NationStates Jolt Archive

Title says it all. Are you more likely to purchase somebody's military equipment over someone else's if they have a pretty picture and the other person does not? Do pictures influence you? I'm interested in poll % for this...

Please post comments to keep the thread bumped.

Most of the time everytime I shop in the storefronts I always look for a pic. That's most of the time though...Some other times I read the stats.

It does for me, unless it is a very poor one.

As they say, a picture says a thousand words.

Interesting. Is this because you don't understand writeups/stat blocks, can't be bothered to read them, or just because you prefer aesthetics to combat ability? Or all three?

Interesting. Is this because you don't understand writeups/stat blocks, can't be bothered to read them, or just because you prefer aesthetics to combat ability? Or all three?

I dont mind write-ups or stat blocks, but when it gets too long thats when I annoyed with the useless info and look for the pic.

Capabilities matter to me, not appearances.

It's simple. Picture lets me know what it looks like. I can better describe it with a better picture in mind.

Not really, although it certainly hasn't ever hurt.

if you doing a meeting thats taking place on a warship it's good to have a Image of it so the others RPer can post what their person or people think of it as they board it

Interesting. Is this because you don't understand writeups/stat blocks, can't be bothered to read them, or just because you prefer aesthetics to combat ability? Or all three?

One person's words cannot always be reliable, sizes are inconsistent, and wear on equipment may not be mentioned. Pictures of the actual gear clear this up.

pictures give you an idea of what you are buying looks like, just like when you go shopping for a car or house, the first thing you do it see it, then you see how much horsepower it has, MPG, and all that.

A picture does influence if I buy (When I decide to buy foreign). The picture grabs my attention and makes me want to read the stat block. I don't always have time to sit here and read a 1000 word write up, let along sift through many of them if I'm looking for somethinc specific (Which I am when I buy). A picture will give me a ood idea of how it looks, or is invisioned to look, and through that I can measure if I want to detail further. If the picture shows 9 30mm gatling guns on a truck, and that truck has a 5000 word writeup, I could save myself the time reading it and just look at the picture to see how dumb it is.

When I can spare the time I like to read wrieups, but that's not too often. So pictures grab me for me to read the writeup.

Alternativly, if it has a good picture and a crappy stat block with no write up, I won't buy it.

Almost one year ago, when I first joined, I would say that pictures very much influenced what I bought. Now, however, that is not always correct. For example, much of the items produced by Juums lack a picture, but I know they are some of the best weapons on NS. While I definitely appreciate a good picture, it really is a nonfacror when determining wether I buy it or not.

and pictures don't give you a good sense of a weapons capabilities. At all.

I always read through the stat blocks but a picture helps me visualize what the equipment looks like. I honestly don't care if its the ugliest piece of equipment ever, it still helps me to RP with it. In most cases, if the product doesn't have a picture I'll still buy it but If I come across something that does, I'm more inclined to buy that.

If I was a regular purchaser of third party military hardware, something which is made impossible due to certain IC reasons, I would certainly not care about a fancy picture, nor about a 5000-lines long write-up but about the quality and feasibility of the technology itself. Something I learned is that in certain cases a fancy picture might be a disguise for tech wank.

However, due to the fact Third Spanish States seeks, due to ideological motivations, to eventually have 100% homegrown military technology, with self-evident reasons for this goal demonstrated on names of military hardware like Haymarket (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair) Class Battlecruiser and Durruti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durruti) Man Portable Air Defense Anti Tank System and the future Alexander Berkman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Berkman) Class Supercarrier, I will probably never buy stuff from storefronts to have a coherent military with CTSS nature.

I'm not a very good drawer(or more exactly, I do it for fun when I'm in the mood and have time for it rather than as a mean to RPing) and most of my stuff lacks pictures, neither I usually tend to make monolithic write-ups(but neither are just statblocks with 3-lines long descriptions - or won't be for much longer because I'm not in the mood to make their write ups but eventually I'll put write-ups even for the 50mm hand grenades) of what Third Spanish States has on guns, tanks etc because I simply state what my limited knowledge and interest allows, without normally getting into the most intricate details of the functionality of the stuff I design(like for example the exact shape of the caseless ammunitions I use, although I do consider their weight), just what must be stated about their basic principles and seek to have a not so long write-up, but one which has quality. My MBT (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=1650&view=findpost&p=2879261)(its original, "Stealth Tank" (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=1650) basis included) write-up has a short length compared to the great , sourced write-ups of Sumer and Macabees, because anyway I'm not looking to have my NS specialized in AFVs and I really wouldn't be interested in getting that deep in MilTech to the point of reading a book about it, I just do it for the sake of fun and because I might one day re-use them in a RPG, maybe create stats for them in GURPS. And also I focus on mobility and low-profile(or just "stealth") over protection, that's why my tanks lack in protection and firepower compared to the great tanks of Sumer and Macabees, asides from the fact anything heavier than 60 tons would have serious mobility problems in my nation landscape

That would be what I would look for. Also, I really don't care on how "dubious credibility tests proved that weapon x is the best on the market regarding y or compared to z" or on the use of other superlatives to make something more lengthier than it would be normally or on write-ups done simply to justify tech wank. Tom Clancy Rainbow Six games' weapons descriptions are usually only three-lines long at best and they manage to point it perfectly the strengths and weaknesses of each of those RL guns. For example, I would never use the G3A3 in an urban mission filled with Close Quarters Combat despite it being "the most accurate rifle in Rainbow Six' arsenal". And for pure RPing purposes that is more than enough in my opinion. But I really prefer consistence regarding write-ups . I won't make a shotgun or underbarrel grenade launcher as just a statblock because they lack in the "coolness" or popularity factor compared to tanks or rifles.

Now this thread is interesting to know about the final results of its poll, I'm not really that interested on opening a storefront and certain design will remain Third Spanish States exclusive because of their sensitive pieces technology(particularly the "Stealth" tank, the IC Secret i-Pod of Death (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=2227) and the AT-42 Blackgull STOL stealth multimission aircraft). Fortunately it seems not everyone cares about pretty pictures, because I'll be a long way of picture-less designs I might or not offer in a Storefront.

Usually, my choice of equipment comes first from ideology - I won't buy a Doomani or Kraven tank no matter how good it is because it's not ICly ideologically compatible even if they would sell to an enemy (Absolute Capitalism and its feasibility aside, who wants a tank they've seen killing their comrades and is inextricably associated with their mortal enemy?) and performance is secondary.

I'm not very good with designs, so I tend to assume that whatever comes out is realistic unless it has a ton of criticism to the opposite effect. Good stats (I do compare to other storefronts) are more important to me than what the tank looks like.

BTW, I say tank, but you could replace it with a rifle or a fighter or an ICBM, the same principle applies.

As Dostanuot Loj said; the picture is the 'grabber' in advertising lingo, its what gets the attention of the buyer and can sometimes seal a deal based purely on aesthetics. Though statistics are important an image will help clarify and more than likely provide the best possible understanding of the product by the buyer, making it easier from them to feel comfortable buying the product. Without sufficient word of mouth advertising (e.g. 'Juumanistra is really great at aircraft' or 'Doomingsland does some nifty guns') its hard to provide the buyer with the comfort necessary to make the sale.

Ive found theres actually a limit to what is a practical in a write up, and though many often exceed this length, few buyers will ever fully take in the details of the write up. They usually do a 'hunt and peck' approach as they check off whether the product does the or has the ability to perform the functions necessary for them. So though Buyer may take some time looking over the write up the absorbed info is quite often rather low. A medium length write up well segmented into the important categories will probably yield better results as the information the customer is seeking can be more quickly indexed, and the smaller 'portions' will probably mean the customer is more likely to read the entirety of the sections their interested in. Combined (both written, and image-based grabbers) would most likely create the best and most efficient write up as the image gets their attention, properly segmented write up draws them in, and properly written grabbers hold them to the write up.

Not that I'm speaking against Long write ups, but from a pure selling standpoint theres probably a limit as to what is necessary, and what isnt.

[insert discussion of 'advertising' in Write ups, and buyer abuse of said 'gimmicks' here.]

Pictures that correlate to the write-up (i.e., Lineart) can help me figure out things in the writeup that I might get confused about.

As for aesthetics, pictures are nice, but not necessary.

Yes, it does, I love shiny, good looking stuff.

There, I said it.

Pictures affect my choice because I want to know what I'm buying, and pictures are alot easier for me to digest than long technical descriptions. Thats not to say I'd buy a really bad tank over a really good one because the bad one had a picture.

Why the hell would anyone but the millitary buy millitary equipment?

Why wouldn't they. If I could, I'd buy a bunch of military equipment. :mp5:

The only thing that affects whether I buy something or not is if I know the designer of the item is trustworthy. Usually, this means they come from the Draft room.