Let’s Talk About Marketing...

[Ricky.4706]

I'd be happy to let anet use this track I made if it ever fits one of their future trailers! hehe! :)

[https://youtu.be/a-frvC2JX4g](https://youtu.be/a-frvC2JX4g "https://youtu.be/a-frvC2JX4g")

 

[Mike Silbowitz.1827]

> @ProverbsofHell.2307 said:

> I don't want to leave any patronising comments as you're an industry professional, but I'm a returning player and here are my reasons for coming back, and my biggest reasons for enjoying the game overall. The best strengths of the game, so maybe you can gleam some insight from that.

>

> - The affordability and fair, gentle cash shop. Despite recent complaints, the store remains absolutely wonderful.

> - The art is obviously gorgeous. It's very vivid.

> - The maps are filled with interesting nooks and crannies to explore.

> - The amount of character customisation visually is quite deep, and your characters can look truly unique in a level beyond other MMO games.

> - The combat is great, it's fast and satisfying. Builds are easy but fun to make. Single traits can make big differences.

> - The more involved, personal story.

>

> And thank you for taking the time to engage with us and consider our ideas, it's really nice you're interacting with the community and being so open, I think that's a great approach that should be praised.

 

There was NOTHING patronizing about this! To have a returning GW2 player provide their reasons for coming back to the game is so unbelievably valuable. As an industry professional I will tell you that you are providing “holy grail” information about an important audience we want to engage. We want to keep our players and get back any players who left GW2. I really appreciate you taking the time to provide this information and I am so happy to include the community and greatful for them being receptive to the old stuffy marketing guy ;-)

[JustTrogdor.7892]

> @"Mike Silbowitz.1827" said:

> If under the player name we put something along the line of “GW2 player since 2014” would that help add context?

 

Maybe if it is actually true. But even then maybe something like, "What current players have to say," then the quotes. But don't end it with that. Add something else after those quotes that says/shows this game rocks. I think many people here have given a lot of good feedback on what could be added after all those player quotes to entice customers. Sorry but as the video stands now to me it seems you are trying to place all the weight on player quotes. There needs to be more IMO

 

Again I'm trying to look at this from the view point of someone that never heard of GW2. In that case looking at the video I would think, "What is this? Is it a riding game because of emphasis on mounts? Is it a single player RPG? Is it just and expansion pack because of the quotes about an expansion?"

 

 

[Skyline Crash.6254]

If I were you, I would look specifically into influencer marketing. Pay a youtuber to give a first impressions on PoF. give them a free pof account along with a level 80 booster or something. maybe a popular pubg or overwatch youtuber since their platforms are primarily PC based rather than console

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

> @"Mike Silbowitz.1827" said:

> > @Ricky.4706 said:

> > anyone see the new Deadpool 2 movie trailer ? [https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU](https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU "https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU")

> >

> > I'd love to see something like that for gw2, because the game itself does have a great sense of humor thats part of what makes GW2 a fun place to be. "you ran from skrittt!!" ......something like a skritt narrating about life in tyria as a pirate lol! ...with random cut scenes of action packed fights from different parts of the game, filled with footage of users having fun.......and a funny script - those kinds of things have viral power, and the humor itself is a selling point that sets the tone of the environment we want you to have fun in! Plus the video script itself is memorable

>

> Infuse and highlight the funny...I LIKE IT! This one makes it to the idea board for future videos. :-)

 

I hope you don't make a video just like that one. It seemed offensive to me; perhaps, I'm just too old-school.

 

 

[Mike Silbowitz.1827]

> @Lonami.2987 said:

> These two threads from reddit have a lot of information I think you will find interesting:

>

> *

> *

>

> I really recommend reading them, not just for the OP but for the comments too (and keep in mind it's reddit, so there's always a bit of drama, spice of life and such). If you want a summary, what ArenaNet fails at (and pretty bigly) is at the marketing material itself. You need more screenshots (not just empty landscapes), video footage (not just showing people walking), and better trailers for each release (showing lot of the new stuff, including the new maps/fractals/raids, rewards, enemies, etc).

>

> Make an effort to have all the artwork and soundtracks available at the highest quality, easy to access, from either the wiki or the official page, too. If I wanted to make a GW2 video now, I wouldn't have barely any quality material, and that's a problem. There's still people at 2017 using the pre-2012 footage for their GW2 videos, with those ugly graphics that have nothing to do with how far we've gotten.

>

> I'll make a detailed analysis including better summary of the above threads tomorrow, because this is a really important issue, and I'm very, very, very glad to see it addressed.

 

Thank you for this. I have seen these Reddit threads and plan to read through every comment. We want to step up our game and this will be made possible with the amazing communication ArenaNet Marketing and our community now share. The Marketing team is so passionate about GW2 and its community. They are a talented bunch who work very hard. I am personally very honored to be welcomed into this team with open arms by both ArenaNet & the community. The feedback shared is being read and discussed by the Marketing Team. We will strive for perfection and we want to do you all proud.

 

I look very forward to your detailed analysis and thank you so much for putting in so much time and effort to partner with us. :-)

[Game of Bones.8975]

I was trying to read the text and gather in the graphics all at once ... utter failure. I can only imagine what a person who doesn't know a thing about GW2/PoF will think.

 

That's my initial reaction.

[Rennie.6750]

Since you're apparently very interested in what the community has to say I'll add some example to my comment. I found [this video](

"this video") for a game I used to play and there are indeed quotes but they do tell about the content and show bits of it, and they do show real characters in action. This video is a bit more dynamic too and (sorry) a bit less pompous. I'm not saying this because I don't think you deserve your position at ANet, you probably know more than me about all this, but I know that these guys always make top notch videos and are always on point, so I figured I'd share.

[Asum.4960]

You might want to have a look at some of the fan made Trailers that are out there, they are some of the best Trailers for GW2 I've seen.

If you want to approach absolutely new players, I don't think just telling them _"Hey, there is a new expansion out there and we think it's amazing!"_ is enough.

A lot of very good points have already been brought up, but I'll potentially repeat one of the most important ones:

 

Tell them about the Features! The game being subjectively good to the established players is great and all, but why should _"I"_ play Guild Wars 2!?

Pique their interest with WvW, the special functionality that mounts in GW2 have, Gliding, Fractals, Raids, non toxic/communal open world experience.

You have to sell new players on the core gameplay first before they are interested in an expansion, then tell potentially returning players what's new.

 

[Cantatus.4065]

I wanted to look at the other PoF trailers to see if I could make some better suggestions, and I hate to point it out, but.... you guys did this trailer already. The Accolades trailer is basically a condensed version of the [PoF Launch Trailer](

"PoF Launch Trailer"). I think every clip in that trailer is in this one, just with player quotes now on top of them - and without a lot of the things people are now suggesting be shown in the trailer (voice overs, combat, etc.).

 

I hope this doesn't sound too harsh, but if I'm someone who saw the launch trailer and that wasn't enough to convince me to give GW2 a try, why do you think this one would convince me now? Unless this is being marketed a completely different way than before, I think you run the risk of people who saw the launch trailer tuning this one out because it's something they feel they've seen before. Roughly the first 30 seconds of both trailers are identical - just with VO replaced by player quotes. If I had seen the launch trailer, I'd probably close this one about 10 seconds in, thinking I watched it already.

 

That being said, I also looked at the [HoT announcement trailer](

"HoT announcement trailer"). Obviously this is a much longer trailer, but I think the first two minutes has a lot more of the elements you should be looking to incorporate to appeal to new or former players: It shows off the game's environment, but it isn't just a bunch of sweeping shots. It does so while also showing off combat and the expansion's new threats. More importantly, the combat highlights the new specs, which I think is essential to appeal to former players since it might pique their interest when they see the class they used to play doing something completely new. There's just something more epic and exciting about the HoT trailer largely because it's showing things actually happening. The most action in the PoF trailer is literally just people running or jumping. PoF doesn't look nearly as dangerous or engaging, particularly since the voice overs were what provided that context in the original trailer.

 

I stopped playing GW2 in 2010. PoF's announcement got me checking out the game again, but it was this HoT trailer that really sold me on giving the game another try. There are parts of that trailer that still give me chills even though I've already seen it multiple times. It feels like a movie trailer. The PoF trailer feels like the closing credits of a television show where they recap scenes from the episode.

[Dethh.4620]

First of all I'd like to say how great it is that you guys are taking community feedback on this, please continue doing this for all aspects of the game :) I agree with what most people are saying here, the quotes don't really add any value. Guild Wars 2 is one of the best MMOs out there by far. You don't need quotes saying how great it is, you should show that with the amazing content and visuals the game has to offer instead. As someone else mentioned in this thread, the Gamescom trailer is a perfect example. The music, artwork, and game play blends in really nicely to show off some great aspects of the game. The trailer you've shown here is decent enough to get old players back, but there's nothing there to lure new players.

Here are some of the biggest selling points in the game that I've used to convince a lot of players to join:

* The dragons. Guild Wars 2 probably has the most amazing looking dragons I've ever seen, and frankly gamers love dragons. I loved peoples reaction when I showed them the video of the shatterer for the first time.

* Legendaries. I showed a friend Sunrise/Twilight once and he join the game, no questions asked.

* Fractals and Raids. Most of my friends who played at launch then quit have no idea fractals or raids even exist. They were pretty amazed at the quality of our raids and fractals when I showed them.

* Mounts. We have the most unique mounts I've ever seen in an MMO, they actually have a purpose other than simply speed boosting. Not to mention the amazing animations for these mounts ( it was good enough to get on the front page of reddit gaming at one point! )

 

These are just a few points. Overall, as a community we really want a video we can share with friends and make them go "WOW". Something that will get the attention of new players and make them want to play. Unfortunately, I don't think this is it. The game has so much potential to bring in new players with the right marketing. Best of luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cronos.6532]

Another technique I've seen once or twice is to start the trailer off letterboxed - for the story stuff - then you remove the letterbox for the fast-paced stuff with the quick camera movements and landscapes. There's a sense of release from enclosure when a trailer goes from letterboxed to fullscreen.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

> @Rennie.6750 said:

> Since you're apparently very interested in what the community has to say I'll add some example to my comment. I found [this video](

"this video") for a game I used to play and there are indeed quotes but they do tell about the content and show bits of it, and they do show real characters in action. This video is a bit more dynamic too and (sorry) a bit less pompous. I'm not saying this because I don't think you deserve your position at ANet, you probably know more than me about all this, but I know that these guys always make top notch videos and are always on point, so I figured I'd share.

 

That video was better. I recognized some of those whose quotes were used. (I only recognized one name from the GW2 video, and that's because he/she is an oft-forum-poster. That video also talked about the (whole) game, and then mentioned there were expansions. Much better, imo.

[Cronos.6532]

> @Rennie.6750 said:

> Since you're apparently very interested in what the community has to say I'll add some example to my comment. I found [this video](

"this video") for a game I used to play and there are indeed quotes but they do tell about the content and show bits of it, and they do show real characters in action. This video is a bit more dynamic too and (sorry) a bit less pompous. I'm not saying this because I don't think you deserve your position at ANet, you probably know more than me about all this, but I know that these guys always make top notch videos and are always on point, so I figured I'd share.

 

Slow camera movements aside (+ rock music for fantasy MMO?), that's a pretty good trailer, and I never played that game!

[Mike Silbowitz.1827]

> @Simonoly.4352 said:

> Maybe a bit off topic with the vidoe but, I have to say that the guildwars2.com website needs some updating and better consolidation of the content that has been added since 2012. For example, when you go to the professions page there is absolutely no mention of the elite specs and a lot of the videos there are really out of date with how the game has changed. To see the elite specs you have to navigate to each expansion's webpage and then from there navigate to the section with the elite specs. This is too much busy work for a potential new player. When they open the Thief profession page for example there should be information on what a Thief player can become and what expansion they need to get that. There needs to be more celebration of the new content right there on the main webpage

 

Valid. This would be a major undertaking that would take months to complete but I completely agree that we need to do this...so much so that we will make this happen!

[Mike Silbowitz.1827]

> @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> > @"Mike Silbowitz.1827" said:

> > > @Ricky.4706 said:

> > > anyone see the new Deadpool 2 movie trailer ? [https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU](https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU "https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU")

> > >

> > > I'd love to see something like that for gw2, because the game itself does have a great sense of humor thats part of what makes GW2 a fun place to be. "you ran from skrittt!!" ......something like a skritt narrating about life in tyria as a pirate lol! ...with random cut scenes of action packed fights from different parts of the game, filled with footage of users having fun.......and a funny script - those kinds of things have viral power, and the humor itself is a selling point that sets the tone of the environment we want you to have fun in! Plus the video script itself is memorable

> >

> > Infuse and highlight the funny...I LIKE IT! This one makes it to the idea board for future videos. :-)

>

> I hope you don't make a video just like that one. It seemed offensive to me; perhaps, I'm just too old-school.

>

>

 

I like the idea of playing into the fun and funny within the confines of what GW2 is as a game. It would not be exactly like the Deadpool video. That funny works for Deadpool. We would find a funny that works for GW2 and lean into that. :-)

[Cronos.6532]

On the topic of the website rather than the trailer - not sure if it's so much of a marketing thing - showing microtransactions on the purchase page (the cart) is a huge turn-away. I don't know how much more the game actually makes by adding these buttons at checkout, but all of these should be removed completely:

 


 

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

> @"Mike Silbowitz.1827" said:

> > @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> > > @"Mike Silbowitz.1827" said:

> > > > @Ricky.4706 said:

> > > > anyone see the new Deadpool 2 movie trailer ? [https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU](https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU "https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU")

> > > >

> > > > I'd love to see something like that for gw2, because the game itself does have a great sense of humor thats part of what makes GW2 a fun place to be. "you ran from skrittt!!" ......something like a skritt narrating about life in tyria as a pirate lol! ...with random cut scenes of action packed fights from different parts of the game, filled with footage of users having fun.......and a funny script - those kinds of things have viral power, and the humor itself is a selling point that sets the tone of the environment we want you to have fun in! Plus the video script itself is memorable

> > >

> > > Infuse and highlight the funny...I LIKE IT! This one makes it to the idea board for future videos. :-)

> >

> > I hope you don't make a video just like that one. It seemed offensive to me; perhaps, I'm just too old-school.

> >

> >

>

> I like the idea of playing into the fun and funny within the confines of what GW2 is as a game. It would not be exactly like the Deadpool video. That funny works for Deadpool. We would find a funny that works for GW2 and lean into that. :-)

 

Cool. As long as it's not taxi-cab funny.

 

Good luck.

[AJ Wolf.7825]

While I don't hate the comments from players, I think the fault I find with it is I see these names and wonder if I should know who they are, or if I care. I think if you want to use them it should be more apparent that these are quotes from the community, rather than game reviews. Making them look like screenshots or "cut-outs" from a paper could help. Personally I don't think they add much, but if you want to keep them, then I'd adjust them to make it most obvious this is player comments.

 

My second problem for me is you're talking about these things - the desert is beautiful, the mounts are amazing - but you're not really showing me that. It's just a guy riding a jackal. I love jackals, jackals are cool, but what makes mounts in GW2 special is that they aren't like mounts in any other game. Show me the flight of a Griffon racing at breakneck speed across a map and that would have me interested. Should me a jackal going through a portal, teleporting across the sand and then leaping onto and enemy. That I haven't seen before.

 

Show me more panoramas of the desert to see how unique and beautiful the world you've created is. GW2 zones are BIG, not just in playable area, but they fill the sky with architecture and details. GW2's nighttime skyboxes are some of the most incredible things you'll see in a game, in my opinion. So don't talk beauty, show it.

 

I also think you should show some sort of combat. Enemies and players have cool animations, and it's worth showing those off. I don't play a game to watch a rendered cut scene, I do it to play the game. I always feel like this game looks so much better when played vs. cut scenes.

 

This trailer is telling me things when it should be showing them. It's not a bad trailer, but I don't think it's going to appeal as much to a non-GW2 player. I've seen this footage (or similar). Show me something new. Show me a game I want to play. This trailer isn't connecting to me as a gamer. It's just a movie, it's not calling to me to enter the world, only to witness it.

[JustTrogdor.7892]

> @"Mike Silbowitz.1827" said:

> > @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> > > @"Mike Silbowitz.1827" said:

> > > > @Ricky.4706 said:

> > > > anyone see the new Deadpool 2 movie trailer ? [https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU](https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU "https://youtu.be/8-Cjsnq8kVU")

> > > >

> > > > I'd love to see something like that for gw2, because the game itself does have a great sense of humor thats part of what makes GW2 a fun place to be. "you ran from skrittt!!" ......something like a skritt narrating about life in tyria as a pirate lol! ...with random cut scenes of action packed fights from different parts of the game, filled with footage of users having fun.......and a funny script - those kinds of things have viral power, and the humor itself is a selling point that sets the tone of the environment we want you to have fun in! Plus the video script itself is memorable

> > >

> > > Infuse and highlight the funny...I LIKE IT! This one makes it to the idea board for future videos. :-)

> >

> > I hope you don't make a video just like that one. It seemed offensive to me; perhaps, I'm just too old-school.

> >

> >

>

> I like the idea of playing into the fun and funny within the confines of what GW2 is as a game. It would not be exactly like the Deadpool video. That funny works for Deadpool. We would find a funny that works for GW2 and lean into that. :-)

 

If you want to see types of "funny" or attempts to go viral videos that didn't work for GW2 look at the old GW2 Taxi Cab and GW2 Oath videos. Please don't go there. Please stick to videos that actually show what the game is and what it is like to play it.

 

Gahh.. So bad I don't think it is even on the GW2 Youtube page anymore and quote from Colin before he left.

> And let's be honest, it beats spending marketing funds on taxi confession ads or people spray painting wall cinematics if you ask me.

 

[The Last Hobbit.6492]

MMOs are about communities. If you want to show how players enjoy the game, you need to include gameplay and players discussing the game.

 

Nothing made me more excited about an MMO than this video for EVE:

 

There's videos of streamers and content creators talking about the game and it gets people excited.

 

I mean, hell, what did Leeroy Jenkins do for WoW. xD

 

Examples: Organized World Bosses (TT usually), WvW raids, Raids like the Musician Guild that shows how fun it is to fail.

 

If you want to show how, we the players, enjoy the game then just SHOW us enjoying the game. (And yeah, edit out all the swearing xD)

[ThePlayMaker.1058]

Many of the commenters have already expressed some really good ideas which should definitely be taken into consideration. Here are my recommended suggestions.

As you mentioned before, the video should be around 1 minute in length. This means you won't be able to really 'sell the game' in this one video, but you can 'sell the expansion' with 1 minute. My suggestions are as follows

 

1. Using short-captivating shots of things that new players would find fun/cool/exciting, and potentially match those with game-review quotes.

E.g. "The Path of Fire maps are beautiful!" - John. [1-2s footage per clip of a few beautiful PoF areas].

E.g. "Mounts are simply amazing!" - Adam [show a raptor leaping over a cliff, a springer jumping high and possibly slamming some enemies below, maybe even a sneaky flash of griffon feathers somewhere in there, or a griffon gliding low over some water before soaring high up into the sky again while the camera remains at the water level].

2. Change the quotes from random players to quotes from actual reviewer sites/youtubers. If there aren't sufficient credible reviews, then make the reviews a lesser focus of the video.

I.e. Use maybe one or two of the positive comments at most, and remove the ".1234" section from their names.

3. Use some dramatic, attractive titles to promote various aspects of the game.

E.g. "5 NEW MOUNTS", "NEW LIVING STORY SEASON", "9 NEW ELITE SPECIALIZATIONS" [While showcasing very brief clips featuring some of these parts]

4. At the end of the video, there needs to be a CTA. Tell them to: "Buy Path of Fire", "Upgrade to Path of Fire", or even "Play for FREE" (though the last one is more for a general trailer, and not a PoF focused one).

 

Well I'm really happy you all at Anet's marketing division have seen the value of community input and have sought to gather feedback from us. Hopefully this turns up the quality of the trailer quite a bit, and makes it a real hit.

[tekfan.3179]

> @"Mike Silbowitz.1827" said:

> > @IndigoSundown.5419 said:

> > Other posters have provided suggestions about things to add to the video (or to replace some of the existing vignettes). How long of a video are you aiming for? A minute seems short for a Youtube video, but placed on other platforms might be just about the right length.

>

> Hi! The video is intended to be about 1 minute in length and utilized via social channels targeting people who play video games but have not yet played GW2.

 

I'm sorry if this is harsh...but in my opinion the current video is totally not suited for that task.

The video has nice effects and is visually appealing but for me it confers nothing of the actual game beyond pretty desert pictures and that the evil one is a angry, burning, bearded guy.

 

On these forums everyone knows that the character on the jackal is supposed to be the player.

Someone who doesn't know the game wouldn't know that, nor...

* ...that you can play as one of five races

* ...about the huge world map and the different biomes and cultures

* ...that a huge chunk of the game is free to play

* ...that there are 9 professions with specializations

* ...about the kind of gameplay you can expect, especially how fastpaced it is

* ...that the mounts are not just skins but are completely different with unique abilities

* ...that you can dye your mounts

* ...about dungeons, fractals, raids, WvW, sPvP

* ...THAT YOU ARE FIGHTING THIS WORLDS GOD OF WAR AND ENDTIME-DRAGONS AS BIG AS BATTLESHIPS!!!(capslocked due to awesomeness-factor ;) )

 

I know this probably won't fit into one minute of screentime.

 

I agree with the notion that a narrator would help. But since you seem to focus on PoF, I think Kormir would be a good choice. She is a iconic character after all.

It might be good to show some of the mount-abilities and a few skills from the different professions. There are people who like to play the usual trinity roles, bait them with some smashy warrior skills, fiery weaver spells or glowing and buffing firebrand tomes. Flex the artwork-muscles.

A glimpse of the world map to show the sheer size of the game probably wouldn't hurt. How about you place the characters from the PoF-spec teasers on the airship we use to travel from Lions Arch to the Crystal Desert and show their flightpath on the worldmap, while dramatic scenes of people being killed by balthazars minions fade in and out of the picture?

 

As for the textual quotes: It's already been said that people tend to know websites, not critics. Maybe move away from the feelings and impressions in the quotes(that is something your video-material should do). I think you should us the quotes to paint a picture of the different content like dungeons, fractals, pvp or wvw.

[Chiltonium.7643]

From a purely marketing perspective? Looks good, will attract players initially.

 

From a player retention perspective? The end game activities in GW2 completely negate what a player may have come to learn or enjoy over their time playing. For instance I've never, ever, EVER liked glass cannon builds. Ever. Yet if you want to participate in end game content, this will be required of you. So definitely don't mention that 75% or more of your stat sets like soldiers, knights, etc is absolutely useless.

 

Also don't mention that despite being guild wars in name, pvp is not only a side note, the balance is terrible. Not in that class X is better than Y, that will always happen, but in that TTK is ridiculously low for a pvp game, and fights typically last under 10 seconds. Attributed mostly to the above glass cannon is the norm meta that's dominated the game since release.

 

I would worry less about attracting new players, and more about keeping the ones you have, THEN attracting new players and keeping THEM. Instead of getting an influx of new players who will quit. Agian, unless your goal is simply to sell more copies of the game/expansion, then this video is perfect, it will get some people.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

> @"The Last Hobbit.6492" said:

> MMOs are about communities. If you want to show how players enjoy the game, you need to include gameplay and players discussing the game.

>

> Nothing made me more excited about an MMO than this video for EVE:

>

> There's videos of streamers and content creators talking about the game and it gets people excited.

>

> I mean, hell, what did Leeroy Jenkins do for WoW. xD

>

> Examples: Organized World Bosses (TT usually), WvW raids, Raids like the Musician Guild that shows how fun it is to fail.

>

> If you want to show how, we the players, enjoy the game then just SHOW us enjoying the game. (And yeah, edit out all the swearing xD)

 

That was exciting! Not a game I would play, but very exciting video!