A bad idea

[capnq]

After this recent thread {link} (http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=007345#000000) in the Space Empires forum, I find it rather...ironic...that the Shrapnel home page is now promoting Space HoRSE with a pop-up ad.

I would have thought Shrapnel was too media-savvy to use such an unpopular and poorly performing form of advertising.

[Argh]

They've been pushing Space Horse very heavily- given that it's gotten fairly good Ratings in Computer Games Monthly, among other places, I think that they're trying to get sales roaring along. And I think that we can all agree that Shrapnel making lots of sales = good thing.

All the same, a pop-up ad is rather annoying. . . but hey, I rarely visit the front page- I just bookmark the MB, and I can see a lot more about current core product dev. here anyway. . . http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Taz-in-Space]

It's a POPUP... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif
At Shrapnel... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/confused.gif
Did I die and go to Hel... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

[capnq]

I think that we can all agree that Shrapnel making lots of sales = good thing. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I agree, which is why I find the pop-up ads surprising. (Today it's Armored Task Force; I'd only seen Space HoRSE there before.) Ads as annoying as pop-ups can actually reduce sales. At the very least, it will discourage casual visitors from returning to the Shrapnel home page.

[Sniper]

I agree, and risk eternal damnation from all the lovely peeps here at Sharpnel. A pop up is Baaad! Lets all hope this isnt the begining of the end!

Cheers http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Gillissie]

Sure caught me off guard. As much as I appreciate Shrapnel pushing our games, I have to say that a popup on their own site is like preaching to the choir.

[MichaelCooney]

Let me jump in here and say that it's a popup to promote a Shrapnel product - it isn't a random, revenue generating, brightly flashing annoyance, designed to get you to buy butt-hair removal cream. All those ads were pulled a long, long time ago. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

The feedback is good, but don't equate this with Shrapnel whoring itself out to the misguided marketters of the web. Tim just wants to make sure that people coming to the site are aware that he carries this excellent game.

[Sniper]

Sure

we all appreciate that it was a pop up for this company that we all love. And we agree that anything that may get revenue up is a good thing for Sharpnel and a good thing for us. But I feel the community see the pop up as a possible harbinger that Shrapnel may have to "Sell out".
But we do appreciate that it is there to increase sales.
Cheers

[Fyron]

Popup ads = Evil

What more need I say? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif Regardless of what the ad is for, it is still evil. Any popups like that detract from the professionalism of a web site. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[mlmbd]

Mike Cooney, OK, I hope this doesn't get me banished. I understand and appreciate (as I am sure we ALL do) Tim and or Richard wanting to move a product, whatever it is. So why not just tweak the Front Page adding a really nice banner? You could put it between the http://www.shrapnelgames.com/images/web_new/shrapnelhomeB.gif (Sorry no UBB images or HTML here) and Frame work just below it. That would put the product in a very prominent spot without annoying anyone. Well that my $1.00 worth($.02 (two cents) worth X 50).

mlmbd http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

[capnq]

mlmbd, when you've hung around these Boards longer, you'll realize you don't have to worry about being banished. Shrapnel has built up a really good community here, one that's remarkably patient and tolerant.

A person has to be mind-bogglingly obnoxious to get kicked from these Boards. Worse than pop-up ads, even. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

This thread has drawn less traffic than I might have expected. We'll just have to wait and see how the bit of negative feedback here compares to the positive feedback from people who do click-through on the pop-ups.