Social media in MMORPG

I will talk about a social media website in line with a new MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) named Final Fantasy XIV. Indeed, most of the previous MMORPG -which is kind of social media too- involved that you have to make some groups or guilds with other players to make progress in the game. You can meet your fellows « in game », but most of groups/guilds use also a personnal website such as a forum to schedules the events and other stuffs, to share the experience and also talk about real life in a special section. Those forum are very common in the MMORPG world.

But Square-Enix compagny, with his latest game Final Fantasy XIV, avaible since october 2010, found a good tip to satisfact FFXIV’s players. On this official website, http://lodstone.finalfantasyxiv.com, which take at first the rôle of a guide to the players, with news (such as game’s update), Square-Enix made a special section for players; indeed, the video game and this website are linked together, so, when you log in on this website, all your character’s attribute are visible (avatar’s name, avatar’s face, level, guild’s affiliation); and when you go to the player special section, there is an automatic access to yours own guild’s forum, created and hosted by this website.

Square-Enix knew about the importance of those kind of forums in the MMORPG, that’s why they made this service. So, people don’t have to wait someone from the group/guild to make a forum, don’t have to be bored about registration, because everything goes automaticly.

If you are neophyte in MMORPG, you will probably wants to know why those forums are so important, taking into account that to play a game, you just have to go to the game (and just talk with other players in game for MMORPG). The reason is there are two kind of way to play MMORPG; you can just play for fun, doing your own stuff, and sometimes play together with an other player you just met, but in most of MMORPG, if you play that way, you miss a big part of the possibilities of the game, because the most intersting things to do have to be played with lot of others players, and need an important coordination. And that’s why forums are so precious. For example, I talked about time schedules earlier; indeed, I will take in example from an other MMORPG from the same compagny (Square-Enix); Final Fantasy XI. In this game, there is a really popular event called « Dynamis ». This event can host fifty four players in a special zone and run for one to five hours (without any break), also, it’s really difficult to beat the challenge, and you can have lot of good items for your avatar in.

That’s where the forum works well; considering it’s a difficult challenge, you need experimented players, so no way to just ask random people in game if you want to have a chance to beat it; you also need forum to set up the appointment; because more than fifty people to wait can be really long and bad. And finally, you can set up which items go to who in advance, to avoid drama and unfair distribution.

To conclude, even if the previous example illustrate how MMORPG forums are the more commun used, that’s also stay a link between players, because of the support, they can tell about everything and share lot of stuff, about in game life, and in real life.

Cédric B.

Advertising machine

My opinion about advertising can be simply illustrated like this: a few part can be considering as some real art, and most of them is just visual/audio pollution.

From what I could see, cultural advertising often belong to the first kind; I think the makers really want to make some good emotion to the target, and in that case, the advertising is also often an expansion of the cultural exhibition; for example, music and movies posters, books or video games jackets, art exhibition advertising are the reflect of the artwork; and we feel like they really want to share something good.

Unfortunatly, most of advertising is just -I think- some ugly hype, and most of people fed up because of this process’s outrageousness. Even if I could understand why advertising is good for a brand at first, nowdays is just too much. In french roads, there is like an advertising board or a hoarding every ten meters, and in cities, it’s just everywhere. I now wonder how good the process works with so much advertising everywhere. Anyway, the good thing is if there is an interesting advertising in this pack, it will capt our attention. But with this point of view, I just can realize the waste of time and materials used to make the uninteresting advertising, and above all, how they disfigure the landscape for nothing.

To cap it all, I hate how all this money is used to manipulate people. That’s why I prefer when advertising’s makers use some alternative to do not throw away the human aspect of the communication. I finally think (and hope) the hype advertising process is almost over, and I just can be glad for this.

Anyway, I have to find an example of an artistic way to make some hype advertising; indeed, every summer, in Avignon, take place the Festival d’Avignon, during what there are lot of theatre exhibitions. For this event, the streets, walls, floors, roofs are just a gigant accumulation of advertising, and the result is just amazing. In that case, I like hype advertising because, first, it’s only for one month, and second, most of the posters are artworks, and the fusion with Avignon’s old buildings is unparalleled and audacious.

To conclude, I will just say I like when advertising is or suppose to be an artwork, when we do not feel too much manipulate by this, and as soon as they don’t disturb the landscape, I will pay attention for this work.

Cédric B

cultural sponsorship in France ?

I do not have a real experience about sponsorship, however, I could notice two kind of sponsorship in my own country.

There is a huge part of this in the world of elite sport; indeed, each football or rugby teams for example got their own sponsor, and a lot of money has been spent for this. There is also the boats’ race, such as La route du Rhum where the medias call the ships by the sponsor’s name. And maybe the oldest and more traditional sponsorship’s act is during the Tour de France, the famous bicycle race which take place all around the country every years. During this, all bicycle teams are called by the name of the sponsor (like the ships during La route du Rhum) and the legendary « caravane » (the caravan, procession of sponsors) travel the runner’s itinerary like one hour before them, to give lot of little gifts (such as candies or key-rings) to the spectators. Sadly, this festive tradition is going too much commercial, and the sponsors are now just doing advertaising, and don’t look like they care about the people. Besides, this kind of sport event is becoming really old-fashion, but that’s still -I think- the most famous way to use sponsorship in France.

The other kind of sponsorship I noticed is about all local events. Most of the little sports events, parties, markets got made in collaboration with local enterprises. I think it’s a good way, and everybody wins because the money or materials given by the enterprises can allow those events, and that’s a kind of advertaising for them, and they also can keep a good image for the people; the local sponsorship contrary to the « big event’s sponsorship » can make a link between custumers and the enterprise.

Anyway, sponsorship about culture in France is no sense because of the system. Indeed, the state collect lot of money the cultural minister give back to the cultural events. In addition, the local official institutions spend also money to them; in that way, I think the cultural’s institutions prefer have a public institution as mecène than a private firm, waiting for a return on investment. Anyway, enterprises in France prefer to give money to some charity associations because after that, they get a discount on the public taxes. So, it just looks like in France, private enterprises and cultural institutions don’t care about eachothers.

 

Cédric B.