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The Daily Grind: Should veteran rewards be more substantial?
Measuring your continuous time with an MMO in the old days was easy; you looked at how long you've been subbed, and that was it. But these days, many MMO gamers jump back and forth from game to game as the mood suits them. Veteran rewards have always been an excellent way to measure dedication to a game, but they're becoming harder to award as free-to-play games allow us to play without actually subscribing to anything. So for this reason, I believe veteran rewards should be worth even more these days. No more extra health potions or cosmetic accessories that no one will ever see; we want real rewards for the dedication we put into the product. But how do you feel? Do you think vet rewards are just another carrot-on-a-stick, or should our dedication be better rewarded? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Guest Post: Vetting puggers -- beyond GearScore and achievements
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. How can you tell a good raider from a bad raider? GearScore? NO. Often times, people will rely on a numerical gear score, but this is not a good way to judge player quality. Very good players will have low gear scores when starting out, and very bad players who have been persistent or been carried can have very high scores. GearScore is not an indicator of goodness or badness; it's purely an indication of how much time and luck the person has had on that character. Achievements? NO. Some group leaders request, "Link achievement, please," but this is not a good method, either. All this indicates is that the person was in the raid when the boss died. You don't know if they were No. 1 DPS or died three seconds into the fight, the same as they do during every fight they've ever been in. So before you can determine how tell a good player from a bad player, you should understand what makes a "good player."
Economic shifts, new business models bring more options for MMO gamers
Tough economic times generally lead to shifts in perspective, and that's exactly the case with the MMO industry given much of the commentary we're seeing lately. In response to these changes in the economy, more companies -- and gamers -- are starting to rethink the alternative business models that have thrived in Asia, and which are increasingly making their way into the western MMO industry. And is that so surprising? Many gamers would like to be able to play more than one or two titles in a given month, but simply aren't able to due to the monthly subscription price (time concerns aside, of course).Ravious from Kill Ten Rats observes that while MMOs typically demand more of players than standard PC games (at least in terms of time), the wide variety of gaming options that Steam users have come to appreciate could certainly be applicable to MMOs, if other business models beyond monthly subscriptions become viable in the West. Ravious writes, "Whether it is from a Steam-driven library of games, an aging MMO population, an economic recession, or plenty of different business models coming in to the MMO world, I believe that the subscription model of today is nearly done being 'the way'."
All the World's a Stage: Sacrificing spells for the story
All the World's a Stage returns today to shine a brutal but loving eye on the intricacies of roleplay. We do this by looking at the craft of roleplay itself, and the people who love it. We might not be ready for Jerry Springer, but we're pretty sure this week's column is going to have a little debate behind it. Michael Gray fills in this week for David Bowers, and talks about letting roleplay exclude some other forms of play in the World of Warcraft.We're not a big Guild. All told, we probably have about twenty to twenty five people who come online at various times to talk, chat, and play together. We have some structure, but we're mostly a motley of friends who hang out. Our raiding effort takes place because our raid leaders woke up one day and said "By Wrath of the Lich King, we're going to be able to progress in ten man content."We're also a roleplay-ish kind of Guild. I say "ish" because we're not full immersion players. We have some light story notions. For example, I have the vague idea that our raid's main healer is the son of our raid's main tank -- that's mostly because they're the same human model, but one has light blonde hair, and the other has old, graying hair.So, when we come across folks into the roleplay and immersion a little more than we are, we're sometimes not quite sure what to make of it.
A matter of dedication
Oftentimes when raiding or applying to a raid/guild is mentioned, many people get up in arms about the fact that games shouldn't require commitment on that level. That kind of opinion is understandable, I suppose, but I certainly can't say I agree with it.Applying to a raid isn't applying to enter an instance. Applying to a raid is applying to a team. Joining a steady raid group isn't signing your soul away to WoW, it isn't declaring your dedication to the game itself. Your application is to the people, a statement that you want to join a team. This doesn't just apply to WoW, either. It doesn't just apply to this game, it isn't a flaw in World of Warcraft.Real life has these same situations. Can you go bowling by yourself? Certainly. However, if you want to bowl competitively in the team brackets, there's a level of dedication required. It is a game, but you're also asking to be a member of a team. That team can be your friends playing for giggles, sure. If you want a very active team capable of competing, you'll need to prove your worth. You need to show up at the appropriate times on a regular basis or you are not a desirable team member. Bowling is a social activity. So is an MMO. If dedication to your teammates is a flaw in WoW, then life itself is flawed. If being able to commit to others is an unimaginable task, well... there are other problems at work.High-end raiding in World of Warcraft is much the same. Your dedication is not to WoW. Your dedication is to the other players, to your teammates. If this makes you uncomfortable, find content that won't require this of you. Find people who will not mind a lack of dedication on that level. They exist. There's no reason to be smarmy about people asking you to be dedicated. You're not playing for you, you're playing for your team.
