Sigil’s fan service model for their new MMO got me wondering… aside from clearly targeting their game at teenage males, how well does using sexy cover art actually sell the game?
EverQuest’s “bondage” cover for their Ruins of Kunark expansion was unsurprisingly also painted by the late Keith Parkinson. Firiona would get bustier and bustier on each cover, until her breast reduction in Planes of Power. Fun fact: I played that evil Iksar guy in the “Free Firiona” event. Fun fact #2: I also played Firiona Vie in a long adventure into Dalnir once. In game, Firiona wears armor…
Blizzard’s box art for World of Warcraft, by contrast, is nearly modest. The dwarf is not only clothed, but ARMORED. The Night Elf is wearing a concealing cloak! You have to actually play the game to see the crowds of naked Night Elves dancing; but just looking at the cover, no clue of that.
I’ve never played Shadowbane, but when I was playing Dark Ages of Camelot, everyone was hailing Shadowbane as the home of REAL PvP, and its release gutted DAoC the way DAoC’s release gutted EQ. True teenage boy marketing: Pull them in with the sex, keep them with mindless pwning.
Speaking of DAoC, their box has no sexy model on it at all. How are teenage boys ever going to find it? The female models in game are all clothed. Contrast that with my WoW priest; she wears a G-string beneath that robe (I don’t dare take off that robe in public). Is it any wonder that before SB, AO and WoW drained the teenage boys from EverQuest, DAoC had the highest portion of female players among the games I played?
Horizons’ box was very sedate and generic. I guess that is at least one reason why the game didn’t make it. Other reasons might be the way they scaled WAY back from their initial goals, changed publishers, lost financing, and had too much of a crafter focus. But who knows.
Some games daringly use a sexy guy on their packaging 🙂 But I knew from screenshots that while the GUYS might be dressed, the gals are still Victoria’s Secret models. Combined with widespread griefing, I would be surprised if any women at all played L2.
Hey, if you’re gonna have a guy on your cover, you could go all bishounen like L2, or just go hardcore like EQ2’s Lucan D’Lere (imagine Christopher Lee saying that). I know the OTHER side of the box shows the largely-undressed Antonia Bayle, but I couldn’t find any pictures of that online.
Anarchy Online offers a nice group pose. Sure, there’s a sexy woman in the front, but she is mostly dressed. Kind of like your family, if your family was entirely employed by the bodybuilder and supermodel industries.
Finally, underdog Dungeons & Dragons Online completely de-emphasizes their characters to focus on the brand name. This game screams, “it’s Dungeons & Dragons, stupid. You don’t need to know anything else.”
Final Fantasy XI Online not included because I forgot them while gathering box art. I will report though, that in the game, all the women are fully clothed (even the Mithra).
