Tips on selling Horizons (for the players)

[Blue Hasia]

im part of the resseller program for HZ. I want to share some things I do to help promote the game when chatting with other gamers in a game store. If you got tips of your own places your tips here too [:D]


Tip 1. When at game store place the horizon box in front of EQ2[A].

Tip 2. If you own a psp upload a HZ trailer to show your friends or others at a game store.

tip 3. When refering to "WoW" make sure to add the prefix "un" and sufix "ful"to it so it is "Unwowful"

Tip 4. Tell potential MMORPG shoppers that HZ is a game full a mature poeple, game is not over runed by 7 year olds.

Tip 5. HZ is the only game that lets you bea dragon....in a MMORPG(always A big selling point a true dragon fan will try game in a heart beat if he hears this)

Tip 6. The market is totally player run and the connies make selling even easier.(have you heard how you trade in unwowfull you dont want to know[:|])

Tip 7. Mulitclassing HZ got it others don't

Tip 8. No PvP makes for a much friendly (and gnome safe) world.

Tip 9. PLayer creation very very detialed.

Tip 10. Crafting its the best crafting system out there

Tip 11. Events are run by the players with a little guidance from the devs.....That interact with us players, like goating them on to send in a bigger attack till they finalget *you* kiled[:P].

Tip 12. the devs treat us like living poeple, they log in gamehere and theresay hi and ask how things are going on...now what other game can claim that.



More tips to come late now and sleepy[|-)]

[Pharcellus]

My first question to some nobody walking up to me in a game store, hyping another game to me: "What's in it for you?". My second question, if you answer the first one truthfully: "What's in it for me?".

The reseller program needs something to entice new players to follow through and do the referral; otherwise, why bother?

As for some of your tips:

1) If you can FIND any Horizons boxes; most are gone now, or in the bargain bin. Digging them out of the bargain bin and putting them on the "hot titles" shelf in front of WoW/EQ2 is not going to win you any friends with the store employees, who are likely to express their displeasure by calling security to give you a tour of their front doorstep with the guard's bootprint on your butt.

3) Making fun of very popular games to bolster the pitiful one you are hyping is likely to get unfortunate responses from others, including jeers and "must get away from the strange man" looks. If the game you are hyping can't stand on its own merits, then people will see it when you tilt at the windmill.

7) Plenty of other games allow either multiclassing or a skill-based equivalent of it.

8) and 10) don't generally go over well with your average game-store clientele.

11) Isn't true, or at least is very misleading. Events aren't "run" by the players. The players participate in the events as an audience.

12) The jury is still out on that one. I can count the number of times I have seen Order's WM in-game on one hand, and still have fingers to spare. LOTS of other games have the developers and operations staff in-game all the time.

The rest of the tips aren't bad, as long as you stay away from comparisons to, and attacks against, popular titles.

[Tryagain]

at this time I cannot truthfully sell horizons to another player. The best I can say and have said is that tulga has made it easy to try. So do not waste money on the box go download the trial and give it a try.

I then usually say that the worst case scenario is that you spend $12.95 for the first month before deciding that the game is for you or not. Other than saying these things I won't say anything else because my personal integrity will not be sacrificed for a game its as simple as that.

Then again its totally dependant on the Salesperson isn't it ? Personally I am rather dissappointed in the MMO genre. Nothing new dynamic or interesting has been released since UO with its crafting and buildings and EQ with its adventuring. Since then games have simply copied these two in one form or another.

[LaughingOtter]

I'd agree with not attacking other games - at least, not head-on. For example, WoW is very vulnerable in a critical area: the community. The forums are full of WoW players complaining about their own community, griefers, and how rude many people are. Point out that HZ is a community-oriented game and that people who ask questions or need advice on getting started get actual responses, not "STFU n00b!".
Other games have multiclassing, but HZ is unrivalled in the AMOUNT of multiclassing available. Unless you want to play a dragon, but dragons are a great selling point for people that like to be challanged.

The average game store customer might not care for 8) & 10), but they aren't the target audience. If they hate crafting& have to have PvP, they aren't going to be happy here anyway. Hand them a copy of WoW &send them on their way.Point them out to the couple in their 30s with a baby stroller and tell them, "That's the kind of player you WON'T find in Horizons. Did I mentionthat Horizons is perfectfor the casual player?"

Some nice thoughts, Blue. Thanks for sharing them. [H]

[cattoy]

on the upside, HZ does not have sweatshops in china (or wherever) permacamping to mine kills for gold to sell on ebay.

[Dragonboy]

At this moment I personally saw Horizons in 3 to 4 different shops, EQ2 in just 1 shop and I havent seen WoW in any shop...
Maybe they are always sold out... or I just need glasses and they are present... or they are hardly sold...

Every time I see Horizons in the shop it is for a mere 10 euro's or even less...

[LaiAhna]

Sell it? I am not even sure I like it. Yea, I liked the dragons and castles but, let's face it. This game lacks in content to muchto sell it.

[cattoy]

IIRC, WoW suspended production of any more CDs because they didn't have enough room on their existing servers...

Don't know if that's still in effect, though.

[Korial]

IIRC, WoW suspended production of any more CDs because they didn't have enough room on their existing servers...

Don't know if that's still in effect, though.

Last I heard, 250k new copies being distributed in the EU, and 8 new servers...

[Vahrokh]

- WoW had been out of copies for some time and now put out 250k more to cover the demand. Moreover they added several new shards and are suggesting people to get a move of their characters from the most populated servers to new ones.

It was very hard to find any copy of WoW for sale for quite a long time, but now at least in my country some big stores got a good fill (but you are better to hurry or they go away in few days).

- WoW community has a very big problem because of the moronic way of segregating players in local chats. It's like you got general and marketplace and dragon chats that are tied to every city and every city surroundings. I.e. "Kion general, Kion marketplace" then you go to Parsinia and you lose Kion general completely and autoswitch to Parsinia general and Parsinia marketplace.
While this keeps channels terse (WoW is fast paced and you will need attention to do it and having just one general / marketplace / whatever chat would become a never ending fast scrolling chattering), it breaks every attempt to keep a coherent and steady communication.

This is partly countered by having many guilds and by having a different idea of grouping (i.e. you more than often find people at your destination area already and tag along and just stay until the task is done) and the look for group chat is the most used instead of having "friends" helping each other. The strict level requirements (at your X levelyou really die to a level X + 4 and even with the most overpowered classes, often you can just kill up to X + 2) will deny anyway to meet like in Horizons with people 10 or 20 levels below you and go for the very easy kill of dumb mobs. In WoW you tend to die very fast by being dumb and trying to farm peer levels. The mobs too require actual fighting tactics and not just "root / stun / blast / parox (insert the 3 button mob killing combo you use in Hz for 80% of the mobs).

About the community: if you join PvP servers you WILL meet the most awful crap people and they gloat on killing level 1 people at level 20-40. It's true too that they are quickly recognized as the dimwits they are and end up all together in the same guilds, while others continue their living. If you join PvE servers the playerbase is much better and you only get challenged (you can refuse it even automatically with a preferences setting) in some areas that are somewhat "dedicated to skirmish" (often in the near outskirts of major cities). For the rest it's still worse than Horizons but not very much. Coming from Hz you'd beamazed to actually find people gifting away teched weapons for newbies to strip off the tech part (enchanter craft works by removing enchantments fromstuff to apply on others) and get experience. Or you would be amused seeing that in the number of indifferent people you often can find some that will come at you and teach the basics or even help in half hours long dungeons just because. In the Roleplay servers I suppose it goes even better.
Anyway I met so many ex Horizons players that it was not even fun, often with their same name replicated there. And they are as nice as they were here. I think they could start a "Horizons Refugees" guild and beat with their numbers the current worldwide Horizons population by large [:'(].


About trying and sell Hz instead of WoW: don't. It's like telling a perspective customerto buy a car of a certain brand instead of another brand'sTV set. It's 2 different things and all you will get is just people angry at you. WoW is much more about fast action and (thousands!) quests and earned crafting (some things are really an epic task to craft and will involve lots of questing or buying many and expensive reagents) and having several characters covering several aspects of the game (it is VERY, V E R Ydifferent playing a class or another and the game adapts the quests and the lore / background to the chosen class)while Horizons is much more relaxed, "free to level how you want", "free to get all the classes you want", crafting by the thousands with no really distinctive feature but techs.

[Finduilas]

I often have friends asking for advice on what kind of computer to buy. Since I'm not out to make money off them I give an honest reply; what to you want to do with your new comp?

I'd ask the same question to someone interested in a new MMORPG.

There answer would determine my reply.

I would tell them that HZ has a "more" mature, but much smaller, community.
I would tell them you can effectively solo, if you want, (though not so easily with a dragon as most bipeds).
I would tell them that HZ has, possibly the best crafting system in an MMORPG.
I would tell themthat, AFAIK, only HZ allows you to play a dragon char.

For me those are it's best selling points, probably ONLY selling points.

But WoW beats it on soloing and SWG more than matches it in crafting, from what I have read.

As for those tips;

Tip 1-4 are simply daft.
Tip 5. True.
Tip 6 could be seen as a minus point.
Tip 7 True.
Tip 8. PvP? well that has sold a LOT of boxes for WoW. It also kept EVE in business and one of the biggest (of the smaller) MMORPGs.
Tip 9 Dunno 'bout that.
Tip 10 Well SWG?
Tip 11 Wha?
Tip 12 Really? EQ2 and WoW provide updates, upcoming plans, lots of info, on there web sites, on a constant, regular basis. Blizzard had numerous CS reps, each class covered, lots of tech info, server updates. AE/Tulga? sheesh. Some of the worst communication I've seen, and I thought EQ was bad, and as for us poor EU players, well don't even start...

[Blue Hasia]

sheesh didnt know every one had a degree in pshycoligy and are expert at Over analizinghelpfull tips.[st]



I'll continue the intent of this thread

Tip 13. HZ is a world that can be change on the Fly (the destrution of the past shards)

Tip 14. HZ has an Ever continueing Story against the fight with the Withered Ageais

[Jaraiden]

To be safe, Blue, best to restate the official features of Horizons keeping with truthful intent. From www.istaria.com and theones I compiled here, Horizons . . . the box at http://community.istaria.com/Web/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=35030(well, the ones not retracted, if any). Certainly the more relevant ones that impact the game and playing experience.

[Pharcellus]

sheesh didnt know every one had a degree in pshycoligy and are expert at Over analizinghelpfull tips.[img]/Web//emoticons/emotion-37.gif[/img]

*shrug* Guess it only takes a modicum of common sense to look at a suggestion and go "hmm.. that's a good one" or "that's about the stupidest thing I have ever heard".

Tip 13. HZ is a world that can be change on the Fly (the destrution of the past shards)

Uhhhhh.. I don't think I would tout an event necessitated by BANKRUPTCY as a positive. It drove a lot of players away on its own. If you are talking about the "minor" feature that they can change the terrain "on the fly", then considering it has happened ONCE in the entire history of the game, I wouldn't bother using that as selling point, either.

Tip 14. HZ has an Ever continueing Story against the fight with the Withered Ageais

Huh? Where? Other MMOs have an ongoing storyline that you can get from a cadre of NPCs in the game. Granted they're busting their tails to try to back-fill the lore and kick-start the WA storyline now, it has been pretty much stagnant for the better part of a year. Blight anchors, minor nuisance invasions, and seasonal festivals has pretty much been it, with precious little lore to back them up to boot.

[Vahrokh]

Tip 13. HZ is a world that can be change on the Fly (the destrution of the past shards)

...then considering it has happened ONCE in the entire history of the game, I wouldn't bother using that as selling point, either.

How true, and in Europe we were not even blessed with that single event. We just got our servers melted at once in one, bursting full of unconfortable people litigating each other about their ex-shard uses and ways of dealing with others etc.

Like for many things about Horizons, the technical, coldpart worked. The completely unhandled and let wild "human" part drove away tons of players.

Tip 14. HZ has an Ever continueing Story against the fight with the Withered Ageais

Odd, last time I checked I only met people figthing fiercely with pawnbrokers V, Vielos and techs IV.

WA? A legend, possibly invented by Vielos to instill fear and make people rush buying their "improved" reagents [:P]