I am wondering if there is a way to utilize the neon floating signs outside of stations to become meaningful In-Game ads, that relate in part, to the real world in corporate sponsorship. For instance, if Pepsi took out ads In-Game for [X] dollars, could they not promote new players, or give veteran players special bonus's for... say fly a special mission, or recover a load of Pepsi CargoTM.?

It seems the world of virtual advertising is crossing the line with traditional advertising.

I realize this is a combat based game. but trading, and virtual "living" seems to attract folks, and thus sponsors.

I welcome comments!

The issue is justifying exposure to customers. In theory, it could be done, but in practice, especially for a small company like us, it's pretty tough. We don't have a huge userbase, like WoW, to pull this sort of thing off. And chances are any clients would want some sort of clickthrough system, which is not trivial to develop.

He says if you go down to the little station over there and get him some good old fashioned cola, he'll blow up the connie and clear the way!

Look at a custom content model Ad feature from a magazine.
like a Gamer Mag.
Could you not have a paid advertorial that features VO, thats sponsored by a third party, which has paid for said Ad.
This in turn would create new users/subscribers.
AND - the sponsor would have a "presence" in the virtual world.

Just brainstorming.

best all!

did alloh change his name or something?

nope.

But the editable ads would make sense for (player|guild) owned stations, like "hire escorts here" or simply the (player|guild) name... or events/missions, like "Join Nation Wars today" or "hiring escorts here"

There are the retarded impractical suggestions we all know.

Anyways, clever L4D reference that went completely unnoticed aside... I don't necessarily see this happening and I'm pretty sure this has been suggested before. Besides, the signs would probably have to be in GTS (which might be hard for companies to agree to especially for such a small game). And everyone knows, ever since Blade Runner, that the only cola ever being advertised in a futuristic scifi would be Coca-Cola, haha.

Aside from that, well, we got separated from most of the old Earth companies when the Sol wormhole collapsed.

Logun: You have to justify the exposure of the ad space when you sell it to the advertising client. So you have to be able to say "10,000 people drive by it every day" (billboard) "We get 60,000 impressions per day!" (website), etc. Not like "20 people fly by here to buy cargo widgets every day". The issue isn't showing the ads in the game, it's selling the ads to the client, and then justifying the exposure somehow by providing them with feedback statistics. Neither is particularly easy for us, not impossible, but not worth a big dedication of time as of yet.

Random idea for if and when it ever becomes economically feasible: ad-swaps. Instead of having people pay for adds, you give them X exposures in-game for X appearances on their website. On second thought, that's probably a terrible idea. There's a reason we have currency. :D

[EDIT]I must say, a simple flickering Pepsi logo floating outside of D14 would make excellent subliminal advertising![/EDIT]

I still see more practical to advertise game events and features while in-game.

If I see a "Xcola" ad floating, where can I buy it? What station? and where do I sell it for profit?

Or, on the other side: First find a company willing to pay real cash for ads and then it can be implemented on same day!

I think this idea will work more in the future, more than now.
Video games are becoming a new way to engage people in a virtual setting.

eg. The iPhone app, that lets you look at your surroundings and find what is available.

similarly in a game module, you should be able to "sell' space. also advertise in-game scenarios. (all sponsored like a snowboarder).
Its worth a venture capitol investment, if it ever gets rolling.