microsoft's mmorpg "advertars"

I will admit that I have very little experience when it comes to online gaming and MMOs. I prefer my gaming to remain in my own controllable universe - the Sims, for example, would be far less enjoyable to me if I knew other people were controlling parts of my game experience. Still, I recognize the huge following of games like Lord of the Rings Online and World of Warcraft. Not surprisingly, these games are often used as platforms for advertising that takes advantage of the in-game trade or finance systems and reaches outside the game's realm to generate revenue from its popularity. This article highlights a new presence in MMOs: "advertars" or corporate-created playable characters or NPCs that walk around in-game environments and promote products. Examples given include MP3 player promotion and buzz generation for upcoming movies by characters straight out of the films. I consider this potential just another reason to avoid MMOs altogether. It really doesn't bother me to see McDonald's or Audi (or even GameStop itself) logos here and there in realistic game environments - it's a cool way for game developers to get more budget for their projects - but when characters in a game start targeting online players in game environments to "talk" about products, I think that crosses the line into intrusion in my game experience. Maybe in free-to-play games I could see this working out but if you're already dropping a monthly subscription fee, you should not have to deal with random NPCs spouting crap about Microsoft products!

Going too far? Microsoft creates advertars for online games
*on a side note, this blog Set on Stun has a ton of great discussion about video game marketing, if it's a topic you're interested in reading more about.