Ok, let's say there is a game you love. But even WoW seems to be feeling the pinch of the economy. They came up with the "Get your Friends Addicted" promotion. It promises "If your friend/family member purchases a full copy of World of Warcraft and pays for a month of subscription time, you get 30 days of subscription time FREE!
If your friend/family member pays for two full months of subscription time, you'll receive an exclusive in-game zhevra mount!" As well as, 90 days of triple xp whenever you and your friend play together.
So, Muds, strat games, everything are emptying for this promo. It is sad, but your favorite game does not need to suffer.
Ok so the game is free, can't pay people to play there, or can you? Maybe not real money but what about triple xp weekends for groups over 5?
What about special items created just for playing on a certain date?
What about OLQs?
Fine you say, but how do we let people know if they are all off playing WoW? Ahh there I can be of some help:
Here is a list of places that are good for MUD, MMO and online Strat Promotion
Gamer DNA (formerly Guild Cafe
A place to set up a page for your clan for free. Promote your game and your MUD. It is heavily WoW and Warhammer oriented, but I have had some oldbies check in after they saw Valhalla there.
Mudlists
This site is all about MU* promotion. Free banner displays (as well as paid)
a forum for your MUD. Lots of friendly people who will help you in promoting your game.
Web Gaming Friends
A social network for gamers. It covers all the NOT big MMOs
Showing posts with label clans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clans. Show all posts
02 September 2008
26 June 2008
Girl Gamers part 1
Another label. It looks like this one is sticking, so it seems time to address it.
First let us look at what it means Girl - female, not yet adult Gamer - someone who plays games.
Well yes there have always been girls who play games. Jump rope is a game, chess is a game, Ace Deuce is a game (I still own you Brent), females both adult and pre-adult have been known to play these games. But the epithet Girl Gamer refers to any female who plays a console, computer or online game. Females have played these for as long as they have been around too, suddenly though we are labeled and they are looking for ways to market to us. Pity they are probably going to ruin some great games that way.
See this is my problem I am not a girl, although I did start gaming when I was one. BUT I am a gamer who happens to be female. Several things started me thinking about this, but the most recent was on Valhalla. See another female approached me said wouldn't it be great if we had an all female Clan. I said "no".
Why you ask? Well gender in not basis for commonality. Yes, there are some things you can say I have in common with other females, they tend to be biological in nature. However, I like playing RPGs and strat games. My friend prefers FPS, another friend will only play things like Bejeweled and dominoes. Yet, we are all female. So when you get us on a place like a MUD we all head in different directions. I go for the quests or off to role play with friends, Elly heads off to the casino or other mini game and Cathy is off to PvP. Same game different aspects. That is what is great about MUDs.
I used to like FPS, when I did I played Doom, Zero Tolerence, and Descent. I liked the graphics and the playability. They were not games made for women they were made for everyone and were good games. Prince of Persia is still one of my favorite games. Last I checked that was not marketed to women. Why do I not play them anymore? I got bored.
Strategy games work for everyone how do you market strategy and tactics to a gender? Either you can counter that attack or you cannot. Gender does not matter when you are besiege and trying to fend off the attackers hoping they starve and lose troops before they manage to undermine your walls. When running pirate ships against a blockade your plumbing is not going to help or hinder the situation. Either the game play is decent and the situation realistic or it is not.
Earlier this year I took part in a panel on female gamers. It started out as rah rah. Girl gamers rock etc.. Then the nasty truth began to come out. Not all of us like the same type of games. Not all of us are the best at the games, but we still like to play. AND not all of us like each other. Because well, we are people and guys don;t always like another guy just because they are male and play the same game do they?
We were asked what could be done to bring more women to gaming. None of us agreed. Some wanted to lose the chainmail bikinis and get real armor. Some liked the revealing nature because it showed they could kick ass with less than a guy wore.
Some wanted some beefcake, some said no it would embarass them. Some wanted to save the prince, - ok most of us wanted to save the prince. It was what we did with him after we saved him that we differed on. Our point to the marketeers - yes who else would hold such a panel - was "Look either you game is good or it isn't. If it is good we will play it. If it is not we won't. It's that simple."
As for us uniting because we are all girls I think one in the panel said it best. "If you are on the other team you are my opponent. This time we may be team mates, next time you may be on that side. When we are on the same side I will work with you. But when you are against me I will do my best to kick your ass." Yep, that is the right attitude GAMER first.
First let us look at what it means Girl - female, not yet adult Gamer - someone who plays games.
Well yes there have always been girls who play games. Jump rope is a game, chess is a game, Ace Deuce is a game (I still own you Brent), females both adult and pre-adult have been known to play these games. But the epithet Girl Gamer refers to any female who plays a console, computer or online game. Females have played these for as long as they have been around too, suddenly though we are labeled and they are looking for ways to market to us. Pity they are probably going to ruin some great games that way.
See this is my problem I am not a girl, although I did start gaming when I was one. BUT I am a gamer who happens to be female. Several things started me thinking about this, but the most recent was on Valhalla. See another female approached me said wouldn't it be great if we had an all female Clan. I said "no".
Why you ask? Well gender in not basis for commonality. Yes, there are some things you can say I have in common with other females, they tend to be biological in nature. However, I like playing RPGs and strat games. My friend prefers FPS, another friend will only play things like Bejeweled and dominoes. Yet, we are all female. So when you get us on a place like a MUD we all head in different directions. I go for the quests or off to role play with friends, Elly heads off to the casino or other mini game and Cathy is off to PvP. Same game different aspects. That is what is great about MUDs.
I used to like FPS, when I did I played Doom, Zero Tolerence, and Descent. I liked the graphics and the playability. They were not games made for women they were made for everyone and were good games. Prince of Persia is still one of my favorite games. Last I checked that was not marketed to women. Why do I not play them anymore? I got bored.
Strategy games work for everyone how do you market strategy and tactics to a gender? Either you can counter that attack or you cannot. Gender does not matter when you are besiege and trying to fend off the attackers hoping they starve and lose troops before they manage to undermine your walls. When running pirate ships against a blockade your plumbing is not going to help or hinder the situation. Either the game play is decent and the situation realistic or it is not.
Earlier this year I took part in a panel on female gamers. It started out as rah rah. Girl gamers rock etc.. Then the nasty truth began to come out. Not all of us like the same type of games. Not all of us are the best at the games, but we still like to play. AND not all of us like each other. Because well, we are people and guys don;t always like another guy just because they are male and play the same game do they?
We were asked what could be done to bring more women to gaming. None of us agreed. Some wanted to lose the chainmail bikinis and get real armor. Some liked the revealing nature because it showed they could kick ass with less than a guy wore.
Some wanted some beefcake, some said no it would embarass them. Some wanted to save the prince, - ok most of us wanted to save the prince. It was what we did with him after we saved him that we differed on. Our point to the marketeers - yes who else would hold such a panel - was "Look either you game is good or it isn't. If it is good we will play it. If it is not we won't. It's that simple."
As for us uniting because we are all girls I think one in the panel said it best. "If you are on the other team you are my opponent. This time we may be team mates, next time you may be on that side. When we are on the same side I will work with you. But when you are against me I will do my best to kick your ass." Yep, that is the right attitude GAMER first.
Labels:
clans,
gamers,
gender,
online games,
RPG,
strategy games
18 May 2007
People Confuse me
Why do some people say they will do things, get overloaded then complain about having too much to do? I see it happen in the workplace all the time, but the same thing occurs in gaming. Many online games have clans. Like anything, clans need leaders. I am not leader material, support yes, leader no. I understand my limitations. COULD I lead a clan, probably. WOULD I enjoy it? Probably not. Put me in second place, or third and I am happy. But front man - no thanks.
But why do so many people beg to be in a position tha requires time and patience? Then when they are about halfway through, they lose interest and go off to something else? I see it in forum posts - role play threads held up by people who have to be involved in everything. They post for a few weeks then disappear for months leaving others hanging.
Or even worse in forum owners that start forums but let them die after a few months or even years. Then rather than close it down or pass ownership on to someone else, they leave the site open to attract spammers and take up space.
In clans, players who beg, plead and cajole admins for a clan or for the leadership of an exisiting one only to disappear in a few months - usually at the first sign of discord or when the clan becomes large enough it actually requires some work.
In team stratagy games where members are given tasks such as building funds or forces. They begin, but disappear before the end game so that the team cannot compete. Now these are just in games you say. they are not important. Yes and no, these are personality traits that as I have said I have seen time and time again in real world. It is just more annoying to me in games because they are my escape from that real world.
But why do so many people beg to be in a position tha requires time and patience? Then when they are about halfway through, they lose interest and go off to something else? I see it in forum posts - role play threads held up by people who have to be involved in everything. They post for a few weeks then disappear for months leaving others hanging.
Or even worse in forum owners that start forums but let them die after a few months or even years. Then rather than close it down or pass ownership on to someone else, they leave the site open to attract spammers and take up space.
In clans, players who beg, plead and cajole admins for a clan or for the leadership of an exisiting one only to disappear in a few months - usually at the first sign of discord or when the clan becomes large enough it actually requires some work.
In team stratagy games where members are given tasks such as building funds or forces. They begin, but disappear before the end game so that the team cannot compete. Now these are just in games you say. they are not important. Yes and no, these are personality traits that as I have said I have seen time and time again in real world. It is just more annoying to me in games because they are my escape from that real world.
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