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14 wins to go! (Then the Sabres Stanley Cup Parade)

I hadn't been making my daily rounds of favourite blogs and was punished for it. Grimwell posted a pieced titled, Designing For Community in which he preaches what I've been preaching for a long time, that MMO games are at their core about building a community.

I've been pushing to integrate the community building system in networks like Ten Ton Hammer into games at launch. Give the players a means to stay connected to their friends even when they are not in the virtual world of their choice. Just because I'm sitting at my desk poking at keys trying to write a Loading... column in 15 minutes doesn't mean that I don't want to know that our guild just kicked some serious butt in Vanguard. In fact, I really want to know, but because there is no way for me to easily stay connected I become, wait for it...disconnected from the game and eventually move on to something else.

For the short time that I have been a part of Ten Ton Hammer I've been preaching the same sermon, over and over and over again; community is the most important aspect of a MMOG and as an extension, a MMOG website. All the content coupled with the best gameplay in existence is just a fancy single-player game without the community.

If you think back to your favourite moments playing a MMOG inevitably they involve other players. Why? Because it was the other players who gave your accomplishment or your moment of glory the audience that made it something more than just another game experience. If you think about it, they didn't even need to be in the same location as you in the virtual world. They just needed to be in a position that you could communicate with them. They don't even need to think that your accomplishment is of value. The loudmouth schnooks who make derogatory remarks justify it in their own way. It's fantastic really.

What might be even more important however, is that other players, be they guild-mates or group-mates can share in these experiences and feel as if they were a part of them. The accomplishment is transferred to those around you, virtually and literally. I liken MMOG community to that found in a team sport dressing room. Am I wrong? Damon Schubert thinks so.

What do you think?

[Vote, rank, share, comment!]

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Today's Exclusive TenTonHammer.com Content!

04.17.2007

  • IMGDC: A Video Interview With Richard Bartle
    "Cody "Micajah" Bye was honored to sit down with one of the true visionaries of online gaming at IMGDC 2007, Dr. Richard Bartle, and we bring our time with Dr. Bartle to you in streaming video, complete with all the dry English wit and class he brought to the Indie MMO conference. Bartle, whose very accessible and fun-to-read scholarly work is required reading for anyone hoping to understand MMOs and MMO communities, speaks to the challenges and great opportunities for virtual world games developed by an indie developer with complete creative control over his or her work."
  • IMGDC: Why We Should Watch The Little Guy
    "In this editorial, Cody "Micajah" Bye recaps the IMGDC 2007 conference and gives several reasons why gamers should care about the Indie MMO developer. Included are some suggestions of indie MMO games that gamers can try to get a feel of the indie MMO experience. Make sure you check it out for your daily fix of IMGDC coverage!"
  • Blog: Female Blood Elves And The Men Who Play Them
    "Over at "Heal Plz" Xerin revisits the topic of people choosing avatars that are opposite of their real sex. This time Xerin looks at what's acceptable and what isn't and just why "taking it too far" is a bad thing!"
  • Blog: Learning Curve
    "In today's blog, Ralsu is forced to admit some mistakes. Maybe someone should have given him an exam before letting him have his own blog!"
  • EverQuest 2: Guide To End Game Templar Weapons
    "RadarX continues adding to the Ten Ton Hammer Templar guide by drawing on his own experience and suggesting weaponry a good healer might carry. Take a look inside to find screenshots of these incredible weapons and where they can be found."
  • Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - Customizing Your Vanguard Chat Interface
    "There are lots of options for customizing your chat interface and filtering chat in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. This week's Tuesday's Tips shows you how it's done."
  • World of Warcraft: Main City Boogie
    "We're introducing a new weekly feature here at WoW – Ten Ton Hammer. Each week around Monday we'll have a brand new "WoW Weekly Hot Tips". Each week we'll present you to a fresh top tip that helps you get things done faster, make WoW life easier, and much more! This week to kick things off we'll be featuring a tip on how to travel about the major cities much faster… for any level!"
  • World of Warcraft: Where's The Balance
    "Two main issues have plagued WoW players since the initial launch: server population levels and faction balance. With the release of the Burning Crusade, things have only gotten worse. I look at the question: Where's the balance between the servers and what should Blizzard do about it?"

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Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com

- John "Boomjack" Hoskin

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Dissecting and distilling the game industry since 1994. Lover of family time, youth hockey, eSports, and the game industry in general.

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