More Ads that Miss the Mark

[Gemina]

I'll keep the criticism at bay (mostly), and mention what got me to try FFXIV.

What caught my interest was when I watched a YouTube video of players taking on Ifrit on normal difficulty. That was back in 2015, which was a time before the playerbase has become what it is today. The last mmo I played was FFXI, so I was completely unaware of the WoW style of combat that 2.0 adopted, and was blown away by the combat style. I loved it! I ventured further and saw another video of Titan HM. The gameplay, the music, the arena being destroyed as progression was made. It was fantastic. That was all the pitch I needed to buy the game and subscribe.

If this ad as was their pitch back then, I never would have touched this game. Ads should never alienate any part of their playerbase, regardless of how diverse it is.

[Carin-Eri]

I'll keep the criticism at bay (mostly), and mention what got me to try FFXIV.

What caught my interest was when I watched a YouTube video of players taking on Ifrit on normal difficulty. That was back in 2015, which was a time before the playerbase has become what it is today. The last mmo I played was FFXI, so I was completely unaware of the WoW style of combat that 2.0 adopted, and was blown away by the combat style. I loved it! I ventured further and saw another video of Titan HM. The gameplay, the music, the arena being destroyed as progression was made. It was fantastic. That was all the pitch I needed to buy the game and subscribe.

If this ad as was their pitch back then, I never would have touched this game. Ads should never alienate any part of their playerbase, regardless of how diverse it is.

Therein lay the point, though. This advert probably isn't intended to catch the attention of the sort of MMO player who goes onto Youtube to watch videos such as the ones you describe.

To me, it looks the sort of advert they produce to put on the likes of Facebook to attract people with no experience of MMOs at all. I can't really say I blame them for making adverts aimed at the sort of people who absent-mindedly scroll down pages on Facebook or Youtube, looking for nothing in particular - hell, it seems to work well enough for the smartphone game producers, so why not FFXIV?

[Oizen]

And then you try the game, load into limsa and immediately see a hoard of naked cat girls doing saying questionable things in chat while emoting at eachother

[RobynDaBank]

And then you try the game, load into limsa and immediately see a hoard of naked cat girls doing saying questionable things in chat while emoting at eachother

Iunno man, I see way more of that from Viera - also, this!

[Skivvy]

Iunno man, I see way more of that from Viera - also, this!

Where is that poor lala being dragged off to?

[Impishwerth]

funny enough, if you dont count the expansion trailers on youtube, i dont think ive ever actually seen an advertisement for this game

but yea this ad just screams that its intended for people who wouldnt typically play this kind of game, but do roleplay through other mediums

the whole part about "what's next? dragons?" is dnd vibes to me

[Avoidy]

God, that one guy's acting was so bad lol. "I can't bELiEvE we dId tHat." Honestly just showing the ARR trailer with the chocobos would've been easier and just a better representation of the game for someone who doesn't know much about it. Chocobos are so on brand for this series that even a total normie would make the connection, whereas saying things like "we united the realms" doesn't say jack shit imo.

That said, for as long as I can remember, MMO ads have always been pretty cringe. So, whatevs.

[Ransu]

Me: Seeing nothing wrong with the ad.

Also me: Realizing OP is aveyond who criticizes everything about the game and wonders why he still plays the game.

[caffe_macchiato]

It looks like an ad for a free-to-play dress-up game filled with microtransactions, voiceless cutscene filler and cliche JRPG tropes. So I’d say it’s fitting.

Also, obligatory “aveyond is a poopyhead” so that I can get a thumbs up for my post.

[LaylaTsarra]

Also, obligatory “aveyond is a poopyhead”

I would say your ad is spot on.