Archive for July, 2008
Second Favorites of Guild Wars Players
All right, last time we looked at games that enormous amounts of WoW players ALSO play. One of my first thoughts when I beheld the list was “Oooh, big shock, Counterstrike is on the list. Whoopty doo. Half the universe has played Counterstrike, I’m not impressed that 41% of WoW players have tried it. I was equally not shocked to see Oblivion on the list. Golly gosh, you mean people into RPGs have also purchased one of the biggest single player RPGs mankind has ever known? Call the hospital, I’m on my way with a heart attack. Those proportions should hold true in general across the fantasy game playing population… right?
Well, I was wrong.
If You Play WoW, You’ve Also Tried:
It’s not easy being a startup game company. Heck, it ain’t easy being a startup ANYTHING. Unless you are rolling in so much venture capital that you’re getting one dollar bills stuck to your… feet… you have a limited amount of advertising money. The easiest way to spend efficiently is to put up your ads in places where people who are likely to try your game are congregating. Predicting crowd behavior is a lucrative business for certain species of consultant, and to avoid paying consultants, most bootstrap operations go with “like attracts like.” This is a perfectly good theory that’s even mostly true – people who like cartoony sword and board games will give another cartoony sword and board game a spin, as long as the second game offers a small variation.
But as a long term strategy, it doesn’t expand the market. It cannibalizes existing markets, as companies who have released a sequel have proven.
So, this week, I’m looking at “also-played” games. Today I’m looking at what games WoW players have in common. There are opportunities on this list!
E3 @ DNA
We have listed E32008 as a game. It IS a game, with levels like “How To Get Crappy Coffee From a Line 200 Deep Without Swearing.” Handy tip from a vet – the women’s restroom is deserted. Put on some lipstick and a skirt and march right in.
Uh… sorry, I get off topic. Anyway. We’ve listed E3 as a game, because that will help YOU to automatically feed content to the page! Check it out here: http://www.gamerdna.com/games/e3-2008
Any time you see anything related to E3, or better yet, you are on the spot yourself, share the good stuff with those of us trapped at home, stuck to our refresh buttons?
Tell people to join!
For many of you who are already members, we have a fancy new registration process that you will probably never see. Here is what it looks like:
(ooo ahhhh)
Also, because the registration is no longer modal, you can link people to it! If you find yourself in a conversation and someone says “Hey what is this gamerdna thing?” you can say “Go register and check it out at http://www.gamerdna.com/register”
It doesn’t get easier than that!
We are also working on registration improvements for the guild hosting creation as well so look for those soon.
Starcraft, Warcraft, and C&C: Real Time Comparisons
Let’s talk real-time strategy games; specifically, the behemoth franchises.
Update: Zel Wins!
Hey, guys, thanks for voting for our own Zel the Artist – she won the Imperial division at the SWG art contest!
Lies, Damn Lies, and Diablo Statistics
You have to be careful when you’re waving your data around. Context is everything.
The reason I’m thinking about this is because I was checking out our RPG stats. Our feeds right now show Oblivion to be far and away the most popular single player RPG out there right now. But if you look at our profiles, Diablo II crushes Oblivion, aka ESIV. Or does it?
Second Place
People say they want to win, to dominate, to be a global force of awesomeness. In fact, at GamerDNA we were just arguing about what would constitute winning as a business. Some of the guys made the error of stating that they would get our logo tattooed onto their flesh if we were to be winners in the social networking game. I’ve been part of these logo tatt discussions at other companies, and people are such wimps when it comes to follow through, so I pounced – I want to hear numbers, timelines, and tattoo locations.
But that’s maybe a little off topic.
Today’s tidbit of data is about being in second place – and when it comes to games, second place is not a bad place to be for a publisher. There’s plenty of money being spent on second place. And if you’re not in first place, you’re free to take chances. Innovate. And in doing so, maybe steal that first place hat.
