The online racing simulator
Ideas for pushing LFS forward? (Advertising Campaign)
I decided to start this thread because, although I am not a real life racer, I have many friends that are into that scene, yet dissapointingly have never heard of LFS. Even I was recommended this game on the Steam, yes STEAM forums after asking for a decent PC sim racing game.

I just feel the LFS players could be doing things to spread the word about, I know the game is at a state to double...triple its current S2 licence holders, and therefore making the game better for all. Even the LFS team would feel the benefits of more £££ to invest in the game, such as more licenced entities within the game. I dont know about you, but I would love the Nurburgring to be a part of the game, its such a cool track.

I was recently inspired by the unorthodox and extreme 'Operation Firefox' advertising campaign, basically Mozilla sent you a 3.5 foot FireFox logo sticker, you you had to stick it in an imaginative yet effective place. I thought that was a brilliant idea!

So lets hear your suggestions for an LFS player based advertising campaign , go nuts with you ideas, they tend to be the most effective and memorable ones!

At the moment I am contributing by word of mouth, and am thinking of possiblities. Can you get LFS car decals?

PS
I also think, now this is just a personal opinion, that the S2 licence is over-priced. The quality of the game is worth the £24, BUT, as us S2ers know, theres more demo servers than s2 servers. Sometimes the choice of servers is pityfull on S2, this is the main dissapointment I found when I first got the game, but I think its my timezone, a lot more choice after like 6 GMT.
#2 - scipy
imo, it's actually a good idea, i'd love to see some huge LFS stickers on buildings but, can that in any form bring problems to LFS devs? cause people sue the crap out of each other for near to nothing these days.. and someone can get the idea that LFS devs are incouraging this kind of behaviour and then hold them responsible.
Quote from scipy :imo, it's actually a good idea, i'd love to see some huge LFS stickers on buildings but, can that in any form bring problems to LFS devs? cause people sue the crap out of each other for near to nothing these days.. and someone can get the idea that LFS devs are incouraging this kind of behaviour and then hold them responsible.

hehehe, nah I dont think stealing Mozilla's idea would be good. Obviously theres legal contraints to that.

I am more thinking of safe advertising, that the actual dev team is only a part of merely because its thier game. They don't need to get involved

LFS is so much fun, we need to share it mOOAAARRRR!!!!

Theres ways I guess the devs could get thier game noticed more, simple things like organising a discount on the G25 wheel from Logitech for S1/S2 licence holders. Logitech and LFS would both benefit from this, and possibly be a mutual offer, therefore not costing the LFS dev team a thing.

I wouldnt mind it if I could get some LFS car decals, some reasonably sized, I know of a few friends that would use em on thier cars thats for sure.

Hmmm, OK, I got a simple idea, we could make some forum signature banners (effective to the point ones) for LFS, make it into a link. I use other non-racing related forums, its bound to attract some players.
when u mentioned real life racers i automatically thought of rFactor, the sim has alot of mods for tournaments with real cars and real life tracks and lfs just has good car physics. no real tracks nor cars (except for bmw sauber). Thats what makes lfs stand out but dissapoints alot of racers. Watch Sim racing tonight show ull see what i am talking about.
#5 - VoiD
Quote from spacedskunk :...we could make some forum signature banners (effective to the point ones) for LFS, make it into a link...

Something like this?

Quote from VoiD :Something like this?


Yes

I am making my own at the moment for a game I play Eve-Online. Making a simple skin for the FXR with Eve on it, so they can relate to it and think, eve online on a car? and click on the link..hopefully.
Very reasonable point, I still can only see LFS getting much better with a lot more funds at hand from more gain. Fix the barriers/collision physics, make it so when you actually smash the car to bits it wont work and what have you got? The best racing simulator money can buy. Some people want more though evidently, licenced cars, licenced tracks etc.

Your point of it being a sim game, evidently appealing to the definate racers only is also projected onto a game called Red Orchestra, a sim FPS game (its slow, fustratingly hard, hardly any sense of surroundings). This again only appeals to WWII enthusuasts and hardcore FPS gamers, reviews slated the game yet I find it quite compelling.

The thing is though, look at the PS2, one of the best selling games of all time, Gran Turismo 3 is a racing simulator (mild compared to LFS but still). One of the most popular XB360 games; Forza Motorsport, is again a racing simulator. So my debate to you from your statement is that generally a lot more people are into sim racing than you might think, even if these commercial simulators are rather poor in compared to LFS, the fact that these people have gone out and purchased a game that states 'A racing simulator' would mean they are interested in sim racing

Personally too, games where the fans/players have acted in making it popular tend to be the better games. It shows that it will be fun, exciting and generally not something throw together over 6 months and sold at a rediculous price...(EA games anyone?) It also shows that for the community to speak up, both the games and devs show passion.
I believe they said they would hold advertising till the game was finished (S3 full) seeing as we havn't got to a full S2 yet it may be a while for advertising to start
#9 - BURN
The problem that so many demo servers are around is that its not time limited, ... but it should be IMHO

I think "all" Sim Racers probably know of LFS but many doin GTR/Rfactor and such. mainly because its modable and with it many "real" cars and Tracks.

The Time for LFS (and its advertisment) will come. it just takes alot of time.

More Money dont help the dev`s. they already work full time on it.
Scawen just said a few days ago that the next patch will come soon.

offtopic:
yes, i bought EA games but i`ll never do it again
#10 - aoun
im a designer, so if you need any, count me in
Quote from spacedskunk :

PS
I also think, now this is just a personal opinion, that the S2 licence is over-priced. The quality of the game is worth the £24, BUT, as us S2ers know, theres more demo servers than s2 servers. Sometimes the choice of servers is pityfull on S2, this is the main dissapointment I found when I first got the game, but I think its my timezone, a lot more choice after like 6 GMT.

Overall, seems to be a good idea, and good luck, however, re the quote above..

Are you sure? There are over 600 S2 servers currently, ok, not all of them are good, but how many more could you possibly want? Do you mean populated, non empty servers..? Which is easily solved, as a server wont stay empty for long once there is someone in it.

Its not a point about S2 which disappointedly me, Ive been around to watch the number steadily grow since S2 Alpha was released.
I already do my share of advertising to the right crowd by wearing my Lfs shirt each time I go to my local kart track!
Quote : I already do my share of advertising to the right crowd by wearing my Lfs shirt each time I go to my local kart track!

Whenever I get my LFS shirt I'll use it to go to exps and gamestores (sorry TAYLOR-MANIA, there are no Simstores I know :shrug...

If LFS started a fan advertising campaing, count on me

Quote :yes, i bought EA games but i`ll never do it again

Me neither :P
Quote from spacedskunk :Red Orchestra, a sim FPS game...

Firstly, I love Red Orchestra!!! I've never had so much fun playing an FPS where I couldn't kill anybody because I suck.

Quote from spacedskunk :
The thing is though, look at the PS2, one of the best selling games of all time, Gran Turismo 3 is a racing simulator (mild compared to LFS but still). One of the most popular XB360 games; Forza Motorsport, is again a racing simulator. So my debate to you from your statement is that generally a lot more people are into sim racing than you might think, even if these commercial simulators are rather poor in compared to LFS, the fact that these people have gone out and purchased a game that states 'A racing simulator' would mean they are interested in sim racing

Absolutely not. If they were truly into the 'sim' aspect of the game, they would give up GranTurismo (and maybe pick up Enthusia instead.)

The fact is, people buy these things for the shiny real cars. Can't have a Skyline GTR in real life? By one in the game. What made the first GranTurismo so successful was its HUGE selection of REAL cars, and incredibly realistic graphics.

Lemme tell you that LFS is a real hard sell. Generally speaking people don't know what to look for in terms of realism. I've tried pitching LFS at several car related forums, and people really can't get past the toy cars. There's no lust, no emotion compelling these folks to take the wheel. I can tell them about realism until our sun goes supernova, it just goes over there heads. Even to hardcore track nuts (like... real life driving) they can't get past the unrealistic looking cars enough to appreciate the very realistic physics.

Right now, LFS is an average looking girl with an amazing personality. Unfortunately, there are porn stars and super models who are just as available, so the masses flock to them.

I wish more people could appreciate LFS. I just 'discovered' the XRT and with my G25 it's absolutely amazing. That LFS is able to capture so many of the nuances of driving a RWD it blows my mind. Drifting (in the classical racing sense) through the turns with near neutral steering is pure magic when you get it just right. It's just so frakking good.

The Loonie is strong, and 24 Euro is no longer a ridiculous $50. Time to buy.
I've tried a few 'sims' over the last year now, and nothing comes close to LFS. If someone is really looking for a racing sim, then they'll stumble across LFS quite quickly I think. If they're looking for a game about cars, then LFS will hardly stand out. The internet makes it quite easy for people to locate what they're after.
Quote from mkinnov8 :Overall, seems to be a good idea, and good luck, however, re the quote above..

Are you sure? There are over 600 S2 servers currently, ok, not all of them are good, but how many more could you possibly want? Do you mean populated, non empty servers..? Which is easily solved, as a server wont stay empty for long once there is someone in it.

Its not a point about S2 which disappointedly me, Ive been around to watch the number steadily grow since S2 Alpha was released.

Ahhh right, yes, worded it wrong 600 servers...jeeezz, ok I take it back, it must a be a timezone thing, soon as theres so many more fullish servers on weekends.

Great post mattessa, I take my statements regarding Gran Turismo and Forza back

And yes, LFS > all other racing games.

Since many have already stated the devs wanna blow this games community wide apart on S3, then I guess a large community campaign would be a bit silly.

Still though, I'll continue with it
Quote from Mattesa :The fact is, people buy these things for the shiny real cars. Can't have a Skyline GTR in real life? By one in the game. What made the first GranTurismo so successful was its HUGE selection of REAL cars, and incredibly realistic graphics.

Lemme tell you that LFS is a real hard sell. Generally speaking people don't know what to look for in terms of realism. I've tried pitching LFS at several car related forums, and people really can't get past the toy cars. There's no lust, no emotion compelling these folks to take the wheel. I can tell them about realism until our sun goes supernova, it just goes over there heads. Even to hardcore track nuts (like... real life driving) they can't get past the unrealistic looking cars enough to appreciate the very realistic physics.

I use to eat lunch in my office with another LFS racer and we would watch replays (LFS has since failed to run on that computer). One of the guys who share an office with me asked what it was. We explained LFS to him and he came back with GT3 (at the time, GT4 was soon to release). He started his spiel about how realistic GT3 was and we argued for quite some time. His only arguement was graphics, no matter how much we tried to explain physics to him. Everything was "what car is that?" "GT looks far more real than that." etc. Nothing would change his thoughts from the "look" and real cars.
Quote from LFSn00b :Live For Speed should be advertised on racetracks, it's a racing simulation, sheesh :P

Probably the best idea you've ever come up with.

FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG