

Can you SEE where the money was possibly already spent on ?

They made a deal with Massive Incorporated (owned by Microsoft), to do "ingame" advertising, which didnt really come through in some/most countrys.
Microsoft discontinued the cooperation with "Massive Ads" in 2010 already, without naming any reasons. But we still have it. Dont we ?

MA tried to win at the NASA MMO contest, introducing their idea of "educational MMO", but failed. Someone else won. (They got invited to the NASA workshop in 2008 for the 1st time)

I have to add that the NASA advertised a 3 million $ budget for this MMO 1st and then wanted an MMO for free.

NASA MMO for free plzl


NASA MMO EDU Link

They tried to team up with the ESA (European Space Agency) then, to make another attempt in educational-mmo. Since 2010 we never heard of it again. (It started in 2009)

ESA Award

So there is still hope for an ESA MMO based planet then. ;)

They made a deal with Project Whitecard, who already work on a NASA MMO and should bring Entropia closer to the audience with so called "mobile-apps". (?)

No recent news of course. What do you expect to hear about it anyway ?

SEE bought Calypso for 6 Million $, but the deal got reversed then. Resulting in a constant renaming of the subsidiary "1st Planet Company".

MA made a deal with sometrics.

Then there is this...facebook "app"...whatever.

MA fired a lot of their creative employees.

They bought a castle in germany (2006) and trying to sell it right now.

thx for additional info @Sissi =)

Akoz thread about the castle, including all prices and renovating costs


By guessing how "small" the actual playerbase really is and how they have failed here and there, it doesnt really represent the look and feel of a "big MMO company", because MA is not.

Still the community tries to throw in advices, on how MA could really do it. Since 2001.

​
 
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Very concise and sums it up perfectly. Reminds of the pretty yellow lines we get in-game "failed"

They bought a castle in germany and had to sell it.
Click to expand...

I am a bit unsure about this part tho, have they really sold it, last time I checked (couple months ago) it was still for sale and if I'm not mistaken at a reduced price of around 600.000 Euro (initial was around a million).

They renovated it as well..

Still listed:

http://www.immowelt.de/immobilien/immodetail.aspx?id=22528329
 
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Very good points... and you didn't even mention the master of marketing, Marco, anywhere in there, lol.
 
Sissi said:
Very concise and sums it up perfectly. Reminds of the pretty yellow lines we get in-game "failed"



I am a bit unsure about this part tho, have they really sold it, last time I checked (couple months ago) it was still for sale and if I'm not mistaken at a reduced price of around 600.000 Euro (initial was around a million).

They renovated it as well..

Still listed:

http://www.immowelt.de/immobilien/immodetail.aspx?id=22528329
Click to expand...

I really did not know that it is still up for sale. :O Engel & Völkers....luxury property
 
Was wrong about the price tho, seems it is still 1 million. Pocket change...
 
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Rookie said:
I'm sure it was in Playa del Carmen in Mexico.
Click to expand...

I guess you are right. I was reading through here and George Skywalker mentioned Illunova + Brazil. There was something with Brazil in my mind as well...

http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/behind-the-scenes-at-arkadia-studios.7869/


But on the MA site it says Mexico :

http://www.ilunova.com/

Thanks for the correction then. :)

But what happened with MA & Brazil again...*thinking thinking thinking* BiNG!

Thats what happend in Brazil :

https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/...se-and-GNN-Launch-Entropia-Universe-in-Brasil


But the site is already gone...updating initial post then :

http://www.gnn.com.br/
 
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so what is the solution after all these failures?? They need to quit wasting money on such shady and ineffective strategies! Perhaps if they sent out sticker packs and placards for all of us to hand out IRL strategies along with holding better more consistent events with good storytelling that would still cost them a fraction of what they spend on these giant blunders along with also advertising consistently with most MMO websites and magazines..
 
ZippO said:
so what is the solution after all these failures?? They need to quit wasting money on such shady and ineffective strategies! Perhaps if they sent out sticker packs and placards for all of us to hand out IRL strategies along with holding better more consistent events with good storytelling that would still cost them a fraction of what they spend on these giant blunders along with also advertising consistently with most MMO websites and magazines..
Click to expand...

Posters and postcards got sent to "choosen ones". (years ago)

You could even loot posters and postcards. (very rare, years ago)

They handed out those funky hogglo, atrox and longu figurines and DVDs at conventions.

Why not make more of these ? A detailed Foul made of gum ?

A 12" detailed, cuddly plush hogglo ?

...

Ooooohhh wait, they got to spend the money elsewhere (or have already spent it) and our so called advices are set to ignore.

And the story ? Its still getting kicked with feet...
 
Chrome said:
Seriously... they have a player base willing to shell out enormous amounts of money... for a video game.

Finally after 8 years deposit $115.000 NEVER Withdrawal
https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/...fter-8-years-deposit-115-000-NEVER-Withdrawal

No offense intended toward Kimmi, but as he stated...
Click to expand...

lol that is small chump change compared to what they could be consistently bringing in if they had 30-50,000 new depositors showing up every month (hopefully quite a few would stick around) and kimmi is not even close to the norm to be spending that much and of course that is over 8 years.
 
McCormick said:
Posters and postcards got sent to "choosen ones". (years ago)

You could even loot posters and postcards. (very rare, years ago)

They handed out those funky hogglo, atrox and longu figurines and DVDs at conventions.

Why not make more of these ? A detailed Foul made of gum ?

A 12" detailed, cuddly plush hogglo ?

...

Ooooohhh wait, they got to spend the money elsewhere (or have already spent it) and our so called advices are set to ignore.

And the story ? Its still getting kicked with feet...
Click to expand...

Yes i remember all that crap lol but as you say it did not work and why would that is mostly ridiculous and waste of money.. Don't just give it to the chosen ones of course, give it to any and all participants that can go out and grassroots level advertise for the game in their local communities. I did recently see an ad for entropia on a MMA forum i frequent which did surprise me :p
 
ZippO said:
Yes i remember all that crap lol but as you say it did not work and why would that is mostly ridiculous and waste of money.. Don't just give it to the chosen ones of course, give it to any and all participants that can go out and grassroots level advertise for the game in their local communities. I did recently see an ad for entropia on a MMA forum i frequent which did surprise me :p
Click to expand...

LOL ? I hope you are beeign sarcastic here... :O Or are you talking about the avatar "mmabigshow" here ? ^^
 
McCormick said:
LOL ? I hope you are beeign sarcastic here... :O Or are you talking about the avatar "mmabigshow" here ? ^^
Click to expand...

Nope not being sarcastic at all x).. I don't even remember what that MMAbigshowguy was all about but he was trollin.. He just wanted to make money scam style (why would you invoke him in this thread about what i am saying is beyond me). I'm just saying it wouldn't cost MA much to send few advertising pieces to their participants that would help to advertise for the game and would be a fraction of cost compared to most stuff they do. Either that or pay small amount for each person's shipping cost or if they deposited over a certain amount. Basic level for any advertising is small time level word of mouth and its cheap! can't go wrong there.. They fail on most of their major advertising money spent!
 
ZippO said:
Nope not being sarcastic at all x).. I don't even remember what that MMAbigshowguy was all about but he was trollin.. He just wanted to make money scam style (why would you invoke him in this thread about what i am saying is beyond me)....
Click to expand...

Wouldnt you say it sounds strange seeing Entropia ads on a mma site. o_O

Sorry my 1st thought was mmabigshow because of that, as I cant imagine MA beeing involved into mma sites...then again...it just sounds like MA... x'D

Entropia is like an amusement park on fire. You cant look away while the other attractions are burning down, while you still enjoy the non-burning fairground rides.
 
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McCormick said:
Wouldnt you say it sounds strange seeing Entropia ads on a mma site. o_O

Sorry my 1st thought was mmabigshow because of that, as I cant imagine MA beeing involved into mma sites...then again...it just sounds like MA... x'D

Entropia is like an amusement park on fire. You cant look away while the other attractions are burning down, while you still enjoy the non-borning fairground rides.
Click to expand...

Hahaha aahhh now i see where you made correlation lol. Well ya it is major MMA website sherdog and ya i did find it strangely odd to see it advertised on the site and forums that the site uses. Was only for a few days though that i saw the advertisement. Looool sounds about right. Well maybe they will just keep it as a slowly sinking ship that gets bailed out from time to time by new crazy idea that works for about 10,000 participants. I do enjoy watching the fires though at times.. other times i am just like wtf?
 
ZippO said:
Hahaha aahhh now i see where you made correlation lol. Well ya it is major MMA website sherdog and ya i did find it strangely odd to see it advertised on the site and forums that the site uses. Was only for a few days though that i saw the advertisement. Looool sounds about right. Well maybe they will just keep it as a slowly sinking ship that gets bailed out from time to time by new crazy idea that works for about 10,000 participants. I do enjoy watching the fires though at times.. other times i am just like wtf?
Click to expand...

Yeah, a golf course on fire... :cheer:
 
I must have missed the information on them buying a (&%*%* castle?!

Why are they buying something as ridiculous as a castle.. in this type of global economic downturn? With the money they surely could use to HELP THIS GAME AND ITS PLAYERS?

Kimmi's post made me feel a bit better, but I've dropped over 40k USD myself in 10 years because I've always had high hopes for this game. Don't get me wrong, the day to day gameplay isn't bad (it's still basically what its always been) but the game as a whole really hasn't developed into a whole lot, much less into what we need. Is it that hard to look at how the big MMO companies are being successful and borrow a few ideas?

As it's already been said in this thread, they obviously have enough players willing to drop a lot of money for the enjoyment of this game. But if MA just tanks this game in the end, I would hate to be the people from MA knowing how much hate will be directed at them.

SERIOUSLY?! A CASTLE?!
 
Rave said:
I must have missed the information on them buying a (&%*%* castle?!

Why are they buying something as ridiculous as a castle.. in this type of global economic downturn? With the money they surely could use to HELP THIS GAME AND ITS PLAYERS?

Kimmi's post made me feel a bit better, but I've dropped over 40k USD myself in 10 years because I've always had high hopes for this game. Don't get me wrong, the day to day gameplay isn't bad (it's still basically what its always been) but the game as a whole really hasn't developed into a whole lot, much less into what we need. Is it that hard to look at how the big MMO companies are being successful and borrow a few ideas?

As it's already been said in this thread, they obviously have enough players willing to drop a lot of money for the enjoyment of this game. But if MA just tanks this game in the end, I would hate to be the people from MA knowing how much hate will be directed at them.

SERIOUSLY?! A CASTLE?!
Click to expand...


As far as I know, they wanted to create another headquarter in this castle. Somehow it would have been nice, having MindArk here in germany. Too bad. ;p
 
Rave said:
I must have missed the information on them buying a (&%*%* castle?!

Why are they buying something as ridiculous as a castle.. in this type of global economic downturn? With the money they surely could use to HELP THIS GAME AND ITS PLAYERS?

Kimmi's post made me feel a bit better, but I've dropped over 40k USD myself in 10 years because I've always had high hopes for this game. Don't get me wrong, the day to day gameplay isn't bad (it's still basically what its always been) but the game as a whole really hasn't developed into a whole lot, much less into what we need. Is it that hard to look at how the big MMO companies are being successful and borrow a few ideas?

As it's already been said in this thread, they obviously have enough players willing to drop a lot of money for the enjoyment of this game. But if MA just tanks this game in the end, I would hate to be the people from MA knowing how much hate will be directed at them.

SERIOUSLY?! A CASTLE?!
Click to expand...

MC should put dates on his "creatives".

Also - if you search forum - you will find very nice explanations from guys who understand IRL finances, know schemes and such - why MA bought that castle.

And finally: ridiculous to buy a castle?

You know, more ridiculous is to kimming castle ingame, than to buy it IRL. (smile.jpg)
 
dr3w said:
MC should put dates on his "creatives".

Also - if you search forum - you will find very nice explanations from guys who understand IRL finances, know schemes and such - why MA bought that castle.

And finally: ridiculous to buy a castle?

You know, more ridiculous is to kimming castle ingame, than to buy it IRL. (smile.jpg)
Click to expand...


Sometimes it is really hard to find explicit informations about MindArks business and the people beeing involved.

Ill try to add dates.
 
dr3w said:
MC should put dates on his "creatives".

Also - if you search forum - you will find very nice explanations from guys who understand IRL finances, know schemes and such - why MA bought that castle.

And finally: ridiculous to buy a castle?

You know, more ridiculous is to kimming castle ingame, than to buy it IRL. (smile.jpg)
Click to expand...

Regardless of the plans behind it, trying to flip a huge bit of real estate right now (anywhere) isn't the best investment, whether its in Europe or the US.

A better business model is continually putting profits back into the game until it gets developed and grows to a much more sustainable point. Not buying a castle. Don't get me wrong, who WOULDN'T want a castle, but when their finances are a continual concern to them and the player base, maybe its not the time for such an investment.
 
Rave said:
Regardless of the plans behind it, trying to flip a huge bit of real estate right now (anywhere) isn't the best investment, whether its in Europe or the US.

A better business model is continually putting profits back into the game until it gets developed and grows to a much more sustainable point. Not buying a castle. Don't get me wrong, who WOULDN'T want a castle, but when their finances are a continual concern to them and the player base, maybe its not the time for such an investment.
Click to expand...

Very nice start.

Search, please. Im lazy now, and will be even more, since I have very nice joint in front of me.

Castle wasn't INVESTMENT.
 
dr3w said:
Very nice start.

Search, please. Im lazy now, and will be even more, since I have very nice joint in front of me.

Castle wasn't INVESTMENT.
Click to expand...

As I already mentioned in this thread. :)

McCormick said:
As far as I know, they wanted to create another headquarter in this castle. Somehow it would have been nice, having MindArk here in germany. Too bad. ;p
Click to expand...
 
An informative list, particularily for certain new "2 months players" who feel like knowing everything about the game mechanics and history for what I saw...

TY m8 :).

Time to wake up, and open the eyes...
 
But they are trying to sell it now, so it became an investment didn't it? For 400k Euro under initial asking price? If they were looking for a new HQ in Germany, why not look for a normal office building that would cost substantially less?

I'm merely taking the information out of this thread when it comes to my response, fyi.

EDIT: I found several threads about the castle, but none of which list the reason for purchase. It was bought in 2006 for 195k Euro, and they have spent 1.2Mil renovating it. And they are trying to sell for around 600k Euro? 800k Euro loss?
 
Rave said:
But they are trying to sell it now, so it became an investment didn't it? For 400k Euro under initial asking price? If they were looking for a new HQ in Germany, why not look for a normal office building that would cost substantially less?

I'm merely taking the information out of this thread when it comes to my response, fyi.

EDIT: I found several threads about the castle, but none of which list the reason for purchase. It was bought in 2006 for 195k Euro, and they have spent 1.2Mil renovating it. And they are trying to sell for around 600k Euro? 800k Euro loss?
Click to expand...

Yea, this is the thread by akoz :

MAs Castle

I only remember IRC chats about this castle and something about it beeing "an office". Why else would they do a 1.2Mil renovating ? o_O
 
A very interesting thread. I know not every Marketing approach will be successful but it is interesting to see this timeline.

Funny thing but I think the best advertising for EU is word of mouth. I have a couple things I have acquired over the years and it would have been nice getting these items from Mindark but alas I picked them up else where.





I wore the shirt to the SIGGRAPH conference this last summer and did get inquiries about just what Entropia Universe is and the same with my license plate frame. I looted some real life items from EU in the past and have a couple copies of the Entropian. I personally dig this stuff and I think the community could be a huge asset in their advertising scheme. I like the Facebook page but I don't want to spam my friends like they did with all those Farmville requests.

I think by now Mindark knows who their core customers will be and maybe they should be targeting their advertising towards that audience. Yeah it would be great to get a huge influx of players but only if they understand what EU is and is not compared to a typical monthly charge MMO.

I will continue to advertise EU in my own little ways when I come across something I like or have an interest in like EU art. It would be nice if the powers that be at Mindark would help some of these efforts like the long lost email I sent a few months ago to request older concept art :grumble:
 
marketing is not the problem word of mouth is the best advertising and it's free. If the would just make the game enjoyable and cheeper for the average player so they had more players making smaller payments instead of a few who seems to be leaving also paying big money to gamble.
 
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