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The Guild Counsel: Adam Trzonkowski on guild leading and Kickstarter success
Adam "Ferrel" Trzonkowski is on a roll of late. He's a successful veteran guild leader, an accomplished author, and most recently, a Kickstarter success story. He's used his experiences in guild and raid management to pen two advice manuals: The Guild Leader's Companion and The Raider's Companion, the second of which was successfully funded through a Kickstarter campaign. And just a few weeks ago, he wrapped up his second Kickstarter fundraising drive for his new project, The Guild Leader's Companion 2nd Edition. Massively had a chance to speak with Adam and pick his brain about leadership, writing, and Kickstarter. Whether you're looking for advice on handling guild drama, seeking a little help getting started with your own writing project, or looking for his secret to Kickstarter success, you'll find the answer after the cut!
Blogger raises funds for raiding guidebook
Adam "Ferrel" Trzonkowski, author of The Guild Leader's Companion, is working hard on his follow-up book to assist MMO raiders. Titling his second guidebook The Raider's Companion, Trzonkowski is pairing up with artist Amanda Martin to create a book full of advice on how to tackle some of the toughest content in online gaming. To help fund this project, Trzonkowski has launched a Kickstarter project to raise $4,000 that will go toward the expenses of publishing, art assets, marketing, and so on. If you find this a worthy project to assist, then your donation will make you eligible for a variety of rewards including signed copies of the book, hardback editions, and art prints. The Kickstarter project is well underway and will continue until November 25th. You can read our previous interview with Trzonkowski his previous book and thoughts on guild leadership. [Source: Epic Slant Press release]
Enter at Your Own Rift: Finally 50
As an MMO player, I'm generally behind the curve when it comes to leveling and cutting-edge content exploration. Pushing myself to level quickly is far less fun to me than taking my time and exploring all the nooks and crannies, and my available playtime is far less than it used to be. Ergo, while many of have been at the level cap for months and are either elite PvPers or Raiders of the Lost Hammerknell, I've just hit 50 this past week for the first time in RIFT. In a way, being behind the curve is a blessing because others have gone before you and forged a path so that coming from behind is much easier. That said, I still felt overwhelmed when the final ding happened because my previously clear goals evaporated in a second. What do I do now? How do I gear up? What does one do at level 50, anyway? Fortunately, I'm part of a guild that's full of seasoned 50s, not to mention that I'm friends with plenty of bloggers who were 50 when I was still in diapers. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Ahem. So for this week's Enter at Your Own Rift, I posited them this question: What do you and should you do when you hit 50 in the game? They came back to me with excellent responses that I'm now going to share with you. PREPARE YOURSELF FOR IMMINENT KNOWLEDGE!
The Guild Counsel: An interview with author Adam "Ferrel" Trzonkowski
At PAX East a week or so ago, I had the opportunity to talk with Adam "Ferrel" Trzonkowski, who is a guild leader, blogger, and newly crowned author. After managing his guild Iniquity for the better part of a decade, he decided to write a book about the lesson's he's learned regarding guild management. It's titled The Guild Leader's Companion and is available both in print and as an ebook through Amazon. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll hear a bit about his background as a guild leader, his motivation to write a book, and his thoughts on why guild management offers important lessons even to those who don't run a guild. Massively: First off, can you give the readers a little background on your gaming experience and how you got into leading a guild? Adam Trzonkowski: I started playing MMORPGs when they weren't even graphical. That means I played in the old chat rooms and MUDs! Those were dark times, but we had guilds back then, and I actually was an officer in one for a few years. That role didn't entail nearly the work that it does these days, but that is how I got into leading people and learning how they interact with each other.
Exploring need, greed, and team play
Brian "Psychochild" Green and Ferrel at Epic Slant recently discussed an ongoing challenge facing game developers: designing for the team instead of for the loot. Balancing game mechanics and rewards with player goals and desires, while still encouraging people to play as a group has always been tricky. Players are there to have fun, which usually translates into some sort of reward system, be it in-game cash, leveling up, further quests, or better loot. The foundational goal of an MMO in this case is for there to be a learning curve: go out with your group and learn how to succeed at this encounter by working together as a group, playing off of one another's strengths and weaknesses. In the end, learning and succeeding is the reward. Unfortunately, this gets lost quickly in the race for better loot - that drop that you need to advance. Players forgo groups in favor of solo farming, or wind up bickering with their group over who gets the loot, moving away from what many consider to be the main purpose of the game. Psychochild and Ferrel explore some ideas and solutions, as well as suggestions for balancing the goals of both players and developers.
