Random things

Gaming and Social Media

Tonight I’m going to talk a bit about what I have observed in the gaming industry with relation with social media.  As a marketer by profession, I deal quite a bit with social media and how users interact with companies, brands, products, and even other customers.  I’ve noticed some interesting trends when it comes to gaming.

Twitter

I’m a huge fan of Twitter and what companies can achieve when utilizing it properly.  I recently wrote about SOE’s magnificent use of Twitter to essentially open a window for their players to glimpse through.  When Twitter is used to engage, not broadcast, and the company is represented more by its employees, the result is something that I feel now trumps what the forums were to the gaming industry 5-10 years ago.

Something interesting is happening.  I’ve ceased to use official forums for games, and all I do is follow their company and employee accounts on Twitter.  I tweet directly at devs and they tweet back.  Neither of us have to give much thought or spend a lot of time because we’re restricted to 140 characters.  I can find what I want way quicker.  I lose some of the deep discussion, but I gain what I need in this day and age: bite-sized nuggets of the most important information.

Hashtags, trends, etc. hold little real value.  The gimmicky parlor tricks of social media are on their way out.  The true value is found in building a bridge so that “the big company who makes the games I play” becomes “Dave and Colette.”

We mustn’t forget about customer service.  I had two recent experiences with social media that have revolutionized the way I view the future of companies serving their customers.  The first wasn’t gaming related; I was struggling with a recent experience I had with DISH network.  I tweeted at the company, and a person responded on their help account.  He got me connected right away to another real person who solved my problem.  A similar experience happened when I had a billing issue with SOE — they pointed me right to a resource buried deep in their help center that I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

Twitter is interaction, and interaction is paramount.  The future of Twitter is in streamlining and improving how companies can interact with their customers.  That’s a future the gaming industry is going to embrace.  Mark my words. (more…)

8 Comments
March 6, 2014
MOBA / PC

DOTA 2 Stream

If you're interested in watching me play some DOTA 2, check out our streaming page or  our Twitch.tv page. Once I'm done streaming, I'll add the recorded video to this…

6 Comments
December 1, 2011
Console / PC / Reviews

Dungeon Defenders Impressions

We just finished a 2 hour session of Dungeon Defenders! It was the first time playing for all of us and we had a blast with the game. Dungeon Defenders came out today and you can get it on the Xbox 360 or on Steam.

Positives:

  • Gameplay is smooth. graphics are sexy
  • In-game shop (in-game currency)
  • Upgrading items (visit the forge, click the item on your character sheet, allocate a full meter of mana and it will upgrade the item by a level)
  • Persistent loot/persistent characters
  • Level design is really great
  • Each character feels different in how it defends.  Some compliment each other very well.
  • Addicting

Only one immediate negative:

  • Right now there are tech difficulties with the PC version.  Frequent disconnects from the server (which you’ll see in the video).

Dungeon Defenders is awesome.  You get to choose a character and progress with it.  Players choose which stats to upgrade and can choose to focus on their hero, their traps/turrets, or both.  Both heroes and traps are crucial to the success of the level.

The gameplay centers around obtaining mana. Mana drops from creatures when they die and from chests.  Mana is used as currency for buying items in the shop, placing turrets, and using abilities.  At the end of each round, any excess mana beyond your carry cap is “banked” for your use later in the shop/forge.

Items are also a big focus in Dungeon Defenders.  Monsters and chests can drop loot.  Weapons and armor follow a similar formula to Diablo and Torchlight in that they can be the same item but have random stats.  This makes me feel anxious whenever an item drops — could it be something awesome or just another dud?!

Perhaps most important of all, the game caters to groups of up to 4 players but can be enjoyed solo.  Get some friends together and watch two hours disappear.  We just did.

You can watch about an hour of us playing by clicking ‘Read More’. I highly recommend 53:35 since it is the final wave where we get rocked. (more…)

10 Comments
October 19, 2011
Console / RPG

Summer Drought Marathon starts tomorrow!

A lot of people have asked us lately when we're going to do more videos of games.  For many of you, that's how you found our blog.   We love trying…

Comments Off on Summer Drought Marathon starts tomorrow!
June 30, 2011
MMORPG / PC

KG LiveStream: FFXIV (Updated)

Update: Hopefully you enjoyed watching. The first half was a lot of dialogue and cutscenes as Graev and I went through the second story quest. The latter half was some…

9 Comments
October 3, 2010