This week we were honored to have Achazia as a guest and we have a great discussion on community in LOTRO and MMOs.
Blooper video here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (51.7MB)
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LOTRO Players News
LOTRO Video Highlights: Beautiful Middle-earth
LOTRO Players Adventures Episode 7
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Brax’s pick of the week: Fans, Communities, the Universe and Everything by Roger Edwards at Contains Moderate Peril
Question of the Week
Question
Is involvement in a game’s online community ultimately beneficial or destructive?(i.e. forums, fansites)
After your own experiences, do you regret getting involved? What would you do differently?
Would you recommend doing so to others? If so, how?
Community Answers
Flosiin answers:
“1: I tend to like fan sites over forums. They seem to be more positive or constructive criticism. I read the lotro forum but get depressed 3/4 of the first page. By then, it’s people whining and not adding anything good to the topic. Fan site will bring up issues but find a middle ground to help.
2: I don’t regret getting involved. If I can provide information that’ll make life easier for others or brings a smile to their face, I’ve done my job.
3: Start off small as far as contributing and see how it goes. Try not to take negativity things to heart. There are people out there that you just can’t please not matter what. As my parents would say, if you can’t say something nice/constructive then don’t say anything.
-Flosiin”
Jason answers:
“First question: Is involvement in a game’s online community ultimately beneficial or destructive? (i.e. forums, fansites)
I would have to say beneficial, based on my own experience with another MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). I started a podcast (OotiniCast) with some friends from WoW, and we built a site and guilds around it. We’re still going more than 2 years later, mainly due to having met so many amazing people through the podcast, both listeners who regularly send us feedback, and players who’ve chosen to join our guilds.
One key reason for this being such a positive experience is that we’ve remained realistically optimistic throughout. It’s too easy to fall into negativity, bashing the game, and that will ultimately be destructive.
Second question: After your own experiences, do you regret getting involved? What would you do differently?
I have no regrets at all, and would do it again without hesitation. What I’d do differently would be to place more focus on community building, and more deliberately try to grow rather than relying on word-of-mouth. But then again, given time constraints, it’s worked out such that things are manageable.
Third question: Would you recommend doing so to others? If so, how?
Yes, I’d recommend getting involved in one’s gaming community, without hesitation. But care must be taken to find the right kind of community. Don’t give up after an initial bad experience with a guild/kinship; try again. For fansites and forums, watch for a while to get a feeling for who the people are behind each community, and their attitudes to the game and in general. If you feel that it’s a good match, then dive in!
But I’d say always avoid groups that are rife with negativity, such as any game’s general forums tend to be. That way lies madness.
LOTRO is blessed with a mature, generally positive and optimistic community. It shouldn’t be too hard to find somewhere to call home.
Cheers,
Jason.
PS Yes, I’ve listened since episode 1. You’re my primary source of LOTRO news since CSTM retired.
PPS Please plug Brax’s “Beyond Bossfights” podcast. It is excellent!”
Donations
This week we did not receive any donations but we would love your support.
To help support LOTRO Players simply go to the donation page where you can help support the podcasts on LOTRO Players and also help support the site. We have $5 and $10 mentions where you can donate and get a mention on one or all of our active podcasts for an episode depending on the amount.
Feedback
Reviews
This week we did not receive any reviews but would love your support on iTunes.
Featured Comments
Fredelas left a comment on episode 38 of LOTRO Players News:
“Be sure to listen to the very end! There’s a very touching farewell to Whiteberry of Tales of Arda.”
Taltoz also left a comment on episode 38 of LOTRO Players News:
“A new class is great but will turbine increase the number of character slots available to us ???
or will we be saying goodbye to one of our existing toons.”
Bango also left a comment on episode 38 of LOTRO Players News:
Nice podcast! Or is it a youtubecast 😀 First time I’ve listened to it. Looking forward to episode 39.
Sullo left a comment on episode 37 of LOTRO Players News:
“Great discussions this episode. Pineleaf, I wanted to thank you in particular for sharing your thoughts on the Mirkwood Epilogue. Previously, I had lamented the fact that the Epilogue was not solo-able, however your comments on the Epic Story being a “sampler” of the game as a whole have given me a little more perspective as to why the 6-man was left as-is. From a marketing/”selling the game” perspective, this decision makes some amount of sense now. I would still argue that it should be solo-able, but perhaps give an option for either solo or fellowship versions, like with the Retake Weathertop instance in Vol 1.”
Emails
This week we received an email from Lilikate:
Lilikate’s froat is as rough as a hairy goat
So she won’t be able to make it to podcast
She begs to be excused, does not wish to be rude
Pineleaf don’t read this too fast!
So for questions today, we chat about community play
Something Lilikate believes strongly about
But avoid like the plague, the negative LOTRO forum tirades
Andang (and Pineleaf’s) UTube play-through’s have more clout
So while your all missing me today (You’d better be missing me)
I send salutations your way, You may look, and find me in chat.
If not just think of me, snoring so very loudly
When your all debating the U13 changes to stats
Big hugs and Lergy
Lilikate Buggins
Contact Us
Email us!
Follow our guest on twitter!
Achazia @Achazia_S
Follow us on Twitter!
LOTRO Players @LOTROPlayers
Andang @PvMP_Andang
Braxwolf @Braxwolf
Draculetta @Draculetta_72
Ethelros @EeyoreEthelros
Lilikate @LilikateBuggins
Mysteri @Mysterixox
Pineleaf @PineleafNeedles
Final Thoughts
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Being an active part of a community (outside the game) can be a daunting proposition. But there are a lot of ways to participate. You can be a creator, contributor, collator, consumer, conspirator, curator, competitor, or any combination of those components.
I enjoy hanging out around the fringes and just mingling here and there. I did put together a guide on the forums that has been viewed something like 1.2 million times. But it has never made me feel authoritative (lots of people contributed) or like I have any power over the decisions players make.
At most, it has given me some notoriety. This is equal parts gratifying, terrifying, and humbling. I’ve written thousands of pages professionally in my lifetime, but this is the only time I can type a single word into Google and have something I wrote come up as the first result. (Thank goodness Turbine chose to make up a brand new word to name Hytbold!)
Still, I find it more rewarding to hang out in the Shire or Bree when I’m not busy and answer questions in the /advice channel. From looking at login server statistics, I’d estimate that more than 75% of new players quit the game in their first month.
Unless we can help build a community within the game, there’s little hope of it growing outside the game. That’s why I think LOTRO Players Adventures is such a brilliant bit of outreach. Not only do you expose potential players out here on the internet, but you also draw people in when they run across you in the game. Keep up the great work!
That first paragraph made me die from alliteration poisoning.
Great points. There are a lot of way to contribute, not all are as visible as what we do on this site.
I didn’t know you could be a conspirator.
*Dons hooded cloak of +5 Stealth*
And, um, thanks for the Hytbold guide. Essential reading, I would have been tearing my hair out if if there hadn’t been something like that to refer to.
*Sneaks away into the darkness*
For me being a part of the community is something that has happened as a by product of having fun.I don’t seek fame, I don’t need the ego boost of notoriety. It is nice to find people in the world who like the things that I like. The point of the creation of LOTRO Players was to create a space where content creators of all different kinds could come together and share their projects.
I don’t claim to know anything about raiding, or even playing LOTRO well but I enjoy spending time with Andang, Brax (watisname)wolf, Drac, Myst and especially Pineleaf.
I find that people are positive in their interactions with me in LOTRO, I am very open to discovering new bands, joining in with events, helping new players and wandering about aimlessly.
For me LOTRO is what I do in my free time, if I don’t like an aspect of the community I will not involve myself with it.
What I like to do is be the community I want. Treat people as I would wish to be treated. It makes no difference if I meet you on the street in real life, or via a virtual world. At the end of those wires, behind that screen there is a person with feelings. We should all respect that more.
I shall continue to post about community and create my own community events, last night we managed a TSO (The Starlight Orchestra) of 21 real people and only needed three double boxing friends. If any one wants to join leave a comment and I will respond.
Great podcast and that poem was excellent, and Pineleaf reading it made me cry laughing!
Oh no I forgot Eeyore! Please don’t be gloomy!
I may answer this question later when I have a new laptop keyboard (my ‘d’ key has gone kaput, and pasting it in every time I need one is a little difficult for a lengthy comment). I did want to give another shout-out to the LOTRO Players Adventures, and it’s definitely getting some attention in the game (I ran Fornost with a group on Friday evening and one of the other players in the group brought it up and plugged it after we finished Shadow Wing).
Putting on that hooded cloak seems to have stealthed my avatar as well. Who knew is was that powerful?
So it did!
thanks for having me along. Regards to the questions, I know I focused to much on online community as FORUM… I know is so much more as it was mentioned. ( all the fansites around, is wonderful! :d )
Anyway it was fun,. you guys are great and welcoming. Lovely to be a part of this podcsst 🙂
Great show…
As one of the not-so-many-anymore LOTRO BLOGS out there I am going to do a blog review…COMING SOON (am a bit behind with JOB so that first…the link will pop up below :))
Ideas for poetry forming…beware ALL
In game communities are great when you can find them, kinships, but can be hard to find the right one…took me 3 years! But they have there own websites and forums which are very welcoming to new players…unlike the Official forums…
A newbie FREINDLY official forum would be nice…but how would you be able to do that…
friendly even…
Looking forward to your review – keep us updated!
The REVIEW(?)blog got kinda weird and Ethelros took center stage in it. It is a pat on the back to a fellow Welsh Man doing great things in the LOTRO community and in no way should it be read negatively…
Overall I think the show is excellent and really opens up the discussion about the COMMUNITY and why we do it…
Oh and there is a POEM! (NOTE I updated as Ethelros was missing! :))
NOTES to EP39
Ambivalently!
Ramble on good buddy!
Finally a Community
Pine-leaves ‘TOO POSH!’
Ethelros’ ‘EEYORE!’?
Lilikate throaty sore
Andang and Brax soar
Draculetta wants no gore
Achazia discusses RP lore
On LP there is no bore
Community comes to the fore
Ambivalent, not me…
Rambling on and on
Forums full of bipolar bears,
care bears and grizzly bears.
Some wear feeling bare
Others complain if they dare
Some post pics of mares
But to be fair
Blogs and Websites a rare pair
Rambling, me, like a mad hare
Community. Yes please!
Ambivalence… please ease!
Thanks for reading my comment on the show! Unfortunately, I didn’t get to listen live and the recording seems to have glitched, so I didn’t get to hear your responses. 🙁