I hav'nt seen an invite a friend program - one might exist; but if PROTF doesnt have one yet...why not? I am always a big fan of invite a friend and the additional rewards it can bring. I REALLY think you guys should come up with one to increase the visibility of the game. Star Citizen has an awesome one and it is decades from release (at least thats what they say in the forums). I have been a supporter of the game since March 2015 and have sung your praises the whole time; anyway, look into itand I would be among the first to promote.
Technically all the tiers we buy to pledge/pre-purchase the game beyond the most basic option include a second CD key. That's pretty much a refer a friend as the lowbie levels will be free (as stated last stream. Omg I hope chat channels are restricted to prevent spam bots and sellers).
'Try for free (public beta if you can get in), play lowbie levels free, then I can give you this game code so you don't have to buy the game (just sub) if you want to keep playing'
Atleast that's my take on it.
I personally find it lame to have a friend (or to be realistic a second account of your own) join to gain an XP buff or an annoying puppy social pet. I don't need bribes to tell my friends about a game I think they'd enjoy. And if I play a box account I don't need an artificial xp mod to do so.
Just my 2 coppers on the topic.
As Pantheon will be a group centric game, where community and social interactions are one of the main fundaments of the gameplay, an invite a friend program would in my opinion fully fit in this concept.
The benefit should not only be on the recruiters side, but also on the side of the invited person.
I already tried to convince my friends to join the pantheon community, but because they are a bit MMO(RPG) tired at the moment, I was not very effective in doing so. Maybe some benefits for them would help me to convince them to give the game a chance. And a benefit for the recruiter would of course motivate even more people to spread the word about pantheon.
I don't like the you level with your friend, you get an XP boost benefit in games, but there should be other possibilities. Maybe some special furniture for the guild house, if the friends form a guild together, or a tabard where they maybe can put their own logo on it? I have no idea what exaclty it should be, but something, which motivates both sides, the recruiter and the invitees.
Another possibility would be only reward the recruiter and increase his pledge level for an amount of X recruited new accounts.
I have no 100% plan for an invite a friend program, but I would see it positive to have one.
I always thought that the incentive for recruiting a friend is that now your friend has the game and you can play together.
Portalgun said:I do recruit a friend constantly anyways, in real life, and on P99. Surprising how few P99 players actually know what Pantheon is and once you explain it they are almost always alt-tabbed for a few minutes after a fast OMFG ARE YOU @#$%%iING ME? BRB!! in group chat.
Yup, pretty much just described me. I was a long time EQ player who hasn't been able to find a MMO to get into in a bit, but then I stumbled upon this site and immediately was like #@$% yeaaa!!!!! haha can't wait. I'm just ready to get a date so I can let me employer know I will not be there for a couple weeks :D
Beefcake said:I would think recruit a friend promotions are best for mature games, when subscriptions are on the down slide.
But the December stream also indicated a possibly free download to allow you to play a few levels before buying the game.
Yea, they did say they defeinitely wanted to allow people a free trial to play a certain amount of levels first before making them buy the game, just to make sure its right for them. I think an idea like that is great...it will actually bring more people in, knowing they don't have to invest, but them BAM!! Hooked!! :D
Gaming with your friends is incentive and reward enough. I’m totally against these types of "incentive" models. The demographic that this game is targeting are and will continue to spread the word amongst all their social groups. These types of systems are an invite for spam bots, scammer accounts etc. Plus these systems are so reminiscent of a development and production mindset that I would really like VR to avoid (it’s the slippery slope to "pay to win" models IMO) “recruit x friends and get a free month of sub” recruit x friends and get a permanent 10% xp bonus or 1 hour 100% xp gain potions. I do not want to see VR do any of it. There are better ways to promote a game than through incentive models.
Iksar said:I always thought that the incentive for recruiting a friend is that now your friend has the game and you can play together.
Agreed as well. I don't need an incentive to get me to tell my friends about a great game. Leave referral reward programs to the crappy MMOs that need them.
I personally hate referral programs and do not participate in them. If you must do it at some point please make the reward something not in game maybe a free month of play time or something.
Wellspring said:Iksar said:I always thought that the incentive for recruiting a friend is that now your friend has the game and you can play together.
Agreed as well. I don't need an incentive to get me to tell my friends about a great game. Leave referral reward programs to the crappy MMOs that need them.
You do realize that Pantheon is being crowd funded and has a pledge system for a reason right? It's a method for acquiring funds and assets to help with development costs. As far as the "crappy MMO's that need them" comment ... all of the major MMO's I have ever played had a referral system. It's not about "needing" them ... it's about maximizing exposure of the game in the most cost effective way possible. I've already invited all of my personal friends to follow and back Pantheon as well.
But guess what I haven't done? Tap into the resources of my web development firm, online marketing skills, social media presence, or affiliate marketing experience. If there was an incentive for spending some of my valuable time toward reaching out to people in my outer circle (I do not have regular or frequent interaction with these people) and convincing them to back this game, then maybe I would consider it. But an endeavor like that is basically a job ... and if I'm not getting paid to do it, the least I could get is an upgrade on my own personal pledge.
It's simple business folks ... it has nothing to do with trying to get an in-game award that will make my character more powerful than someone elses. It's expanding upon a system that's already in place and being proactive with a recruit a friend system rather than reactive. Hint: Proactive approaches are generally more successful when it comes to business affairs. If the game is eventually going to have a recruit a friend option, why not implement it now while the game is still in development? Instead of recruit a friend, it's recruit a fellow backer? Something like this can help generate MORE money for the game ... why would anybody have a problem with that??
edit: I had a long, thought-out response typed out, but when I hit "Save Changes," the only part that posted was the quote ;( FeelsBadMan
oneADseven said:You do realize that Pantheon is being crowd funded and has a pledge system for a reason right? It's a method for acquiring funds and assets to help with development costs. As far as the "crappy MMO's that need them" comment ... all of the major MMO's I have ever played had a referral system. It's not about "needing" them ... it's about maximizing exposure of the game in the most cost effective way possible. I've already invited all of my personal friends to follow and back Pantheon as well.
But guess what I haven't done? Tap into the resources of my web development firm, online marketing skills, social media presence, or affiliate marketing experience. I'm not going to venture outside of my personal inner circle of friends and acquaintances when it comes to raising awareness for this game. If there was an incentive for spending some of my valuable time toward reaching out to people in my outer circle (I do not have regular or frequent interaction with these people) and convincing them to back this game, then maybe I would consider it. But an endeavor like that is basically a job ... and if I'm not getting paid to do it, the least I could get is an upgrade on my own personal pledge.
It's simple business folks ... it has nothing to do with trying to get an in-game award that will make my character more powerful than someone elses. It's expanding upon a system that's already in place and being proactive with a recruit a friend system rather than reactive. Hint: Proactive approaches are generally more successful when it comes to business affairs. If the game is eventually going to have a recruit a friend option, why not implement it now while the game is still in development? Instead of recruit a friend, it's recruit a fellow backer? Something like this can help generate MORE money for the game ... why would anybody have a problem with that??
I do get what you are saying, but what ultimately got me to up my pledge was that I want to make sure this game comes out, and I want it to be ready as soon as possible. I'm not a social media kind of guy, but if I was, I'd be promoting this game that way. I settle for talking to the people I know who I think I can convince to pledge. Most of them think I'm crazy. I'm not really against an out-of-game benefit system for the recruiter. Maybe it's something they could look into. There are plenty of companies who operate that way, and maybe it could help them. Still, I do think the main benefits of recruiting a friend are getting your friend into the game and helping the team get this game out to us faster.
I have a refer a friend program on the list of things for later down the track but for now, we have pledges that all include a second copy of the game, which is basically a built in refer a friend and it will most likely be given to a friend or family member who then has the potential to tell others about the game. I will look into a proper refer system down the track, though, I have had it listed for quite a while, we are just waiting for the right time and it is currently a bit too soon.
I'll try to summarize my post that somehow got deleted: first impressions matter and there are a lot of gamers that would be turned off by the game if they see it now in its incomplete state. Whereas if we wait till you can actually log into the game and things are polished, it'll be easier to convince those people that the game is actually fun. The "if you're gonna do it eventually, might as well do it now because proactivity is good business" logic could be used to say "if they're gonna launch the game eventually, might as well do it now because proactivity is good business." But that of course would be a bad move because timing, audience, and presentation matter. The general public is not as passionate about MMORPGs as we are and probably won't view this as their only hope. As such, they just won't feel the need to pledge so early and wait. Therefore, a campaign to reach those people right now would be very premature and fruitless. In fact, it may even do more harm than good for the reputation of the game. VR is handling it very well.
Bazgrim said:I'll try to summarize my post that somehow got deleted: first impressions matter and there are a lot of gamers that would be turned off by the game if they see it now in its incomplete state. Whereas if we wait till you can actually log into the game and things are polished, it'll be easier to convince those people that the game is actually fun. The "if you're gonna do it eventually, might as well do it now because proactivity is good business" logic could be used to say "if they're gonna launch the game eventually, might as well do it now because proactivity is good business." But that of course would be a bad move because timing, audience, and presentation matter. The general public is not as passionate about MMORPGs as we are and probably won't view this as their only hope. As such, they just won't feel the need to pledge so early and wait. Therefore, a campaign to reach those people right now would be very premature and fruitless. In fact, it may even do more harm than good for the reputation of the game. VR is handling it very well.
I'm sorry Bazgrim but I simply disagree with you on this. My idea behind letting people "invite a friend" is more of an "invite a fellow backer." If a player decides that they don't want to back the game, that isn't "hurting" the game it's just one "opportunity" that wasn't utilized. That same player may decide that they want to come back down the road and revisit the discussion when the game is more polished. If they DO decide to back the game, it's an opportunity that WAS utilized. The more of these opportunities that are utilized, the better. Even the opportunities that aren't utilized right now can still end up being a future prospect as they at least had enough interest in the game to see what it was all about.
I agree with you that first impressions are important. My first impression of this game was that it had all of the core tenets/features of an MMO that I would absolutely love, but that it still had quite a bit of development time to go before it's ready to launch. That's a pretty good impression to set when the idea is to accumulate backers/pledgers. Assuming that someone will see the game in it's current form and that it would scare them away forever seems a bit harsh. Look at FFXIV. Horrible game in it's original form. Square Enix made the right decision and scrapped the game altogether and then reinvented a new and better version. People came flocking back to that game in swarms.
My point is ... the more opportunities, the better. Either someone will pledge or they won't. If timing, audience, and presentation are something you are genuinely worried about, I'd like to point out that Pantheon was voted the most anticipated MMO of 2017, even in it's current form. What if someone finds a retired baseball player (Curt Schilling was a long time player of EQ2) that decides they want to invest a million dollars into Pantheon to relive the good 'ol days? Wouldn't that be great? Find enough of those opportunities and you might speed up the launch of this game, or make it so that when it is finally launched, it's a more polished version due to the extra resources that were obtained during the pledge/backer phase.
My idea was more or less a form of affiliate marketing, except the "affiliates" wouldn't actually be getting paid for their recruiting efforts. Instead, they'd receive an upgrade to their own current pledge. Not everybody can make the 10k pledge required to help take part in the creation of a raid or dungeon, but there might be a few who could get to that pledge level through an epic recruit-a-pledger endeavor. At the end of the day, the more money/awareness this game receives, the more successful it will be. One of the biggest issues for EQ2, IMO, was the lack of marketing. I don't ever remember seeing a commercial for EQ2 or hearing about it on the radio. If a program like I suggest was implemented, there might be a few famous streamers out there who could help promote Pantheon. Even if they aren't interested in the game themselves, they could use the final reward as some sort of giveaway to a random person tuned into their stream.
Imagine this ... Famous Streamer X (Let's use Cohh as an example since he was recently involved in one of the streams) is invited to the February stream for Pantheon. He get's his own personal "invite a pledger" link on his stream that tracks how many people make a donation through his link. He decides that one (or more if enough pledges or donations are achieved) lucky player(s) will receive the ultimate Pantheon VIP package, including being able to help the development team build a dungeon or raid. I think something like that should be done on a monthly basis (or at least with every new dev stream) until this game comes out. It's a great way to leverage the resources that are already being put into the dev streams, but with the added bonus of more potential opportunities to generate some $$ for VR.
Xilshale said:Technically all the tiers we buy to pledge/pre-purchase the game beyond the most basic option include a second CD key. That's pretty much a refer a friend as the lowbie levels will be free (as stated last stream. Omg I hope chat channels are restricted to prevent spam bots and sellers).
'Try for free (public beta if you can get in), play lowbie levels free, then I can give you this game code so you don't have to buy the game (just sub) if you want to keep playing'
Atleast that's my take on it.
I personally find it lame to have a friend (or to be realistic a second account of your own) join to gain an XP buff or an annoying puppy social pet. I don't need bribes to tell my friends about a game I think they'd enjoy. And if I play a box account I don't need an artificial xp mod to do so.
Just my 2 coppers on the topic.
/Agree
I've always wondered how beneficial the invite a friend program games have. I typically play in what some consider the hardcore guilds, in almost every person in said guilds that participated with the recruit a friend programs that have existed just buy another account and do it to themselves to receive the rewards. I guess it is still a win since they get money off it still, but in terms of bringing in new players, I've wondered it's success.