Episode 9 of Promoting Thought is now live and can be found here http://youtu.be/rtGXSP-NHQA

This episode Focuses on Epsorts and the role Esports will play over the coming year in defining the online gaming communities.  We look at the Esports celebrities and ask can they and the developers do more to foster and promote good communities in games.

We look at the advantages that Esports brings as well as some of the pitfalls and ponder the rise of Esports as a mainstream genre of its own over the next year.

As always feedback and discussion is always appreciated.

Enjoy your gaming people.

In episode 8 of Promoting Thought (as featured on G4TV's MMO report) I ask the question.  Are we too soft on the players who have a negative impact on the communities we play in.  Can games companies do more to bring back consequences for actions, should we be applauding the scamming of over $50,000 of ingame currency and also discuss the failings of Cross Realm Dungeon finder tools.

We also touch on Gave Newells concept of Pricing as a Service and discuss how more transparency in punishments would be a good thing.

As always comments, commentary and feedback are requested and welcomed

Episode 8 can be found here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkTrB6Iwt2M

The Promoting Thought channel can be found here

http://www.youtube.com/user/quinnthalas

Episode 7 of Promoting Thought looks at the bad and so called failed MMO launches and asks what is the best way to recover from a bad launch.  It also looks at the so called Freemium model and challenges the assertion that this is the way to save MMOS. 

It is my opinion that a failed launch of an mmo is a grave blow to a games prospects but not a fatal one, further more I honestly believe the latest fad of going Freemium is not the way to save a game in the long term.  The Freemium model might be a short term boost to a games concurrency and even cash flow but in the medium to long term I am of the belief that Freemium only damages a games lifespan by taking progression away from the game and putting into a cash shop.

Alll of these points are discussed in the episode, as always I would love to hear from you with suggestions, thoughts insights or arguments.

Promoting thought 7 can be found here

http://youtu.be/ecXCvmyF5Iw

In this episode of Promoting Thought I take the breaks off my own feelings a little and call out "Stop Blaming the Gamer" we have all seen the stories.  Video games inspiring violence poisoning the youth, the latest one Grand Theft Auto (later edited to read "Video Game") Was responsible for the London Riots.

Please listen to the video and let me know what you think, this isnt my normal style of trying to break things down into pro's and con's this is me putting what I think and feel out there, no script and no stopping to censor or hold back what I say.

Its high time society stopped looking to us as a scape goat for its own failings, and started empowing the law enforcement and education authorities instead of praching an agenda of ignorance designed to distract attention away from the failings of the current systems.

In a world where a man can attempt to rob a house, fall through the roof and then sue the home owner SUCCESSFULLY for damages, I am sick of hearing this hyperbole about how games are the poison of culture.

The truth is society needs to stop coddling to criminals and bring back consiquence for action.

More in the video, watch it share it comment on it hate it.  Its how I feel and I wont back down from it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNeFvwmKu2g

The newest episode of Promoting thought will be of interest to all those who are champions of community content.

Have you ever wondered why since Minecraft and the Original neverwinter sold so well more Sandbox and community content centric games have not been released? are you a sandbox player who despairs at the lack of games that truley empower the community?

Personally as a long term player and Server operator in Neverwinter nights I am saddened by the lack of REAL and successful polished followup to this game, I know a number of people on this site and others that lament the lack of true sandboxes in both the mmo and single player world. 

It is in this spirit that Promoting thought episode 5 focuses on community content and issues a call to arms, to all those who wish to see more sanbox games, lets show the developers that this medium is popular and then use the power of community to try and drive forward the message that we want to be at the heart of gaming.

As always commentary feedback questions and requests are always welcome.

Episode 5 can be found here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg0AnybiKMM

A lot of people are now seriously looking at Diablo 3 as a way of supplimenting their income when it launches.  Like it or not the Real money auction house IS coming, and I doubt very much that Activision/Blizzard will not change their mind on this.

With this in mind i did some research and recorded a follow up edition of Promoting thoughts which details ten practical tips on how to attempt to make money from Diablo 3.

Turn your volume up sit back with a nice drink and let me know what you think or any questions you might have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KMUjVak-68

Episode 3 of Promoting thought discusses the potential implications of Diablo 3s real money auction house on the MMO Scene as a whole.

This controversial feature blizzard announced yesterday is discussed at length, as always comments and discussion are encouraged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vUOsPRNMso

The community is one of the most powerful tools available to developers to be able to understand what their games strenghts and weaknesses are.

In this episode of Promoting Thought I talk about how you as a player and community member can help influence change and improvement in the games we all play.  I hope you find it interesting and relevant.

I really do believe that the voice of a community can is and should always be heard by developers and publishers and in this video I cover some basic tips for getting your point across and not only opening but maintaining dialogue with developers.

Feedback is always appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_Bd7Pq-8-I&feature=feedfbc

Firstly let me start off by introducing my Video Blog, where I will expand on issues covered in my blog posts while playing a game in the background.  So gameplay footage and thought provoking discussion based on my blog entries here and elsewhere.

The following is a link to my first video blog effort, where I expand on my blog entry of the Fifth Pillar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myBy_JLuReU&list=UUTZm1YLjvPdM

Original entry regarding The fifth Pillar http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/Kothoses/072011/21887_The-fifth-pillar#comments

Now to Expand on the original topic.

Several people communicated to me that they believed the original issues I had discussed were highly relevant and that they felt that I should revist and expand on them.  So I decided to do so in the form of a video blog.  So here it is, have a watch and a listen and comment and hopefully it will spark a little more debate than the original blog entry.