Far be it for me to poke fun at SOE (heh), but I wanted to offer up my two cents about something that’s been bugging me for a while. The next expansion for EQ2 is, I’m sure, already well along in development. The last one was great, and I’m really looking forward to participating in that content. I do have a criticism, though, and I’m hopeful that the next big EQ2 content drop can avoid the mistakes of the past.

Rise of Kunark’s box is (to put it succinctly) not very good. I don’t mean it looks bad – it’s a fine looking box and all that. But the marketing folks on this particular project mashed together a bunch of stuff that’s downright confusing. It makes me very much question what the intent of the box was, and (because I’m that kind of guy) that makes me want to understand the intent of what I’m seeing. So today I have a dissection of the Rise of Kunark box … starting with that handsome Dark Elf gent on the cover.

Now, the biggest question we have to ask ourselves when looking at the box is: who is this box *for*? That is, who is the box intended to sell the game to? Judging by the Dark Elf on the cover (a very strong, memorable image), we have a couple of possibilities:

• General fans of the fantasy genre. Just by putting a pointy-ear on the cover, you’re saying something to your audience. The big problem with this is that most fantasy fans are going to know Dark Elves are evil. You’re essentially saying “come be evil in our game” by putting a DE on the cover.
• Drizzt Do’ Urden fanbois. That ‘evil’ schtick sometimes turns to ‘emo’. Then you have a whole other problem on your hands when Forgotten Realms novel readers find out your Dark Elves actually are evil.
• EverQuest/other MMO veterans. Even still, elves are hands down the most popular race chosen by players when they’re offered in an MMO. Putting an elf on the cover of a game box is an no-brainer.
• EverQuest 2 players. The words ‘EverQuest 2′ are more the draw here than the Elf.

The problem with all of these groups, served as they are or are not by the Dark Elf image, is that Dark Elves really don’t have any bloody thing to do with Rise of Kunark. It’s essentially a generic image from the game, as appropriate here as if you were to put a picture of a grunt on the cover to the Halo 3 box. Yes, there are Dark Elves in the game … but they’re hardly germaine. It sets up an expectation that has nothing to do with the reality of the situation: something I’ll talk more about in a moment.

Continuing inside, we have a series of five vignettes. Starting in the upper left, we have what appears to be a spellcaster of some sort fighting off a minotaur. On the right there’s a picture of a Dark Elf fighting Death (?), lower left is an ogre taking on a dragon, and lower right is a Fae taking on a dude with a whip. In the center of the frame is an Iksar fighting a Sarnak. Out of all of those images, the only one that has anything to do with the expansion is the Iksar/Sarnak conlict. I should also point out that the two women appearing on the box are in the state of stupid almost-naked that goes over really well with the fairer sex.

This inside cover servers absolutely no one. Unlike the front cover which at least has an icon image, this has so little text and such generic imagery that it’s essentially saying nothing. A person opening the inside flap will learn that he’ll … see half-naked women? Fight death? The Iksar/Sarnak conflict at the top of the box is an awesome, iconic image and very appropriate for the expansion as a whole. If anything, I think it would have made a better cover than the Dark Elf. Either way, this area is essentially wasted space. The text here is reiterated on the back of the box, and the images tell you precisely zip about what the game is like.

So far the box has been pretty useless … what about the back? Here we have a series of three images with captions, plus that Sarnak/Iksar fight. The first image in the upper left says “Choose from 19 different playable races including the new Sarnak.” Here’s where things go down-hill. Pretend for a second that you don’t play EQ2. Pretend you’ve never played EverQuest. Now tell me, which one is the player race? The lizard-dude, or the dude in the golden armor? The armored guy, of course! The lizard-guy is a monster! One simple adjective would have made a huge difference here. This image is not only confusing, it actually gives prospective players incorrect information.

Middle left we have “Balanced Gameplay world for everyone – guild raiding, PvP, PvE and Roleplaying.” This statement is bad on two levels. To veteran MMO players, this sentence says “We have everything that everybody else has!” It’s a generic restatement of major features every AAA MMO has on offer. To people who haven’t played MMOs, this sentence says “MMOs are hard and difficult to understand. Why don’t you buy a Wii game?” Couldn’t they have at least not used jargon? This reads like not even the Marketers knew who this box was aimed at. I also want to stress: saying that you have PvE in your MMO is probably the most ludicrous marketing statement I’ve seen in gaming for quite some time. “Come on in to our restaurant! We’ve got oxygen you can breathe!”

Finally, lower right we have “Battle new creatures, conquer new quests, explore new zones and advance up to level 80.” Woo … hoo. Though this is slightly more informative, and at least offers an image that matches with the text, this final sentence reads like advertising you’d get from a freshman going after a business degree. It’s (again) very generic, not targetted language, and in my opinion mentioning the 80 freaking levels the game has is potentially a huge turnoff. “I have to play for HOW LONG?”

In my opinion this box is worse than merely being unhelpful; it’s downright detrimental. EQ2 has taken such huge strides in the last few years, the marketing for the game should reflect that. Given that I’ve never taken a business course in my life, that makes me extremely qualified to weigh in on this. Here’s what I’d do:

• Stop advertising to MMO vets on boxes. We don’t buy boxes in stores, we do almost everything online. Target the next expansion’s jargon-heavy adverts to websites that MMO players read.
• Jargon-heavy ads should play up very specific elements. Who bloody cares if you’ve got 80 levels now? How about, “The return of the most loved EverQuest expansion!” How about, “Return to the Lake of Ill Omen with your Sarnak character!” Knock them down with “Quest for your epic class weapon!”
• Boxes should very heavily play up the leg up EverQuest 2 has on other MMOs, and assume the reader knows nothing about the game. This doesn’t mean make generic statements; it does mean you don’t want to use terms like PvE. “Join the world of Norrath, a storied world with a deep history!” “Fearsome creatures lurk in the beautiful, rugged wilderness – do you have what it takes to brave the depths of Faydwer forest?” “Choose your own destiny – tell your own story through quests and a challenging adventuring career!”

I know you guys have it in you. Reach down and pull out a box for whatever the next expansion is that’ll turn heads with everybody. We can’t wait to see it.