How to get fat loot and manipulate people

My biggest problem when I find a new MMO to play is my friends. After having played "World of Warcraft" together for so long, I am quite used to our constant chatter in our custom channel that we've kept alive for four years. When logging in to a brand new game I'm instantly reminded that I'm there on my own, without anyone to work with or explore with from the start.

I've met many nice guilds over the years, with a huge shout out to Whispers of Aria in "Ryzom" and the Star Fraction in "EVE Online." But nothing beats having your real-life friends around you while playing. Even though we're spread out across the game world, all pursuing different paths or play styles, I never feel alone when playing "World of Warcraft."

If having my friends around was so important to me, I guess I could have just stayed in Azeroth. But I'm not only addicted to the rush of finding a new game to explore, I'm also stubborn. Where I go, I want them to follow -- even though I've probably driven them crazy many times over, always propagating for a new MMO I think they should try.

There is a trick to it, though. It's all about finding their respective weaknesses and exploiting that to the max. Perhaps my examples will aid you the day you decide to move to a new MMO and want your guild or friends to follow you.

First one out is the couple. Couples that play MMOs together can be a curse and a blessing, depending on how easy one of them is to manipulate. In my case, it's one of my closest friends' fiancée that is the weak chain in their relationship. Bring her some screens, talk a bit about cool features that "World of Warcraft" lacks and examples on how awesome the game would be to play together ... and she just might take the bait.

This is great, because if she tries it out, there's a great chance that her husband-to-be will come along for the ride. Without her, there's no way I'd see him online in many games except for "World of Warcraft." Sad, but true. So if I get her to play, I usually get two for the price of one.

Now, that can also backfire. A while ago I got them both to play "Runes of Magic" with me. Promises of our future guild castle was enough to make her interested. Then suddenly they were both gone, as they had decided to re-subscribe to "Warhammer Online" together. Better luck next time, I suppose.

The second example is the crafter. He loves to craft and since the crafting in "World of Warcraft" is incredibly shallow, and all he gets for your troubles is the "made by X"-tag on the stuff he makes, he's quite easy to get going. His eyes nearly glanced over when I showed him how crafting worked in "Ryzom," and he wasted away hours in "Vanguard: Saga of Heroes" in front of a work station, putting together chairs and tables. He didn't gain one adventuring level during the weeks he spent in that game, until he finally burnt out ... and went back to "World of Warcraft."

Then there is the immersionist. He wants to immerse himself completely in the gaming world, jumping between roleplaying guilds while the rest of us go raiding. Show him a world where he can lose himself, preferably one he has some form of relationship with (last I heard he was trying out "Star Wars Galaxies"), and he's there to at least give it a try. In the end, he usually does end up going back to "World of Warcraft" as well, which he plays intensely before burning out and deciding that walking barefoot through the forest is more valuable than MMORPGs. We let him do that for a few weeks, then he usually comes crawling back.

The last person I've had to deal with is a lost cause. He won't leave "World of Warcraft" for anything else; it's either that game or nothing. It doesn't stop him from wishing that "World of Warcraft" had more features for guilds, like housing or guild halls, but he'd rather wait for Blizzard to implement those things in his game of choice than looking for them elsewhere. And he'd much rather give up on MMORPGs and go back to playing first person shooters than trying out another MMORPG. He's just that cold.

There you have it, four different types of gamers that I find within my close circle of MMORPG-interested friends. I love them all to bits, but since I know them well enough I know which buttons to press for them to open their eyes for a new game (except the last type, of course). The fact that they all have a tendency to go back to "World of Warcraft" sooner or later does not deter me at all.

In fact, it just makes me even more stubborn...

Posted by Petter Martensson
May 7th, 2009