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Sanya Weathers on admitting you're an MMOG gamer
Sanya Weathers, a.k.a. Tweety, recently published a guide to breaking the news to your loved ones about your MMOG habit. She keeps her advice lighthearted throughout, but her tips are good ones. For instance, here's how she disarms those who outright scoff at the hobby: "If the person you're talking to gets dismissive, keep your cool. Ask how much television they watch. Ask if television is active or passive. Ask how many people a television viewer is interacting with, or working with towards common goals." Weathers has made her rounds in the MMOG industry before. She originally got her start at Mythic Entertainment after a blogging stint on the famed Lum the Mad MMOG rant site her rant site, as well as venerable rant site Corpnews.com. While she does freelance work, her current home is Eating Bees, where she blogs about community management issues.
Idiom abuse is a slap in the face of grammar
In a rather amusing blog post, Sanya "Tweety" Weathers, MMO community guru and Director of Community at GamerDNA, reflects on the etymology of the phrase "a slap in the face" (as in, "The devs are nerfing Warlocks? This is such a slap in the face!"). Sanya seems to be of the belief that a slap to the face is more of a wake up call, with a potential curative element from temporary psychosis, which would seem to indicate that the phrase is being used improperly in this context.For our part, we always wondered if people really felt like class nerfs or design changes were so insulting as to be compared with a physical blow to the face or if the phrase has merely slipped into the realm of meaningless idiom, joining "melting faces" and "massive damage" at the nexus of gamer parlance. Our suspicion is that people are just overly dramatic when confronted by change in an online environment, but you never know, some people take their games very seriously.
Signs you are not smart enough...
I love eating bees. Well, I love to read Eating Bees, the industry insiders POV from the legendary Sanya Weathers. I love it because she says it like it is, an all too rare commodity in this overly politically correct world. In her latest diatribe Sanya takes on people who are not smart enough to moderated boards. This list can apply to virtually any board whether it be about shooters, MMOs or even movies. But since Sanya came from Mythic Entertainment they are likely based on personal experience. And they're a riot. Take for instance this doozy: You delete anything that isn't porn, advertising, or one member calling another member a "faggot retard." If you are deleting things because someone posts that such and such a decision is "poorly thought out," you are too sensitive and need to not be online. Ever. Or this classic: You avoid posting something that might cause drama, even though the something in question is most certainly going to be part of the game. Man UP, you chicken$@!* wimp. As the Guinness guys would say: Brilliant!See, I have some experience in this arena. Back in the day, long before Al Gore invented the "Internet," I created and moderated some of the very first online Star Wars forums. Based on that experience, what Sanya says is dead on. If you don't follow what amounts to her "guidelines" you end up with the inmates running the asylum. Or in this case those damnable forum trolls. By the way, the numerous comments adding more to the list (which she asked for) are almost as funny. It's worth a read.
Don't hate the class, hate the playas
Yesterday we told you about Sanya Weathers (aka "Tweety"), who is the absolute bombdiggity when it comes to dishing out insightful, acerbic, honest and intelligent commentary on the MMO industry via her blog, Eating Bees. Her rant on why players quit playing games was aimed directly at the companies who make the games. Today, she takes aim at the players of those games. In her new post Q&A (surely created from an amalgamation of actual questions) she gets the players in her sights and mows them down with a Gatling gun. Or staff of magical awesomeness. Or alien death ray. Depending on your particular gaming penchant. And oh what a laugh fest it is!See, I've been gaming since the dawn of time (let's just say I'm above the target age range) , but I've never considered myself a prototypical gamer. I played college football. I was a private investigator for 10 years. I've been a gym rat for over 20 years. I love sports, craft beer, fast cars, and action flicks. Thus, I don't think or act like a typical (or at least what used to be considered "typical" back in the day) gamer. However, I've personally known several folks during that time who wore the abysmal badge of basement dwelling "know it all" geek, and done so with some warped sense of pride. Apparently so has Sanya. Here is but one example of why she is my hero: Q: Why do you hate answering real questions instead of this fluff about crafters and aggro management? A: Are you high? Do you look around the basement and think that because no one else is there with you, only your questions are real? Is this some kind of existential crisis? Because I don't want to be involved if it is. For the entire hilarious Q&A, check out the full linguistic lashing. She is the Lawgiver!
Why do people quit?
If you're a gamer and haven't read Sanya Weathers' blog Eating Bees then you're missing out on one of the best reads in the gaming biz today. Why? Sanya is a professional writer who was the Director of Community for Mythic Entertainment for six years and currently holds the same position for GuildCafe. She knows what drives players. Her blog reflects her industry experience, and isn't filled with the fanatical ravings of Fanboy (or girl) A or Forum Troll B whose closest experience with the gaming industry stops at flipping the switch on their gaming rig (or k0nz013) - yet still somehow (truly) believes they "know it all."I've been a "game journalist" (and I use that term very lightly since most of us in the field aren't "journalists" in any way, shape or form) for over four years, and I'm continually amazed at how Sanya is able to explain (in layman's terms no less) the machinations of this sometimes freakish industry. Her latest diatribe, Obvious Truth: Why People Quit, lists reasons why people quit playing games (or anything for that matter). The article is aimed squarely at game companies (and their PR people), and it's stunning. But not for the content. As she puts it, if these reasons are shocking... kittens will be killed, drowned by the tears of the baby Jesus. It's stunning because of her answers to what should be "obvious truths." Stunning because everyone with half a cro-magnon's brain (and having been involved with the industry myself, there are a lot more "cavemen" walking around then you might expect) should innately know all this. Sadly, in this day and age of Responsibility Avoidance, the truth isn't so obvious anymore.Check out Eating Bees, and be sure to subscribe to the Bee feed.
Expecting stability
I think I've mentioned before that I really enjoy Sanya Weathers' blog about running communities for MMO games, and in her latest post, she makes a great point about stability and expecting it from the games we play.The example she uses is Xbox Live, which isn't technically an MMO, but does, as she says, constitute a "massive, multiplayer experience." Microsoft has had trouble over the holidays keeping it up and running, and now they've decided to give out a free download to compensate players. How, says Sanya, can they be surprised at this point that they'd have a surge of users over the holidays? Isn't it common knowledge at this point not to play MMOs when a new expansion comes out or when new users show up in droves?But then she shares the real insight: this shouldn't happen any more. MMOs are no longer a niche business, something we should have to suffer hardships just to play these games. As she says, "it's time to expect our toys to work when we plug them in."Of course, any IT guy will tell you that downtime is unavoidable-- accidents happen, and predictions are just predictions. Anyone expecting anything to work all the time is going to get disappointed. But at this point, if you have a game (or a system, or a service) that is supposed to be "massive," you have no excuses when everybody shows up to play.
