Let's Talk About Marketing - Videos

[Donari.5237]

UnbentMars nailed it, I can't improve on his/her comments feedback-wise.

 

I first watched the trailer without my glasses, on a tablet, squinting one-eyed at a screen that refused to expand even to tablet size, and it still gave me chills. Now I've watched it full size and wow, it is miles beyond most of GW2's previous trailers. Second place in recent memory goes to Head of the Snake, though that one sadly had misleading footage as well as lines dropped in actual release -- but still made me super hyped for the coming episode and let me direct RP plots to crescendo in time with the release.

 

I loved this one's pacing, narrative, information, and amaaaaazing Fear Not altered cover.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

I'm afraid I'm not much interested in the Friendship campaign, so I've yet to watch that trailer.

On the other hand, the Episode Trailer is top-notch. It really manages to evoke emotion and excitement.

Two thumbs up. :+1: :+1:

[Lonami.2987]

> @"Mike Silbowitz.1827" said:

> Hi Everyone

>

> Today we posted our latest Living World Trailer and our 2nd spotlight video for the Friend/ships Campaign. I've been on Reddit today and the overwhelmingly positive response is something the entire Marketing team appreciates along with your support. Your feedback helped get us here and we want to keep the dialogue going. Let us know what you think of these video constructively. Let us know what you hope to see from the marketing team in the future. Let's keep the momentum going.

 

**My analysis for the trailer:**

 

Let me start with a humble **fucking finally**. This is a great step in the right direction, and everything I've wanted from the marketing team since 2012. This is a very, very good trailer. It's not a movie trailer, of course, we're talking abount a content patch here. It does the job it should, for what it's representing.

 

Let's go point by point:

 

---

 

**The Good**

 

* The best part of the whole trailer is, hands down, the list of contents. New mastery, new legendary dagger, new map, new story. That should be the basic pillar of every trailer, and that's the main element you've been missing in your previous trailers.

* Introducing the characters. Having someone to attach too, specially if you don't know what's going, is really good. They have "names" and faces, and we get a small sip of their personality.

* Showing the legendary dagger. It may not feel very big, but it's enough to mark a difference. We have something called legendary weapons, and they look cool and important, showing there's an endgame here.

* Showing footage of new stuff. Some trailers in the past used footage of older content, which is terrible. What I see should be new in some way, unless it's a mandatory recap at the beginning.

* Good job with the subtitles. It's very good for non-English natives, who don't understand pronunciation well enough. And for those without sound at the moment of the viewing (which was my case).

* Showing life, instead of empty landscapes. We see enemies, allies, people. And they're doing stuff. There's something going on, it piques your interest.

* No artwork. It's all game footage, like it should be with these trailers.

 

---

 

**The Bad**

 

* Where is the new zone? The entire video happens inside a closed instance, which I assume is part of the story. Show where we are going, and put the zone's name on screen. Remember the first point of the good? It highlighted the legendary dagger, and then showed it. Do that, for every section, not just the legendary. You don't want spoilers? Be sneaky then, but you need to show the zone and brag about the awesome graphics and aesthetics of the game. It also needs to show a good landscape, implying we have a huge open world. You showed a lot of the new zone in [the previous trailer](

), so I'm kinda disappointed.

* Same for the mastery, show us what it's about, specially if it's something cool.

* Where are the other rewards? This is mostly for veterans, so you don't need to dedicate a whole section to them, but you should sneak them in. Make us players want to scrutinize the video to discover the new rewards for the whole week before the patch hits!

 

---

 

**The Ugly**

 

* Show multiple landscapes, at least three. The Inquest base looks fantastic, but you might have shown too much of it. Alternate it with footage from other sections of the new location.

* New monsters. I don't know if there's any, so I can't complain, but if there are, show them.

* Other content. I don't know if there's any either, but if there's a new fractal, raid, PvP map, etc, it should be in there somehow too.

* I do not like you use an Elonian Sunspear to represent the commander. It doesn't make a lot of sense, since you're supposed to be a Tyrian. It's kinda confusing. In fact, I would prefer if you built a cast of various characters from different races and professions and used them in the trailers, representing multiple players at once, instead of a single character representing the player.

 

---

 

And that's pretty much it. As you see, the good outweights the bad by a long margin. Still room for improvements, but this is definitely the best trailer I've seen for this game, only topped by the [HoT announcement trailer](

) itself.

 

Good job, marketing team. I'm glad you listened, and I hope this change boosts your metrics, and with it, your general morale as well ^^.

[Donari.5237]

Oh, I did watch the Friendship installment. POOF sounds like an awesome guild. For me, though, their story isn't unusual, it's been how I've made a lot of friends over the past decade. So it was more "aw, they seem cool" than "wow, this game did an amazing thing." The previous video with the adorable GW2-themed proposal caught my attention much more because it went beyond my basic expectations for MMO friendships. (Yes, I know I am lucky to have found so many awesome people through my on line gaming).

[Mike Silbowitz.1827]

@"Twyn.7320"

 

I really like the use of music in in the GW2 Crystal desert video. It elevates the content you featured. It really picks up for me close the the middle when we see some serious battle sequences.

 

LW3 Redux - Very schnazzy. You definitely have an eye for editing. ;-)

[videoboy.4162]

> @"RoseofGilead.8907" said:

> I haven't watched the Friendship video yet, but I have to say that the trailer is one of the best (if not THE best) trailer I've seen for anything in the game.

 

You should totally watch it. That Anthony guy is really cute. ;)

[Assic.2746]

I really enjoyed the trailer as an **existing player**.

 

**Pros:**

* Borderlands style character introduction.

* Music was great. There is not much to say I liked it more than the original.

* The transition from funny part of the trailer into a mysterious one was unexpected. I like how Inquest or asuran twaddle turns into silence.

* List of new things.

**Cons:**

* As I said I liked it as an existing player. If I was new to the game I wouldn't know what the narration is about. In that case Daybreak's trailer had done much better job. It introduced players to the story, but not too much and presented some iconic map locations.

* We had only seen 2/4 out of list of things - story & dagger.

* There is not enough mounts in trailers. Mounts were the expansion's selling point. Why you stopped marketing this feature? A glimpse of a new map taken from giffon's back, raptor jumping over a precipice. Those would be really nice shots. Not so long ago I unlocked griffon and I have to say the view from far above especially on the new maps is breathtaking. Make a trailer where a giffon or a few of them dive through the clouds showing a glimpse of a new area and then cut it to the next scene. Make people wonder if you can really do that in the game or is this just a trailer thing? Make them google it.

[Plautze.6290]

To be honest, this is the first time I really can't wait to play that episode. Before it was always like "Oh, another episode I'm gonna play someday after I did this and that." Now it's "Screw this and that, gimme that episode right now!!" I am really excited, to say the least. The music sent shivers all over my spine as did the passage "Who needs the light?".

 

I am in dire need of that full song!

 

Overall, amazing job with that trailer, ANet! You got me really, really excited. I beg you to keep going that route. (And officially release that song! Otherwise, I'll masquerade as D.Qoy, sneak into your HQ and grab the song, lying around somewhere on a data crytsal. I did it so many times in Metrica Province, what could possibly go wrong!) :p