MMO community managers have an ugly job. Public relations is never the cakewalk that it seems from the outside, but dealing with the teeming internet hordes is not always as pleasant as eating bees.
I have never had the job, but let us pause a moment to consider some of the things we put our poor community managers, board mods, and developers through. Anyone can feel free to add horrors that I have missed in the comments (or via e-mail). (If this is your job, we understand if you feel the need to use a pseudonym and censor specifics, but we will not be releasing IP addresses and we understand that any example does not relate to specific people, but rather is a statement of general tendencies or extreme cases, probably exaggerated for effect. Or maybe you want to make an example of someone.)
Continue reading ‘So You Read Message Boards For a Living?’
I just realized it has been two years since I started this site. Two years. I’m honestly shocked. I had my first year at Blogger.com and then I moved to my own place (where 7 other people signed up to write). It’s been another whole year now since the move.
I figured it might be a good time to take a look at some stats because numbers are fun, OK?
In the last year we have had 285,661 people visit the site. In that same time there were 1,251,296 hits. And for data we transferred 13,290,855 KBytes. In the last month, we averaged 1,323 visitors per day.
Now, I don’t know what all these numbers mean, but they look big enough to me. I’m just glad my hosting fees have not gone up.
Thanks to everyone that spends a little time here and I hope we have provided a little entertainment for you. Here’s looking to two more years!
- Ethic
[EVE Online] After defeating my enemies, I looted 10 units of Exotic Dancers. I am officially back in EVE.
: Zubon
I just wanted to post a little thanks to prognosticator over at VirginWorlds. I noticed today that we have been chosen as the featured website in his VirginWorlds Podcast #10. Head on over and check it out and be sure to grab the previous 9 podcasts. I’ve been listening to them all morning. It’s a nice alternative way to get your MMO news. Also, don’t forget to stop by VirginWorlds News.
- Ethic
[EVE Online] I am back on the far side of the EVE Gate for another month. The last time I was here, I was working for the Gallente Navy, which made me lots of Gallente friends but the Caldari may hate me forever. Between the derived modifications and actually blowing up Caldari ships en masse in missions, the Caldari State stopped inviting me to parties.
This time, I have been working to balance that out. I am now in Caldari space, running missions for Caldari corporations. With some social skills, my gains from Caldari faction have been higher than my losses to Gallente faction… until they sent me to fight Gallente invaders. A single mission can do significant damage to the Gallente good will I earned last time. I am not even working for the Caldari Navy; my contact is with the Corporate Police Force, a friend to Hyasyoda Corp.
Is there a way to keep taking combat missions without blowing up one of the four empires? I don’t mind pirate hunting, but blowing up my own race is not a winner. Or do you have a better notion of how to manage faction?
: Zubon
[City of Villains] We conclude Shiny Happy Week with the follow-up to yesterday’s post, the other side of our superhero game. Does it merit it’s own write-up? It is a standalone game, and I have more hours playing it than whatever the next MMO down the list would have been, so yes. We can talk about the things that City of Villains does uniquely that City of Heroes does not (or does not yet, or did not at CoV release, etc.). Also, I have remembered a couple of other things I wanted to note about City of Heroes, so flip over there to see my love for the sidekick/exemplar system.
I have, of course, written quite a lot about City of Villains, since I have been KTR’s lone representative there. New game, exciting things, so I have had various things to say here, here, here, here, and here, and those are the varieties of “CoV is pretty cool” posts. So you can look at those to see some things I have enjoyed.
Continue reading ‘Some Things City of Villains Did/Does Right’
[City of Heroes] Cast your eyes upon Paragon City, a place devastated by interdimensional war but filled with the hope of a thousand heroes. The strange magic and science of the place have birthed a collection of heroes and villains, and others from around the world flock there to conquer or protect this seat of superheroic power.
I started blogging at Kill Ten Rats with City of Heroes, and you may have noticed it as my most frequent topic. It has been my usual game these past two years, although my account lapses today so I will be on break. What is it about City of Heroes that has brought me so much entertainment?
[edit: added comments on the sidekick/exemplar system below the break]
Continue reading ‘Some Things City of Heroes Did/Does Right’
[Puzzle Pirates] Next we have an MMOArrPG. Oh, those clever puns!
Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is not a game I have played a lot. I have played enough to sample most things, but I have not done everything and I have never gotten involved in the in-game politics of blockades and such. When I feel like playing the game of mini-games, I log on, find a shop or pick-up crew, and merrily play whatever amuses me. When I have had enough, I collect my pieces of eight and head out.
Continue reading ‘Some Things Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates Did/Does Right’