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 [BRANDING] Potential New Branding for X Story Player 
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As a keen gamer since the days of the cassette-tape-driven ZX Sinclair Spectrum 128k, hand-typing pages of code from Crash Magazine in order to play the latest game demos (at 5 years old), then upgrading to the the Atari 2600, swiftly followed by the amazing Amiga 500+ (with a breathtaking 512kb of RAM), I'm a huge fan of indie games. X Story Player is one of the first and only video games of "this generation" to reignite my love for well-produced, independent studio games.

I mentioned before that I run a graphic design, marketing and branding studio, and as a token of appreciation for X Story Player version 1.0 and up, I've taken the liberty of drafting some potential new branding for the upcoming and eagerly awaited release of X Story Player 4.0.

The attachment is a new logo draft, serving as a central focal point to the X Moon Productions brand. It's purpose is to maintain the look of an independent video game studio, but with a cleaner, more modern aesthetic, opening itself (and X Story Player) to a wider market, with a more "commercially viable" feel.

These sketches are in the first stages of development and I'd be happy to offer further development for free, if xpadmin is willing to discuss further.

Feel free to pick it apart and give your opinions...

https://mega.nz/#!NOJU2YZZ!Ap3cWubyo2Aty926NKuGYkdvycz0iRfFsP7dVKwJOBA


Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:23 am
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You must be from the UK if you had a Sinclair ZX. Over here on the continent everything was Commodore, Amiga, Atari and PC compatible. (Got an 8086 myself) Fun times.

I like your draft, certainly much better than what they got now. (Has been discussed on here before)
As the cynical nitpicker I am: I would move the TM to the text, it looks a bit displaced on the logo, disturbing the roundness of the moon.

However, they don't seem to be much concerned about marketing, sales, focus groups or funding at all.

Also, for fucks sake, shush! They have to concentrate on 4.0 not redesign their website :P


Tue Jun 20, 2017 10:31 am
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There's no doubt the website needs to be rewritten from the ground up, It's terrible.

Forums

Clicking the header above on the forums shouldn't direct you to the sales site, it should direct you to the main page of the forums.

Main Site

Main Site requires an age gate along with language selection; Legal reasons as your selling an adult product.

Site Front Page requires a video displaying the game inaction, shouldn't autoplay and should be large.

"Downloads" needs to be replaced with "Demo" and should be a basic version of the engine with a short sample story.

"Get XStoryPlayer" should be replaced with "Buy Now" otherwise it's implying your giving it away for free.

"An XMoon Production" should be removed; Corporate logos belong on the bottom of the site with exception to if it's a corporate site. Eg. XMoon Productions Homepage

"Screenshots" Should be removed and replaced with "Media" Eg. Videos and Screenshots

"Learn More" Shouldn't have two videos explaining it's got physics and then advance physics, It would be more practical to split it into specific features being advertised such as VR Capability, Stories and Physics & AI.

"Privacy" should be on the bottom.

"Support" Requires WIKI and Forum links.

"FAQ" Should be deleted as "Support" performs the same function as "FAQ" and has a help form unlike "FAQ"

"Feedback" You have a forum for this, Delete this button.

"Affiliates" What purpose does this serve?

"Forum" Shouldn't have its own image and should match the format of the website menu.

Sales

The game is incredibly awkward to purchase, An option may be introducing a currency that can be bought with more accessible payment methods such as paypal then buying your product VIA that.

It's that or charging to a company that doesn't clearly state that your buying a pornographic game on your credit card.

Game

As mention above a basic version of the game with a single short story, It shouldn't freeplay and any other stories.

Forum

It should be on the same domain as the main website with the address of /forum


Tue Jun 20, 2017 12:44 pm
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A lot of these things have been mentioned it the distant past already.

As for the payment with Paypal (which has been discussed before, too): Unfortunatly Paypal thinks visible nipples and virtual nudity are dirty and sinful and therefor doesn't allow payment of adult erotic content.
Buying a gory splatter movie through Paypal is perfectly fine of course, though. :roll:


Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:05 pm
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riftporn wrote:
You must be from the UK if you had a Sinclair ZX. Over here on the continent everything was Commodore, Amiga, Atari and PC compatible. (Got an 8086 myself) Fun times.

I like your draft, certainly much better than what they got now. (Has been discussed on here before)
As the cynical nitpicker I am: I would move the TM to the text, it looks a bit displaced on the logo, disturbing the roundness of the moon.

However, they don't seem to be much concerned about marketing, sales, focus groups or funding at all.

Also, for fucks sake, shush! They have to concentrate on 4.0 not redesign their website :P


Yeah I'm from UK. I moved to NY to marry my soulmate back in 2015. Met her on okcupid of all places :lol: We eloped. I got on a plane in April, ripped up the ticket and decided to stay after a few days.

Thanks for the feedback on the logo! I wouldn't have thought they'd want to try and take over the world with XStoryPlayer, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a fresh lick of paint. It'll need some further development of course, but if it helps to get some appropriate attention in future then everyone wins. It'd be great to see this competing with some of the other adult titles out there that seem to only be popular thanks to marketing and flashy branding - I feel XSP has enough "meat" to it for it to stand the test of time.

Noted on the website :lol: - I'm sure that's on their to do list. I'm sure we can bump heads with some people on here and build that in the background, hopefully take some pressure off xpadmin.


Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:09 pm
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@Didact - some good insight there, nice work. I'm guessing admin has a similar hit list! I've managed to open up communication with him and I'm sure he'll take all of this feedback moving forward.


Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:13 pm
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riftporn wrote:
A lot of these things have been mentioned it the distant past already.

As for the payment with Paypal (which has been discussed before, too): Unfortunatly Paypal thinks visible nipples and virtual nudity are dirty and sinful and therefor doesn't allow payment of adult erotic content.
Buying a gory splatter movie through Paypal is perfectly fine of course, though. :roll:


You don't understand. Buying virtual currency is different from buying the game direct.


Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:15 pm
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I think at the moment, none of this is (or should be) their priority, given they probably don't have dedicated resources for web.
Like didact said, it would need rebuilding from the ground up. CMS, forums, wiki, structure etc

I gotta say though, I like companies that have good products and shitty websites much more than companies with super polished websites and shitty products. Also, I give them bonus points for having an old school forum and not using fuckbook or twatter...

Still, it's a bit sad to see a gem like this hidden away on some website that doesn't even advertise all the nice things about it.

Quote:
You don't understand. Buying virtual currency is different from buying the game direct.

Well, that wouldn't simplify things by a lot. Instead of a credit card you need a paypal account and you still be buying it over some middleman.

It would make them a bit safer for the customer though.


Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:35 pm
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Quote:
@Didact - some good insight there, nice work. I'm guessing admin has a similar hit list! I've managed to open up communication with him and I'm sure he'll take all of this feedback moving forward.


If xpadmin would be willing, I bet the community would do a lot of the work for free (you already started...)


Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:37 pm
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riftporn wrote:
If xpadmin would be willing, I bet the community would do a lot of the work for free (you already started...)


riftporn wrote:
I gotta say though, I like companies that have good products and shitty websites much more than companies with super polished websites and shitty products.


Truth right there! It doesn't matter how slick your website is or how much money you pour into advertising and marketing - if the end product is shitty, it dies. I personally think XSP deserves to look good on the outside, too. People are extremely fickle, and as much as we hate to admit it, we can all be guilty of judging a book by it's cover from time to time. Hopefully some decent branding and a tighter website will attract those who were "on the fence" about it before, which should create a more sturdy platform for the XSP to reach future goals.

I also wanna go on record and give my apologies to anyone I might have offended with my previous doubts - I can put my hand up and say I was wrong. I haven't seen anything in terms of solid proof per se, but it's clear that the team are still working on it. If everyone pitches in and offers some time, 4.0 might get here that little bit faster.

It might be a good idea to start a volunteer thread - ask everyone what they can offer and how much time they're willing to set aside each week/month, then xpadmin can sift through and cherry pick a crack squad of willing outside helpers. The only problem I see with that it could create a bit of a headache for xpadmin, having to be extra careful about the information he shares (and with who)...

Thoughts?


Tue Jun 20, 2017 3:58 pm
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