Ads enter PlanetSide - Massive ads enter Sony Online's FPS

Iria · Aug 13, 2005, 09:41 PM

Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide; the world's first online massively multiplayer first-person shooter, will be cursed with the blight of in-game ads from this month. Virtual billboards will enter the universe for the first time, carrying streaming ads which will help Sony support the title - which has fallen out of the limelight somewhat lately. The ads will be supplied by in-game ad specialists Massive, who are also in cahoots with the likes of Vivendi. Ads are becoming increasingly common in videogames as technology improves and firm's awake to the potential audiences to be tapped through games.

Sony Online are promising that the extra cash earned through in-game ads will be ploughed into the improvement of the persistent world PlanetSide players compete in; many gamers however, will see this as another victory for big business in the increasingly commercially-driven games 'industry'. No specific advertisers have been confirmed by Sony, but several household names are already pushing their wares through billboards in sports games like FIFA. More on this soon.
__________
Source: Ferrago

Tipstaff · Aug 14, 2005, 04:38 AM

Oh yeah, just what I need.

There I am, on another planet, firing away at some bastiches that are holding onto a base. After 20 mins of intense fighting we finally take the base... or so we thought. All of a sudden the bastiches make a last ditch counterattack when... <click> "EA Sports Fifa 200x. It's in the game!" <click> WTF!?!?!

If there was one sure fire way to remove you from the experience of playing a game on another planet.. one that removes you from your make-believe world.. this is it.

Tell you the truth, ads worked fine in NFS: Underground 2 and Burnout 3. They actually added to the game world, and made it more "familiar" if you will. But come on! I'm "supposed" to be playing on another planet you stupid bastiches!!

What next?!?! Nike ads for some super bada$$ shoe in Everquest 2?

YAYitsAndrew · Aug 14, 2005, 05:42 AM

I play planetside and I don't mind the ads. They go towards a good cause and they only ruin the aesthetics; they aren't intrusive and in time we will all learn to ignore them or spend the time waiting for a capture shooting at them.

I'm really excited about this patch.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Aug 14, 2005, 02:48 PM

the only palce we were once safe from that advertieing BS is being invaded...

We need a patiton agreeimg that any advertidement we see in game we
will REFUSE to buy anything from that company being advertised for no
less then 1 year.

Same goes from the game maker don't buy thier games!

EcPercy · Aug 14, 2005, 03:33 PM

This is just an act of desperation from sony. I read recently that planetside has a less then expected subscriber base.

Personally, I beta tested the game and I did not think that it was very good.

Ads in games are not acceptable to me. From now on I will make sure to wait at least a month to see what people say about a game and if it has ads then I will make sure to skip buying it. If all games start coming with ads then I will just stop gaming.

Is it not enough that we have to see ads every 10 minutes on TV, on every website, half of every magazine, and about 1000+ emails a week trying to sell something that we don't want, but now you think we need to have the ads in games and track them? I hate ads and will not support this.

YAYitsAndrew · Aug 14, 2005, 05:16 PM

You people are being unreasonable. You know why most of the internet is free? ads. You know why planetside is going to get new art and development? ads.

Without ads you'd be paying a monthly fee to post on this forum, or it just wouldn't be here at all. Services like this can not exist without money from somewhere.

The game has drastically changed since beta (it's almost like they aren't the same game) so you should try it again. It's a lot of fun, I still play after 2 years.

EcPercy · Aug 14, 2005, 05:28 PM

No, I am not being unreasonable. You are already paying money to play the game. In fact one month costs $12.99 for planetside.

I played the beta up until the day it went gold and it was nothing special. Maybe once you add the expansions it gets better, but I won't pay for something that I know I will be disappointed in.

That said, I will still not support ads in a game. Especially when you are already paying a monthly fee to play it.

OmegaRED · Aug 14, 2005, 05:45 PM

Whats wrong with an ad in a game if its just on some wall or a coke bottle on a table that kind of stuff.

Planetside would be kinda weird to see an add for Nike while your waiting for a dropship to pick you up

Havent played that game since the one week trial.

madmatty · Aug 14, 2005, 06:01 PM

The ads probably woulds be so bad if we knew the devs spent the money on developing the game further, but they dont. wait months for an update and nothing really changes apart from ways to screw the casual player and reward those that play 24/7. The game engine is massively cpu dependent and puts the expensive cpu and memory to good use but makes it a painfull experience on a full server for the average machine. They seem to pour all the money into their starwars game which seems to use the same naff game engine and the game it self is borring as hell yet keeps being expanded. if only planetside team was allowed to expand the game, it could be so much better.

I find my self playing guild wars more simply because its a reasonably fun game and a silky smooth game engine with modern gfx.

YAYitsAndrew · Aug 14, 2005, 09:09 PM

I believe the choices were

1. The game dies
2. The monthly fee increases
3. In-game ads

I don't like paying more money and I certainly don't want planetside to die. Some people on the forums are willing to pay 16 a month if they don't have to look at ads.

The money is supposed to get an art team because art is the typical bottleneck of new features. I agree though that they should do a little lasher tweaking.

Aug 13, 2005, 09:41 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Ads enter PlanetSide - Massive ads enter Sony Online's FPS Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide; the world's first online massively multiplayer first-person shooter, will be cursed with the blight of in-game ads from this month. Virtual billboards will enter the universe for the first time, carrying streaming ads which will help Sony support the title - which has fallen out of the limelight somewhat lately. The ads will be supplied by in-game ad specialists Massive, who are also in cahoots with the likes of Vivendi. Ads are becoming increasingly common in videogames as technology improves and firm's awake to the potential audiences to be tapped through games. Sony Online are promising that the extra cash earned through in-game ads will be ploughed into the improvement of the persistent world PlanetSide players compete in; many gamers however, will see this as another victory for big business in the increasingly commercially-driven games 'industry'. No specific advertisers have been confirmed by Sony, but several household names are already pushing their wares through billboards in sports games like FIFA. More on this soon. __________ Source: Ferrago

Aug 14, 2005, 04:38 AM	#2
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 191 System Specs	Oh yeah, just what I need. There I am, on another planet, firing away at some bastiches that are holding onto a base. After 20 mins of intense fighting we finally take the base... or so we thought. All of a sudden the bastiches make a last ditch counterattack when... <click> "EA Sports Fifa 200x. It's in the game!" <click> WTF!?!?! If there was one sure fire way to remove you from the experience of playing a game on another planet.. one that removes you from your make-believe world.. this is it. Tell you the truth, ads worked fine in NFS: Underground 2 and Burnout 3. They actually added to the game world, and made it more "familiar" if you will. But come on! I'm "supposed" to be playing on another planet you stupid bastiches!! What next?!?! Nike ads for some super bada$$ shoe in Everquest 2? __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick. Last edited by Tipstaff; Aug 14, 2005 at 04:43 AM.

Aug 14, 2005, 05:42 AM	#3
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	I play planetside and I don't mind the ads. They go towards a good cause and they only ruin the aesthetics; they aren't intrusive and in time we will all learn to ignore them or spend the time waiting for a capture shooting at them. I'm really excited about this patch. __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com

Aug 14, 2005, 02:48 PM	#4
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	the only palce we were once safe from that advertieing BS is being invaded... We need a patiton agreeimg that any advertidement we see in game we will REFUSE to buy anything from that company being advertised for no less then 1 year. Same goes from the game maker don't buy thier games! __________________

Aug 14, 2005, 05:16 PM	#6
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	You people are being unreasonable. You know why most of the internet is free? ads. You know why planetside is going to get new art and development? ads. Without ads you'd be paying a monthly fee to post on this forum, or it just wouldn't be here at all. Services like this can not exist without money from somewhere. The game has drastically changed since beta (it's almost like they aren't the same game) so you should try it again. It's a lot of fun, I still play after 2 years. __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com

Aug 14, 2005, 03:33 PM	#5
EcPercy HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Iraq Posts: 1,535 Rep Power: 0	This is just an act of desperation from sony. I read recently that planetside has a less then expected subscriber base. Personally, I beta tested the game and I did not think that it was very good. Ads in games are not acceptable to me. From now on I will make sure to wait at least a month to see what people say about a game and if it has ads then I will make sure to skip buying it. If all games start coming with ads then I will just stop gaming. Is it not enough that we have to see ads every 10 minutes on TV, on every website, half of every magazine, and about 1000+ emails a week trying to sell something that we don't want, but now you think we need to have the ads in games and track them? I hate ads and will not support this.

Aug 14, 2005, 05:28 PM	#7
EcPercy HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Iraq Posts: 1,535 Rep Power: 0	No, I am not being unreasonable. You are already paying money to play the game. In fact one month costs $12.99 for planetside. I played the beta up until the day it went gold and it was nothing special. Maybe once you add the expansions it gets better, but I won't pay for something that I know I will be disappointed in. That said, I will still not support ads in a game. Especially when you are already paying a monthly fee to play it.

Aug 14, 2005, 05:45 PM	#8
OmegaRED Relapsed Gamer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Ottawa , Canada Posts: 5,688 Rep Power: 173 System Specs	Whats wrong with an ad in a game if its just on some wall or a coke bottle on a table that kind of stuff. Planetside would be kinda weird to see an add for Nike while your waiting for a dropship to pick you up Havent played that game since the one week trial. __________________ E Penis Specs: <------------- See System Specs

Aug 14, 2005, 06:01 PM	#9
madmatty *****side Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Lincoln, UK Posts: 46 Rep Power: 0	The ads probably woulds be so bad if we knew the devs spent the money on developing the game further, but they dont. wait months for an update and nothing really changes apart from ways to screw the casual player and reward those that play 24/7. The game engine is massively cpu dependent and puts the expensive cpu and memory to good use but makes it a painfull experience on a full server for the average machine. They seem to pour all the money into their starwars game which seems to use the same naff game engine and the game it self is borring as hell yet keeps being expanded. if only planetside team was allowed to expand the game, it could be so much better. I find my self playing guild wars more simply because its a reasonably fun game and a silky smooth game engine with modern gfx. __________________ Asrock 939DS2, AMD X2 3800 @ 5000 (10x260 1.35v), Rad X1950 PRO (621/735) 2gig Corsair 3500PRO (1T DDR434), Audigy 2, Tagan530w. Cat6.12 3DMark01 - 30368 3DMark03 - 16129 3DMark05 - 10081 PCMark05 - 5861 3DMark06 - 4891

Aug 14, 2005, 09:09 PM	#10
YAYitsAndrew Anti-Piracy Poster Boy Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 2,605 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	I believe the choices were 1. The game dies 2. The monthly fee increases 3. In-game ads I don't like paying more money and I certainly don't want planetside to die. Some people on the forums are willing to pay 16 a month if they don't have to look at ads. The money is supposed to get an art team because art is the typical bottleneck of new features. I agree though that they should do a little lasher tweaking. __________________ "It is because the resistance to paying for copyrighted material, although often characterized as arising from a supposed technical burden or principled concern for the public interest, arises rather from exactly the same segment of the brain that is dominant in shoplifters." - Mark Helprin, Digital Barbarism In other words, it's never okay to steal even if you think you have a good reason! www.yayitsandrew.com