EQ2 Guide Thinking Outside the Box - an Interview with Torrie Dorrell  

Thinking Outside the Box: an Interview with Torrie Dorrell

The release of the Rise of Kunark box art has spurred a lot of discussion in the EverQuest II community as people speculate on what it means when an expansion box seems to have nothing at all to do with the expansion. Combine this with long-standing discussions about the marketing and advertising of EverQuest II and the terrible scarcity of the Echoes of Fawdyer box by mid-2007, and you get a community that is uneasy about the future of their favorite game. I spoke with Torrie Dorrell, Senior Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing at Sony Online Entertainment to get details on the new box art and the overall plan for EverQuest II.

Torrie has been with SOE for three years at their corporate offices in San Diego, where her position also covers Corporate Communications & Public Relations, Web Presence, and Events and Promotions. “I've been in the entertainment industry for a long time but won't go into detail here (that's what Google is for, lol).” she quipped. Last year she earned a spot on Next Generation's Game Industry's 100 Most Influential Women list. Torrie was personable and quite forthcoming, saying “I do enjoy giving our players a peek behind the curtain at how we are actually turning the gears here at SOE, as I think it helps to dispel those 'Big Bad Faceless Corporate Entity' myths, and helps people understand some of the method behind the madness.”

On the official forums the foremost question about the Kunark box art is “what has a Dark Elf to do with Kunark?” Torrie told me that the original intent was to put a Sarnak on the cover of RoK, “ but the character was still in development, and so the textures and the model were not ready early enough for Marketing to begin the cover design process. There's a fine balance between how early Marketing needs things from Dev, while Dev is trying to focus on their real job, which is making a great game experience. So we tried several iterations, but we just couldn't get the character to match the tone of what we were going for this time around. On top of that,” she continued, “we are really trying to reach out to those who have heard of EQ2 but not necessarily played it, and may be ready to try a new MMO, or an MMO for the first time (our acquisition targets). So rather than wait until the Sarnak model was finalized and take a chance on whether it was going to really work on the cover, we went with what all market research has shown appeals to a broader audience, and that is the more human classes. This actually correlates to the popularity of races within EQ2 -- the humans and elves are the most popular races. So we decided to go with a Dark Elf Male.”

So what about Kunark? Will there be a Sarnak anywhere on the box? “Yes, it was always our intention to show the Sarnak and Iksar conflict, and we do that on the inside flap and back of box. We even considered placing them on the front cover, but it was too busy and a bit confusing.”

I asked Torrie about the strong resemblance between the RoK box art and art for Guild Wars, R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt Do'urden (Forgotten Realms), and other genre dark elves. Is this a coincidence? “I think the only coincidence here is that a tight shot on one character where their eyes are looking right at you is very impactful.” Torrie explained, “There is a retail marketing philosophy called the '10 foot, 2 foot rule.' First, you want to draw a customer in from 10 feet away. What is going to make that browsing customer move toward your box amidst a row of box fronts on a store shelf, and then when they get closer, what is going to make them pick it up? Busy box fronts with 5 or more characters makes it hard to grab anyone's attention if they are not already your customer.” I have to admit, the Teir'Dal certainly looks fantastic and catches your eye. Torrie told me that Rob Topper at SOE's creative agency Eclipse provided creative direction, and Jason Manley did the majority of the illustration with help from Deanna Dolph.

The next big question bouncing around the community is why this package is being promoted as "EverQuest II (including the new Rise of Kunark Expansion)" instead of "Rise of Kunark - includes the original EverQuest II Base game and all expansions to date!". “This is another acquisition strategy. Everyone playing the game who decides to buy the box at retail rather than digitally downloading it will immediately know this is the new expansion. It's the potential EQ2 players we are most concerned about grabbing at retail,” she continued, “those who may be ready to put their current game down and try something new, and have heard good things about EQ2. All the expansion names can be very confusing to a new customer and takes a lot of explanation, which is not really what you want to be doing on a box cover. So we decided that, going forward, it's all about the franchise. From 10 feet away, a potential new customer will see EQ2 and bam, that draws them in (a big RoK logo would not do that, because they simply won't know what the heck that is). Then when they read the cover, they'll see it's an all-in-one box with a new expansion and all the content they need for a complete EQ2 game experience.”

So why the change in marketing strategy? “Frankly, I simply thought it was time to mix it up a bit and to contemporize our game in the eyes of a more mainstream audience” said Torrie. There's no denying we are a fantasy RPG, but I don't think that means we need to stick with that 70s-looking fantasy art style with 1,000 weapon-wielding toons on the cover in various states of spell-casting.”

"To the average consumer who didn't cut their teeth on D&D and haven't been playing RPGs for the last 10 years, this art style just looks dated,” Torrie continued. “I knew we were going to polarize our players (and our whole company, for that matter) with this new approach, and I have had as many people within our own company come by and say, 'I LOVE the new direction!' as, 'WTF??' But heh, those tend to be the most interesting pieces in the art world, and I don't want us to be afraid to stretch.”

As most players know, about six months after the release of Echoes of Faydwer the retail box became very scarce. This was eventually compensated for by offering the all-in-one package through D2D, but players were distressed that they couldn't find the box. I asked Torrie if steps are being taken to assure that the friends we lure into the game will be able to find a box copy mid-2008. “This is an ongoing problem for us at retail,” Torrie sighed. “Our beloved games are not Halo 3 or GTA IV, and retailers are all about managing inventory and NOT taking risks. It's simply a numbers game with them (especially when it's the bedding buyer at Wal Mart who suddenly finds herself moved into the games buying department.). We have great relationships with all our retailers, but at the end of the day, they will only take so much product from us on any given expansion, and it's just about enough to sell through all their individual stores rather quickly so they can fill the space with another one of the hundreds of games that come out monthly. And we are seeing an increase in digital sales, which exacerbates the problem at retail because these digital sales cut directly into retail sales. This is another reason why we are going to a franchise-focused box front strategy, so wherever there is product, it screams EQ2.”

In the past we've seen several packages for expansions, from the retail box to an expansion-only download. Unfortunately, Torrie says there will be no expansion-only package available for RoK. “We are going with an all-in-one pack for both digital and retail for $39.99. The base sku through EoF expansion (last year's all-in-one pack) will be moved down to $19.99 digital,” she said. “We're just adding everything to the box for the same price as an expansion, and simplifying our skus."

We all wonder from time to time if SOE employees actually play the games they are responsible for. Torrie is a recent MMO convert. “I was in the console and single-player PC biz before I came to SOE, so I played a lot of those games, but more because it was my job and not because I loved them tremendously, with the rare exception. For the first couple of years here, it was the same thing for me, I dabbled in most every MMO to get a feel for the game, and I do a TON of research regarding player behavior, gameplay styles, etc. But I never really got hooked until I went back to EQ2 this summer and played EoF. I'm now a case study in what a difference it makes to find some player friends and a good guild. I'm a lvl 41 Fae Warden and am completely obsessed. I used to think it was crazy people could spend six hours most days/nights playing, and more if RL let them. Heh, call me crazy. I can't imagine giving up EQ2 any time soon, but I'm now looking forward to a lifetime obsession with MMOs, that's for sure!”





Converted from Guides
Created: 2007-10-10 22:32:04
Last Changed: 2007-10-11 05:32:45
Author: Calthine
Category: Editorial
Last Edited 1383528
Score: 5.00
Note: None
Guide ID: 1089
Last Changed: Unknown

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This page last modified 2009-06-06 15:45:22.