The Guildmasters

There is a real simple way to get more people to buy more games, it’s been done before and I really don’t know why it isn’t done more often, especially since it is also a great marketing technique and works for both gamers and gaming companies alike.

Offering a substantial amount of prize money isn’t something new as i’ve said, it is a way of enticing more players to buy a specific game, it even gives gamers more of a reason to give more hours to a game, also gives them the perfect excuse as to why they play games so much, not just enjoyment but a chance to get hold of some serious cash.

This wouldn’t even be something the game developers (or marketers) would have to dig in their own pockets for either. A $50 game could quite easily add $15 or even $25 more for one that offered say 1 million in prize money, and that would be like a drop in the ocean compared to the huge profits it would generate.

Let’s take a game, any game, white knight chronicles for instance, this could be any game but just as an example, they could hide extra treasure boxes that actually contained cash rewards, or even extremely hard to find harvest points. You could quite easily incorporate something like this into a game so that even several hundred players had a real chance of winning say $100 up to $500, not a great amount but for those that did win, wow, what a great feeling, how cool would that be.

It’s been done before? When? Many years ago actually when the commodore 64 was the “in” thing, a computer keyboard which took games by way of a slot in the side or back of the keyboard. A game called Eureka offered 25,000 british pounds to the first person to solve the game, it was won by a 15yr old, man how must he have felt, like the richest kid in the world, but no loss to the game makers, that prize money generated millions in extra sales.

How much more satisfying and enjoying would a game be if it offered prize money for solving certain quests?

Any thoughts on this? With game sales at record lows and in the biggest recession ever how better to draw those players back?

Tony:)

Hi all,
I opened a room up in my town tonight and posted on the message board but quite a few missed me as I got b-mail sent to me, if anyone misses me feel free to join up at our forum and we can work out more specific times to help each other out.

Wasn’t too bad tonight, I spent the first hour on my own and managed to run Station Attendant 1 solo which should be easy for a GR 15 but it’s actually the first time for me to actually solo this quest, in the past Pyro Rex always gives me a problem.

Then I managed to run a couple of big reds for a GR 6 player and Giant Headache 1 for another player, it was a bit unlucky as no one seemed to be getting the items they wanted but it was a good bit of fun.

Ended up running arena 1 and HOTK but still no luck for the players on item drops or in the reward screen so that was unlucky, better luck next time guys.

Again sorry for those that missed me, hope to catch you next time. Happy questing:)

Tony:)

Last night was actually the worse for me in terms of helping people, I tried to complete Jackals and Hides with Ryan but it just didn’t happen and I felt bad for that, we did manage to kill the one ahwanee in the area where there is just one but when it came to the boss (2 of them) I just couldn’t keep it together, sorry Ryan. We did manage to get 2 other players to join for the next one so we did complete it once with 4 and he did get his item that he was after so made up for it a bit.

After that things just got worse as I ran with Cuffy and Jeff and we was doing Exterminator I think, I hate that place and have never really worked it all out, felt like a total noob down there, was following cuffy when I knew we was supposed to split but I never know where to go, always get lost, tried it a second time and it was better but i’m certainly not in my element in greede. I did let people down a bit who I was initially trying to help and I have to aplogise for that.

Other than that it was a lot of fun, I still can’t get over the fact 12 people actually came to my town, I believe once BO came in other players came in because BO was there and I thankyou for popping in BO, makes all the difference. I enjoyed it and I think some even got to get my sense of humor.

Tony:)
P.S. We are adding more info in the forum all the time, regular posters posting a few times a day so if your thinking of joining come on in, it’s a friendly place and full of help. We are still looking for more WKC players to join us ready for when WKC 2 comes out so we go in with people we know and in turn can help others with the posts.

I know many get games from blockbuster so thought this was a bit more than just interesting news. Blockbuster filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy Thursday which looks more and more that this will be their last days.

They have been losing money and customers for years according to the report which can be found here:

Blockbuster bankruptcy.

For those of you who don’t know or were thinking of changing anyway gamefly is probably the best alternative for renting and buying games. Shame about Blockbuster, they built up so big I didn’t think i’d ever see them go.

Tony:(

Was running some quests for Jeff last night who needed Fulgerstone, ran about 3 or 4 Grave Matter but could not seem to get any, I believe this is quite a rare drop anyway but we had a lot of fun. First couple of quests we ran with just two so we killed scorps and golems, didn’t realize until the second one that golems only drop sticks so wasted some time on the second one.
Yes I should have known but for some reason I thought the golems out in the desert would have dropped items, at least I know for next time.

He didn’t even get any scorp parts he needed even though we killed a ton of them, still good fun though. Managed to run one with BO, I was about to leave then BO came in so we ran one together which was cool, think Jeff enjoyed it.

Hopefully be back on tonight, catch you all then.

Tony:)

Met plenty of new players again tonight, seems to work well doing a post on the WKC message board and hour before I go into town, think we had 6 or 7 overall and I was only there 2hrs.

Good to see BO again, hated doing take your lumps but it was a request so we did it, that particular quest seems a lot to do just for one gold golem whereas you could just do arena and take either two or three gold golems.

We also ran trials, overall it was another good night, made some people happy which is the point of helping out.

Thanks again BO, appreciate it, hopefully get some more in tomorrow.

Tony:)

Had some fun tonight, BO popped in and caught me in my town and while we was waiting for Death to finish a solo quest Henrietta popped in too so we ran belly of the beast quest, pretty cool.

After BO left another person came in and we ran Monumental treasure and the Windwalker quest, S rank and some decent amount of items got, shame we didn’t have longer as I was starting to enjoy it even though I didn’t need any of the items myself it was just good fun running with some friends who I hadn’t caught up with in a while, thanks guys/girls.

Tony:)

Hi all,
Last night was the first night I didn’t get on the WKC so sorry for those who were expecting me and needed some help, should be on tonight. After Platinum and spending most of the day on the forum I just needed an early night.

Forum is coming along nicely, like to take the opportunity to welcome two more new members, both WKC players.

Welcome aboard wildcuffy and a big welcome to BO, we’ve played together on WKC quite a bit but it’s been sporadic, i’ll run a few quests with BO then we won’t meet up for a few weeks then we’ll find each other and run some more, I hope to get together for a few more quests soon BO welcome to the forum.

For those of you just stopping by the blog the forum is eventually going to be the place to be, the blog will be used just as a daily update on what is going on at the forum, a link to the forum is in the right hand column at the top on the blog.

Been adding more info on WKC 2 and WKC for newcomers with some vid links to check out if you want to, pop on over and check it out, see what you think, haven’t been started long and already over 100 posts have been made and 5 members joined all from WKC.

It’s been a bit awkward trying to get to everyone that needs help, i’m not avoiding anyone so please don’t think that, i’m either online when your not or i’m helping someone else at a particular time, if you see me online just send me a message and i’ll try and get to you, i’m not going anywhere for a while so if you can be patient I will help everyone I can.

It’s always a good idea to hang around my town if you want help as that’s where I always start out.

Tony:)

It’s 1:30pm in the afternoon and I just hit Platinum. A great feeling and sense of achievement indeed.

This has been a memorable one, the longest time i’ve ever spent getting a Platinum trophy and it was so nice to see it pop up on the screen.

From a personal point of view I don’t really have anything left to do but i’m not going to stop playing, the Plat was for me, now I have more time to do what others did for me and help players achieve their goals.

There are several weapons I still want but lost hope of getting those but I still might get lucky over the coming weeks, I would like to try my hand at tanking but just haven’t been able to pick up the spears, or I have the spear but can’t get the mats.

It doesn’t matter anymore though, i’m happy and it’s not just about me or my game plan anymore, even though I was helping others it was always in the back of my mind that “will I ever get that last trophy” now I don’t have to worry about it, it’s been a great game and i’m not done yet.

I actually feel a sense of relief now that I have the Plat, good feeling.

Tony:)

Some of you may or may not recognize the name but Brian was a well known game developer with Relic Entertainment.

Brian gave the ultimate sacrifice, he gave his own life to save that of his wife and unborn child by swerving his vehicle and breaking at the last moment to avoid a head on collision, taking the full force of the impact himself but saving his wife and child’s life, a true hero. R.I.P. man.

Brian was 33 years old and currently working on “Company Of Heroes” online, a free to play strategy game which is in beta testing.

You can read the full story here:
Brian Wood Story

I want to put this comment made by his wife as it sums up the gaming community as a whole:

“Brian always told me about how close-knit and wonderful the video game community was, but I had no idea until this tragedy just how special a group it really is,” she writes. “From all the articles and comments, to the emails and donations, I am simply stunned and so touched by the love, kindness, and generosity shown to me and my family.”

Thankyou from all gamers everywhere, we share your sadness and loss and may you find comfort in the wonderful memories you had together while Brian was alive, a true hero that you can feel proud to tell your child about.

The Guildmasters