An open letter to the DDO marketing team

[MaximusParthas]

nothing here to see folks. move along...

[goodspeed]

omg you sent white powder in an open letter to the marketing team!?!?

**** man they mess up a bit but no reason to go whippn powder all through the mail. Some of my letters could be in there. I lick those **** things to reuse!!!!

[gerardIII]

I hope your other "open letters" don't look like this one.

[MaximusParthas]

I hope your other "open letters" don't look like this one.

is there something wrong with this one?

[Callavan]

is there something wrong with this one?

Yes. It is not formatted (http://www.letterwritingguide.com/businessletterformat.htm) like a letter (http://www.letterwritingguide.com/friendlyletterformat.htm).

[karnokvolrath]

This is funny in ways that its souldnt be.

P.S. Armor "Skins" have been asked for since the start of time in this game. A rough estimate puts you at about the 153,352,111,002th person to suggest it.

[protokon]

I'd shell out TP to be able to upload my own theme song play when I enter a group.

best suggestion ever. just sayin' :)

[learst]

People dont mind spending money on things that appeal to them.

I agree.



Like armor kits for instance. (which was originally my idea btw (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=275468)) They DO mind being pushed into a corner were the only solution is to "buy your spensive stuffs"
Who wouldn't want to buy a mount? An apartment/house/castle? A wardrobe? High heeled leather boots with silver buckles (ooo my vanity is talking). There's a ton of things we'd drop our RL loot on in a heartbeat. I'd pay to rename some of my gear. Instead of epic midnight greetings I'd name em pain and suffering. I'd pay to name my handcrafted items. greensteel, house c or whatever. I'd pay to enter a gambling hall where I could potentially win big ticket items. I'd shell out TP to be able to upload my own theme song. Come on marketing. you guys can be more creative than this. Don't force us to pay for a cure to the disease you created. Thats what happened with pop ups and riddlin. Make us WANT to spend our money. Have'nt you heard the old saying:
You'll get more flies with honey than with vinegar."
Give us some honey ok? It'll make us smile. I promise.

Totally disagree. Maybe for some people, but not for all. Custom appearances means diddly squat to me, and how much I tweak my toon's appearance is only during character creation.

And people act differently in real life than in a game or virtual environment. Hence the Internet. Some folks in real-life don't mind dropping some cash on a nice lunch or drink but balks at $10 a month for a game. Some folks save and grind TP to buy adventure packs/slots to avoid dropping any money if possible, because it "feels" like an accomplishment - do you think these folks will spend money on customising?

Pardon my cynicism, but I have a hard time believing that selling custom kits in the DDO store is enough to keep the game afloat. When the first thing most forum folks tell new players is to "save TP for adventure packs. Get 3 packs - Deleras, Gianthold, Vale. Vet status, 32-point can be grinded. etc etc."

[MaximusParthas]

Yes. It is not formatted like a letter.

seriously? thats what you took the time to reply to this for? Are you like the format police or something? lm@o
next time don't bother to wipe the dust off my shoulder. I like it just where it is.


Please. to anyone who replies. save the cute quips and empty rhetoric. remember what mama used to tell us. If you have nothing nice to say.... don't say anything at all.

[MaximusParthas]

I agree.



Totally disagree. Maybe for some people, but not for all. Custom appearances means diddly squat to me, and how much I tweak my toon's appearance is only during character creation.

And people act differently in real life than in a game or virtual environment. Hence the Internet. Some folks in real-life don't mind dropping some cash on a nice lunch or drink but balks at $10 a month for a game. Some folks save and grind TP to buy adventure packs/slots to avoid dropping any money if possible, because it "feels" like an accomplishment - do you think these folks will spend money on customising?

Pardon my cynicism, but I have a hard time believing that selling custom kits in the DDO store is enough to keep the game afloat. When the first thing most forum folks tell new players is to "save TP for adventure packs. Get 3 packs - Deleras, Gianthold, Vale. Vet status, 32-point can be grinded. etc etc."

Your limiting the ideas to customizing. I didn't.

[Havok.cry]

I would think it more fruitful for you to appeal to our vanity rather than forcing us to purchase "upgrades, improvements, additions, potions, etc" from the ddo store just to be able to complete a quest.


Don't force us to pay for a cure to the disease you created.




What disease is only cureable from the store???? Other than sp pot addiction I mean. Seriously go to the market and get cure disease pots... while your at it, get some remove curse and lesser restoration pots. NOTHING in the DDO store is required to complete a quest.

[Callavan]

seriously? thats what you took the time to reply to this for? Are you like the format police or something? lm@o
next time don't bother to wipe the dust off my shoulder. I like it just where it is.


Please. to anyone who replies. save the cute quips and empty rhetoric. remember what mama used to tell us. If you have nothing nice to say.... don't say anything at all.

LAWL

And when Turbine doesn't bother to read your "letter" because you don't know how to use a paragraph, you can likewise keep that to yourself as well. I was even being quite nice about it, Mr. Marketing specialist.

Don't want an answer?

:)Don't ask the question.:)

/LAWL

[learst]

seriously? thats what you took the time to reply to this for? Are you like the format police or something? lm@o
next time don't bother to wipe the dust off my shoulder. I like it just where it is.


Please. to anyone who replies. save the cute quips and empty rhetoric. remember what mama used to tell us. If you have nothing nice to say.... don't say anything at all.

Well, as a marketing specialist with decades of experience, I'm sure you're well aware that it's all in the presentation. A well-worded and grammatically-appropriate (if not entirely accurate) would boost your credibility and increases the chance of folks reading your post properly rather than skimming through.

Personally, when I see a nice title like "open letter to the " and the first line of "backed by a couple of decades as a marketing specialist", the rest of the post is a bit of a letdown.

[learst]

Your limiting the ideas to customizing. I didn't.

What other things that you suggested besides customising? All your suggestions, such as appearances to mounts to naming to theme songs etc, I summed it up as "customising" as it allows a player to do something that has no bearing on game systems and it differs from the default.

[karnokvolrath]

seriously? thats what you took the time to reply to this for? Are you like the format police or something? lm@o
next time don't bother to wipe the dust off my shoulder. I like it just where it is.

Making things in a format thats readable is to your advantage.


Well, as a marketing specialist with decades of experience, I'm sure you're well aware that it's all in the presentation.

This ^^^^^ is perfectly stated. +1

Alot of people see "Wall-oText" and assume its garbage, hence missing any chance of making a good point buried in the nonesence.

I do like the idea of naming items, but of course handwraps couldnt be renamed, because it would break them.

But then again they are ALL already broken so whats it matter? :D


Edit - I had to come doubletake this thread because i was thinking "I bet this came out of Orien". Oddly enough, .........

[MaximusParthas]

NOTHING in the DDO store is required to complete a quest.

/sarcasm on
yes there is. Its called the quest pack. try doing vale without it.
/sarcasm off

on a serious reply. i bet sales in sp pots are picking up these days. particularly if you want to try epic lob, echrono or evon6, elite tod etc with anything less than an uber team. And even they have to suck pots like never before. I know it firsthand because sans elob i've done all those post u11. i was part of the first team here on orien to finish lob on normal and that alone took 60+ pots total.

[Oakianus]

This is funny in ways that its souldnt be.

P.S. Armor "Skins" have been asked for since the start of time in this game. A rough estimate puts you at about the 153,352,111,002th person to suggest it.

That is roughly 25 times the population of Earth.

In other words, you might be exaggerating just a little. :P

[karnokvolrath]

That is roughly 25 times the population of Earth.

In other words, you might be exaggerating just a little. :P


Just a Tad. :)


/sarcasm on
yes there is. Its called the quest pack. try doing vale without it.
/sarcasm off

on a serious reply. i bet sales in sp pots are picking up these days. particularly if you want to try epic lob, echrono or evon6, elite tod etc with anything less than an uber team. And even they have to suck pots like never before. I know it firsthand because sans elob i've done all those post u11. i was part of the first team here on orien to finish lob on normal and that alone took 60+ pots total.

Really, at least try and write things halfway normal, I am the last person ever to be the grammar police. My grammar is horrid, Im a bad speller, english was by far my worst subject in school. That all being said, i cant even look at what your doing seriously.

Edit - Im sure my post is just as much of a debacle, but try to use periods and capitols at least.

[MaximusParthas]

LAWL

And when Turbine doesn't bother to read your "letter" because you don't know how to use a paragraph, you can likewise keep that to yourself as well. I was even being quite nice about it, Mr. Marketing specialist.

Don't want an answer?

:)Don't ask the question.:)

/LAWL

If i really wanted to send a letter it wouldn't be a post lost in general forums. Also I'm quite familiar with how to format such a document. But thank you for the advice nonetheless. In all truthfulness if I could change the title to something less 4:30AMish in the morning I would. Alas title changes are not allowed.

[Havok.cry]

on a serious reply. i bet sales in sp pots are picking up these days. particularly if you want to try epic lob, echrono or evon6, elite tod etc with anything less than an uber team. And even they have to suck pots like never before. I know it firsthand because sans elob i've done all those post u11. i was part of the first team here on orien to finish lob on normal and that alone took 60+ pots total.

Epic is epic... the quest can be completed easily on lower difficulties with out the store... and as you DO find sp pots in the game you do not need to purchase them from the store even. Asking to be able to complete the most difficult content in the game without resource consumption is silly to me... As to your last line: every time I tried a new raid on my wiz it takes a ton of pots (my first TOD run cost me 10 pots by myself) and every time I try that same raid, pot count drops alot.

[MaximusParthas]

wow. nothing in my post was neither negative nor inflammatory. It started with "this is just my opinion"
but all I've seen so far is replies attacking everything from the structure of the content to my right to even have an opinion.
The General DDO Discussion truly is a danger zone. There should be warning signs posted like "Be opinionated at your own risk!"

[ThreeFinger]

Maximus is right - most of the replies have been off-topic. However, the OP did have some personality in the writing and since we're on the Internet, forum posts are faceless and open to interpretation by the readers. Verbal nuances do not translate well in writing even though it may have read well in your head as you typed it out. Oh, and, ummm, yeah, I agree.

[SHOCK_and_AWE]

The off-topic, nitpicking replies to the OP further lower my respect for this forum community.

I think the OP is on the right track. More customization is the way to go.

[MsEricka]

but it is backed by a couple of decades of experience as a marketing specialist.


snip wall of unformatted text

1) I call bull on your "decades of experience"
2) armor kits were not "your" idea, get over yourself
3) most, if not all, of your other suggestions are just rehashed ideas that people have been asking for for years. Nothing original here.
4) I thought marketing specialists were supposed to do research and come up with new ideas

tl;dr
I might agree, but you didn't think of it first

[Nedime]

1) I call bull on your "decades of experience"
2) armor kits were not "your" idea, get over yourself
3) most, if not all, of your other suggestions are just rehashed ideas that people have been asking for for years. Nothing original here.
4) I thought marketing specialists were supposed to do research and come up with new ideas

tl;dr
I might agree, but you didn't think of it first

No, sir.
A marketing specialist is supposed to enlarge its market so if Maximus suggestions have been asked for for years, a real marketing specialist should take them into consideration. And thus he appears to be a specialist because he understands what other players are asking for for so many years.

Marketing IS NOT R&D

[brlftz]

wow y'all...i thought OP had some interesting, creative ideas, which i think would make for a more interesting topic to discuss than letter format or other inanities.

the general concept of vanity versus shortcuts is a good one. shine yourself up all day and no one gets bothered. pay to win and i get very bothered. i think these are some great examples of variables they could play with that have nothing to do with PTW.

[Callavan]

wow y'all...i thought OP had some interesting, creative ideas, which i think would make for a more interesting topic to discuss than letter format or other inanities.

This would be a fair point, if the OP had not (1) implied some degree of formality in the title "open letter to Turbine" and then (2) asked for clarification when someone pointed out the "letter" was borked.

I gave an honest answer to what I assumed was an honest question from the OP. Anyone wanting to go all neurotic and assume it was an attack (including the OP) is welcome to do so, but the point still remains. Again, those not wanting an answer shouldn't ask the question. It also comes off as rather disingenuous to cite variations of the "golden rule" at the same time you're flaming someone who actually took you seriously enough to answer.


LOL

[goodspeed]

I don't know, for some reason the title reminded me of that NCIS episode.

I click on it and see floyd wall, I skim some, each sentence merging with another as my eyeballs scream in agony in their frozen still rage as they try and follow along without doing that cross eye effect.

Finally after any mention of the turbine store is an automatic free frame brain alarm from the 237 other (NONONONO PAY I WIN NO!!!! WOWIFIED STORE BUYS!!! WHY VIP!!! I'M QUITTING!!!) thread's, I just went with the title and ran with the NCIS thing that popped into my head.

Isn't it neat how both structure and the mention of something that tires the thinking can create something entirely different?

[Hambo]

is there something wrong with this one?

For one, you don't speak for everyone.

What Turbine needs to implement for those who want mounts is a pony ride in the Cerulean hills...

That, or a portal to LotRO... Instanced games don't need mounts.

Besides, who'd clean up all the road apples? :confused::D

[Ungood]

Come on marketing. you guys can be more creative than this. Don't force us to pay for a cure to the disease you create.

Lost me with this, What Disease did they create that you buy the cure for in the DDO store.

If you are refrences the Unholy Blight form Tome of the Blighted, the cure is right in the quest itself. You go the middle (bust though the roots) till you get to the pouch, and then use it in the Blessed Water fountains.

[Bodic]

What disease is only cureable from the store???? Other than sp pot addiction I mean. Seriously go to the market and get cure disease pots... while your at it, get some remove curse and lesser restoration pots. NOTHING in the DDO store is required to complete a quest.

Old sullys grog so you just were proven wrong.

[MaximusParthas]

For one, you don't speak for everyone.

What Turbine needs to implement for those who want mounts is a pony ride in the Cerulean hills...

That, or a portal to LotRO... Instanced games don't need mounts.

Besides, who'd clean up all the road apples? :confused::D

sigh... again. it starts with ... this is just my opinion.