New cover?
 

It's the Shrapnel page. D'oh.

The cover has changed?

Re: New cover?
 

oh. ouch! I think I prefered the old picture. Can it be changed back? please?

*edit - it looks too sci-fi right now - not medieval enough by half.

[ October 15, 2003, 14:23: Message edited by: st.patrik ]

Re: New cover?
 

Funny...
It is "in sync" with the "Plasma Orb" style that Dom X has...

I think the cover is ok. Nasty looking eyes staring at you in the cover are always a good thing...

edit-I wonder if that is Dark Lord Johan's face in the cover...
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

[ October 15, 2003, 14:38: Message edited by: Nerfix ]

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Absolutely - it reminds me of the cover to Jack the Bodiless, from Julian May's Galactic Millieu series.

[ October 15, 2003, 15:45: Message edited by: Truper ]

Re: New cover?
 

There should be a giant Ryleh tentacle monster on the cover...

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Uhhh...
We already have Void Monsters and Hybrids...
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif

My only real gripe is that IMO it should be Dominions II not Dominions 2.

[ October 15, 2003, 18:28: Message edited by: Nerfix ]

Re: New cover?
 

There are a lot of feature in Dominions that appeal to sick, twisted people, like blood slaves, blood rituals, Ryleh, instant-death spell descriptions, and many, many more. Having tentacle monsters in the game is fine, but to really grab the attention of the target audience, you need one on the cover. [Edit: to REALLY grab the target audience, glue a robotic, heat-seeking tentacle onto the box!] Drawing it anime-style would probably be a good idea, too. In fact, I would suggest putting a big tentacle monster on the cover, drawn by Michael Poe (over here: http://www.errantstory.com/). He is quite talented at drawing tentacle monsters, and his forums are full of sick, twisted people who are devoted to him, so the game would immediately capture a HUGE audience.

-Cherry

P.S. I'd have to search through the archives to find a picture of "Count Naughtius", his tentacle monster, but if you like web comics, read through www.exploitationnow.com (his previous comic) and you'll find it eventually.

PPS. WARNING! SOME OF POE'S STUFF IS RATED R! But anyway, I did manage to locate this strip series, as he describes it: "The Elder God, Cthulha, tries escape into the physical plane of existence… only to wind up getting stuck in a toilet. " That sounds pretty Dominion-related, to me... http://www.exploitationnow.com/d/20000726.html

[ October 15, 2003, 19:33: Message edited by: Saber Cherry ]

Re: New cover?
 

hmm. I prefer this cover more... Plasma is SO beatiful...

Re: New cover?
 

Cherry, you scare me sometimes...

Re: New cover?
 

Well, I said it was "R", so you weren't supposed to go there without your parents' permission. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

But I think an association with Poe would do wonders for the game's sales figures...

-Cherry

Re: New cover?
 

Saber Cherry is a weirdo. I don't like weirdos. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/blush.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I didn't go there...

I'm kinda afraid of all these "tentacle boogeyman" dudes...

Well, the other side is...

Yes, Saber is weirdo, so am i, just a diffrent kind of weirdo. There is a litle weirdo inside everyone of us.

Hmmm...
If they would draw it in anime style, the next logical step would be Dominions-The JRPG...

Arh, i keep talking about DTJRPG because i already have story for the game!
No kidding!

Too long and weird post...

[ October 15, 2003, 20:39: Message edited by: Nerfix ]

Re: New cover?
 

The old was better.

Re: New cover?
 

I like the Dom2 cover....it needed an update from the first one....

Re: New cover?
 

The full cover, with the stuff on the back, looks freaking awesome. This is our artists best cover to date. The old cover was just something we put up quickly to get the product pages up.

Re: New cover?
 

The new one is much more eye catching, I like http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">No offense, but I think if the picture on the website is anything to go by I'd have to disagree strongly - I don't like the way it looks at all. I feel like I'd have a hard time convincing friends who just saw the cover that "no really it's a cool game."

In case you're interested in my suggestion (which I'm pretty sure you're not, since the cover's done already http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif ) I think it would be cool to get a graphic that looks like a sketch by Leonardo DaVinci - a kind of 'medieval science' look, with old ink and parchment kinds of colours. This seems way more in theme with the game, since by and large the units are medieval in nature (knights, archers, sword-wielding infantry). The current cover looks just about as different from medieval/old illustration as you can get - a space-age font with the number in Arabic numerals rather than Roman numerals, purples and blues with a glowing orb! It looks like the cover of a space exploration game. ugh!

[ October 16, 2003, 05:48: Message edited by: st.patrik ]

Re: New cover?
 

Its eye catching??, and my face almost turned BLUE http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif .If you added Mini pics of Gods throwing & casting lighting/fireball etc, Leonardo DaVinci stuff http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif , around that planets horizon or just at the 4 courners of the edge of the box.Thata been very cool too..

Re: New cover?
 

Boy! You guys see something totally different than I do. I see an angry God looking down on his world. It really doesn't bring sci-fi to mind to me. More omnipotence.

Anyway, the cover performed VERY well in market testing. The whole idea of a cover is to get people to "look" further and not just pass it by. This cover performed in the 90 percentile at doing that.

Just the fact that there is so much 'discussion' on the cover makes us feel good. If it didn't garner any response we would be worried... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Even negative attention is attention, huh?

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I like the cover, but i still say that it should have been "Dominions II", not "Dominions 2".

Re: New cover?
 

As a matter of fact, it should say Dominions II instead of 2. That's been decided as the official title.

Psitticine, the Fussy Editing Parrot

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Can it still be fixed?
This is the only thing that bothers me in the cover, and since it should be Dominions II not 2...

Re: New cover?
 

LOL, who cares about that? II. or 2.
Geez! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/blush.gif

Re: New cover?
 

I do! Of course, this is not important, but I still like II more than 2. It is a question of style. Dominions is more in the old than in the new, and II is older than 2. Well, I do not know any years, but II would have been used in the time Rome was the important nation. That is, before the cataclysm. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
Besides, II is more exotic than 2. For me atleast.

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Dominions 2 is fine. I don't see any difference between 2 and II. This is all about subjectivity.

Re: New cover?
 

Branding is important, and consistancy is a part of that. The title of the game should remain the same, no matter where or when it is referenced.

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">One is Arabic, one is Roman. That sounded strange, I guess I should say 2 is Arabic, II is Roman. And Shrapnel typically sells more games in Europe than in the Middle East, so it's pretty important http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">One is Arabic, one is Roman. That sounded strange, I guess I should say 2 is Arabic, II is Roman. And Shrapnel typically sells more games in Europe than in the Middle East, so it's pretty important http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">lol http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">One is Arabic, one is Roman. That sounded strange, I guess I should say 2 is Arabic, II is Roman. And Shrapnel typically sells more games in Europe than in the Middle East, so it's pretty important http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">........so I guess you are using II. in Japan....and I guess the Europeans are using II. instead of 2....is that what you are trying to tell us? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
(Shrugs)

Re: New cover?
 

Dominions II. looks better imho.

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Marketing 101. I'll speak to Tim about it so we can make a decision, it's easy to miss little details like this when trying to get a game to market.

Re: New cover?
 

The new cover looks a little cheesy to me. *shrug* Something in the line of Brueghel the Elder, or even Holbein, would strike me more favorably. Somewhere there's a picture of a painting depicting what a victorious Duke of Alva did to the Netherlands after a battle, hm, but I can't find it. Bother.

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">What makes it negative attention? Its opinions. Neither right nor wrong. Everyone has one. We could change it and would pleaee some that we hadn't before, and displease others that are happy with the way it is now.

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">What makes it negative attention? Its opinions. Neither right nor wrong. Everyone has one. We could change it and would pleaee some that we hadn't before, and displease others that are happy with the way it is now.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I wasn't trying to say it was right or wrong - just trying to respond to what you said about the fact that there's controversy about the cover being a good thing.

To my understanding that interprets the negative attention the new cover was receiving as a good thing, because it provokes controversy and discussion, etc. rather than interpreting it as a bad thing, which would presumably be because you would only want favourable reviews (i.e. positive attention). I hope this clarifies what I meant by 'negative attention'.

and BTW I recognise that my opinion counts just as that: the opinion of one customer. Nonetheless as a customer I feel the freedom to make my opinions known, and to comment on Shrapnel's response http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif , so long as I keep it polite. I trust I gave no offense?

[ October 17, 2003, 04:34: Message edited by: st.patrik ]

Re: New cover?
 

st. patrick:

No offense taken, and you bring up a good point, as it regards reviews. Here is what we can measure:

Positive reviews garner the most immediate sales for a product.

Negative reviews the next most.

NO Reviews or very few reviews the least.

So, we would rather have alot of negative reviews than for a product to be just ignored by the media.

From my marketing days in college, we were told that there is no such thing as bad press. Press, even negative, makes people aware of who you are and what you have and, of course, it is free. I think the premise was, it may hurt you short term, but in the long run, people will remember your company/ product, and forget why they remember it.

I assume this premise is still in place, but of course marketing has changed alot. Advertising use to bring customers immmediately. Now, from my understanding, advertising is considered a more long term investment. You can no longer look at advertising as a quick fix for sales, but an investment in prouct identity.

Probably more information than you wanted to know... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ October 17, 2003, 09:39: Message edited by: Tim Brooks ]

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">It's all good. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif - though the way marketing in general works sometimes seems a little sneaky to me http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: New cover?
 

warning, personnal opinion coming :

I dont like the cover too. Too modern, too plainly basic. I would have preferred something along the line of an old sketch as someone said (da Vinci or along the line).

Re: New cover?
 

I honestly like the old cover more, but from a perspective of drawing attention I can see why the new one would aid in marketing. Note that I think there's a trend of the people newer to dominions to like the new cover and the dominions 1 fans to like the old one. I could be wrong...but it seems that way.
I think its largely either the all blue scheme or the white lines all over the world that most give it the sci-fi look. But keep in mind the old dominions box looked nice with the old dominions interface...the new interface iself has a new color scheme. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: New cover?
 

I, too, think the style of the Doms I cover was a much better fit, and more to my own tastes. There are also plenty of eye-catching ancient/medieval images which could've been used.

As for marketters... well, if they want some attention from the cover, there are some nice controversial medieval images of battles with heaps of chopped up bleeding corpses and stuff.

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

PvK

[ October 18, 2003, 01:22: Message edited by: PvK ]

Re: New cover?
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">yes that, or the drawing of hell from medieval artists, with tortured bodies and demons everywhere...

Re: New cover?
 

For demonic imagery, the works of Hieronymous Bosch might be a good starting point... possibly too disturbing and and too PG-13 for a computer game cover 'tho.

Re: New cover?
 

The dom 1 cover is a Hieronymus Bosch piece.