Two threads on the Planet Calypso Forum got me to thinking today.
My Ava is best known for?
The opening post asks what you think people best know your avatar for.
Name that Asteroid and win 5000 peds!!!
John Foma Kalun purchased the bulk of the Asteroid formally known as Club NEVERDIE for 3,350,000PED (335 thousand USD) and needed to rename it since NEVERDIE was no longer the owner. He started a competition offering 5,000ped (500 usd) to anyone who would come up with the name he would use. I would have thought this was a generous offer, as well as great advertising and PR for his new investment. But things went horrably wrong when he named a winner who was not entered in the competition, and the thread has turned into a huge fiasco with all sorts of accusations and bad PR.
Although I am a fairly low level player (in the big scheme of things) I now own a shopping booth and would like to become a business man in this Universe even if it is just on a small scale. I need to look at how people before me have succeeded and failed. I need to learn from them as well as create my own opportunities.
This is a Real Cash Economy and so people's pocketbooks are at stake, and because of this emotions can run very high. This magnifies anything we do in the eyes of others to a point it could become stressful if you allowed it.
Being an A-hole in this game isn't just annoying to people, it actually costs them money which makes it even worse. If you mob train someone they don't just die, they take lots of extra decay costs as well as potentially loosing the ped worth of ammo into a 1/2 killed animal. If you "kill steal" from someone by killing an animal that someone else has already started shooting, you not only get a cheaper kill for yourself, but you are in essence stealing ped from them since they had already put ammo into the animal.
Those are some of the more obvious and blatant things that can bring you a bad reputation. But there are others as well, especially in business. A good example would be when Shoti was buying Proteron DNA and pissed off a bunch of people by the way he did business. Since then Skippy and Star were able to finish another set of dna and put it on their land area in competition with Shoti. Shoti has had lots of times with 0% taxes as well as high prize value events trying to get interest back in his land. There was a lot of ped invested there and pad PR seems to be causing issues with the profits.
There are lots of well known players and or business men/women in this game that have done well for themselves. How have they done it?
Mercury
Famous for being Uber and for having deposited little or nothing into the game to achieve what he has. He doesn't seem to post much on the forums, but does run constant sales threads as well as other random logs from time to time. He frequently records his activities and streams them live for people to watch.
His best advertising: A constant stream of globals and a reputation for being one of the top "Ubers"
His worst PR: A short temper and random posts of rage in the past. (those were my first impression of him when i started playing 3 years ago, I haven't seen any of that lately and seems he is much more professional now)
NEVERDIE
Famous for spending 100 thousand usd for the original purchase of the Asteroid and then actually making a profit from it in such a short time. He was always a huge advocate for Entropia and last year started a Development Studio and became a Planet Partner with Rocktropia as well as a contract for building Next Island. The king of name branding, he makes sure that everyone knows the name NEVERDIE. He thrives for the limelight and loves the cameras even if its controversial.
His best Advertising: A hardcore belief in the game and high energy to promote it everywhere he goes.
His worst PR: He is just too dang full of himself.
Deathifier
Famous for the big purchase of Treasure Island and well known for being one of the most involved land owners in the game. If he makes an investment you know it will be profitable. His most recent big investment appears to be in Arkadia and we all have high hopes for it.
His best Advertising: Actions speak louder than words, his land areas are maintained in a way that draw people in.
His worst PR: Not a very big forum presence. (cant say much bad about him)
Fishface
A player and adviser to new people. When I first started playing there was an animal at sweat camp that said "Fishface is a decent fellow" He has a show on Atlas Haven Radio and is known by everyone new and old alike.
His best Advertising: A slogan people remember and always being avaliable where the crowds are.
His worst PR: That stupid mask after vu10. (come on that was lame)
Mindstar9
Well known for her radio station and storytelling, she has done alot of news reporting since before I was around.
Her best Advertising: Always around on the forums and great detail into news and posts.
Her worst PR: Too passionate to stop when there is controversy.
I think that peoples greatest strengths can also be their greatest weaknesses. The trick is to figure out how to maximize it in the strength and minimize it in the weakness.
I am not claiming to be as important or that I will ever reach the pinnacles that these people have, but they give me reference for what I want to do.
How can I apply this to myself? What should I do that I am not yet, or what should I change that I am currently doing?
I don't know, but its something that I feel needs considering.
Im not sure reputation is worth as much as people want to believe it is. Why? because basically its a fluid thing. Everyone will fuck up in someones eyes at some point, and likely is right now, though somebody else may offer accolades.
ReplyDeleteWhile I believe there is value in being honest and forthright in communication there too many people use the popularity contest method to define reputation, and simply cater to whomever is currently top of the high school-esque social ladder.
Is this act worthy of a reputable individual? Or should we instead focus on honest, direct, and unabashed communication. After all, you may not like someone, but you may be able to trust them completely.
That is a very valid point edward.
ReplyDeleteI have wondered about that myself.
I think that for normal activities in the game, hunting, mining, crafting, utilizing the auction, a players reputation/popularity really doesn't matter as much as people think. I think you have to agree though, "popularity" based or not, that an avatars current "reputation" will affect their current business endeavors. For instance the example I gave about Shoti, I do think that his "popularity" has affected the income he has received from his investment to a point, but as time goes by, the situation which affected his "popularity" will fade in peoples memory and he will do fine with his land area and simi-unique dna. If there had not been any competition (a second land area created with the same dna) then his "popularity" would not have mattered as much.
The same goes for FOMA and the asteroid, he is rather "unpopular" right now, but because there is no competition for what he has to offer, I think that his revenue will probably not be affected.
When trying to apply this to myself I also feel that it holds validity. I am a small time player trying to become a businessman on a new planet. Through my efforts I have become known to everyone on the planet as "The" local trader, and I dont have to worry about standing around spamming like traders do on Calyspo. Because of my reputation/popularity on this new planet I can still hunt, mine, craft, etc.. wherever I want and people will still PM me to trade even when there is a visiting trader spamming at the main city.
At least this is how I see it and am working to apply it to myself.
Thanks for your comment,
narfi