Steam Trading Cards. Seriously. Why not?

LHammer

Part two in a series

Whenever it comes up that Steam players are a very small percentage of the MPQ population and every time I get a player survey, I always ask the same question: "Why aren't there Achievements and Steam Trading Cards?"  For this post, I would like to discuss trading cards

For a minimal, one-time effort from the art department Steam Trading Cards would create a new revenue stream, generate publicity, and provide an additional incentive for in-game purchases.  If you care at all about players on the Steam platform, why would you not implement them?

Q: Say what? Nothing on Steam is a minimal effort.  Coding is hard.
A: This isn't about coding, it's all about the art.  All you would have to do is create images for 6-12 trading cards, 5-8 backgrounds, and 4-8 emoticons.  Simply pasting your existing art into blank screens would be enough if you wanted to be lazy.  Then say to Steam "Hey, we'd like to add cards, here's the art" and they do almost all of the rest of the work.

Q: But how does that create a revenue stream?
A: Every time a card, background, or emoticon is sold on the Steam market, you get a cut of the sale.  Free money.  The better and more popular your art is, the more it sells for, the more money you make.  The cool and unique style of MPQ has always been a big attraction.  Why not showcase it? 

Q: But it really isn't that much money, is it?
A: As Geddy Lee says, ten bucks is ten bucks.

Q: What's this other stuff you're claiming it will do?
A: Every time a person uses one of your backgrounds or emoticons, it's publicity and even people who don't play the game might be tempted to buy a cool Spider-Man wallpaper or X-Men emoticon if they see one.  Whenever someone buys DLC from the Steam store, they get additional Steam trading cards as a bonus incentive. Once cards are active, neither of these things require any effort on your part.

Q; We've got a lot of stuff to do and we really can't be spending any time on such a small portion of our player base.
A: Steam players have a lot of games to choose from and they really can't be spending any time trying one that doesn't even put forth a small amount of effort.

I know an official response to a forum post is not going to happen but I would really like to know how it is that this game has gone on for so long without someone explaining why Steam trading cards aren't a good idea for MPQ.

For part one of this series, look here: https://forums.d3go.com/discussion/74087/steam-achievements-seriously-why-not

Dormammu

I would buy MPQ trading cards if they were printed on cardboard, could also be used to play a tabletop game, and came with a stick of gum. I would buy plastic sleeves and a 3-ring binder to put them in.

But then, I'm a nerd like that.

So I think your Steam idea is a good one.

IceIX

Not impossible, but it's a weird position for us contractually since basically we'd be creating items that can outlast the eventual heat death of the universe, not to mention any licensing contract we've got with Disney/Marvel. We'd have to set up something for that eventuality, because there would still be revenue sharing of some type going on for pretty much forever. Most companies like making contracts that say "You can sell our stuff till X date" and update that contract as time goes on. Companies usually don't like "You can make money off this license forever as long as we get a piece" which is essentially what those cards would do.

LHammer

Thanks for the answer IceIX.  That makes some sense.  One thing I would say to look into is that when a game is removed from the Steam store (either for sundown or shenanigans) the cards and crafted items become non marketable.  They exist and can be traded but can no longer be sold and won't generate any more "cash" for Steam or the developer.  That would automatically end that revenue stream when the lights go out for the game.  I think that solves the licensing problem.

ZeiramMR

The other potential licensing problem is whether Marvel has a license agreement with a company that prints physical trading cards (to Upper Deck, as an example), and how that agreement is worded.

Ptahhotep

I suppose you could have Puzzle Quest themed cards that ignored the Marvel aspect. Not sure how excited players would get knowing they only needed the “Purple Tile” card to complete the set though.

grenadier

I'd point out that the "Marvel Heroes" (aka Marvel Heroes Omega) game already had trading cards.  That game is now defunct, so the cards are probably in that non-marketable boat already.

Same goes for Doctor Who: The Adventure Games, which was delisted a while back due to music rights.  The cards are still around, but likely not marketable.

IceIX

grenadier said:

I'd point out that the "Marvel Heroes" (aka Marvel Heroes Omega) game already had trading cards.  That game is now defunct, so the cards are probably in that non-marketable boat already.

Same goes for Doctor Who: The Adventure Games, which was delisted a while back due to music rights.  The cards are still around, but likely not marketable.

Marvel Heroes cards are still marketable, I've got a bunch of them sitting around in my inventory and can sell them just fine (NEVER!). The Doctor Who ones look to be non-marketable though.