loyalty
Latest
The Daily Grind: Should MMOs bestow account rewards based on character power?
A few months ago, we asked whether you prefer studios to assign vet rewards and similar bonuses to your accounts or your characters. But we've never asked whether you think games should grant out-of-game rewards to players whose accounts have characters of a certain level of power, and that's because it's so rare. In fact, I can't think of a game that's done so other than Star Wars: The Old Republic, which stunned just about everyone this week by announcing a free month of playtime to players who just so happened to have reached level 50, a plan amended yesterday to require instead a certain tier of legacy experience. Cynical readers suggest that such a move panders to those most likely to leave (thus affecting subscription tallies) and betrays the loyalty of day-one veterans who play several lowbie characters rather than focus their attention on a single toon. After all, why should it matter how far your characters have progressed when you're paying the same monthly sub as everyone else? What do you think -- do you want to see other studios dole out playtime and other rewards based on your character's level or gear or other arbitrary measurements of success and achievement? 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!
The Daily Grind: What makes you stay with a bad game?
I freely admit that I've played games that I hate, but the incredible thing is that I've kept playing them, sometimes for several years. I remember actively hating EverQuest in its early days, but MMO alternatives were slim, and getting my friends off the evercrack and into something interesting like Asheron's Call was darn near impossible. The truth was that I was willing to do almost anything to hang out with my guild, including spend $10 a month to camp-check and corpse-run. So I wonder how many of you have played or are playing a game you dislike, and why? Do you do it out of a sense of loyalty to friends and guildies, like I did? Do you suffer from the completionist's compulsion to finish everything he starts? Do you just want to make sure you've gotten your money's worth? Do you hold out hope that the game (or your tastes) will suddenly change? Or is there some other reason? 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!
Square adds customer loyalty and printable receipts to the mobile payment mix
In case you haven't been paying attention, Square, the company that allows vendors to accept payments from various mobile devices, is starting to become a big deal. Now reporting days with over $11 million in transactions, the kids in San Francisco are looking to solve the pains of small business owners while driving repeat usage with a new opt-in customer loyalty system. Coming in the form of a software update, version 2.2 will empower merchants to track repeat visitors and offer sweet incentives to their regulars. For consumers, you'll be capable of seeing these discounts from within the Card Case app, along with letting your awesome presence be known to the shopkeeper -- so, don't be surprised when some owners come grovelin' at your feet. Not to become too futuristic, Square is also going old school with new features such as wireless control of cash drawers and receipt printing. After all, it's hard to look to the future without knowing from where you came.
Lineage II celebrates Play Your Way with October Bonanza
Lineage II players, are you ready for a bonanza!? If you said no, then too bad! To celebrate the game's new Play Your Way business model, NCSoft is throwing an October Bonanza that players surely don't want to miss. It all kicked off on October 12th with new Loyalty Subscription Gifts. Any player who purchases a new subscription between now and the 31st of October will receive some fine gifts, including a Dynasty Weapon Box and five Birthday Present Packs. On top of that, from October 19th until November 2nd, players will be receiving weekly thank-you gifts from NCSoft to show the studio's gratification to them for their loyalty. These gifts are Potion Support Packs, a Supplies Support Pack, and a Dimensional Support Pack. And last up, NCSoft's Player Commendation event will be beginning on the 19th and continuing until November 9th. During this event, players will receive a 50% XP bonus and a 100% Fame boost, a buffing blessing, and the ability to gain Player Commendation points, or PC points. PC Points are points earned just for being logged into the game, which accumulate over time and can be exchanged for a variety of useful items. For the full details on the upcoming event, check out Lineage II's official site.
Breakfast Topic: Do you have qualms about playing the other faction?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Talk to any self-proclaimed altoholic: They'll tell you stories of rolling characters on both sides of the two factions that split the World of Warcraft. For many, their attachment to one side or the other is merely dependent on "What do I want to play today?" However, for me, playing the other faction has some serious consequences: pangs of agony, nervous twitches, tummy trouble, you name it. I started WoW on one side but quickly found myself tempted to try the other (I heard they had cookies) and never looked back for years. I filled out all 10 slots with the faction I loved. Seven 85s later, I get the whisper from my officers that they are swapping sides as a pet project. The worst of all isn't really that I'd consider playing the dark side again; it's that my closest of guildies are happily getting entrenched. Lured by the real-life friend of another, lo and behold, they found a level 25 guild that would gladly receive some potential recruits... and now my guildies want me to join them, too. Now don't get me wrong -- I don't deny the opposite faction their right to exist (well, except every time I get killed in Tol Barad), but it feels so completely wrong to be rolling this character (not to mention having to delete my mid-30s mage). What about you? Have you ever had a question of conscience to even begin to create a character of the opposite faction?
Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, and Starwood Hotels reward your loyalty with free WiFi
Free WiFi is practically a given at coffee shops and motels, yet lots of luxury hotels hit you with an extra $10 - $15 a day to ride their waves of wireless internet. Good news is, well-heeled world travelers won't be paying those fees much longer, because several high-end hotel chains are now giving temporary tenants complimentary wireless internet. Loyalty program members for Hilton, Hyatt, and Starwood Hotels get online gratis if they have Gold or Platinum status, while Marriott lets all who sign up for its rewards program get WiFi for free. Seems ridiculous that some folks still pay extra for internet when a room runs several hundred dollars, but a little free websurfing is better than none. We can only hope that towel retention technology will provide a sufficient boost to their bottom lines to eventually allow access for all.
Breakfast Topic: Does your guild membership depend on guild perks?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. A few months ago, there were no such things as guild levels, guild perks, or guild reputation (except for on beta, maybe). We had good old-fashioned guilds, without levels or perks, full of players who stuck together purely out of common goals in raiding, PvP, etc., or just to enjoy each other's company. Hopefully, you were in a guild that matched both of those criteria. Now, we have guilds that can level and gain some pretty impressive perks. Perks include bonuses to experience, honor, justice points gained, increased mount speed and more. In order to gain some of the benefits of guild membership, you have to gain reputation with the guild. This isn't like the old days, when your guild perks were being able to raid or PvP with the guild or when guild "rep" was making sure the other members and officers liked you. I've been in the same guild around two years now, which is about 80 percent of my WoW history. I tried a couple before my current guild and found some to be too casual (accomplishing nothing) or too pro (full of jerks). My guild now sees all the content when it's relevant, including 9/12 heroic ICC on six hours per week of raiding and with a two- to three-month break from raiding as a guild. I enjoy the mix of the great atmosphere with what we can accomplish. The guild perks are for me, well, just perks. Even if it took years to hit guild level 25, I'd stick where I am. On the other hand, I know a good raider who guild hops almost bimonthly to ensure he is in the best position for raiding and other achievements. What about you? Are you loyal to your guild for what it is, who the players are, or do you need the perks? %Poll-57577%
iPhone owners uniquely loyal to Apple
A survey of over 2,600 mobile phone users in Brazil, Germany, Spain, Britain, the United States and China shows that only about 25 percent of smartphone owners are loyal to their current operating system. The survey by German firm GfK found that 56 percent of smartphone owners were open to trying a new OS with their next phone, with only Apple bucking the trend with a 59 percent loyalty rate to iOS. Microsoft users were the least loyal to their OS with a 21 percent loyalty rate, while BlackBerry came in at 35 percent, Android at 28 percent and Nokia/Symbian at 24 percent. Lead analyst on the survey Ryan Garner told Reuters that "Loyalty with a handset is a lot more complicated these days in that people buy into experiences at the high-end level. If a phone doesn't do what it says it will do or what the owner hopes it will do, the maker will lose loyalty." I am not sure that the only factor in loyalty is the OS itself, because as an iPhone user, I find myself incredibly frustrated with AT&T's service. Three of my friends have defected from iOS over to Android in hopes that they can use their phone to make phone calls, even though they would have preferred to stay with an Apple product due to the symbiosis with their home computer setup. But with the iPhone's market share still growing, Apple is definitely doing something right to keep those 59 percent of users loyal. Is the brand of the OS your only determining factor as to what smartphone you go with? Or is it a combination of OS and level of service? Leave your comments below. [via electronista]
OnLive giving thanks to its Founding Members with free MicroConsoles
Have you been riding the OnLive bangwagon from the start? If so, you'll want to heed this little Thanksgiving note from the company, which is offering a free MicroConsole to its early cloud gaming service users -- whom it dubs Founding Members -- provided they've bought licenses for at least two games in their time. The diminutive TV adapter typically costs $99, but qualifying Members will be able to get it for free if they pre-order it now, though they will have to spring for covering delivery costs. As to the more timid among you who only ever bought the one PlayPass, OnLive will let you have a free Full PlayPass (equivalent to a free game) in the place of the hardware. So, whichever way you slice it, it's good to be first.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Angry, desperate, hungry, cold
Everyone has different definitions of what constitutes a hero. City of Heroes features plenty of them, after all, and even then there's a breadth of different elements that make them heroic. Some of them are bravely fighting against the odds with unreliable powers or no powers outside of training. Some are heroes who have all the power in the world, but they consider the needs of society to be greater than their own needs. But there's one unifying trait so simple as to be almost comical to state. Heroes do the right thing. No matter what. So it's kind of silly to try and glorify the actions of Emperor Cole's jackbooted maniacs, rallying under the "loyalist" banner as if stomping on people were something to be proud about. The fact of the matter is that Cole has been named Tyrant pretty appropriately, crushing any chance for an entire world to make its own choices and mistakes and steps forward. And the reward for handing him control has been paradise, sure -- if you consider what he's offering a paradise.
Hyperspace Beacon: Loyal to their cause
As some of you may know, I love roleplaying in MMOs. Most of the MMOs I've played have had RPG tagged at the end. Even though it's not required to roleplay to enjoy an MMORPG, immersion is compounded when you do, therefore fun is compounded, too. In the Star Wars universe, I could not help but wrap myself in lore when I played a soldier or agent of the Galactic Empire. From line and formation to order and procedure -- all of this was in service to His Majesty, the Emperor. Of all the characters I made over my seven years of Star Wars Galaxies, my Imperial characters were the most purpose-driven. When Bioware announced the trooper class for Star Wars: The Old Republic, many players asked who would want to play a clone. There's no personality there, no motivation or character development, right? I disagree very strongly. In fact, I will go so far as to say I believe there is only one binding factor between soldier types: loyalty. Even then there are different types of loyalties and different motivations behind an individual character's loyalties. Step past the break and watch as I contrast the loyalty of famous factions of existing Star Wars soldiers and compare them to the trooper and agent classes of SWTOR.
Officers' Quarters: Super PUG showdown
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. These days, even smaller guilds want to -- and can! -- run 25-player raids through guild alliances and PUGs. ToC was easily puggable, particularly since it was a short, simple run that could be completed in about 90 minutes or less for most groups. ICC is proving to be more difficult. And, of course, it's far longer and more intricate than ToC. Even so, the early bosses can all be mastered by a competent PUG. This week's e-mail deals with an extremely successful and long-standing PUG whose leader suddenly wants to change the way it works. Hi Scott, Some real life friends and I are a part of what I think of as a "Super PUG." We're in a group of about 30 people spread among six guilds who raid together every week. Raiding only once a week for four hours maximum, our PUG downs bosses that real guilds sometimes never see. If we were a guild, we would be one of the top 5 horde guilds on our server. Most of our success can be attributed to our main tank and raid leader. He's extremely patient and very effective at getting the group organized and rolling. He's the one who collected the names of the best players he pugged with and got us all together. We all have a lot of respect and gratitude for him and for the opportunities that he's given the group as a whole. He's also the leader of the biggest guild in the raid at about half the members. Lately he has been making noise about wanting all of the raiders to join his guild. The reasons why aren't really clear to us, but for some reason he feels it's important. Cataclysm maybe? He's always tried to recruit us, but lately he's started getting... aggressive.
The Street: Features can't sway Apple customers' trust
Jason Schwarz over at TheStreet has written an article analyzing Apple's current position in the marketplace and what Apple's competition needs to do in order to catch up. The article focuses mostly on Apple's iPhone/iPod + iTunes ecosystem, which isn't surprising. Though Mac sales bring in a fair amount of cash to the company, Apple's handheld market is the company's most current success story, and everyone from Microsoft to Palm to Google has spent the past several years trying (and failing) to duplicate that success. Schwarz notes that Steve Jobs's recent claim that, "We see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon," doesn't necessarily apply to the feature set of the iPhone or its integration with iTunes, but rather Apple's financial success and brand impression. He has a point. Recent ads have been trying to sell the Droid on its feature set, telling us all the things that Sega does that Nintendon't - er, I mean, all the things Droid does that the iPhone doesn't, but trying to sell the Droid on features hasn't exactly toppled the iPhone's dominance quite yet, and all indications are that the Nexus One isn't likely to take a big chunk out of Apple's smartphone sales, either.
Sony wants to say 'P.S. Thanks'
Yet another trademark has got the gaming community talking. SCEA filed a trademark application (#77794416) for a serviced called "P.S. Thanks." Considering this is a Sony trademark, we'll let you figure out what "P.S." could possibly stand for.According to the application, "P.S. Thanks" is meant to be an "incentive rewards program geared toward quantifying, identifying and motivating top consumer base with the goal of promotion and sale of video game hardware and software." In short, Sony wants to create a PlayStation loyalty program.IGN hypothesizes a few possibilities. The service could be a program akin to Club Nintendo that awards frequent buyers with rewards. (Most recently, top-tier Club Nintendo members were awarded an exclusive downloadable game, calendar, and Mario hat.) "P.S. Thanks" could also refer to a Trophy reward program, one that has been rumored since the inception of Trophies in the PS3 firmware. Certainly, that's something a-certain-someone would love to see. Update: SCEA offers a comment: "As you know, we have a long history of creating unique loyalty programs such as PlayStation Underground which started with the original PlayStation and has evolved into the Gamer Advisory Panel (GAP). We continue to look for ways to expand this program and simply are evaluating new naming conventions for this evolution."[Thanks, Jeff B.]
Reminder: Declare your loyalty to enter to win a T-shirt from SwagDog!
Have you declared your faction yet? SwagDog.com and WoW Insider are teaming up to give away a trio of their custom t-shirts -- to enter, you've just got to leave a comment on our post from earlier this week (not this post -- leaving a comment on this post gets you nothing but a grimy sense of self-satisfaction), and make sure you declare your loyalty to the Alliance or Horde.Why? Because we're giving away three custom-designed t-shirts in total -- one to a random Ally, one to a random Hordie, and a third to a random commenter of the faction with the most supporters. If more Alliance comment, they'll get the third t-shirt, or if more people shout that they're "For the Horde," then an Orc, Troll, Forsaken, Tauren, or Blood Elf will get the extra freebie. We haven't tallied all of the comments yet, but I believe (this is an unofficial estimate) that the Horde currently have a slight advantage. So if you're Alliance, or you have some Alliance guildies who haven't commented yet, tell them to "grab your sword and fight the Horde!" and send them over to the post. Or if you're Horde, you might want to try and solidify your lead.The contest ends tomorrow night, Friday the 3rd, at midnight, so while you can only comment once (remember, on that post, not this one), you've only got a day left if you want to get your comment in. Good luck!
The Daily Grind: Are you loyal?
Something that a lot of gamers like to do is argue about the merits of their games. We see it every day here at Massively, in many of the comments we get left. Differences of opinion are inevitable, but at the same time it's strange that many of us feel the need to defend the games we like. After all, it's not like our fun is impacted by what anyone else happens to think, right?Sometimes, people will speak up in defence of a game for reasons other than simple appreciation of its qualities, or a desire to have another side of the story presented. You often see a factor of game loyalty come into play, which is more than just the valuing of a game as a play experience, as one might feel for any other product. People can feel loyalty for many reasons: a sense of community, memories of good times or learning experiences, or even gratitude for status and respect earned in the game that feeds back into everyday life. It's not always mere fanboyism.Are you loyal to any of the games you play? Are you inclined to defend them if they get misrepresented or excessively criticized? Do you give them the benefit of the doubt and stay subscribed for as long as possible if things get rocky? Or is a game just like any other product - something for entertainment, not deserving of loyalty?
Forum post of the day: I'm just not that into you
Tymestryker of Aerie Peak is frustrated because players are leaving his guild. Despite his loyalty to the guild and the effort he's put into the guild, he's facing some significant churn. His guild, though apparently a friendly, social place lacks in endgame experience. He seems to be taking it personally that people are leaving for guilds in endgame progression. He feels that others should share his loyalty. Many responders pointed out that heart only goes so far in World of Warcraft, but there's a lot more to the game. Most successful guilds have a purpose, maybe doing regular raids or being the best they can be at PvP. Some suggested that the original poster chose not to take the situation personally.
Forum post of the day: Vicarious' legend
That was odd. I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of hunters suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened. -Matticus var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Worst_Guild_Leader_ever_in_the_history_of_World_of_Warcraft'; It was inevitable, it had to happen. Someday, the legendary bow, Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury would be handed over to a Rogue. It so happens this fantastic weapon dropped to the Vicarious guild of Area 52. Analogkid was awarded the bow in the company of two Hunters. Needless to say the Hunters are upset, and the post brought about an outcry from many posters along with a considerable amount of drama. Many believe that this bow belongs in the hands of Hunters, regardless of the situation.
Wrath Beta Patch Notes: Hunter
By now, I am sure you've heard that the Wrath of the Lich King Beta is going live and the patch notes are up. There's a rather extensive section devoted to Hunters on this iteration. We have a few more insights into the pet talent trees that were announced at the Worldwide Invitational, as well as a few changes to existing talents and a nice Steady Shot buff.
Stars Catalogue now offering GBA titles [Update 1]
Two Game Boy Advance games have randomly appeared in the Stars Catalogue, leading us to surmise that Nintendo has been spring-cleaning its warehouses and found a bunch of old, unsold stock. Kirby & The Amazing Mirror and Mario Power Tennis are both decent purchases, we suppose, even if the price (5000 Stars each) is steep (you'd need to buy at least 20 DS games to amass that many Stars). We're still waiting on the warehouse with all the sealed Super Famicom consoles to get cleared out (it must exist somewhere).Some other new tat has also been added, including a Pokémon sports bag, and three further items that have (inexplicably) sold out: a Raving Rabbids T-shirt, a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon bookmark, and a Brain Training pen. Don't all rush at once, please.[Update 1: And the Kirbster has sold out!]
