I think its stupid to use such ads.
Also by the way… a lot of youngsters are playing this game, like 12 yr olds. So they get offered with these ads… mmmmmm… very wise! :o(
Evony ads have actually gotten worse, with giant scrolling ads showing more of the woman’s body, as well as many many more women, partially or fully naked in various positions, also some suggestive lesbian photos. All the text is a lie to, there is no queen or lady to save.
I got so fed up with this fucking ads I found this blog searching for people pissed off too.
I would add that godaddy.com is even worse. They spend what probably amounts to tens of millions pretending to show chicks stripping on TV, with a promise to “see more” at their website. Only, if you go there, every one of those videos actually gets progressively less sexy the second it switches to “unrated”.
I didnt really know what to think when I started seeing these adds. I finally decided to google it today, and found several things, including this blog.
Tell me, how do those of you whom have said this method of advertising isnt wrong justify what they’ve done? Evony probably wont be around much longer, because from what I’ve seen, they have committed quite a few crimes. Two of which are false advertisment, and copyright infringment(from stealing rights-protected images, editing them and using them in their ads). These are both felony offenses(in the US), and will get them fines and jail time. Their servers will be seized and their game/site taken offline. Nothing justifies that. I violate copyrights all the time, but not in this way. I simply download shit, such as movies/games/music/apps ect… Taking other people’s shit and using it for your personal gain is not only morally wrong and something most net-pirates wouldnt do, but also a much more serious crime than simple/nearly harmless pirating.
Moreover, they are only declining themselves further by using these false ads, because, as has been previously stated, most people who click these ads are expecting sexually explicit content, which is of course not what is offered here. Likely that most would would utter mumbling profanities to themselves and leave the site.
We only serve one ad, so this is a bit over dramatic 
Our main target audience is male 13-24.
I see no gratuitous imagery, i cant see any over exposure, can you?
I have seen far worse in major supermarket chain brochures!
I only have one word for you “Overkll”.
I’ve seen these ads’ progressive nature. I think it’s plain idiotic and sexist towards women, but also men, as it is attempting to lure men with sex appeal.
I personally hope Evony fails financially, and fails in their lawsuit against Bruce Everiss.
Brilliant post and movie reference. Your writing makes me want to laugh. Evony makes me want to cry.
I clicked on an Evony ad, and was very disappointed, but not for the reasons most people seem to find.
It was the second-to-last ad listed here, with the prominent text “Play DISCREETLY on your browser NOW!”. I’ve always had an interest in “stealth” games that people play without alerting folks around them - in the workplace, in classrooms or in public, etc. Initially they fascinated me because I liked to play games during class, but eventually the mechanics of such things piqued my curiosity as a hobbyist game designer.
In the old days, many games had “boss keys”, which was a specific keyboard shortcut that would pause the game and instantly display something apparently work-related : a spreadsheet or document or something innocuous. Pressing the “boss key” again would resume the game.
Many text-based games can be used in this way around non-technical types because they don’t recognize what’s going on : MUDs, Zork-likes, and even Roguelike games can function this way.
One thing I haven’t seen yet is a rich browser-based game experience that is stealthy enough to be played without observers realizing what’s going on. I envision a set of operations that can be performed without graphics, and then a fully graphical version to be enjoyed at “safe” times.
Unfortunately, the Evony website was no more discreet than the ad itself - full page graphics with lots of large “game”-related text etc. I don’t know what they meant by “discreet”, but it apparently didn’t include…well…discretion. I quickly lost interest.
Is driving traffic with breasts really all that different from driving traffic with ambiguous Bayesian probability puzzles? Is Aaron Gleeman on the payroll now?
I saw those ads as well, annoying as hell. I can’t believe they actually used that last one, it’s like a pornsite ad my God.
I admit, I clicked on it and played it for awhile, like 5 minutes, and I soon realized that there are no chicks, and you have to PAY to CHAT. Holy fuck…If anyone is tempted to play cause of the boobs, there won’t be any in the game LOLOL.
Seriously, I don’t get who would play that game at all, it’s a total rip of civ and another browser game called Travian.
ARGH I’m sick of seeing it on EVERY single web page I visit…
I don’t even understand what going on…?
Is it a medievil RPG?
Are the graphics cartoony (The ad with the man), 3D (The ad with the woman and a sword pointing at her knockers) or a browser (The rest of the ads)?
Why is everyone in a random field?
Grr
I arrived here after being annoyed at all the Evony crap and Googling them out. The new girl in their ads looks like a transsexual.
Im sad to say, the Advert worked on me, and I even payed 5$ to get some gredits. But Ive scome to the realisation, it is all a load of BS, and the game is a complete waste of time. Yeah I liked it for a bit, but then, it is as I said, a waste of time, and yes Money. What their doing is wrong, with the Spamming and all. False advertising is wrong, and illegal, and Ive have just cancelled my account.
It has amused me, the depth of their lieing in their advertising, that they have become such a large game. I personally think, there are more genuine games out there, that may be struggling because of sites like Evony. Well evony has just lost eanother member.
hahah imagine doing research in school and at the top of wikipedia there is huge tits. then in fine print: copyright Evony TM
it will one day be normal to have naked chicks having sex on every web page of the internet. no one will mind, whether at school researching or playing Nickelodeon.com games with their 5 year old…
Is sex really selling this game though? I mean, most people leave after they see that its really some bland civ clone. I can’t imagine this game making that much money if they’re desperate enough to use such blatantly grasping ads.
I really wonder how much further they can go in this vein of advertising… And whether they keep pushing it because it’s actually working well, and thus they think going further will work better, or because it’s not well, and they think going further will help.
A person I know works in advertising and manages a small ad campaign for a company selling refurbished PDAs. They found the click thru rate of their ads lower than they wanted so as an experiment they used a bikini clad model next to a PDA (enlarged so it was the same size as the girl) and the click thrus increased rapidly. After a week they discontinued the ad because:
(a) This wasn’t how they wanted to sell their products as it didn’t seem ethical (ie being sexist and further supporting the theory that sex sells).
(b) Whilst it showed it can increase sales they realised they would loose some of their existing and potential customers.
Basically, sell their products in an open, honest fashion and grow the service gradually thus creating longevity for the business rather than grab a quick buck.
Evony isn’t the only browser game. How about this one from Heroes of Kung Fu?
wow! what an idea.I’ve noticed over the years: It used to be that women played primarily healers of some type, with a few dps casters. While there are still a lot of them (and, for some reason, a lot of guys make female healers), I’m seeing a lot more IRL females playing melee characters.
well i have also seen many peoples prefering ads with hot babes like you shown above a girl in micro bikni. that is also very attractive.
I find the lack of intelligence here disturbing. The number of male to female players in browser based base building games is vastly in favor of younger horny male players. This is brilliant advertising that caters to their market base and makes them stand out from all their competitors which are all essentially clones of each other. Female players are far more prevalent in simpler facebook style games ie. castle age.
Womens bodies also have nothing to do with beer yet many beer ads are nothing but “hot chicks” parading around with beer. Unless you somehow think it is better morally to imply that it is okay to get a girl completely drunk and take advantage? You know very little about advertising Jeff Atwood it is all about selling your product to people that don’t need it not accurately represent your product and hope people will buy it.
Does McDonalds really have magic? Do Nikes really allow you to perform physical wonders? Does Geico have a talking lizard or even save you money? Does stride gum last forever? Do cocopuffs make you coco? No but they do sell products based on lies. That is advertising.
How many filet o fish would mc donalds sold if on their commercial they used the actual fish used to make filets which is ugly http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/science/10fish.html?r=1 instead of a cute fish on the wall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Singing_Filet’O_Fish.jpg
Oh no foul play they are advertising the wrong kind of fish…
Greetings;
I am hosting a petition to remove Evony’s ads from the web. Please join me in my fight against this obscene and disguesting advertising ploy. Follow the link below to sign the petition and ad your voice! It will only take a moment.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/RemoveEvonys0bsceneAds