I was never quite satisfied with a concept I hashed out in an earlier post. In trying to loosely apply marketing terms to the way games use players to promote the site or generate revenue, I didn't distinguish the difference between the promotion and revenue-creation schemes.

First, let's look at some basic marketing terms. "Push promotion" is a marketing term for promoting a product from the originator through the distribution channel to a retailer or sales force. For example, offering a retailer allowances for carrying a product for ads or giving a salesman a bonus.

"Pull promotion" works in the other direction. In marketing, it means creating consumer demand for a product. The customers ask for the product from a retailer, who ask for the product from a wholesaler, who then order the product from the originator. An example would be those U2/iPod commercials that create a public demand for iPods.

Now, my definitions. I'm twisting the marketing terms around to fit more neatly in describing how browser game companies use players to sell the site or generate revenue.

• Player push promotion: A promotion strategy used by game Websites in which players are used to generate revenue from a third-party. This is usually done by offering in-game rewards to players who click revenue-generating links.


• Player pull promotion: A promotion strategy used by game Websites in which players are used to recruit more players. This is usually done by offering in-game rewards to players who click topsites links, recruit players via a special affiliate link, or visit special pages that generate banner exposures.


• Game pimp (in a bad way): A browser game that uses player push promotions, player pull promotions, and has a secondary economy in which players purchase items or upgraded accounts with real currency.

Is that clear? I'm still working on the concept, but am more satisfied with those definitions than the ones I offered earlier.

When I'm looking for games to try out, I'm looking at several key features. If a game has my requisite features, it is rated on how long it can keep my attention.

First, I'm looking for browser games that:

• have no mandatory downloads. Plugins, such as Java or Flash, are fine. But browser games are not supposed to need any special downloading.
• have a quick learning curve. There are lots of great games out there that will not make it into this blog because the games are over-complicated.
• that have no pop-ups.
• that are free. Limited free versions are fine.
• that are not heavily focused on multi-player aspects. Joining other people for online games is great, but this blog is focusing on simple or quick games. Coordinating with other gamers is neither quick nor simple.
  

After meeting the above loose criteria, I rate a game on three levels:

• Able to keep my attention for more than three weeks. I will review a game at this level.
• Able to keep my attention for more than three months. I will place most games on my Watch List after three months of playing.
  
• Able to keep my attention for more than a year. Only two games have done this: Pardus and Adventure Quest. This simply means that I create specialized blogs or sites for the games.

Notice how I don't give stars, points, or thumbs up/down? That's because I'm just looking to have some fun. There are some great games out there that do everything right but just don't hold my attention *cough*runequest*cough*. Nor will I give a bad review. Oh, I'll mention a bad game in passing, but not as a feature.

I will be focusing exclusively on the AE games and events because of the excitement and expansion the company is going through, including expansion into other areas like animation.

Although games I used to cover, like Pardus and The Five Pillars, are excellent games, they don't come close to the importance of AE, including the number of players. I will review other games from time to time, but mostly games advertised on or affiliated with AE.

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