How Should Obsidian Market Pillars of Eternity

[Grape_You_In_The_Mouth]

Just read Sensuki's post on marketing to MOBA players and the discussion of perfect sales timing.  How do we think Pillars of Eternity can best market the game?

What comes to mind instantly for me is Guardians of the Galaxy - it had a really catchy aesthetic to the images, included sexy elements, and seemed really fun.  My immediate second thought is PoE is going for classy, and they might hurt themselves even if they try to sell it as something different.

But why can't they sell it with bright colors, catchy heroism, and sexiness?  I'm still debating in my mind.

Let's give them your wisdom, hardcore RPG fans!

[Osvir]

If I'm not completely mistaken, Paradox handles this.

Regardless, the community has "word-by-mouth" and "YouTube" (Let's Plays, Reviews etc.). I think that Polaris (YouTube Group/Company? Dodger, TotalBiscuit, Jesse Cox+many more) might be in on Pillars of Eternity as well, just a feeling/assumption after seeing Jesse Cox play the game.

EDIT: I've suggested Early Access, because it would allow Obsidian to polish the first title for a bit longer, and expose the title to more people on Steam at the same time. But... I get the feeling Obsidian doesn't want that, reputation-wise an Early Access is indie-company stuff, and Obsidian usually delivers AAA stuff, and might want to handle Pillars of Eternity as an AAA title (what with Pre-Orders on Steam too).

 

Might even see some DLC stuff happening, post-release, and it already has happened too. "Expansion" was a Pledge Option, "Expansion" can be translated to "DLC".

Edited December 12, 2014 by Osvir

[Sheikh]

However the **** they want to.

 

Sweetheart please let Obsidian do their job, marketing it is not your job unless you actually work there. There is nothing to discuss here, only for Obsidian to do.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Sheikh

[rjshae]

With a 4 minute Superbowl ad, of course. They will have to spend all that Kickstrter funding somewhere...

[Osvir]

@rjshae: They'll make a Kickstarter just to afford to make another Kickstarter for the Superbowl Ad, for a 15 second advertisement that the audience can skip after 3 or 4 seconds if they choose to.

@Sheikh: Of course, but I think the topic title is a bit odd, and I felt like you did (but milder, kinder). I took a deep breathe and thought a bit what I was going to write, instead of just emotionally crying out my first impulse.

Regardless, what I wanted to say is that there's nothing wrong in the community/fans promoting Pillars of Eternity, with or without Obsidian. In my opinion, the thread title would be better with "How do we want to help promote Pillars of Eternity post-release?".

Edited December 12, 2014 by Osvir

[Sedrefilos]

Starting by lowering the price of the game at least 20$.

This is an already paid game.  It's price is very high compared to other kickstarter projects.

[nikolokolus]

Starting by lowering the price of the game at least 20$.

This is an already paid game.  It's price is very high compared to other kickstarter projects.

 

Most kickstarter games aren't nearly this ambitious or require this much development time either. Obsidian isn't a charity and neither is Paradox so they should probably sell it for whatever they think they can maximize the most revenue. Let plebs pick it up on a Steam sale if you're so worried about it.

[Sedrefilos]

 

Starting by lowering the price of the game at least 20$.

This is an already paid game.  It's price is very high compared to other kickstarter projects.

 

Most kickstarter games aren't nearly this ambitious or require this much development time either. Obsidian isn't a charity and neither is Paradox so they should probably sell it for whatever they think they can maximize the most revenue. Let plebs pick it up on a Steam sale if you're so worried about it.

 

Development time is in the games budget that is already paid by the KS campaign. I didn't say they should give the game for free, I said it's too expensive. Like AAA budget games expensive. I already bought my copy cheaper but only because I backed the game. Others didn't and will think it twice before paying for a 2D game the same ammount of money they'd pay for a blockbuster.

Also, ambition is not included in the budget. It is something we recognized and backed them for it.

[nikolokolus]

AAA games typically sell for $60, this is being sold for $40 which seems perfectly in-line with other mid-tier games you're likely to find on Steam.

[Sedrefilos]

Anyway, I'd find it expensive.

[Endrosz]

@OP: Meh. As others have pointed out, we are part of the marketing force of Obsidian. We market PoE however we care to and able to.

 

Comparing Steam prices...

 

Blackguards, a game with arguably less content than PoE, is selling for 40 euros, that's around 50 bucks. It sold well enough that a new one is already coming out soon.

 

Divinity: Original Sin, a rich RPG, goes for the same 40 euros. Was #1 Steam seller for a while, like 2 weeks.

 

PoE is 42 euro, only a little more than the previous titles.

 

I don't see the problem.

[Sedrefilos]

Never said those other games were not expensive. Though, Blackguards was not crowd-funded (that means someone put their own money in it) and D:OS was partialy crowd-funded.

Anyway that was mostly a complain about this game's prize since it is 100% crowd funded, meaning OE paid 0 $ from their pockets to develop it and Paradox will gain money from the sells of a game they didn't also put a dime in. These for me are good enough reasons that the game should be of much lower price than 40$.

 

And to point something else out, selling a game so high when it cost you nothing, is unethical.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Sedrefilos

[Nonek]

Normal retail value. Obsidian are allowed to make a fair profit from their work, the same as any other producer of entertainment. There's nothing unethical in making a fair profit for a fair product. In point of fact I believe RPGs give a much better return on investment than just about any other genre. Say £35 for a game, and I recieve 35 hours or more of entertainment, that's a pound an hour. Extremely good value.

 

I'm also not keen on subsidising non backers purchase of the game, they should pay a reasonable market value.

[Flow]

Never said those other games were not expensive. Though, Blackguards was not crowd-funded (that means someone put their own money in it) and D:OS was partialy crowd-funded.

Anyway that was mostly a complain about this game's prize since it is 100% crowd funded, meaning OE paid 0 $ from their pockets to develop it and Paradox will gain money from the sells of a game they didn't also put a dime in. These for me are good enough reasons that the game should be of much lower price than 40$.

 

And to point something else out, selling a game so high when it cost you nothing, is unethical.

 

Really not sure I understand your logic. The game's value to you as a consumer isn't based on production costs.

 

Call of Duty games are hugely expensive to produce, but worth zero to me since I have no interest in multiplayer shooters. A large single player RPG is worth much more to me even though it required a fraction of the production budget.

 

At a more basic level, you should think about $ per entertainment hour. If what the devs are telling us is accurate, PoE will be a big game.

[ISC]

All these ehtics. Lets be a little pragmatic here, the more profit Obsidian makes the greater the chance that we get more similar games in the future.

[Sedrefilos]

All these ehtics. Lets be a little pragmatic here, the more profit Obsidian makes the greater the chance that we get more similar games in the future.

Not the profit, the sales. If it sells much, we'll have more games, sure.

The profit of this game is guaranteed because no money is spent by Obsidian in it.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Sedrefilos

[Bryy]

 

All these ehtics. Lets be a little pragmatic here, the more profit Obsidian makes the greater the chance that we get more similar games in the future.

Not the profit, the sales. If it sells much, we'll have more games, sure.

The profit of this game is guaranteed because no money is spent by Obsidian in it.

 

... profit is sales.

 

Obsidian has made no money on Pillars via the Kickstarter.

 

This is the exact same thing as saying a non-profit doesn't need to worry about money.

 

 

And to point something else out, selling a game so high when it cost you nothing, is unethical.

It cost them exactly $3,986,926. 

Edited December 12, 2014 by Bryy

[sibakruom]

Never said those other games were not expensive. Though, Blackguards was not crowd-funded (that means someone put their own money in it) and D:OS was partialy crowd-funded.

Anyway that was mostly a complain about this game's prize since it is 100% crowd funded, meaning OE paid 0 $ from their pockets to develop it and Paradox will gain money from the sells of a game they didn't also put a dime in. These for me are good enough reasons that the game should be of much lower price than 40$.

 

And to point something else out, selling a game so high when it cost you nothing, is unethical.

 

After reading the FAQ concerning the Obsidian-Paradox partnership*, I'd say Paradox has actually invested money in PoE, in marketing and distribution. It's not money directly invested into game development, but it's still money that Obsidian would have needed to take out of the Kickstarter funding otherwise.

 

* FAQ: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/65751-pillars-of-eternity-%E2%80%93-partnership-faq-for-backers/

[ShadySands]

You can pick up at at Green Man Gaming for $36 with the 20% voucher if $45 is too much right now and as the others have said I wouldn't expect to see it at $20 bucks for a long time

 

As for marketing I think something along the lines of a blood spattered CGI trailer with Marilyn Manson screaming about his recent bowel movements 

[Katarack21]

That's all on Paradox, I think. Still, if I were going to do it I'd use an overarching nostalgia theme, buried beneath a hard push on narrative, reactive dialogue, a focus on a major iconic character to identify the brand (A Cipher, clearly, since they are both badass and heavily based on the unique IP) and strategic real-time-with-pause combat.

[Grape_You_In_The_Mouth]

So much about price, so little about style!  Boooo to all of you

[Katarack21]

Hey, look, I don't really care how they market it, but I've read my Bernays. I know how the game is played.

I'm getting my copy, and my expansion pack, no matter what Paradox does. I'm just a part of the penny gallery.

[Bryy]

So much about price, so little about style!  Boooo to all of you

Paradox games usually have word of mouth and internet videos as their main line of PR.

[Leferd]

 

 

So much about price, so little about style! Boooo to all of you

Paradox games usually have word of mouth and internet videos as their main line of PR.

Yep. Their videos tend to be unorthodox, but are usually really well done.

[Rostere]