The 5 Ferengi Stages of Acquisition and how they apply to MMOs

I was watching reruns of Star Trek: Voyager today and Neelix (the Chef, Ambassador, Morale Officer… the fuzzy guy) said something very interesting. In this episode the crew of Voyager made a few purchases from a salvage yard and some of their purchases were lemons; to say the least they bought a crazy ship that made Tom go crazy. Anyway, to cut to the chase here, Neelix mentioned the Five Stages of Acquisition that the Ferengi use. I couldn’t help but apply them to MMOs and the stages I (and probably many of you) go through when set my sights on a new MMORPG.

1. Infatuation. I always want to get into betas and play the game as quickly as possible. It’s always going to be the best game ever released! I’m going to blog about it, read about it on fansites, chat on message boards with others awaiting the release.

2. Justification. Why am I leaving my previous game? Was it not as good as this one is going to be? Will this game provide something better? Sure it will. Newer is better! The developers have worked closely with the beta testers and they promised we will have all kinds of features from A to Z.

3. Appropriation. I now own the game. I’m ready to play it. I’m going to tell my friends about it. This is it. The last game I’m ever going to play.

4. Obsession. Okay so it wasn’t all that it lived up to be but I don’t care. It’s fun. I’m going to get to the last level because I have to. I Just HAVE TO! I’m going to raid and get further in the game than anyone because the game WILL get better! My friends have quit for one reason or another but not me. Nope. I see this baby for what it truly is: a diamond in the rough.

5. Resale. I can’t take any more of this game. I’ve either beaten it or become bored with it. I’m going to set it aside, sell all my characters (I don’t really do this but it fits the stage name well), and wait for the next game. It’s out there. I just know it.

I always knew those Ferengi were on to something.