How Intrusive are the Player Advertisements?

[Alex]

By how intrusive, I mean how much do they detract from the experience? How in the way are they?

 

In my opinion, I thought they were pretty big and obnoxious at first, but I'm used to them now and they don't bother me. They're limited in size so that they can't be too big, and they're also limited in how often an ad is even displayed. On mobile they're hidden by default because there's not a lot of screen space, but you can toggle viewing them.

 

Basically, I just want some feedback on how you'd like to see them improved. Just try to think not only as a player, but also as a potential ad buyer. If you're putting the ad out there, you do want people to see it, you know.

[Dwemyrn]

Adblock doesn't stop them, I run adblock.

[Alex]

Adblock doesn't stop them, I run adblock.

 

You could set adblock to block them manually. It doesn't by default block them though, no.

 

My concern with people using AdBlock is that it'll still show up as a view for the ad buyer even though the person never saw it. If enough people are using AdBlock it would make more sense to just add an account setting to turn them off, so that the game knows to just not display them to some people. But if the viewership of the ads is significantly decreased, no one will want to buy them.

 

It's kind of a catch 22.

[Dwemyrn]

You could set adblock to block them manually. It doesn't by default block them though, no.

 

My concern with people using AdBlock is that it'll still show up as a view for the ad buyer even though the person never saw it. If enough people are using AdBlock it would make more sense to just add an account setting to turn them off, so that the game knows to just not display them to some people. But if the viewership of the ads is significantly decreased, no one will want to buy them.

 

It's kind of a catch 22.

I wouldn't mind it even if adblock doesn't block. One of the ads already placed was extremely amusing despite not really being an ad. The only critism I have is a credit should pay for the ad to run on a 30 day cycle like, redeeming a credit for vip does. 

[Fiadon Clevae]

I'd prefer something smaller appearing in the side toolbar at the top. Not massive banner ads that move the main page content.

[Aenir]

I don't like that they move everything else on the page.

[Phiney]

I think a show hide toggle like on mobile would be the best way to go

[Malichy]

By how intrusive, I mean how much do they detract from the experience? How in the way are they?

 

In my opinion, I thought they were pretty big and obnoxious at first, but I'm used to them now and they don't bother me. They're limited in size so that they can't be too big, and they're also limited in how often an ad is even displayed. On mobile they're hidden by default because there's not a lot of screen space, but you can toggle viewing them.

 

Basically, I just want some feedback on how you'd like to see them improved. Just try to think not only as a player, but also as a potential ad buyer. If you're putting the ad out there, you do want people to see it, you know.

 

So far, despite the fact that I generally despise ads, I don't find this too bad. A couple of points though:

 

• If you are going to provide an option to turn it off, it should only be available to VIP members. A premium feature like other apps. Plus, I'd like it to be optional not automatic for VIP especially if it is only player made ads going up because some of them have been amusing and/or (gasp!) useful.
• Maybe not yet, but I would think you might eventually want to convert to some sort of cpm/cpc model rather than just running the ads for a set amount of time.

 

I don't like that they move everything else on the page.

 

Finally, I totally agree with Aenir on this one. Something in the sidebar area would be better. Maybe you could add a right sidebar for the ads? Or just find a way to incorporate it into the left?

[martiy]

So I'm playing this game, trying to build a city, set military, trade resources, etc....and at the top there is a gigantic picture of sheep, or whatever random picture people decide to put into their ads. Like how does that fit into the theme of the game? and the banner is SO BIG too, feels like the random picture takes up like a quarter of the page. Will definetley be using ad block to block them. 

Edited July 1, 2015 by martiy

[Dwemyrn]

I think a show hide toggle like on mobile would be the best way to go

yes

[Stannis Baratheon]

It's like poaching everyone in PnW at once...

[Saruman]

To be honest, I like the ads. I don't mind seeing them. I would love to buy them, but I can't afford credits

[Adama]

I'd like to go one step farther and request the option to see them 100 percent of the time due to the amount of funny that these ads will bring (Looking at you Carter and the Potato Salad Guy... Whoever that is.) I'm serrious.

 

Realistically though, putting them on the side bar would probably be better, however I really don't mind them at the top. I mean, they show up only 20 percent of the time and it's in game player made ads. It's really not somethig to get upset about if you are running ad block or even of you aren't. you'll be okay I promise.

[PsyMar]

I don't like that they move everything else on the page.

 

This.  Stick them off to the side somewhere.  At first I was going to tolerate them; then I tried using adblock to hide them but then discovered that blocked all nation flags too, which really annoys me.  The alternative is show an ad of equal height on every page; then it wouldn't bother me as much as the intermittent ads that disrupt my muscle memory for where to click.

[LordRahl2]

I like them.  Good fun to be had by all.

[Dalinar]

I like the toggle on/off option. If there was an easy way to do it so that you can only turn it off after you're X days old, that'd be ideal (since most of these ads are probably going to be aimed at new nations, don't want to take away from the ad effectiveness). 

[Placentica]

I think they are fine.  I don't mind them and it helps keep the game going. 

 

I much prefer to see player created ads than a regular ad.

[Raiden]

Some of these ads are pretty funny. So far, Potato Salad wins

[Alex]

I think a show hide toggle like on mobile would be the best way to go

 

I don't think anyone would ever see them, then. People would never click "Toggle Show" and the person who bought the ad would still end up having that count as a view regardless.

 

So I'm playing this game, trying to build a city, set military, trade resources, etc....and at the top there is a gigantic picture of sheep, or whatever random picture people decide to put into their ads. Like how does that fit into the theme of the game? and the banner is SO BIG too, feels like the random picture takes up like a quarter of the page. Will definetley be using ad block to block them. 

 

I don't think they're that big, but I've got a large monitor. Here's a screenshot of how they appear for me, I would say they take up far from a quarter of the page.

 

For those of you saying move it over above the sidebar - that would certainly make for much, much smaller ads. Potential buyers, would you even want an add if it was just a little square above the sidebar?

[Phiney]

I think they would indeed buy it in the sidebar as people will buy anything like that that let's them show off. And you can just have the view count on click of the show hide link. Run if for a day or two and test it, I find myself often clicking show whilst on mobile

[WISD0MTREE]

I don't think they're that big, but I've got a large monitor. Here's a screenshot of how they appear for me, I would say they take up far from a quarter of the page.

-snip-

 

For those of you saying move it over above the sidebar - that would certainly make for much, much smaller ads. Potential buyers, would you even want an ad if it was just a little square above the sidebar?

Dude, what size is your monitor? 

 

I have a credit and I'd buy a smaller one if it was for two weeks/140,000 views. 

 

EDIT: Wait, it is a 20% chance? RNGs hate me. 

Edited July 1, 2015 by WISD0MTREE

[Kemal Ergenekon]

eRepublik had an advertisement module once. Ads were displayed on a separate sidebar to the right. You would see 3 ads, each with a picture and some small amount of text. I thought that was very tolerable, and didn't change the location of anything on the screen. Maybe you can do that? It would be less intrusive, and people can see up to 3 ads at the same time.

 

Edit: Here is an old SS I found

 

Edited July 1, 2015 by Kemal Ergenekon

[Verlion]

Ads? Not annoying.

Ads at the top creating new boxes and pushing things away from their 'normal' spot? Very annoying.

No Ability to turn off Ads? Not that annoying*

Price? Not that annoying, though I'd prefer a straight cash option. No Cash & Donations or just Donations. Just Cash.

 

Suggestions :

 

Allow ability for Ad Buyer to hide their identity at extra cost. It doesn't work great for all types of propaganda if it lists a name. What if I wanted to create an ad just for Alliance A, but claim it was from Alliance B, when I'm actually in Alliance C. If these Ads are intended to add fun and intrigue, more anonymous ad making would go a long way.

 

Ads on the side. Been suggested by multiple people, but honestly that is my chief complaint. The current box that gets added 20% of the time honestly just annoys me, I'm more likely to refresh the page than care what it says.

 

*- If people want to turn off Ads, they can ad block them. While yes it may count against the total view count, these types of ads aren't something that should be able to be blocked by the game itself. Perhaps even remove a view count limit to begin with. What's to stop someone from automatically refreshing the page constantly so ads are viewed more. Also, perhaps you can find a way to tie the ads into the background better so that if people try to block the ad it ends up blocking way more. Several sites I visit often have ads similar to that, when you try to block them half the page disappears.

Edited July 1, 2015 by Lion

[Dimitri Valko]

I find them annoying, and just a nuisance. The only real use is for alliances, and two out of the only three ads currently made look horrendous, and were easily made in MS Paint. Something I do think could work, however, is a daily notification newspaper with ads on it. Like... "[Offending Nation] declares war on [Defending Nation]! National Tensions flare!" or if you have under 20% of your nation's score come from your military, "The [Name of your people from Fact Book] Military is undermanned! Recruit and serve your nation under [Nation's Leader + Title]!", along with some roleplay stuff like "[Nation's Leader] has been seen at [City with Improvement, ie. Stadium]'s [improvement, ie. Stadium]!" and above it shows an ad saying "Support [Your Alliance Name] in this war against [Alliance Name]!" or whatnot. The option to favourite a newspaper would mean you could save it, etc. And this would mean that you see the ads in a specific place along with details about your nation, and they would still generate revenue to the almighty Sheepy.

[Belisarius]

I like them. I would only ask that there should not be a big blue border around the ad with the addendum that they're ads around it. The font is too big and it's too noticeable.