Thunderbox PC to Sponsor a MMORPG Guild
by Alphaville Herald on 02/02/04 at 9:46 pm
In an interesting bit of news that was recently discussed on Slashdot, Thunderbox PC has announced that it will be a sponsor for the EQ and UO superguild The Syndicate (no relation to TSO mafia also known as The Syndicate). All of which makes us wonder: if TSO survives, would corporate sponsorships of mafias and neighborhoods be possible? How about a fetishware company or Marquis Magazine sponsoring Rose Thorn Gardens? Any other possibilities?
Dyerbrook
Feb 2nd, 2004
Bring me my barf bag…I plan to ask Bob’s Bait and Tackle in Chechnya,ME to sponsor Flamingo Court…Uri, are we going to be getting off the topic of BDSM soon? You seem to be absolutely entranced with it. Is there anything else in Alphaville? I guess not…
Harvey
Feb 3rd, 2004
Yo Dyer… you shouldn’t feed the trolls, dude…
toy
Feb 3rd, 2004
your the one obssed by BDSM dyer, live and let live
toy
Maria LaVeaux
Feb 3rd, 2004
If Corporate sponsorship means the addition of advertising banners, or pop ups on the game screen, Links in my personal, or house Bio’s or spam on my message screen, or that of my guests, I would have to say NO, it Isn’t a good idea.
Just once i would like to be in an environment where i am not Inundated with Commercials. So far, TSO has been that environment.
Keep Madison Avenue out of our neighborhoods, their presence will only Pollute the game Atmosphere.
Maria.
TSKELLI
Feb 3rd, 2004
A related issue has recently come up in Second Life. Given the land shortage in SL, Linden Labs has been adding new real estate and acutioning it off. Recently an entire island was purchased for something like $10k by one bidder. It turns out that this bidder was a London-based advertising firm that is being cagey about what its intentions are for the virtual island it bought, but one has to imagine it will involve some r/l commercial aspects, and this has generated significant controversy in SL.
Catseye
Feb 3rd, 2004
I wouldn’t think that the player numbers would be high enough to draw sponsership for an avatar based chat room as TSO is… TSO would have to have a motive to bring mass numbers together other then skill speed or the need to get a hug for social.. UO and EQ have the Mobs that require mass numbers to defeat.. so any comparison to them and TSO is like comparing Apples and Oranges
Urizenus
Feb 3rd, 2004
tskelli: That is really interesting about 2L. Has Hamlet Linden (James Au) written about this yet?
TSKELLI
Feb 3rd, 2004
Uri –
Oh, yes, there is quite a series on it in the New World Notes — mostly speculation at this point, but good gossip!
Kelli
Urizenus
Feb 3rd, 2004
Got a link or two from Hamlet Linden?
Of course, we already have McDonalds and some other stuff in TSO, but the idea of a company coming in and buying property is a different animal. I can see how the users in 2L are suspicious of it, but I suspect this is something that Phil R at 2L would actually like to encourage.
TSKELLI
Feb 3rd, 2004
Sure, if you look under the archives at http://secondlife.blogs.com/nwn/ the series (about 5 stories in all I think) is listed there.
I overstated the amount spent — it was more like $1500 or so.
And, oh, I don’t think Linden Labs is concerned at all, LOL!
Kelli
Maria LaVeaux
Feb 3rd, 2004
I see now. (The bulb comes on. Lol.)
The corporations Pay TSO for sections of the map. and place the Sim versions of their product on the sites. So Instead of McDonalds Kiosks that home owners can but, you actually have a McDonalds as a home site.(Or McDonaldland) We would see things like Planet Hollywood, or Studio 54. Perhaps working in Tandem with TSO they would Generate objects, or games that could ONLY be played on their lots in order to induce people to go there.
Interesting concept,, But Still Not Good, and i am still against it.
Let us say perhaps that a Major Resteraunt chain, or Hotel Franchise wanted into the Middle of the Rose Thorn Gardens, But there are no lots available.(It is one of the largest neighborhoods in AV, and therefore, desirable as a location) Now,, on one side you have one person owning a lot, and paying their $10.oo a month, on the other side, you have a Major corporation Paying Possibly Thousands of Dollars a month to TSO for advertising space, and expecting Special consideration because of it. Can you see any Possibilities here? And that would be just one of Possibly a dozen advertisors wanting in.
How Would the Sim Arts community feel about Pizza Huts cropping up all over the neighborhood? (Although from my aquaintances with Various RL artists, A Starbucks might be welcomed. Lol.)
Also, Wouldn’t A Corporation bent on advertising pay employee’s to play the game in order to keep their lot open 24 hours a day? One person with Dodgey Room mates would have difficulty competeing for the Guest time.
Also, Would those Corporate employees be restricted to their lot? or would they also Roam about Spamming other lots? (Or possibly get into other Mischief?)
These are, Of Course, very extreme examples of what could be wrong with that system.
Quite simply put,, TSO Isn’t big enough to support individual players in Free competition with Major corporate sponsors. I don’t think it would work.
TSO is first and formost about People Interacting with People. I don’t think any good will come of trying to make us a Captive audience for Advertisors.
Question:
Woud TSO accept Corporate advertising Dollars from Microsoft or Sega?
Just some concepts for Discussion, Let’s hear what you think.
Maria.
TSKELLI
Feb 4th, 2004
Mistress Maria –
You raise some valid points. It seems to me that the risk of this happening in TSO is small, in general, because of the nature of the beast. TSO still has “game” aspects to it — the avatars on the lots need to do things (skilling, greening, etc.) and that would be a pain for a corporate sponsor. It also seems doubtful to me that EA would agree to share exposure, branding, etc., with any significant corporate entity in the game.
In Second Life, the issue is different because the game isn’t really “game” like, the properties can be designed as freely as the programming skill and creativity allows (really unlimited), and Linden Labs doesn’t seem to care very much about branding. A structure that is designed as an advertisement for MTV, for example, would need no staff to tend to guest’s needs (avatars don’t have any needs to satisfy to begin with) and could be as MTV-like as the programmers were able to get – whih makes it pretty problematic from the perspective of people in Second Life who go there precisely not be in their First Lives, LOL!
But it is interesting to see this happening elsewhere in virtual worlds — it does seem unlikely to me that it would happen to a sny significant extent in TSO.
Kelli
toy
Feb 4th, 2004
are we all forgetting that it is already in TSO?
~points to the McDonalds hamburger stands~
toy
Maria LaVeaux
Feb 4th, 2004
I beleive i DID mention the McDonalds Kiosks my toy.
This thread seems however to relate to a more Active and Invasive form of Advertising.
More like dealing with a Pushy door-to-Door Salesman, than the simple presence of a Logo on a T-Shirt.
Maria.
toy
Feb 4th, 2004
toy should read closer and stop scanning
toy could compare the selling out so to say to sponsors would be a bit like say the TV Guide channel… it started out as a good idea but has been overun with sponsors…. hence the actual guide is now 1/3 of the screen while the onther 2/3 is over run with get rich quick schemes and the peddling of items that in all honesty no one really needs 
toy
Snowcrash
Feb 4th, 2004
Interesting concept. It reminds me very much of the novel I use as my namesake, Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, in which real estate and advertising in VR was a very profitable business. But as for Thunderbox PC sponsoring the Sydnicate, I wouldn’t worry about it. I don’t think any company “sponsoring” certain guilds or lots is going to make very much money. What would they gain from it? It certainly wouldn’t be the respect of those playing the game. No, I believe there would be a backlash against it.
But using the game machanics, it would be very hard to advertise. If Pepsi came out and said that they’d like to sponsor my linkshell in Final Fantasy XI, what would I do to act on that? After I kill a mob would I have to say “This rabbit massacre is brought to you by Pepsi: For those who think young!”? I really don’t see how corperate sponsorship of guilds and VR property could work except for in Second Life, which to me seems as though it was aiming to be the VR Stephenson depicted from the very beginning. What is Thunderbox PC doing but making The Sydnicate “the official guild of Thunderbox PC”? They’re really just saying that they like this guild a lot. So what? M&M’s are the official candy of the Olympics.
I wouldn’t worry about this catching on. Let Second Life deal with it.
toy
Feb 4th, 2004
You just gave toy a good laugh Snowcrash
toy remembers when she was 13 and played Diablo toy was a PK and after killing another player toy would say……. “Todays Sesame Street has been brought to you by the letters P and K 
”
toy
Catseye
Feb 4th, 2004
actually the reward for sponsering the syndicate is not in game necessarily but advertising heavily on their web site.. the numbers of the guild checking that site plus others intrested in the actions of that guild will funnel the traffic to them.. and what does it cost them in comparison to other advertisments? chicken feed