[copiae]

...and on that note:
AMERIKA'S ARMY IS SOOO AWEZOMES! IT'S LIKE ACTUALLY KILLING PPPL!!!! AND DEN RUMSFELD LIKE SEYZ: "D00D ACE, YOU ARE A D00D!"

IT'S GOT RUMMY! RUMMY LUVZ ME AND LUVZ AMERIKA!!!!

AMERIKA'S ARMY FTW!!!!111

Good viral marketing is more subtle and insidiuous. For instance, in the middle of a well thought out post on good ship design, pointing out that Terran ships are like Lexus^tm cars... very sleek and elegant.

[Rictor]

Ah whatever. Deepblue's fine. It's not like he's eating babies...
...
Well, it's not like he's eating babies for a living...
...
Alright, well, I'm sure he doesn't enjoy it very much.

[Deepblue]

*cough* Deepblue *cough*

You're late.

[Ace]

...and on that note:
AMERIKA'S ARMY IS SOOO AWEZOMES! IT'S LIKE ACTUALLY KILLING PPPL!!!! AND DEN RUMSFELD LIKE SEYZ: "D00D ACE, YOU ARE A D00D!"

IT'S GOT RUMMY! RUMMY LUVZ ME AND LUVZ AMERIKA!!!!

AMERIKA'S ARMY FTW!!!!111

Good viral marketing is more subtle and insidiuous. For instance, in the middle of a well thought out post on good ship design, pointing out that Terran ships are like Lexus^tm cars... very sleek and elegant.

But that's not how Comrade Rummy likes his viral marketing. He likes it bold and obvious, like avian bird flu, or a Yugo.

[Taristin]

*cough* Deepblue *cough*

DB doing it doesn't bother me, though... EagleClaw on the other hand has never contributed to the community at all other than to poll us on what movies and games we're interested in. Ever.

[Sandwich]

Did you guys hear about this guerilla marketing stuff? All you have to do is post on forums, and they pay nicely, too! It's really worth it - after all, most of us post on forums about stuff we like anyway, so why not get hired and paid to do so? It sounds awesome - I recommend you give it a try.

[CP5670]

Where do I sign up? And what free stuff I do get?

[BlackDove]

[02:38] <NickRemoved> AEG is the amazing one
[02:38] <NickRemoved> a marketing firm NVIDIA pays
[02:38] <NickRemoved> basically, you get ultra high end system (dual SLI GTX 512s, which amounts to about $1200 in video cards alone, plus ram, proc, motherboard, etc. to make the most of it)
[02:38] <NickRemoved> and all you have to do is post about it on boards
[02:38] <NickRemoved> not allowed to reveal that you work for AEG, of course

Found that out from one of my friends yesterday.

[CP5670]

Yeah, that's what I was referring to earlier. There are a few people on the AT video forum who act exactly like you would expect an AEG agent to behave.

[aldo_14]

*cough* Deepblue *cough*

DB doing it doesn't bother me, though... EagleClaw on the other hand has never contributed to the community at all other than to poll us on what movies and games we're interested in. Ever.

So does that mean you a) dislike him b) dislike him intensely c)wish he did something useful or d) all the above

[Taristin]

*cough* Deepblue *cough*

DB doing it doesn't bother me, though... EagleClaw on the other hand has never contributed to the community at all other than to poll us on what movies and games we're interested in. Ever.

So does that mean you a) dislike him b) dislike him intensely c)wish he did something useful or d) all the above

DB or EC?

[BlackDove]

Does it matter?

Anyway, personally I'd probably sell my soul for one of them AEG packages, however I'd only post the silent advertisments on the forums that I dislike, in communities I don't care about.

[BlackDove]

And this just in today.

[Begin Message]

Wanna know about marketing, ask a Marketer. Here's a couple nifty bits for ya:
1) I have in my possession a marketing plan for NBA LIVE 2004 (don't ask how I got it...  ). This marketing plan actually refers to "Hiring viral specialists to advocate NBA Live online via chat rooms targeting gaming fan sites" and "Placing offensive, defensive and PR shills into common gaming chat arenas." It goes on to outline a full page of tactics for said "Guerilla Online Marketing for Core Gamers."

2) I actually hired a company called Hype Council (http://www.hypecouncil.com). These guys do a TON of gaming related stuff -- I actually wouldn't be surprised if it's the company referred to in your news post. Their technique is quite insidious. Let's say they were hired to pump up PA (not like you need the buzz, but whatever...). Using one of the hundreds of shill accounts they have across the net, they post a new thread that says something like "hey guys, I've been looking for some new web comics to read. Anybody have any recommendations?" This is non-threatening, and gets the community engaged. They then wait a couple days and post again, this time with "Well, I asked some friends and they suggested I check out Penny Arcade <insert link>. I thought it was pretty funny, although I didn't like all the cuss words. What do you guys think?" Again, seeking engagement, they now have stealthily inserted the client's link, thereby encouraging trial. It's all very measurable and very effective. You should see the monthly reports you get from these guys: everything is detailed. Spooky.
It's all very insidious and, I'm sure, widespread. So much so that I don't trust anything I read. Unless it's a board where I "know" the posters, I always assume everyone on the board is a shill.

[End Somewhat Terrifying Message]

Nice. I guess it all makes sense anyway.

[Unknown Target]

Well good thing most of us know each other then

[Turnsky]

Well good thing most of us know each other then

or do you?  


-=Subliminal Message=-
read the foxfire chronicles

[TrashMan]

AH! Tursky is a EVIIIL spy I tell you!

ENLARGED MESSAGE
-=Subliminal Message=-
read the foxfire chronicles

[Martinus]

There's a simple answer to all of this depending on your moral viewpoint:

Download the game. Play it. If it's good buy it.

Thus the good game designers get rewarded and the bad game designers go out of business. It's a far more equitable system than relying on gaming magazines which may have been payed to hike a review's score or some random forumite that raves about it. This system works for all and the fact that the bad companies go out of business is probably half the reason why it's assumed to be illegal.

[Taristin]

There's a simple answer to all of this depending on your moral viewpoint:

Download the game. Play it. If it's good buy it.

Thus the good game designers get rewarded and the bad game designers go out of business. It's a far more equitable system than relying on gaming magazines which may have been payed to hike a review's score or some random forumite that raves about it. This system works for all and the fact that the bad companies go out of business is probably half the reason why it's assumed to be illegal.

In fairness.... A lot of us see the opportunity of not paying for something, even if we love it, as the main reason to DL the product. Sometimes it's for good reason. I don't have the cash to buy a license for 3ds Max for every version that comes out. Nor windows, which though I use, aggrevates me to no end some times.
Though, if I did have the money, Yeah, I'd probably buy the real deal max8, sketchbook pro 2, artrage 2, win xp/2k/whatever I'm using...

[Turnsky]

There's a simple answer to all of this depending on your moral viewpoint:

Download the game. Play it. If it's good buy it.

Thus the good game designers get rewarded and the bad game designers go out of business. It's a far more equitable system than relying on gaming magazines which may have been payed to hike a review's score or some random forumite that raves about it. This system works for all and the fact that the bad companies go out of business is probably half the reason why it's assumed to be illegal.

good philosaphy, but i'd be happy if they'd release a tech demo so you could see whether said game would run on your hardware effectively, it's -real- annoying when you buy a game only to find out in playing that it doesn't run as efficiently as it says on the system reqs.

[Mefustae]

It's even worse when you buy two copies of the game only to realise it won't work on your system.

*Gazes at two copies of BF2 sitting on the shelf, covered in dust*