BETA TEST ROADMAP IS UP!

[Wyyote]

[Abriael]

Granted with NDA Down, How many really know and would typing into Google "FFXIV Blah Blah?" If people can't even type even FFXIV in the Search bar... I Highly doubt they will ever know about it. Word of Mouth is good.. but how far does it really get by Launch day? SE needs to do there part on the Marketing end to get the word out, and E3 would be a perfect place before Launch day to make that final big push!

You know that a game press exists, right? As soon as the NDA drops there'll be tons of previews with pictures and movies posted on every major site on the block, and a lot the minor ones.

There won't be any need to google.

And that's why I said, If it's Before the NDA is Lifted there would be no point, but if the NDA is Lifted and the game is not Launched by E3 then It wouldn't hurt to make the E3 Push. It's " Getting last Marketing push in before Launch".

That marketing money would be a LOT better oriented to the casual players that don't care one bit about watching E3, because the core gamers that watch the E3 liverstream will know and have seen plenty of the game by then.

[Payadopa]

People seem to think that having an indication of where to go or what to do in a quest implies there's no substance to them. Those people are wrong, and should shut up.

While I really would like to believe that, in the end I just go there and fight mobs that are usually too easy to kill anyway (Gods forfend I have to play with others in an MMO lol).

So, at the moment, the destination isn't fun, nor is the way. I'll reserve judgment untill I see the finished product, though, the way MMOs tend to work nowadays they do a very poor job of masking the grind. XI really had enough grinding in its own right. And yes, quests were obscure as hell, but at least it felt like an accomplishment in the end when you finished one (yes, I do have a brain lol).

ARR is almost too convenient when it comes to showing me the way (for quests). Not even do I have a narrow area where I can look for a mob, I also have little 'Qs' above every single one of them. lol I really hope XIV manages to strike a middle ground.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to go back to XI. I don't want to trade in all of my conveniece just for the sake of nostalgia. But then again, at least a few MMOs (or games in general) should treat me like a human being capable of rational thinking and an attention span that last for longer than 10 secs.

[Xenor]

Everyone is "aware" of it. But people haven't *seen* it. There's quite a difference, you know?



"if you don't agree with me, I'm wasting my time".

Dude. I'm a game writer. I go to E3 rather regularly. I know its "potential" probably quite a bit better than you do. And for a game like FFXIV, that has been shown over, and over and over, and that will have been in beta for quite a while, probably with its NDA already down and beta testers free to post whatever they want of it, that potential is negligible, if not zero.

It's not even nearly worth delaying a release of a game over, in fact no one does. But according to your logic all those game devs and publishers "fail to see the marketing potential". Lol.

So you're saying there is no marketing potential from exposing a product to hundreds of thousands of your intended audience? Companies wouldn't bother attending E3 if they did not think the exposure of their product would benefit its sales in some way. They aren't there just to drive visitors to your website.

It wouldn't be the first time a game has appeared at multiple E3s either, in fact FFXIII was at E3 2006, 2008 and 2009, a game people were already well aware of by 2009. So what exactly is wrong with SE revealing FFXIV at E3 2009 and then releasing a new trailer at E3 2013 as well as new info on upcoming exciting patches or even announcing the first expansion for 2014 along with a trailer? You can easily talk about a product people have seen while making new announcements.

And yes, I am wasting my time if you don't agree with me, just like you are with me. We're both trying to predict the future here and only time will tell who is right. Not constant "im rite ur rong" arguments on a bloody forum.

[Babydoll]

SE's marketing money will be MUCH better spent on commercials, ads, promotions and what not.

I really hope they do this this time around. Part of the reason everyone knew about wow was because of their commercials lol everyone was talking about the mr t and chuck norris ones haha. Hope se will be smart this time and give ffxiv more commercials then they did for ffxi.

[Norack]

NORACK LOL YO LAUGHED SO HARD AT WORK WHEN YOU REPLIED TO MY POST LOL ALMOST GOT ME FIRED LOL

Than my work here is complete. Norack away!!!!

[Abriael]

So you're saying there is no marketing potential from exposing a product to hundreds of thousands of your intended audience? Companies wouldn't bother attending E3 if they did not think the exposure of their product would benefit its sales in some way. They aren't there just to drive visitors to your website.

We're not talking about *attending E3* here. We all know Square Enix is going to attend E3, as they do so every year. We're talking about delaying a game in order to launch it after E3 and missing the schedule they set on their own in the process, which is an extremely different pair of sleeves, and something that simply no one does, for a reason.

If they had the slightest intention of delaying the game past E3, they would have scheduled accordingly.

"exposing a product to hundreds of thousands of your intended audience" works only when those "hundreds of thousands" haven't already been exposed to it plenty, and with the NDA down and every gaming site writing previews, that kind of exposure will be already covered much better than E3 ever could.

Besides, they can show the game at E3 regardless of its launch, so delaying the game to fit E3 makes even less sense.

It wouldn't be the first time a game has appeared at multiple E3s either, in fact FFXIII was at E3 2006, 2008 and 2009, a game people were already well aware of by 2009. So what exactly is wrong with SE revealing FFXIV at E3 2009 and then releasing a new trailer at E3 2013 as well as new info on upcoming exciting patches or even announcing the first expansion for 2014 along with a trailer? You can easily talk about a product people have seen while making new announcements.

Final Fantasy XIII sure hasn't ever been delayed or didn't have its launch schedule adjusted to fit any event, E3 included.

You're comparing apples to escalators. One thing is bringing a game to E3, since you're going anyway and it doesn't have any added cost, one thing is *delaying* a game to wait for E3 or changing its schedule, disappointing your fans and launching after the hype train has already passed (and in the inconvenient summer window, by the way, which is much worse, marketing-wise, than spring).

Oh, and no. They aren't going to annnounce expansions a month or two after release. You're talking about science fiction.

And yes, I am wasting my time if you don't agree with me, just like you are with me. We're both trying to predict the future here and only time will tell who is right. Not constant "im rite ur rong" arguments on a bloody forum.

No. I'm not trying to predict the future. I know that it won't happen, because I know that your idea has no marketing utility, just as much as anyone at Square Enix knows, because they're professionals and know this market, and know exactly what fits E3 and what doesn't. Besides having worked around the industry for 15 years, a degree in brand management tells me that. There's no predicting the future needed to identify a bad idea based on lacking the necessary knowledge of the market and of marketing itself and on overestimating massively the influence of E3 on games that simply don't fit its target.

If the game is going to launch in june, it won't have anything to do with E3, but simply with the fact that they'll need that development time.

[Pwnagraphic]

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com...er/index2.html

go go go~


Some clarification is needed,

If you read PAGE 5, which says "Beta Test Eligiblility"
it means those 3 type of account holders are Eligible to the Beta Test, this does not mean those account are Qualified.

This show greatly that they will still screen-proof and selected some for the beta test, how many i do not know.

So basicly, dont hope to high and be disappointed like some of you do xD <3

source by reinhart : http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...l=1#post925507



Yay~!

I sent SE support an E-mail about legacy and its terms. They sent an E-mail back asking me to call them. I hope they decide to pull through and give me my well deserved Legacy >:-O

[Shougun]

I sent SE support an E-mail about legacy and its terms. They sent an E-mail back asking me to call them. I hope they decide to pull through and give me my well deserved Legacy >:-O

Did you miss it by a month? Or was it an error in the system? If they are giving legacy to those that missed it by a month I'd be really happy. For any less I'd think its weird but I dont care enough since I still think playing the game at the time legacy was available was fine and packed full of exclusives (reward enough) lol - besides it wasnt that bad once in year 2012. If they are doing any of the sort I assume you'd have to agree to an NDA.. though keep us updated if not

[Jennika]

Why the hell would you delay a game for E3 when that game already has how many thousand paying customers waiting to give you their money? Hell if there were only 1,000 people at launch and they were all Legacy accounts that'd be about $10,000 right off the bat. That's not even a drop in the bucket towards SE being profitable on FFXIV but it is revenue.