Gaming: Another Pet Peeve

Let me get this straight, Clipwire...

You put a new building in the game and associate it with a quest. That's cool. New things are always fun and shiny. What's not fun and shiny is the fact that you require the players to "hire" friends to work in the new building. Why is that not fun and shiny? Because of how the requirement works. If I have 20 friends and they're already working in another one of my many buildings then they cannot accept a job in the NEW building. The game doesn't allow it. So, that means to complete the building I have to persuade enough friends to start playing the game that I will be able to complete the hiring portion of the building quest and be able to complete the building.

How utterly ridiculous. Your game isn't that popular. I'm lucky to have 20 friends that have accepted my invitation to play. Out of those 20 perhaps 5 play daily. Maybe. And I can't hire them to work in my new building because they've already accepted a job request from me for a different building.

Change the requirement, Clipwire. It's great that you're adding new content. It's great that you're trying to get new players engaged in your game but this isn't the way to do it. Hidden, forced recruiting is a huge turn-off. If I want to invite a friend, I will (and have). It's a fun game and has a lot to offer. Emphasize those areas instead of trying to trick your players into recruiting. You'll find your daily and monthly active user numbers soar.

Gaming: Asheron's Call Review at MMORPG.com

Asheron's Call is an old school MMO that helped establish MMORPGs in the world of gaming. As an MMO newbie, I decided to give it a try. Read about my experiences here: Asheron's Call: Can it Deliver Today?