Tuesday, March 28, 2006

It Makes The World Go 'Round 2

Even though the situation is not at all funny to those involved, the darker side of my brain has to laugh, and laugh out loud.

I speak, of course, about BGG and Rocketville. Yes, that ad that everyone who has ads enabled has been complaining about. That awesome new game [sic] from Richard Garfield and Avalon Hill.

It begins with a complaint, a thread, and a geeklist. So what's the effect of all this?

Because of BGG's decision to allow such intrusive ads, people are figuring out how to disable all ads. This hurts all advertisers and BGG as well. People won't pay to turn off ads. People pay because they like the site. Now some don't.

The game itself is drawing quite a bit of negative buzz because of the ad. Therefore reviews like this will be seen by everyone. I have also read the rules and will be posting my own comments in my next rules update.

Again, this is just natural market forces at work. People have a voice and a choice. If you push too hard, it will backfire.

In BGG's defense, they have reacted properly in the past when touchy topics like censorship begin to overwhelm the site. I have no doubt they will do the right thing again.

In the meantime, I am entertained.

6 Comments:

At 12:42 AM, Blogger Pawnstar said...

That review you link to would never have been read by me had you not linked to it; the ad just hasn't worked on me. I conclude from this you're right about the ad having a negative effect.

 
At 5:13 PM, Blogger Seth Jaffee said...

People keep saying "I hear it's a terrible game anyway" and "all the reviews are bad"... but the 2 reviews I read sounded reasonable, and the game (from the description) sounded fine to me. I think the bad press from the ad has leaked into the review and people's opinion of the game. To me it sounds sorta like Taj Mahal Lite.

- Seth

 
At 5:18 PM, Blogger ekted said...

That's exactly what I am saying. The negativity of the ad taints the game itself. Avalon Hill and BGG have hurt the game and their own respective profits by pushing too hard.

I've got a set of 8 game rules I am reading, including Rocketville. I'll be posting my thoughts when I get through them all.

 
At 6:39 PM, Blogger dave said...

"To me it sounds sorta like Taj Mahal Lite."

My head just exploded. And I just put it back together after folks called Havoc Taj Mahal Lite.

 
At 10:36 PM, Blogger Todd D. said...

My fellow Houston Gamers had already played a few times and decided Rocketville sucked by the time I made it to a recent meeting.

I ended up playing Ark and Hat Trick instead, so hey, good save.

 
At 11:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That has some good facts.

 

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