Given that there are billboards in every NPC station, at gates, and other locations, maybe the developers should consider allowing players to make content to be displayed on these.
Say, sell 10 to 30 second slots for ISK or PLEX–for players to advertise on. It’d certainly make those billboards far more interesting to look at. Sell assistance in making ad content for players who don’t know how or don’t want to invest the time in making an ad but have money to spend.
Adds could be anything --subject of course to CCP okaying the content (we wouldn’t want anything that would get anyone in trouble now would we?). You could buy say, a 10 second ad to post a wanted poster for someone in the game you want done. Or a corporate recruiting ad. It could be one for self-aggrandizement or bragging rights. Corps that run trading posts or want goods could sell their services. The possibilities are endless.
The billboards are already there. They clearly can have varied content played in a loop. Buying 10 to 30 seconds (or more) of ‘air time’ on them. At 30 seconds an ad, that’s potentially 2880 ads per day displayed on these made and paid for by players. And, for CCP, it’s a new revenue stream.
I’m actually kind of surprised that apparently no one has considered this before.
Issues are how much time will CCP have to put towards having staff review each and every one that is submitted.
Who decides if its a yes or no… who is responsible when the player complaines when his submission is denied. CCP then opens themselves up for allegations of favoratism, when someone or some alliance gets theirs denied and some other person/alliance gets a similar one allowed.
What about quality… what if my ad’s content is witin the rule, but it just looks like absolute crap, breaking immersion for everyone who sees it. Will there be rules in place for that? again, can CCP deny an ad because it just look crap?
IMHO one of the biggest selling points of Eve is the graphical style of the universe. Allowing players to input can (and most likely will) ruin that.
Not only has it been considered, its actually been done before. IIrc, I think the main reason why its not currently in game is because screwing around with that system broke other things in game. I forget it it was local that went down, or the concord system, or something else that was really important like that.
It probably wont be back in game until the devs manage to tear python out of the back end.
Imagine if Quafe was licensed to Coca Cola, Not only could you have in game advertising for the company that was lore friendly, but you could also drink your Quafe Zero outside the game. Just don’t overdose on it.
As long as it’s profitable–whatever the rate is set at–it should be easily able to add staff to review and even help make adds. I also hadn’t thought of something others suggested obliquely. Allowing non-players like Coke or Pepsi to put adds on those billboards in the same way. Some other games already do product tie-ins like that to generate revenue.
So long as the cost of producing and running the advertising is below the amount being charged per unit time, the game makes money. If CCP and players want the ads to be game oriented, then CCP has the capacity to ensure that occurs.
But there is a very real chance for the game to generate revenue from this and at the same time lower costs to players elsewhere. It’s really a win-win if you think about it.
Infamy? Look no further than energy drinks to see the market of those! Quafe could be the next Red Bull or some variant thereof… Backed by a major producer of such beverages you get advertising that sells product. In between you sell space to everybody else at a discount and still make bank! It’s a win-win for CCP and Eve…
