Thread: Psychology of Lotro, gaming: lessons learned from a weaker competitor

The title of this thread is all my own, but the info was found by a kin mate of mine that I found so fascinating that I just needed to repost it here from our kin website. Article is documented as well. It may have some info that the devs and other lotro gamers may find more than just a little interesting to remember to do, or not do.


"This article is about Diablo III but the insights are...well...insightful for most games/gamers:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/1...o_III_loot.php

-Lens

Posted 22 hours ago · OP & Report 0& ReplyQuote"


(My apologies to facilitators of the forums if I posted this in wrong area. It was unintentional.)

~Rinri

That may be why I never held any interest in that fast paced, "get the phat loot" mentality. Loot and the best gear just never held anything for me.

Wow. I mean, it's one thing to know these things in a sort of abstract way, but having them laid out in print like that makes me feel kinda silly for getting excited over drops.

It's like a great magician. You know it's fake, but you go along for the ride because it's so much fun to be deceived. Hmmmm.

What the hell is that author going on about? I read it with care and I still don't understand what's going on in the text. What's the argument? What is the author talking about?

To be honest, you shouldn't be wasting your time on such low-grade material. :-)

The article just tries to explain how Blizzard manipulates people into playing Diablo III.

And judging from the last part, complains how they have greedily killed off the "slotmachine rush" of the earlier Diablos through the real money auction house.
Which I find a bit silly. Like complaining to a dealer that he´s cutting up and stretching the dope too much.

It does have comparisons with end-gaming and LI grinds.

And I agree with Nymphonic, its a part of the game I don't even notice most of the time and could care less about.

I've not played D3, nor do I intend to, yet I did play WoW for some years. I did the raiding thing, and dropped it like a tiefling baby mid-BC. I found it just wasn't worth it after a time. Blizzard [like any other successful commercial company] did well with motivating folks in WoW, for sure. It's something I personally feel Turbine (under WB) is still struggling with - making money AND keeping people content.

Sure a lot of folks have been angry at Blizz over the years, but even with the arguing quite a few never left (permanently), and more kept coming. Although lately I get a feeling with some new changes lately (some unknown to me) that Blizz is having some problems keeping folks. Part of this may be how they set up D3, the Annual Pass, as well as I think the new upcoming wave of games/movies which will taking a more light-hearted route in the next few years.

That said, I personally feel you (general 'You') don't have to be super intelligent to avoid these 'tricks'. You just have to be motivated and aware. Lazy folks (physically/mentally) are just unmotivated and more likely to get caught up in empty rewards. If one is self-motivated enough to carve a piece of the world for themselves, takes time to reflect and really live within it, then getting caught up in commercial hype and fleeting rewards isn't much of an issue.

Just my thoughts on it. Cheers^^