Tuesday’s Takes: Interest Rates
by AnomalousSilence

“So,” the tiny gnome said with a sigh, “anything new?”

“Nope” the stout dwarf replied. The two looked around the small cave with dull,

boredom-filled eyes. “Well, I did buy a new ring.”

“Lemme see.” The person behind the gnome studied the stats of his friend’s new piece of equipment. “Not bad.”

“Pretty nice piece if you ask me. Didn’t cost much, either.”

“I bought a new spell that dropped from Runishmal,” the gnome said, changing the subject slightly.

“Isn’t Runishmal that huge dragon?”

“Ya. Here, lemme link it to you.”

“OMG! Your DPS is gonna totally skyrocket in this next fight.”

At that precise moment, just as the words appeared in a little chat bubble over the dwarf’s head, the entire room filled with eight formidable goblins that seemingly popped out of thin air. More ominous, the creatures were only one level less skilled than the duo. The dwarf and the gnome had been waiting for this appearance and promptly, mercilessly began cutting down and scorching all in their path. Once the fight was over and their adrenaline had subsided, they resumed their conversation.

It is moments like these, among other things, that truly make our MMORPG experience unique, compelling, and entertaining. It isn’t hacking down everything in sight, acquiring the best items and the most gold, or being a part of the largest raiding guild on your server. While these things can also add to the fun, waiting for a room to pop and talking to your buddy, being in a wonderful guild, and being a part of the community is what honestly creates the entire environment for the MMORPG.

There are a large variety of ways to provide your own entertainment within MMORPGs, not just fighting MOBs, and these alternate forms of entertainment are one of the major reasons I play these types of games.

Spending time with friends, those originally from real life and those encountered online, can make or break a game. I’ve known numerous people who have left MMORPGs, myself included, because no one they knew played the game, and the experience simply wasn’t enjoyable. In fact, a friend of mine recently told me a story: he and his friends at a LAN party jumped on World of Warcraft, where they had built up higher level characters, sold all of their equipment, bought in-game beer, and got tremendously drunk in Goldshire. They had no clothing and typed in /dance the entire time. It was an experience which my friend called “a blast”.

The memories that will last a lifetime come from kooky times such as these and they won’t easily be surpassed by the most uber of weapons or hacking and slashing your way through a dragon’s lair. Having a simple conversation with a friend can make a world of difference in your entertainment throughout the game.

Being part of a guild is another significant source for entertainment and relationships within MMORPGs. “Guildees” become your family, everyone consistently having everyone else’s back. You grow accustomed and attached to those around you in the guild, those whom you become closely bonded with, the people you share adventures with every day. You raid together, group together and are always in the same chat channel. Guilds are a fun and relationship-oriented type of entertainment and community with MMORPGs.

Communities outside of formed friendships and guilds can add a variety of game-play aspects to a game. In many role-playing communities, for example, role-playing events are hosted. These might include tavern nights where players congregate at a designated time to join in some healthy role-playing. For role-playing servers and non role-playing servers alike, many other events are held. Races, weddings, drinking games, parties, giveaways, and more are commonly found posted on server forums. In World of Warcraft, flight path runs are hosted as well, allowing a large mass of players to quickly and easily obtain flight paths throughout Azeroth. These are great ways for amusement in MMORPGs.

While relationships are a great way to have a good time within these games, there are other forms of entertainment, such as crafting and selling. Harvesters collect materials from which the crafters form goods. Crafters then sell these products to various players throughout the virtual world. Crafting in games is an interesting process, like that of EverQuest 2, or a dull one, such as those found in World of Warcraft and EverQuest.

The economy steadily, or rapidly, grows and shrinks based on items dropped from large scale raids to the lucky soloist who found a rare resource or item. Price gouging could be looked upon as a form of entertainment for the wealthy who can easily manipulate the market. For those of benevolence, offering expensive items at a lower cost is a means for enjoyment.

There are numerous ways to enjoy one’s self in MMORPGs, and with more and more people being introduced to the genre, new ideas are constantly raising their heads. Diplomacy will be offered in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes alongside the crafting and adventuring spheres. The community of Vanguard seems to be healthy and strong, so hosted events are bound to be abundant during release.

Whether it’s crafting, harvesting, dueling it out with a sharp tongue, playing with the economy, socializing with friends, bonding with guildmates, or going to that event hosted tonight, there is a nearly endless flow of forms of entertainment in MMORPGs, and these forms are doing nothing but flowing more freely as time passes by.


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Karen is H.D.i.C. (Head Druid in Charge) at EQHammer. She likes chocolate chip pancakes, warm hugs, gaming so late that it's early, and rooting things and covering them with bees. Don't read her Ten Ton Hammer column every Tuesday. Or the EQHammer one every Thursday, either.

Comments