Tell The Team: Banner Ads! [Archive] - Dungeons & Dragons Online Forums

Tolero

06-03-2009, 03:32 PM

Welcome to Tell The Team!

How it works:
Here in the thread, tell us: What comes to mind; what you think; how you feel; etc, as it relates to the question at hand. Thank you so much to everyone for offering their answers!

Ground Rules:
Before we get started, let's lay down three ground rules if you're going to participate in the thread. These ground rules also have a few samples to help clarify participation:

#1 - The single most important rule to remember while participating in this thread is:
No personal attacks.
If you disagree with the opinion of another participant, that's fine, but no one can make anyone agree to their opinion. Thus, please refrain from commenting on the personal qualities of others who offer their responses to the question. Personal attacks go against forum guidelines. Questions asked will be subjective, and some users will have a lot related to their opinion, while others may only define things in short phrases. All forms are acceptable.
Hypothetical Example:
Tolero "Do you like ice cream?"
Player 1 "I hate ice cream because it's too tough to scoop"
Acceptable "I like it. It's not that bad to scoop once you let it sit on the counter for a little bit before you try to dip it Player 1."
Acceptable "I like it but I have the same problem as Player 1. What brand is it Player 1?"
Acceptable "I don't think it's too hard, I never have any problem with it. I like ice cream."
Unacceptable "That's cause you're a noob..."
Unacceptable "You don't have enough experience with scooping to be talking about how difficult it is"
Unacceptable "How about you back that opinion up with some numbers. If you can't prove it don't bring it here"

Everyone has the right to offer their response to the question(s), whether they have scientific data to back up their feelings, or they simply just "feel" a certain way towards the question(s).

#2 - Participate as well as discuss.
If you would like to join in the discussion, please be sure to offer your response to the questions as well, in addition to your conversation with any other thread participants
Hypothetical Example:
Tolero "What's your favorite color?"
Player 1 "Blue"
Player 2 "Green"
Acceptable "Purple... hey Player 2, how come you like Green?"
Unacceptable "hey Player 2 how come you like Green?"

Please be sure to take the time to offer your own opinion of the question(s) before you engage in a discussion about other people's opinions in the thread.

#3 - Don't recycle the above hypothetical examples in your responses ;) as it spams the thread.
[CENTER]-------------------------- Let's Get Started! --------------------------

This week's question involves the topic of advertising!

Question: What are three websites you visit that you would like to see DDO banner ads appear on, and why?

Optional Question: Don't have any sites you visit regularly? Then what are three websites you'd like to see DDO banner ads appear on, whether you visit or not!

Lerincho

06-03-2009, 03:36 PM

Gamespy.com - What game site has more information?
ESPN.go.com - because it's ESPN, they do Madden Nation after all.
Comingsoon.net - these people have nothing better to do than talk about movies all day long, might as well get them hooked on computer games too.

Lifespawn

06-03-2009, 03:37 PM

**** second :(

G4tv.com
Gamespy.com
MMORPG.com

ArkoHighStar

06-03-2009, 03:37 PM

massively.com
mmorpg.com
tentonhammer.com

Lerincho

06-03-2009, 03:38 PM

first? have to think about it

too slow, you weren't first :D

jboyd158

06-03-2009, 03:40 PM

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome
http://www.thelordoftheringsonline.com/ (I can't resist)
http://www.ign.com/

Bilger

06-03-2009, 03:41 PM

mmorpg.com
tentonhammer.com
not sure on third maybe ign or gamespot one the bigger sites for games out there.

kinar

06-03-2009, 03:42 PM

www.lotr.com <- if we had half the playerbase they did, we might get some funding.

As for 2 and 3, might as well attack where it counts...although I don't even know if these sites have banner adds

www.worldofwar.net
http://www.warhammeralliance.com/

RavenStormclaw

06-03-2009, 03:43 PM

Google because the whole world goes there:D

Lerincho

06-03-2009, 03:44 PM

Google because the whole world goes there:D

nopers i'm a yahooian.

Korvek

06-03-2009, 03:44 PM

Only one that comes to mind is nuklearpower.com

It hosts 8-bit theater and a couple other webcomics, so it might be able to pull in a few people. Also, any time spent featuring a DDO banner ad is time spent not featuring banner ads for other games, which it does frequently.

BattleCircle

06-03-2009, 03:46 PM

nopers i'm a yahooian.

shouldn't that be Yahooligan? :D

Wrustle

06-03-2009, 03:47 PM

Yahoo.com

Gamespy.com

Mmorpg.com

Gratch

06-03-2009, 03:47 PM

www.penny-arcade.com
www.xkcd.com
www.espn.com

I don't visit WotC much as their site is a travesty of finding what you want but a banner ad there would be welcome.
Oh.. and since we invaded their community - maybe a banner at www.escapistmagazine.com

Zoetic

06-03-2009, 03:49 PM

www.fark.com (http://www.fark.com) - great visibility to geeks
www.giantitp.com (http://www.giantitp.com) - Order of the Stick rules
www.cnn.com (http://www.cnn.com) - the whole world is watching

moonprophet

06-03-2009, 03:52 PM

....do not put any banner ads on ddo.com.

SpanishBlueEyes

06-03-2009, 03:57 PM

aol.com
pogo.com
myspace.com
facebook.com
hover.com
turbine.com
:D

Arianrhod

06-03-2009, 03:57 PM

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome
http://www.thelordoftheringsonline.com/ (I can't resist)
http://www.ign.com/

I'd agree with Wizards (for the D&D players), & IGN (for the MMORPG players), but not LOTRO....for one thing, Turbine can just put something in the news updates, or add a spot on the site to mention "check out DDO too"; they don't need to advertise on their own site ;)

For the third one, let's see...got the D&D crowd with Wizards, the MMORPG crowd with IGN (or MMORPG.com, or some such site)...how about targeting some of the FPS crowd? Don't know what their sites are called, though. Someone else would have to suggest one.

Garth_of_Sarlona

06-03-2009, 03:59 PM

My top 3 choices:

wizards.com - attract the pnp players
mmorpg.com - attract mmo gamers
escapist.com - attract normal gamers, and play the 'we won the competition' angle.

if I had more than 3 I would also add:

massively.com
tentonhammer.com
gamespot.com

but wouldn't it be better to buy keywords on google ads? Those are everywhere! Suggested keywords to buy:

mmorpg
dnd

Garth

Big-Dex

06-03-2009, 03:59 PM

www.haveyouseenthismod.com (http://www.haveyouseenthismod.com)

www.lost.com (http://www.lost.com)

www.comingsoon(tm).com (http://www.comingsoon(tm).com)

Sorry... couldn't resist. :p Besides ... it does seem like a question best asked once you get whatever issues you have that are keeping you silent on MOD9 squared away. Just sayin'...

Dex was here. :cool:

BTW - I would give a straight answer, but I don't know anything about advertising to answer in any beneficial way. I visit www.drudgereport.com (http://www.drudgereport.com) and then go searching from there. So...

BattleCircle

06-03-2009, 04:00 PM

Facebook

Yahoo

and the gaming site of your choice :D

Tolero

06-03-2009, 04:00 PM

www.haveyouseenthismod.com (http://www.haveyouseenthismod.com)

www.lost.com (http://www.lost.com)

www.comingsoon(tm).com (http://www.comingsoon(tm).com)

Sorry... couldn't resist. :p Besides ... it does seem like a question best asked once you get whatever issues you have that are keeping you silent on MOD9 squared away. Just sayin'...

Dex was here. :cool:

I was hoping that asking this question would imply that some walls were crumbling :P

Kadran

06-03-2009, 04:00 PM

It's about time! :-)

Google. It's my homepage. I don't frequently visit other sites that have banner ads.

I used to play a text based game at carnageblender.com Not even sure if it's still around.

cyr1ana

06-03-2009, 04:00 PM

1. ign.com - I think one of the best source for gaming
2. massively.com - I think one of the best source for mmos
3. mmorpg.com - they have a great readership
(4. gamescom-cologne.com - because it's the gamesconvention)

greetings from cyriana

RioRussell

06-03-2009, 04:01 PM

my vote:
www.ign.com: emphasize 'unparalleled active combat system'
www.wizards.com: emphasize 'real dnd experience'
www.tentonhammer.com: emphasize '2.5x the content and easy levelling system'

Grosbeak07

06-03-2009, 04:02 PM

If there are DDO banner ads, they should be like those ads that you can never close, the more you click the more screens that pop up. :D

Although I have no idea who they are these days, I would suggest the web sites of popular PC gaming magazines and popular game retailers.

BattleCircle

06-03-2009, 04:03 PM

Just curious, but can you put a banner add on your own page of facebook?

Just asking since DDO already has a page there

Tolero

06-03-2009, 04:03 PM

If there are DDO banner ads, they should be like those ads that you can never close, the more you click the more screens that pop up. :D

Non-sequitor for a moment: did you seriously just suggest we make a DDrOll? :eek:

Arianrhod

06-03-2009, 04:04 PM

A note about the votes for Wizards.com -

I know, they're 4th edition, and many players who prefer 3.5 may not bother to go there anymore. But some probably still do, and with the (apparent) abandonment of the online gaming table for 4.0, some of those may be looking for a way to move their game online...

Borror0

06-03-2009, 04:05 PM

YouTube

If some low level unimportant Free to Play MMO can afford it, I assume DDO can, right?

Big-Dex

06-03-2009, 04:05 PM

I was hoping that asking this question would imply that some walls were crumbling :P

Well... that is something then.. isn't it. Thanks for the glimmer of hope. :)

How big is the wall we are talking about here? :D

Dex was here. :cool:

Sorry... can't help the questions... was born curious. :p

Theboz

06-03-2009, 04:06 PM

How about Website like

Youtube.com since we do have people who like to post video's on that site. The ads also have to have something that DDO has and no other game has and thats realtime combat, it needs to stand out from the crowd.

Dslreports.com- A alot of people visit that site, and has a huge WoW forum, along with another 60 or so forums of various types.

Then sites like Google and yahoo homepages.

The poeple that go to sites that cater to the MMO scene, probally already know about DDO, they dont have the enough people that vistit them to make much of a diffenrence to the overall subscription base of DDO.

Grosbeak07

06-03-2009, 04:07 PM

Non-sequitor for a moment: did you seriously just suggest we make a DDrOll? :eek:

Just brainstorming is all :)

Belwaar

06-03-2009, 04:09 PM

Yup, agreeing with:

Yahoo.com
Google.com
Youtube.com
IGN.com

Then adding:
gamepro.com
gamespot.com
ebgames.com
facebook.com
myspace.com

Optimistic_Guardian

06-03-2009, 04:10 PM

hm... AD-art anyone?

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6846

The_Cataclysm

06-03-2009, 04:12 PM

CNet's sites (which would include GameSpot and GameFAQs). I know that Turbine has advertised on them before with LOTRO.

TenTonHammer (or any other site about MMOs).

XKCD (or any other web comic with the proper fanbase).

Tharlak

06-03-2009, 04:14 PM

IGN
Wizards
Escapist

Actually I'm liking the idea of the social networking sites. Can DDO have a myspace page or facebook page.

From this morning's CNN report: In April, Nielsen measured MySpace visitors spending 384 million minutes viewing video on the site, with an average of 38.8 minutes spent per viewer and 120.8 million total video streams.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/gigaom/media/2009_06_02_myspace_and_facebook_two_very_different _approaches_to_video.html

That's a lot of time people are glued to the sight.

moorewr

06-03-2009, 04:14 PM

wizards.com
google.com (search context ads)
massively.com
mmorpg.com
tentonhammer.com
slashdot.org

Raiderone

06-03-2009, 04:16 PM

Gamespot
Gamespy (but usually has spyware)
RPG Vault (think that's right)

Memnir

06-03-2009, 04:22 PM

Penny Arcade
1UP
Television (okay, these could not be banner ads - but dammit, run some ads on TV!)

ArkoHighStar

06-03-2009, 04:25 PM

I was hoping that asking this question would imply that some walls were crumbling :P

then get some explosives because pulling them down with a dull spoon is taking too long:D

BattleCircle

06-03-2009, 04:26 PM

IGN
Wizards
Escapist

Actually I'm liking the idea of the social networking sites. Can DDO have a myspace page or facebook page..

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Dungeons-Dragons-Online/22694160991?ref=ts

Lerincho

06-03-2009, 04:27 PM

then get some explosives because pulling them down with a dull spoon is taking too long:D

those aren't spoons they are using.....

Mockduck

06-03-2009, 04:28 PM

I think the big three would be:

Wizards of the Coast's web site (get pnp players to find this game)

Massively.com - the number one MMO site on the net

Kotaku.com - probably the best place to find video game news. Also, a big international audience.

Alavatar

06-03-2009, 04:30 PM

www.ctrlaltdel-online.com (http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com)
www.lfgcomic.com (http://www.lfgcomic.com)
www.nuklearpower.com (http://www.nuklearpower.com)

EKKM

06-03-2009, 04:31 PM

wizards.com
giantitp (order of the stick)
http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/

OT but for those that haven't read it, check out the screencapped Lord of the Rings at twentysided - absolutely hilarious: http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=14

oberon131313

06-03-2009, 04:38 PM

www.wizards.com
www.g4tv.com
www.massively.com

Renegade66

06-03-2009, 04:40 PM

Yahoo Mail Side Banner
Same on other top mail servers.

Showcase the combat system (e.g. Sorcerer running, jumping, rotating in mid-air, then casting a Fireball in the middle of a mixed mob of undead or ice flensers & mephits). Other games = walk up, stop, start casting, cast, mob starts to run at you, stand and start casting again, get beat on, cast, rinse and repeat until you or the mob is dead.

Kashi

06-03-2009, 04:53 PM

I don't often go to gaming websites other than this one, so these aren't quite focused on the audience, but perhaps they could be useful.

http://www.avclub.com/

http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/

http://www.brokenpicturetelephone.com

http://www.indiamike.com/ (Okay, this one probably will not reach a lot of MMORPG players, but I'm checking it all the time cause I'm excited about a trip later this summer.)

Ranmaru2

06-03-2009, 04:56 PM

www.thatguywiththeglasses.com - Check here almost daily for new videos! :D

and as for why? The site is practically dedicated to nerds and already advertises other Free MMOs, so I don't see why DDO would be bad to advertise there. Also, anymore funding to allow the awesomeness of this site to grow is always welcome in my opinion :D

Babidi

06-03-2009, 05:00 PM

www.gamespy.com
www.gamespot.com
www.amazon.com

Guildmaster_Kadish

06-03-2009, 05:06 PM

Gamespy, Magic: The Gathering, and XKCD would seem like receptive audiences to DDO on websites that receive lots of traffic.

Ganak

06-03-2009, 05:24 PM

http://www.ign.com
http://www.gamespot.com

akla_thornfist

06-03-2009, 05:38 PM

IGN
massivly
mmorpg

i visit these sites more than most but im no marketing expert.

geoffhanna

06-03-2009, 05:46 PM

facebook
facebook
facebook

QuantumFX

06-03-2009, 05:57 PM

Commercials on Hulu.

moorewr

06-03-2009, 06:06 PM

say, why don't you promote the turbine twitter and send DDO themed tweets?

stewy1956

06-03-2009, 06:16 PM

www.myspace.com
www.bing.com (bing search engine
www.ebay.com

banner with entro movie would be nice :D:rolleyes:

Maxwell1380

06-03-2009, 06:25 PM

I would like to suggest TheEscapist.com that way next year they will know who the hell we are!

JakLee7

06-03-2009, 06:44 PM

massively.com
mmorpg.com
& since OOTS doesn't have web advertisments how about Girl Genius? (girlgeniusonline.com)

JakLee7

06-03-2009, 06:46 PM

Gamespy, Magic: The Gathering, and XKCD would seem like receptive audiences to DDO on websites that receive lots of traffic.

Which brings up an interesting point..... I think it should go without saying that WOTC, Atari & Turbine websites should have adds/links (yeah I know one of them at least does) in easy to find & obvious locations.....

GreyRogue

06-03-2009, 06:52 PM

www.penny-arcade.com (especially after Kate's "appearance" there :cool:)
www.nuklearpower.com
www.wizards.com/dnd

The last one especially seems like good D&D cross-pollination to me.

toughguyjoe

06-03-2009, 06:53 PM

Giantitp.com My reasoning for this one is certainly sound. A large base of DND fans read this web comic religiously. It is popular, and also if it is looked at long enough, you can see that other MMORPGS(EVE, WoW, and several smaller web based ones) regularly put banners on this site.

Newgrounds.com This site has a huge following, and i mean, thats where i was the LOTRO add. If LOTRO is good enough for Newgrounds, then by golly we are too.

YouTube.com Youtube is a marketing goldmine. Milliosn of hits on youtube ranging across all genres prove that so many different demographics frequent the site that a HUGE number of companies would find their target demographics using the site, making it a worthwile endeavor.

The_Ick

06-03-2009, 06:58 PM

mmorpg.com
massively.com
gamespot.com

greystone306

06-03-2009, 07:26 PM

Which brings up an interesting point..... I think it should go without saying that WOTC, Atari & Turbine websites should have adds/links (yeah I know one of them at least does) in easy to find & obvious locations.....

Never on Atari, most of the problems are due to their name, I'm hoping that maybe part of the delay in mod 9 is replacing Atari.. either with turbine having their own publishing rights or another backer.. *&^#$ Atari..

since DDO doesnt seem to be listed at the Atari US site anymore this may be a good sign.. we shall see how they deal with Champions Online, since they are the publisher for it as well

Quanefel

06-03-2009, 07:46 PM

Myspace.com

Girlgamer.com

Youtube.com

Wormblood

06-03-2009, 07:48 PM

Just my two cents to tap markets probably not normally looked at. I think this would make a big difference.

www.catfancy.com
www.rowdyroddypiper.com
www.weightwatchers.com
www.modernluddite.com

Stormanne

06-03-2009, 07:50 PM

facebook.com
escapistmagazine.com
warcry.com
mmorpg.com
yahoo.com
google.com

basically, if it has a .com at the end of it and is related to gaming or can be used to search for games, DDO should have a banner on it

DagazUlf

06-03-2009, 08:10 PM

ENWorld.org (http://enworld.org)

Kraldor

06-03-2009, 08:16 PM

GiantITP.com - site with very big following of DnD players
IGN/Gamespot/Gamespy/Other gaming sites
xkcd - the kind of people who read that comic would play this game

NOT MMORPG.com or other MMO specific sites - people who go there are lambasted by a billion other mmorpg pictures so it wouldn't have much effect.

Wizards especially should be promoting this game anyway.

Quanefel

06-03-2009, 08:37 PM

Myspace.com

Girlgamer.com

Youtube.com

Wizards of the Coast should already be advertising DDO so I left them out. As a side note, what about this:

Famous D&D players include professional basketball player Tim Duncan, comedian Stephen Colbert, musician Moby, and actors Vin Diesel, Matthew Lillard, Mike Myers, Patton Oswalt, Wil Wheaton and Robin Williams.

Why not see about getting one of these gentlemen to consider doing an AD spot or something for DDO?

Bloodhaven

06-03-2009, 08:58 PM

Ign

Krell

06-03-2009, 09:02 PM

massively.com
mmorpg.com
tentonhammer.com

What he said.

Ollathir

06-03-2009, 09:11 PM

Search engines are nice, I would think more exposure than any individual site and more bang for the buck:
Bing.com (http://www.bing.com/search?q=mmorpg&FORM=MSNH11&mkt=en-us)
Google.com (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=mmorpg&aq=2&oq=mmo&aqi=n1g10)
Yahoo.com (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=mmorpg&fr=yfp-t-501-s&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8)

after that I'd think:
The escapist.com (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/)
Ign.com (http://www.ign.com/)

was going to add WotC, but just not sure right place.

Evisle

06-03-2009, 09:13 PM

Agree with most of the suggestions here but how about thinking outside the general gaming community and going mainstream.

Imagine my surprise a few weeks ago to see an EVEONLINE ad on my Entertainment Weekly site.

So maybe some sites like

ew.com
people.com
msn.com

Just my two cents.

Dark_Helmet

06-03-2009, 09:37 PM

Question: What are three websites you visit that you would like to see DDO banner ads appear on, and why?

Optional Question: Don't have any sites you visit regularly? Then what are three websites you'd like to see DDO banner ads appear on, whether you visit or not!

Optional:
1) GOOGLE.COM - get into the top of that search engine for anything MMORPG, D&D, 3.5, etc.
2) Wizards.COM - Get on their front page for the PnP people. I really think you have an audience for all who hate 4e ;)
3) Wow (or other MMORPGs- a banner that says "Griefers getting you down? why be killed over and over again by campers when you can group in an instance that is virtually grief free?"

Dirac

06-03-2009, 09:47 PM

cnn.com
nytimes.com
theonion.com

maybe -
ebay.com
google.com

Who are you trying to target? I don't recommend advertising more to gamers at all. They already know what is going on and will try DDO again as word of mouth gets around (assuming MOD 9 and SS are awesome). If you do, then Ren has a good point about emphasizing how the gameplay is different. However, there is enormous competition for this group, who are often young. Everyone is trying to woo them, and they have little loyalty, always trying the next thing.

If you are going after geeks in general then xkcd, phdcomics, and others like that is a good idea. But again, you might be reaching a lot of people who know what is going on. If you are going after hard-core DnD'ers, then you have the WotC coast site. This is a no brainer, but they are a business partner anyway. You don't really need to reach many other DnD sites.

I cannot stress enough that at least some effort needs to be made to reach middle-aged ex-DnD players. They may not play DnD any more and may not play video games at all. No one is advertising MMO's to these people. They have an enormous amount of disposable income, want to start recovering their youth from the 70's-80's, and might have old DnD friends that have since moved away with whom they could play again using this venue.

Not only have these people never heard of tentonhammer, etc., they don't even know anyone who has heard of these places. They would play DDO because they used to play DnD and this might be a way to reach back to the good old days. They would have no interest in any other games and have strong loyalty. While it is worth advertising to people who play MMO's emphasizing the cool action, you really want to advertise to people who don't care about "MMOs" but want to play DnD over the internet.

Let me also emphasize Memnir's comment on advertising on TV. No late night cable re-run of Star Trek: Next Generation should run without a DDO spot.

Mithran

06-03-2009, 10:09 PM

http://www.wizards.com/
http://www.dailykos.com/
http://www.theonion.com/content/index

The last was someone else's idea, but it was a really good one, and I'm sold on the concept.

cdbd3rd

06-03-2009, 10:38 PM

Paizo.com (http://paizo.com/paizo)
Yahoo.com (http://groups.yahoo.com/) (especially if can get tied onto Yahoo Groups page)

...and that other site that got so grumpy when we won their contest. Again. ;) ( Escapist. (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/) Yeah, that was the one.)

One afterthought: Maxim magazine (http://www.maxim.com/gaming)

arminius

06-03-2009, 11:06 PM

You don't need gaming sites, or at least gaming sites exclusively. People who read gaming sites already know about DDO, or think they do.

You need sites where a buttload of smart, creative, dare I say, geeky people congregate.

That means:

http://boingboing.net/
http://slashdot.org/
http://www.wired.com/
http://www.aintitcool.com/
http://www.fark.com/
http://gizmodo.com/

Humor:

http://www.theonion.com/
http://www.cracked.com/
http://www.collegehumor.com/

You can capture darn near 100% of the political geek traffic on the internet in just 4 sites, and their ads are quite cheap:

Right:
http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/
http://www.ace.mu.nu/

Left:
http://www.dailykos.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

In addition, there are probably a lot of specialty sites like graphic design, music, skateboarding, movie afficionado and other types of creative people / niche cultural sites that I am not as familiar with. It would seem to me that their ads would be cheaper too.

I just think that putting all the eggs in the gaming site basket is a mistake. I think that gamers have old games that they are loyal to and new games they want to learn about to try, but rarely are caught by old games they want to learn about to try. For example, my eyes glaze over at every WoW ad I see.

_

Kambuk

06-03-2009, 11:24 PM

http://enworld.org

The only 3/3.5/4th ed PnP website I ever look at.

82,554 members on their forums talking about mostly 3rd and 4th ed DnD
Peak of 4,029 concurrent users on the 9th of april.

Kambuk

kamimitsu

06-03-2009, 11:52 PM

www.fark.com (http://www.fark.com) - great visibility to geeks
www.giantitp.com (http://www.giantitp.com) - Order of the Stick rules
www.cnn.com (http://www.cnn.com) - the whole world is watching

Who are you, and what have you done with my bookmarks?!

http://www.fark.com
http://www.giantitp.com
and recently
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/ (Zero Punctuation is a riot!)

I doubt WotC would be happy, but you might even try:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG

BlueBadger

06-04-2009, 12:35 AM

I was hoping that asking this question would imply that some walls were crumbling :P

aka mod 9 to be released sooner then soon?!?

DavydM

06-04-2009, 07:43 AM

First 2 are easy

www.mmorpg.com
www.tv.com

Then either

www.thepiratebay.org :) or
www.mininova.org :)

2 of the most popular sites on the net :)

bellack

06-04-2009, 07:54 AM

Blizarrd.com :)

Psyk0sisS

06-04-2009, 07:56 AM

Guildportal (http://www.guildportal.com)

Xfire (http://www.xfire.com)

These might be a lost cause, cause if you're at either of those...you're probably playing another game but ya never know :)

Tylarra

06-04-2009, 07:58 AM

www.google.com
www.mmorpg.com
www.facebook.com

Steiner-Davion

06-04-2009, 07:59 AM

those aren't spoons they are using.....

They're Sporks?

Seriously my votes would be (not in order):

www.massively.com
www.ign.com
www.gamespot.com
www.wotc.com
www.giantitp.com Order of the Stick for the win!!!
www.youtube.com
www.gamespy.com
www.mmorpg.com
www.tentonhammer.com

edit: Whoever mentioned advertisements on HULU was a pure genious.

Kalanth

06-04-2009, 08:10 AM

Question: What are three websites you visit that you would like to see DDO banner ads appear on, and why?

Easy. MMORPG.com, WoTC.com, and Penandpapergames.com. Those are three major sources I go to for my gaming, be it digital or PnP. I know that WoTC and PnP Games fans tend to "not speak about" DDO, but I feel that advertising in those areas would spark some level of interest from those that are not "gaming purists."

Optional Question: Don't have any sites you visit regularly? Then what are three websites you'd like to see DDO banner ads appear on, whether you visit or not!

Why not just slap the add up on Google, Yahoo, Youtube, and Comcast. All mainstream sites that run banners from time to time. For example, I would have never known anything about Modern Warfare 2 coming out if it were not for the banner on Youtube that linked to a video ad. That sold me to preorder the game and I think it would draw attention to DDO. Give me the music and video I would even design the add for you.

kaidendager

06-04-2009, 08:16 AM

www.BestBuy.com
www.Kongregate.com
www.Newgrounds.com

pogo.com

Commercials on Hulu.

Also an excellent target audience.

Azdraugnor

06-04-2009, 08:16 AM

Gamefaqs.com
Escapistmagazine.com
Gamespot.com

baylensman

06-04-2009, 08:29 AM

Not specific site but types of sites:

Search engine start pages (many people use yahoo google msn as home pages)
Guild hosting sites (guild portal guild universe ect)
Game review sites (mmorpg.com TTH.com gamespy et al)
Maybe some retailer sites who will stock the game and gamer cards (yeah right)
Social sites like Myspace, facebook ect.

Another idea, many of us have websites for our small businesses or personal pages
give us a script for a well done banner and let us do it (Gives us a days play credit for each hit?)

Widdle

06-04-2009, 08:37 AM

To pick just three it would be:

Gamespot.com then Mmorpg.com and then Weebls-stuff.com

To add reasoning to this (and also two other sites that I feel are worthy) I would suggest generally (in order of visitor numbers):

Gamespot and/or IGN ( they have similar visitor numbers from the webstats I found (see note))
Mmorpg.com (good numbers of visitors and "target" audience. Also higher visitor numbers than tentonhammer or massively after a quick check (see note))
Weebls-stuff.com (good visitor numbers and funny, plus comes with gravy for all you pie needs)
RPG.net (bigger through put of visitors than Wizards/Paizo/enworld etc etc)
Massively.com

The last three have the same numbers of visitors so my choice is based on the my perceived demographic, and creating a range of audience (Gamer, Mmorpg'er and more gamers (with a sense of humour)).

Having checked some stuff (as I couldn't remember) Wizards don't do banners, apart from their own games, and they are now totally 4th Edition so they likely wouldn't want to advertise the older edition (my opinion). I would suggest Paizo for the Pathfinder RPG (3.5 D&D with changes) but again no banners.......
I'd love to see DDO banners on GiantTiP or Xcvd but they don't do them. I even went and turned all my ad blocking off to check.
Finally sites like enworld or theescapist have low traffic numbers. But all this is less important than the websites relative hit rate for banner ads surely and their demographics (something I know nothing about).

Note: My quotes as to traffic of these sites is taken from some internet sites so is likely wrong and utterly spurious

<Trundles away to hide back in his corner>

baylensman

06-04-2009, 08:44 AM

akla_thornfist

06-04-2009, 08:50 AM

tell ya what send my guild 100 large scales and i will cover my car with ddo banners:D

Steiner-Davion

06-04-2009, 09:00 AM

Thinking about my previous posts, While game review sites do have a lot of traffic from other gamers who might be interested in giving DDO a try, every one i visited that has and article or page about Turbine/DDO includes a link to DDO.com in the articles/reviews. So it may be a wasted effort/ expense. Not flaming just thinking if its the best use of resources.

While your point is valid, they have to have heard of DDO to search for the article and/or review, as there is no other real easy way to find it, as it doens't jump out at you on those sites.

Drfirewater79

06-04-2009, 09:47 AM

[CENTER]Welcome to Tell The Team!

Question: What are three websites you visit that you would like to see DDO banner ads appear on, and why?

Optional Question: Don't have any sites you visit regularly? Then what are three websites you'd like to see DDO banner ads appear on, whether you visit or not!

1) IGN.com - prolly the leader in video game information and they have almost nothing about ddo

2)spiketv.com - one of the most visited tv sites by men and women and a popular tv station for video gamers be it that they host the VGA's

3)www.gamewinners.com - great gaming cheats and hints site gets lots of viewers so a side link to ddo info would get alot of hits daily.

4) facebook banner adds

5) myspace banner adds

6) Pimpanime.com banner adds (cause anime lovers especially english speaking ones love fantasy games and mmos)

but you should also look at how you advertise

best features of ddo are fast paced hack n slash action non of that wow/guild wars like click and wait click and wait junk ... graphics are sweet in this game and the couple preview vids we have are nice but game play vids maybe even host a game play video contest and have the top 5 sent to ign and other sites as promo videos for the game.maybe include a game recorder that we can use so everyone is using the same file format and people who would love to make a welcome to stormreach video have the ability to do so.

promo posters are fun for the current population but it wont bring new people to the game like a good youtube video will.

I personally would love to spend a weekend making video of adventure areas and raids for the purpose of bringing people to this game just dont have the money to buy expensive recorders .... :(

and if i am willing to do it for no pay i am sure there are at least 40 other people (you know 30% of our currently playing people {joke}) that would love to do it as well.

i would love to make a ddo commercial if someone wants to hook me up with a free game recorder.

Drfirewater79

06-04-2009, 09:51 AM

First 2 are easy

www.thepiratebay.org :) or
www.mininova.org :)

2 of the most popular sites on the net :)

i agree with these too i am on mininova at least twice a day myself

The_Phenx

06-04-2009, 10:53 AM

Since I am an advertising guru I thought I would weigh in here and give a multi-part plan to help things out a little more than just suggesting a few websites to spend $100 on. These suggestions are designed to be low capital high result, since I know you guys are on a tight budget.

Dont mind the type-o's (im sneaking this in at work, no time to edit)

_____________________________________

I would do more than just internet banners.

But they are a good start, and I wouldn't just do three I would simultaneously hit all the major sites... saturation and repetition is the key. Work out a multi month buy in package deal.

mmorpg.com
tentonhammer.com
Giantitp.com
Massively.com
Etc...

Before you start any media blitz, you need to make sure your product is up to snuff. I would get the mod 9 package ready to roll out... release it...have it out for a solid week (to iron out any immediate wrinkles) THEN release the advertising.

The last thing you want is to attract new customers and have the servers brought down a bunch right when they arrive.

Mod 9 is a nice draw for us, but low draw for them, since they have never played the game, so a little new content isnt much of a draw, niehter is reach level 20" It needs to be advertised on what makes the game more desirable to an outsider than any other. Focus on the active combat, grouping systems, graphics, and gameplay, AND the D&D heritage its based off of.

__________________________________________

I would start producing videos of quest run throughs, tips/tricks, and generate an Turbine official DDO You Tube Page... To save on production costs, I would set them up as user generated walk throughs (with voiceover) contests and give away a free month.

This has a great two fold effect. Newbs can have help without begging. Folks who are just curious can see actual gameplay, WITHOUT downloading the 6 gigs of data and setting their computer up. Get them hooked in 30 sec vs waiting on lots of download time, possible install and billing glitches, and possible server downtime.

______________________

I would look into doing small pop displays with free trial cards nationwide in comic/gaming shops. No dvd's just a letter sized stand up display with attached single post card sized tear off cards to save on prodruction/delivery costs. Offer 10% off your first month and put free trial details on them.

Looking at maybe $2-$4 ea for those. SO for a couple grand your set.

______________________

Find something fun cool... maybe fist sized foam 20 sided dice with ddo.com info on to hand out at conventions.

______________________

As a possible captal generator. I would also work out a deal with one of the custom action figure sites, so that the player can order through turbine a one of a kind real life version of your little avatar.

______________________

Anyway thats just a start, and what I could come up with in 10 minutes, if I think of anything else I will post it up.

OH AND GET THIS THREAD IN THE DEV TRACKER!!!

tihocan

06-04-2009, 11:25 AM

Larcomtech

06-04-2009, 11:30 AM

Wizards of The Coast: D&D Site (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/)
EVERYWHERE ELSE

GoldyGopher

06-04-2009, 11:46 AM

Turbine has informed the player base the lack of advertising outside the Turbine Web-Site is because only Atari has the ability legally to do such advertising. I realize that is paraphrasing a number of forums posts but I think it is essentially what you have told us.
So if the above statement is/was true what has changed that would allow Turbine to do advertising now that they couldn’t have done say a year ago?

As for locations I would put your Banner Advertisements:
Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Targeted Advertising would provide a broader pool of potential players than hitting a few web-sites that don’t get the number of unique hits you need to attract new players. Another words, IMHO, if you hit the usual sites, you are already advertising to people who know your product exists, and really aren’t going to look for a new game, rather go after a much larger pool of players.

Claver

06-04-2009, 12:01 PM

A number of people have mentioned Wizards of the Coast as a good website for advertising. The thing to remember is that WOTC has a number of games in addition to Dungeons and Dragons – one of their most popular being a fantasy card game called Magic the Gathering. Turbine would be well served to try to generate some interest in DDO among the relatively large Magic the Gathering gaming population in addition to those already playing PnP D&D.

Magic can be a social game. Those playing in tournaments interact with scores of people who talk about common interests – sports, movies, world of warcraft. Why not add DDO to the list for some word of mouth advertising?

Although I am no longer an active Magic player I still frequent a website devoted to rumors of the new cards and mechanics appearing in future sets called:
www.mtgsalvation.com
About every 4 months Wizards of the Coasts releases a new set of Magic cards. In the month proceeding a new release www.mtgsalvation.com has over a thousand hits a day. Turbine could stretch its advertising dollar by only paying for banners on the months prior to a new release. This is a fan based website so I’m guessing the costs wouldn’t be exorbitant.

Another location to consider is www.hulu.com For those who don’t know, this is a streaming television website. I use it to catch up on episodes of Fringe and Heroes and am gradually working my way through the Firefly series. Television banner adds probably wouldn’t be cost effective across the board but Turbine could probably make some guesses about their demographic audience and select a few types of shows for advertising – say some Science Fiction and Fantasy shows. I’m going to make an unsubstantiated generalization but based on my experiences it seems like more 30 somethings are playing DDO than 12 year old kids AND the 30 somethings I know who are technosavy, enjoy Sci-Fi, and who I could most easily envision playing an MMO consume their television through www.hulu.com.

I don’t really have a good third suggestion for where to post advertising. I frequent www.collegefootballnews.com but I don’t think that would be a good place to recruit DDO players. I also visit www.flickr.com daily because of my interest in amateur photography but again I see no direct connection here with DDO. I will say, at its heart, DDO is a social networking engine – more so than other MMOs. The focus on groups/parties and voice chat bears some similarity to instant messaging and chat rooms of various websites. In DDO, we just happen to like to kill things as we socialize. Maybe advertize on www.goarmy.com Turbine should seek out social networking sites that offer group chat and advertize in those locations as well, as there may be some overlap in common interests.

On a side note, why are we even talking banner adds Turbine? You should go viral video. Instead of having fan based poster contest have a contest of stupid human trick videos related to DDO to populate www.youtube.com. Or maybe some Viking kittens (or someone juggling cats) singing about DDO. Something funny and ridiculous – do a Techno Viking spoof – and let the internet do the advertising for you.

Claver

06-04-2009, 12:17 PM

I cannot stress enough that at least some effort needs to be made to reach middle-aged ex-DnD players. They may not play DnD any more and may not play video games at all. No one is advertising MMO's to these people. They have an enormous amount of disposable income, want to start recovering their youth from the 70's-80's, and might have old DnD friends that have since moved away with whom they could play again using this venue.

Not only have these people never heard of tentonhammer, etc., they don't even know anyone who has heard of these places. They would play DDO because they used to play DnD and this might be a way to reach back to the good old days. They would have no interest in any other games and have strong loyalty. While it is worth advertising to people who play MMO's emphasizing the cool action, you really want to advertise to people who don't care about "MMOs" but want to play DnD over the internet.

This is a very good point and was true for me.

DasLurch

06-04-2009, 12:23 PM

Question: What are three websites you visit that you would like to see DDO banner ads appear on, and why?

1) CBSsports.com- it's where I run my fantasy league from
2) amazon.com- I tend to shop there more than I shoould...
3) ebgames.com- It's just a big game site. Pick one and go with it :)

Optional Question: Don't have any sites you visit regularly? Then what are three websites you'd like to see DDO banner ads appear on, whether you visit or not!

What are the biggest sites out ther? Yahoo? AoL? Facebook? How's that for 3?

Montoya

06-04-2009, 12:26 PM

I personally like gamespot.com

So..
gamespot.com
tentonhammer
gamespy

soupertc

06-04-2009, 12:49 PM

OK my joke didn't fly to well and my post went POOF.....so here are some real ones...

G4TV.com
Yahoo
SpikeTV.com
CollegeHumor.com
YouTube

I still think my 1st post was an excellent idea.

I also want to mention I feel semi honored that I was visted by The Cube.....it was my 1st.

Steiner-Davion

06-04-2009, 12:49 PM

Turbine has informed the player base the lack of advertising outside the Turbine Web-Site is because only Atari has the ability legally to do such advertising. I realize that is paraphrasing a number of forums posts but I think it is essentially what you have told us.
So if the above statement is/was true what has changed that would allow Turbine to do advertising now that they couldn’t have done say a year ago?

As Tolero mentioned ealier in this thread in response to Big-Dex's question, she hoped that this installment of "Tell the Team" would have implied that the walls of SS may be crumbling. That statement is very telling.

To me it sounds like Turbine may finally be about to be allowed to advertise DDO, in addition to some other things.

Now you heard it here first, my prediciton is we have Mod 9 by mid July (right in time for me to be moving and thus not have acces to my computer let alone DDO).

weyoun

06-04-2009, 12:51 PM

All porn sites. You know that they pay most for click-throughs right? You might want to consider it, might even pay for a bus-trip to see the Patriots.

Oh you mean where you should put banner adds to advertise for ddo?

Google baby. Google all the way.

Actually, I stand by my first answer. Think of all the dorks who can't get any action surfing for porn and viola, D&D, the thing that kept them from getting any action in the first place.

soupertc

06-04-2009, 12:55 PM

weyoun

06-04-2009, 01:03 PM

That's where I was goin with my 1st post.....but someone didn't agree with it.

Right because DDO is a family game right? That's why we have the well-endowed succubus gracing the home page and the header. Hey I like it, I'm not complaining at all.

Taurnish

06-04-2009, 02:12 PM

I agree with this poster as stated below :D
My top 3 choices:

wizards.com - attract the pnp players :D
mmorpg.com - attract mmo gamers :D
escapist.com - attract normal gamers, and play the 'we won the competition' angle.

if I had more than 3 I would also add:

massively.com
tentonhammer.com
gamespot.com

but wouldn't it be better to buy keywords on google ads? Those are everywhere! Suggested keywords to buy:

mmorpg
dnd

Garth

Lorien_the_First_One

06-04-2009, 02:39 PM

wizards.com - attract the pnp players
mmorpg.com - attract mmo gamers
google.com - isn't that where everyone goes for everything?

Milolyen

06-04-2009, 03:09 PM

I would suggest staying away from the gaming sites. They get bombarded with ads for games as it is and I think would likly get ignored there more so than other sites. Other than yahoo to check email and take a look at some headlines I don't really surf the internet that much so not really sure which high traffic places really do banner adds.

Milolyen

geoffhanna

06-04-2009, 05:51 PM

drunkduck.com
icanhascheezburger.com

oh - on the off chance you missed my earlier post in this thread ...

facebook
facebook
facebook

JakLee7

06-04-2009, 06:32 PM

icanhascheezburger.com

PURFEKT CHOYS

on a side note I think some people had some very good ideas about skipping the gamer -specific sites, as they will likely already know (or think they know) about DDO. I think that you cannot have adverts though without having an add that focuses on at least 1 of the gamer-centric sites as you know that tons of people who might try DDO would be put off when they ask their "gamer" buddy who has never heard of it.....

But there are some very high traffic sites (UFC.com, WEC.com, CNN.com, Naruto.com, Thepiratebay.org, ect) that don't directly cater to gamers BUT would have a sizable portion of their fanbase that might be interested in trying it.... After reading some of the comments from before I will change my reccomendation

icanhascheezburger.com
thepiratebay.org
tentonhammer.org
(and one of these I visit daily.... I will give you a hint at what it is, I like ninjas and I couldn't ever pick up that much weight so it has to be ceiling cat FTW).

Quanefel

06-04-2009, 07:27 PM

wizards.com - attract the pnp players
mmorpg.com - attract mmo gamers
google.com - isn't that where everyone goes for everything?

I still feel a good one would be:

www.girlgamer.com <------Attract more female mmo gamers, yes? :D

Chazzie

06-04-2009, 07:57 PM

Pogo.com

Adult based game site that has a ton of free Java games.
They have a payside also with no adds but the free side still has 100k+ players on a Monday 67% of the player base are adults. they said in a update E mail I got about two years ago. Yes I still play there =)

greystone306

06-04-2009, 11:27 PM

Fark.com

Deriaz

06-06-2009, 07:25 PM

It seems everyone has said the good ones, like Wizards, Top Ten Hammer, etc.

Though I will say, if you're also looking for younger users (13 to whatever), there's a site called Kongregate ( www.kongregate.com ) that I frequent (I'm a mod/curator there).

I've seen Dungeons and Dragons ads displayed for certain games, put up by Wizards. I think if you talked to the Greers, Jim and Emily (The creators of the site), and say that you might have more D&D stuff you'd like to advertise, they'd be totally welcome to the idea. It could be a win/win for everyone.

But the users seems to be 13 - 18 majority-wise. . . I don't know if that's what you're wanting.

Two others off the top of my head: DeviantArt and possible Yahoo. dA is huge, so I think that's obvious. Yahoo is just kind of an "I don't even know" answer, cause I can't think of 3 sites.

-D

Borror0

06-07-2009, 01:02 AM

http://www.youtube.com/user/BooneOakley1
Talking about ads, I suggest you to check these guys out. They're awesome.

redoubt

06-17-2009, 05:35 PM

google and or yahoo -- high exposure
guild portal -- or whoever is big on that sort of thing now.
youtube -- high exposure

KoboldKiller

06-17-2009, 05:41 PM

Google
Yahoo
MSN

FreudoBaggins

06-17-2009, 05:53 PM

lots of great suggestions mentioned already.

One I didn't see was www.runescape.com ... now that DDO: EU is FtP, many of those players can get sucked into DDO the way they got sucked into Runescape. It will be like an upgrade (for them).

Crzydrew92

06-17-2009, 07:00 PM

www.msn.com

on the banner you could say something like "we're not going down without a fight!"...."free to play* ddo"

ok that was a bad joke....

maybe
www.kodak.com yes...i bought one of their printers becasue the ink was cheaper

www.gamestop.com make a banner ad here for the people who are looking to buy new games...if they would post it

sirgog

07-27-2009, 01:48 AM