Want some carrot with that stick?

When someone behaves badly in a game, players want to see some punishment.  This is true anywhere on line, in fact.  We need to clamp down.  We need to punish. Let me tell you something interesting. Behavioural psychology identifies three methods of reinforcement that can be used to modify behaviour.  Positive reinforcement (reward), negative reinforcement...

When in game stores go bad

In articles recently I’ve defended both ArenaNet and Blizzard against accusations of being money-grabbers out to squeeze you for any penny.  In summary: both companies have to make money in order to make your game.  In the case of ArenaNet, they have kept the store controlled and they repeatedly update things like storage to give...

MMO Guides: Cheating vs Enabling

When new content appears in Guild Wars 2 or SWTOR, there is always a guide on Dulfy to go with it.  The debate every player faces is this: do I use the guide or do I attempt to do the achievement without it?  And when you raid in WoW, do you read up in advance or...

Show me the money

I read this rather interesting blog post from Terra Nova, followed by the Playnomics report on engagement and monetization. Its an interesting read, in particular the information about monetization. First things first – who spent over $7k on a game in one quarter of one year? Do I monetize? Yes and No. WoW has a...

Scum and Villainy Crib Sheet

If you want a detailed guide with pictures, videos, etc. I would suggest Dulfy's guide.  This is a quick run down of what you need to know to kill each boss with no frills.  These are the tactics I have been running - others may also work. Dash'roode (Desert Boss) This boss takes place as...

Karagga’s Palace Crib Sheet

Important note: Karagga's hat sometimes drops in here and it is awesome. Bonecrusher When you zone in, don't move! Then step slowly backwards. Don’t stand near the edges as he will knock you off. He is untankable and will randomly target people. Do not stand in front of him at any time (he swipes). Unless...

Morrighan’s Eternity Vault Crib Sheet

This is written for 8 man Hard Mode because thats all I've done!  We ran the whole raid with two tanks (one an off-tank) and two healers.  These tactics would likely be suitable for story mode and 16 man. Nightmare Mode may contain additional mechanics. For all bosses: Don't loot before the Master Looter. This...

People don’t like to be wrong

This is one of those posts that started as a comment.  Then, when I realised it was getting a bit out of hand, I decided to make it a post. So BBB wrote an excellent post defending his ongoing love of WoW against those people who seem to not just be burnt out on WoW,...

Whats in a main …

When I first played WoW I had one character.  Her name was Akandra and she was a priest.  It was relatively simple, then, to answer 'What do you play?' or 'What's your main?' The changing face of a WoW player  Then came other characters - Enalla, my druid, Morrighan, my paladin and Jera, my much...