The Most Violent Game on Facebook…

Or so they say.

Isn’t being the most violent game on Facebook about equal to being the hardest drinker at the soda fountain?

And where exactly is this game banned?  You can apparently play it on Facebook which, last I checked, was banned in pitifully few places, though I keep getting email from a group that wants to ban it in India.

Something like “most violent” is clearly puffery, but claiming to be banned… I think you have to prove that one.  I think you have to get called out by the governor of a state or be banned in a whole country like Postal II to have any street cred there.

I am also a bit disappointed.  They had enough space left that they could have spelled out Facebook.  I don’t want to start hearing people refer to it as “FB” or, even worse, “The FB.”  Let’s nip that one in the bud right now.

Hrmm, I wrote for a couple of hours today about the Supreme Court, EverQuest, and TorilMUD, and this is all that was worth posting.  I’m going to have to have one of those “unfinished posts” weeks like Syp did a while back.

A Facebook Ad Combo Attack

Ads for browser games on Facebook tend to follow a couple of common threads.  You have to grab people’s attention and tell them something compelling about your game in a Twitter-like word restricted format.

Lying is a popular formula.  We saw that with Dungeons & Dragons Online and their “No Download Needed” ad.

When I saw this gem this morning, I knew I had to post it.

Here we have a one-two punch of Facebook ad cliches.

First, the title, “Banned on Myspace.”

Being banned somewhere seems to have some allure to the advertiser end of the equation, though I am not sure why.  I’ve seen ads for games that have been banned, banned in Utah, banned for kids (as Facebook ought to be), or nearly banned.  Nearly banned?

But “Banned on Myspace” is a new one.  I didn’t think people got banned from Myspace as a punishment, I thought they were sent there as a punishment.

Does Myspace even have games?  How exactly was this game banned?

And then there is the “Most Addictive” whatever, another popular unsubstantiated claim for Facebook game ads.

Then we add in “No download needed,” which we’ve seen for games that did need a download, as I pointed out above.

Finally, there is the picture.  What is going on in that picture?  Is that a Kerra with a Santa hat squaring off against a red turtle with a club?  Or is it some sort of little red Power Ranger?  Is this picture even from the game in question.

Another classic Facebook ad.

They are Dragons… And They are Playing Pool!

I read somewhere that the coming collapse of Facebook games was going to be driven, in part, by Facebook now charging market rates for ads.

And then this ad popped up on my side bar in Facebook.

Either somebody is paying a lot to market… uh… items of limited appeal, or Facebook hasn’t quite hit the level of market rate.

Hand painted, pool playing dragons anyone?

Proust in His First Book Wrote About, Wrote About…

While I’m in on Facebook ads of late, I thought I would share this absolute stunner.

Do you get a lot of fans of Marcel Proust on Facebook then?

My first thought was that I must have “liked” Monty Python’s Flying Circus.  Right, that one episode, that must be it.

But no, none of the relatively few items I have “liked” on Facebook… because there is, honestly, relatively little to like… has anything to do with Monty Python.

No, something else seems to have targeted me as somebody who might be interested in Proust… or a book about Proust.  Well, it isn’t even a book about Proust, it is a book about somebody who is obsessed with Proust.  Go figure.

I’m not sure what criteria HarperCollins was using, but I guess Facebook ads are cheap.

Well, I am guessing they are cheap, judging on who buys them.

A Strangely Accurate Facebook Ad

Facebook ads come in wacky flavors, usually because they are trying to shovel too much information into a Twitter-sized medium.

And, too often, that attempt ends somewhere between gross exaggerations and outright lies.

So it is nice, once in a while, to see a Facebook ad that is not only targeted at the right audience, but which actually falls within the realm of credulity.

Okay, maybe the hyperbole is still evident… the ultimate WWII online simulation seems to be setting the bar pretty high… but it is at least isn’t claiming to be like Pokemon, banned in Utah, and requiring no download. It is even a game I’ve looked into before.

I’ve seriously considered playing the game being advertised… World War II Online… or Blitzkrieg… or Battleground Europe… whichever name is correct these days… but have never quite gotten there.

So, for an ad, it is pretty well targeted.

The Wisdom of Facebook Ads

Simplicity itself!  Stop playing BORING Games!

Now why didn’t I think of that.

The limitations of the medium show in this ad.  They had so much they wanted to say in a limited space that they couldn’t even fit in the full name of the allegedly non-boring game they were pushing.

While Dungeons & Dragons may not necessarily be boring (depending on your group), the ad actually links to Dungeons & Dragons Online.

In what category is Dungeons & Dragons Online #1?  They didn’t have room to elaborate on that either.  And I’m not sure how “No download needed” isn’t a complete lie.

Finally, for the record, if I find a game boring, I pretty much stop playing of my own accord, generally without even much conci0us thought on the subject.  I tend to just find myself doing other things.

Gaming Paper Ad

Facebook ads are to this coming decade what 3am TV ads used to be 20 years ago; low budget and often humorous.

I keep seeing ads on Facebook that make me chuckle or scratch my head, like this one.

How is this different than regular paper?

The Facebook ad system allows you to pick your target audience, but keeps you to a tweet-like level of text that often cannot get across what the advertiser is trying to express.

By the way, Gaming Paper appears to be just rolls of paper pre-printed with square or hex patterns.  Basically, wrapping paper with specific patterns.  If that was the help you needed in drawing your roleplaying or miniatures game, consider yourself informed.