Kill Ten Rats

When was the last time someone thanked you for doing your job in-game: your healer who saved someone, your tank who took a death for the team, your mage who devastated the boss mob? We have all been pleased by others’ simple thanks or annoyed by people who are demanding or lack gratitude.

In our continuing theme of improving our in-game happiness, make yourself happier by making others happier. Show some gratitude and let happiness resonate through the ten thousand things. Thank someone, not for doing something really unusual, but just for doing a job well.

Continue reading Be a Cheerleader

[Hero Online] As I was developing a post on the theme of “please stop making EQ clones,” I stumbled upon the open beta of a new MMO that seems be a bad Diablo clone. Would a lack of instancing make it a bad EQ clone, instead? In addition?

Has anyone tried Hero Online? I ran through ten levels and change last night. My present recommendation would be not to mention the game’s existence except as a warning, but I am open to the notion that things become interesting later.

Continue reading Hero Online Open Beta

Celebrate Small Victories

Let us try a simple variation on gaming gratitude journals: gaming gratitude moments. Barring outrageous fortune, something will go well tonight. Narrow this down to its smallest unit and celebrate as many of those as you can stomach.

A pull went perfectly — yay! Someone did a drive-by buffing of your newb — woo! You got out of xp debt — score! You cleared an entire level of the map — we win again! Every time something goes well, cheer: aloud, on Teamspeak, in /team, wherever you can do so without irritating others. Don’t be that annoying guy who lists every single drop he gets, but take pleasure in all the little things that go right.

We often dwell on one bad thing, and it spoils the night. Why not try to swamp it with dozens of small victories?

: Zubon

Back when I was a youngin’, I knew every one of my neighbors. I used to walk the mile to school every day, although contrary to the traditional story I wore shoes and it wasn’t uphill either way. I used to hang out with my friends down the street without my parents having to worry about me. Ah, good memories of that community. Lest you think this was some Utopia or small town, I should point out that I grew up on the south side of Chicago. Today, I couldn’t name the first name of one of my neighbors, despite living in the same house for nearly ten years. I don’t trust my kids to be 3 houses away without supervision.

What’s your point, Granpa Oz, you say? Things change, move on? Hang on there you whippersnapper; I’ve got an analogy coming. When I used to play EQ, it was for the community. I knew all of my virtual “neighbors”, and they knew me. Gear was frequently passed up and down on the basis of friendliness. People would help you just because. Many years later, that community is all but gone, and the game soured for me. One of my final rants against the Powers That Be was about a lack of “community focus” in my guild’s actions, which was shrugged off. The community was gone, leaving only a bunch of “me”s. Playing WoW, I fail to see any community at all, and I wonder if any of the newer games dawning on the horizon have even given it a thought.

Continue reading WTB Community, PST!

…why this is not a standard business model. Seriously, players will pay you to play your game and then pay you more not to play (portions of) your game.

Counter-thought: the majority of your game has not endorsed RMT. You only need a small minority to support a nigh-endless stream of sales. With 0.1% of the planet playing WoW, you only need about 0.001% of the planet wanting to buy gold to have more than enough customers. How much of your playerbase do you lose by endorsing RMT? Noted effects of “we sell gold” servers and “no RMT” servers? I imagine that, oddly enough, people will play on no-RMT servers and still want to buy gold, despite that being a legal option on the server next door.

: Zubon

Heya, this is Ethic just letting everyone know that a few things have dragged me away from the gaming world lately and guess what? I’m not finding myself wishing I was playing an MMO very much anymore. There is nothing to draw me back right now. You could say that real life has grown more interesting lately. Anyway, this site will continue as there are several other wonderful writers here – you just won’t hear from me that often for a while.

I’ve grown disenchanted by the state of MMOs right now and have cancelled all my active accounts. As always, you can still reach me via email – and feel free to do so. I’m just going to sit back and read some of the other guys here and spend more time with my family right now. See you all around!

– Ethic

Anyone who’s played an MMORPG for more than a few levels has learned that there is a wall you hit. That wall is what you can solo. Once you hit this wall, you need help to pass over it. And unlike every swords and sorcery book you’ve ever read, you don’t call the muscular guy wearing the do-it-yourself loincloth and very sharp sword or the wizened old dude with the book and wand. Nope, you call for a healer. Nothing can change the dynamic of a group like having someone who can refill your precious hit points.

Then there’s that whole supply and demand thing that really tosses the whole plan out the window. Let’s face it – there’s just not enough people out there willing to follow you around and heal you. Slackers.

Continue reading Paging Doctor Bob