He was offering a free lap dance in trade channel. He was the leader of our Pug RBG team and he was recruiting for another healer.
“Lap dance by an AUSSIE chick” he amended his trade advertisement.
In vent I was like. “Huh.. wait..”
How do you respond? Righteously indignantly? /leave party? giggle? coo “you wish…”?
I did say ” you’ve just stuffed up getting a decent player responding” and completely embarrassed me in front of the rest of the people I had been trying to do serious rated bgs with.
Sex does not sell well in Trade chat.
Sexy beefy guy with water background…
They use sex to sell games ( just look at the marketing stunts for Saints Row 3 where “scantily clad women gave away free petrol” in Sydney as seen on their youtube here and there is certainly is sexual overtones within game. We also can’t deny that some class dances, wiggle, shimmy, shake., crouch grabs and a very ‘sexy’ way.
Besides Lap dances being offered to potential healers to try to get them to join the RBG’s, there are on occasion people who advertise in trade, who will RP for gold, will table dance/ strip/ pretend to be your girlfriend / offer to send you pics . Even this weekend a prolific glyph seller in trade chat changed their lets say, marketing strategy to include a sexual offer. ,
They are never taken seriously in trade, even if they were genuine offers, they get trolled, ridiculed or Ignored.
Yes there is a difference in selling sex, and using sex to sell, but neither works in-game.
Services for sale are ignored and the person who offers to cook their buff food in a lovely purple dress, enchant their gear in under daks, doesn’t get any more trade business.
I think there are a couple of reasons why using sex as marketing within Wow trade doesn’t work.
1. Virtual goods
Your not selling a real loaf of bread /energy drink. You are selling Pixels within a pixel world, that may have an influence on the game ” Like buff food or enchants” but you cannot hold, and feel the goods.
2. Virtual experience
The lap dance would not be real It’s not that exciting to have toon ‘standing’ on your lap dancing their racial dance. We don’t have control over our Avatars to the point where realistic interaction could happen. Avatars as sex objects well that’s a whole other line – we are well aware of RP in Wow, but taking your toon and simulating certain acts using your avatars – each to his/her own. A lot of people are very uncomfortable about this idea.
3. Your not a real girl.
There has to be more boys pretending to be girls and asking for free stuff and hand outs than girls who ask for free stuff and hand outs, and most people know this. There are no girls on the internet anyway, so even if you did take up that offer for whatever reason you have no idea who is actually climbing in your lap.
4. We are desensitized to sexy imagery in-game.
( though to give people their due, while wandering round SW looking for examples the worst I saw was cleavage and naval) and we also ignore the casual semi nudity of the person running around in the ugly brown ( or blue) underwear that most classes seem to have. Your not special in any way because your removed your pants.
( I did try to design a better bra - not sure how well it would take off though. )
This isn’t meant to be a post against sexy santa outfits, yes my toon has it, and my warrior wore her metal g with pride and much amusement. and my hunter really likes her red little mail number.
But using sex to sell doesn’t seem to be a valid way of marketing your goods in trade chat to fellow players. It might get your noticed, but if it’s for stuff like recruitment for a raid, or a Rated BG than anyone who is half way serious will think less of you, and if it’s for goods we are not picking your service or trade goods because it comes with something extra.
