MMORPG.com - Holiday Shopping Guide
With only a few shopping days left until Christmas, MMORPG.com’s Garrett Fuller writes this sometimes tongue in cheek look at holiday gifts for the MMO gamer.
Editorial By Garrett Fuller on December 18, 2009
Shopping for gamers can be tough. If you know us, you love us and we're pretty easy to please. If you don't know us and simply say, "Oh they play video games..." well that makes things difficult. So what I thought to do was write out a Holiday Shopping Guide to end the last week before Christmas. If you are a gamer, like me, you have not done your shopping yet and don't care. However, if you are buying for a gamer, this list will help you tremendously.
First, ask what games they play. Don't be shy, take an interest in our world and find out what is out there. Just because a person plays MMOs does not mean they play WoW. Look past the pink elephant for cooler gifts that would make any MMO fan happy. Here is my first idea:
Star Wars: The Old Republic Beta Key - Bwahahaha!!! I am sorry, but it is what every MMO player wants for the holidays this year, right? Okay, I know, ask C3-PO the odds of getting this any time soon, I am sure he'll have a number for you. Be cool and say, "Never tell me the odds!" and hope for the best. May your Holiday wish come true!
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In all seriousness there are some great gifts out there for gamers. I will start with the game of the moment lately and that is Star Trek Online. The Star Trek Online Collector's Edition is pretty cool. If you have an MMO fan or Trekkie in the family this is a great gift to get them going on STO. Not only that, it offers some cool things in the box set which really make for fun Star Trek gifts. Heck you get a Deep Space Nine uniform and some other Trek goodies that would even bring a smile to a Klingon's face.
Going down the MMO trail we find that BlizzCon has passed us by. Well maybe you got your gifts after waiting on the massive line back in August, but no gamer thinks that far ahead, we improvise. It's more fun. As if Blizzard needs more money, they do actually have some cool collectibles out that will make a Blizzfan happy. The Panderan Brewmaster is fun and will sit proudly on some WoW player's shelf in his mom's basement. But let's face it, that is WoW light, kind of like Coors Light, it makes you look all hip and calorie conscious, but gallons of it won't get you drunk. So where do we go for the deeper, darker, bad ass WoW fan? Well SwagDog.com has some cool concepts. Customizing shirts for Guilds, players, and just about everything Warcraft is something much better to give a player.
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Listen, the gamer t-shirts have been overdone. They have. Trust me, ever since Jesus Saves, they have jumped the shark. So what about non-game stuff that every gamer wants? Can we look at some cool tech items that may help us get through our drudge lives? There are now two schools of thought in the hand held market, iPhone and Droid. Now I am not going to even begin this debate with the way our forums can be. However, all I want to say is that both gifts offer a gamer some very cool updated technology with Apps. Ok if you really do live in a cave, Apps can come in the form of games! So now you have a phone, with media, and games, the perfect gift for a gamer on the go.
Everyone always talks about getting games for the gamer this season. The problem is we already have the games we want to play the day they come out. It's hopeless. My old D&D buddy explained that he has to wait two weeks for Assassin's Creed 2 because someone was so excited to get him a game for Christmas. Therefore, he must wait, and stew. As gamers we don't like stewing about, especially when it is time for the next awesome game. However, there is some hope here. Mass Effect 2 comes out in January, perhaps a pre-order is in order and can be set up so that the day the long awaited Mass Effect sequel comes out, your gamer will be ready to cash in that holiday gift.
Fun post... and have a Merry Christmas (or happy holidays) everyone!
Santa will finally be getting me the components to upgrade the rest of my computer so I can enjoy that EVGA GTX 260 card I won so I can actually play games at higher than 800x600 res!
p.s. The size of that card is sick @_@
I think the big problem is making sure you don't buy something they don't already have and that they actually want. It might be better to ask what they want. If you really want to buy something and surprise them, be careful. Who knows, they may be looking to drop the MMO that time card is for. Might be best to go non-electronic unless you really know the person. Maybe a gift card to their favorite pizza place, blank DVD-Rs, a cool-looking large cup for soda, TV tables, etc.
The Jesus Saves...and only takes half damage shirt did not jump the shark. It's a awesome shirt and pretty funny. Your pretty right that just about everyone wants a Beta Key to SWTOR but no one even knows when the Beta starts.
Fun read and your right on with a bunch of your points. I appreciate this "outside the box" article and hope for more to come. Thanks again and happy holidays!
Collector's edition of STO should be reserved for gifts to your worst enemies. There is nothing in that game that is going to make a trekkie happy.
such a waste of time reading this article...shame...waneker lol.." buahahahahha"...
Another way to do it if you just want to surprise them is get a Visa gift card. That way they can use it anywhere that takes Visa. Problem solved.
Like has been mentioned if you are getting them anything for computer or gaming make sure and ask. Better to ask and get what they will use. I know our son is 14 and games on MMO's but he also likes his PS so we ask what he wants and go from there. I for one don't want to waste money on a gift he doesn't want and his taste in games for the console runs different from mine. :)
If they decide what they're going to buy, how is it a surprise?
Wow, all that and not one word about gaming hardware.
WoW players would likely benefit from a better graphics card, in the event they want to explore other games. RAM is an issue for many gamers, and who doesn't want a better CPU?
Me, I'd like a 52" plasma screen with 1440 x 900 or better resolution.
Well the problem with buying gaming hardware would be if looking at getting someone a better graphic card, more memory or things along that line have to know if the cpu can handle it and if it is memory what kind.
That is why I suggested a Visa gift card because it can be used anywhere you can use Visa.
If you have to ask them all the details then no it would not be a surprise. Yes you can feel around around and try and find out the info you need to purchase and surprise them but will most likely alert them to something going on.
I sure hope that WoW Stein is huge! It'd have to be, to hold all the beer I would need to drink to feel good about the fact that I just spent $90 on a STEIN!
U could have just said "i have no idea what mmo to get this holiday."
I was thinking about getting my friend and his girlfriend a 3 month subscription to netflix, but they were going to want his CC info, so I decided to pick him up the samurai shodown compilation for the wii, since we used to play samurai shodown on his snes by his grandma's house, and I got his GF a laptop cooling pad that she could use on her lap, instead of having to have it on a table or somewhere because the one she has now is too rigid and stiff and isn't shaped for a lap.
"So where do we go for the deeper, darker, bad ass WoW fan?"
where are all these bad asses? I've never met one!?
I want a ToR beta key :(
Especially if you give it as a gift to a Trekkie. They'll be certain you hate their guts.