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The World Series (a look into a hardcore gamer’s life style), the Sizes of Guilds in MMO's, PKer's, and the Concept of Publishing a Story within a 24-Hour Time Period

2/12/2020

22 Comments

 
One of the questions that sometime comes up with friends and fans about The World and the PVP battles that are described in the stories are questions in regards to the numbers of players in each guild. I’ve heard a few times that a thousand or more players seems like an awful lot of people for a guild. So, I thought it would be a good topic to bring up for discussion. In my days of playing Anarchy Online and World of Warcraft (the classic versions of both), guilds were massive. When I moved over to the open Beta of World of Warcraft, I started a small guild of nearly five hundred players.
​
Yes, in terms of guild sizes, five hundred players were barely a blip on the the radar. Most decent sized guilds had something in the range of a thousand to three thousand players. Platinum sized guilds were usually in the five to eight thousand range of players. Any guilds smaller than a thousand weren’t usually taken seriously by the larger guilds on the server. These simple facts became obvious when we had a guild of less than fifty players on Anarchy Online.

Anarchy Online had land that each guild could take ownership of that offered extra bonuses of health and other stat bonuses to the entire guild. Notum Wars, the Anarchy Online add-on that introduced land ownership and PVP, put the larger guilds in complete control over the land ownership aspect of the game. The only way you could compete against such guilds were to be a large guild with an international membership. Yes, and international membership. Without having international players, there was no way for the small and regular sized guilds to protect their land around the clock from the Large and Platinum sized guilds that could launch a force against another guilds holdings at any time of the day or night.

When I moved with my friend to World of Warcraft’s open Beta, we decided to put together a guild of non-assholes. Asshats and PKers were rampant in the MMO world. This could be regulated to an extent by the use of people refusing to team up with known ninja looters or crappy playing players, but if the entire guild were a bunch of PKing fucktards, there wasn’t much you could do about their anti-social behavior. Well, you couldn’t if they were one of the Platinum sized guilds. Otherwise, players can do amazing things when they work together on a server. What my friends and I ended up doing was fighting these players when and wherever they were being assholes.

For the most part this worked, except when those assholes were a platinum sized guild. Usually this meant we were placed on a blacklist for those guilds who were doing the end game bosses and we were never invited to participate as extra damage in those raids. It also put us on the list of guilds that these guilds would purposely try to grief if we ever went after those in-game bosses.

This might sound extreme to some for simply wanting to play a game, but honestly, it was business as usual in MMOs. Hell, Anarchy Online was better than many other companies at running MMO games, because they actually had safe zones where PKers couldn’t unendingly grief newbie players. Also, while it was ugly at times, it also brought a certain realism to the world we were playing that made the MMOs even that much more addicting.

Move forward a few years to World of Warcraft and this was different but similar. Platinum sized guilds owned the end game instances. Luckily, Blizzard made these end game world dungeons instanced so that you couldn’t be griefed while trying to take on the dungeon. Now, that didn’t stop the area before the doorway to the dungeon from turning into a massive PVP brawl. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I entered into Molten Core with only half durability on my armor due to trying to get the raid through the actual door. While things like this pissed you off to no end, it also made the world so alive and exciting.

My guild, Black Rook Hold, on the Llane Server was too small to do Molten Core and the other end game instances alone with the player base we had. So, I ended up making an alliance with three other smaller guilds. Together, we had nearly fifteen hundred players as a base to build a forty person raid team. This brought us to the minimum number of players necessary to try to take on the game’s end game dungeons.

To do this and be successful took nearly an in real life year to complete. This is because while it is easy to get forty players, it is not easy to get forty good players who are willing to use tactics and strategy to take out a major boss and their guards. You’d always have some idiot trying to show how awesome they were on the DPS meter by out-damaging everyone in the raid and pulling the boss or guards off the primary and secondary tanks, which in turn would wipe the raid. It not only took forty players who were willing to work together, play smart, and farm all of the items a player needed between running the raids, it took forty people willing to die regularly for eight to twelve hours a run to learn how to take down the bosses. This usually was over a time period of three to four months once you got the hang of it.

We usually ran the end game dungeons three times a week. In-between those times, a player in the raid was expected to farm the materials needed for Greater Health, Armor, Fire/Frost resistant potions, farm the materials needed to make unique armor that had high resistances for certain types of damage, run unique dungeons to get special drops for increasing resistances in specific types of magic or poisons, and get enough money up to be able to repair your gear between each run. It was also expected of most players to have two or even three sets of armor, because, when you were learning an instance, you went through armor sets quickly due to the constant dying. Usually, after your fourth death, your armor’s durability was down to zero and you had to put on your back-up armor.

The number of hours a hardcore player put into most MMOs ran around eight to twelve hours each day during the week and eighteen plus during the weekends. Being a hardcore player means that you weren’t making money playing, but you were completing the same end game content that professional groups did. Starting out World of Warcraft was extreme for the first two month it took to reach maximum level. You had to have a max level character to be able to park in the contested PVP zones while leveling up your backup characters to be able to deal with PKing spawn campers. Most hardcore players had ten level sixty players to be able to cover the various crafting and classes necessary to do the end game content. Honestly, for my friends and I, the hardcore playing didn’t slow down until after the first two years of playing. Hell, it might even have been the first four years.  

This is my personal gaming experience. This is also the gaming experience from my online group of friends that I am bringing into The World series. Many of the PKing fights I discuss are actual situations that we ran into inside the games ourselves. Yes, some have been taken to the next level to make an interesting story and dramatized the events, but, nonetheless, they are mostly based on our game play experiences to one level or another. So, when I’m talking about the number of players in a guild, alliance, or the hours put into gaming, this is from personal experience. In truth, I can’t imagine how much more addicting this would've been if the games were using FIVR technology.

The next part I’d like to bring up is book 6’s story that goes over a twenty-four hour time period. When I was writing the story, it just happened that the day ended up encompassing a twenty-four hour time period that went out to six hundred and ninety-four pages of straight story. From the feedback I’ve been getting, the fans of the series are loving the story even if there happened to be a slight cliffhanger at the end. The funniest part of the responses I’ve been receiving so far is from the other authors within the genre. They’re shocked and confused at how a book can be published that only covers a twenty-four hour time period, which just makes me laugh. Have they completely forgotten about the TV Series 24? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_(TV_series)) Anyway, once I remembered how awesome the 24 series was, I didn’t hesitate releasing book 6’s story.

The TV series 24 was truly inspiring. It's a show that you simply couldn’t stop watching once you start on episode one. I literally watched the series straight through until I was forced to go to work the morning with burning eyes and feeling like a living zombie. Maybe the series has motivated me to write in a similar style, because I’ve been told plenty of times that once people start reading The World series they simply can’t put the books down due to the constant action within the story. If I can even come a little bit close to the genius of that series, I’ll be super happy as a writer.

I don’t plan to do twenty-four hours as the norm for my books and would rather the stories to cover a minimum of two days if not an entire week. At the same time, if the story is there due to the intense interpersonal relationships, action, and the depth of the on-going adventures, I will not hesitate to do a twenty-four hour story. That’s one of the great things about being able to self-publish my own books. I can do the story how I like and cover the details I think need to properly told without someone looking over my shoulder and telling me no. Well, as long as the fans are enjoying the story. That’s the only measure I’m using to judge my work.

Anyway, thank you for reading my ramblings and for allowing me the flexibility to tell the story the way I want … even if it’s crazy like book four was ;)
22 Comments
Lyle
2/12/2020 09:59:18 am

I knew that guilds could be huge, played Eve Online for a bit and read up on some giant space battles involving 7,000 thousands or more players. With all the griefing that goes on in MMO’s I could never enjoy the game, hence playing single player RPG’s or games that you can’t be griefed in.

As to the last book of yours covering just 24 hours, no problem with that was very enjoyable and action packed.

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
2/12/2020 10:06:34 am

I hear you Lyle. It is a mixed bag of love and hate. Some of my fondest memories were trains from other players in open dungeons or areas. You cursed and hated it at the time, but it was also so incredible and made you seriously play smart and watch your back. I've lost and I've won against the PKers and griefers on the servers I played. The interaction in game and on the forums was something that made you live the game. While I enjoy a good RPG single player, it doesn't match that wild west feel many of the older MMOs had. With all of the safeguards in place, you can't even get that same gaming experience. There's nothing quite like having a boss you've been waiting to spawn be steal-killed from you by a group of griefers. At the same time, there's nothing like shutting down a group like that once you level up. With how I write, it takes some time to get through the PVE and the PVP stories, but I really want to give them the justice they deserve and share those awesome and awful times I had playing.

Thanks for being a fan and enjoying the pace of the series. I love it that I've written the story to have that flexibility within the series =D

Okay, back to getting book 7 written.

Jason

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
2/12/2020 10:09:17 am

PS: Eve was the ultimate MMO before they dumbed it down. While Anarchy Online was one of the most complex games I ever played, it had nothing on Eve. Eric was an eve player and he tells me about the thousand of player guilds and their battles all the times. 10,000 players in one guild is the norm. Alliances of twenty or fifty groups of such size is even more normal. Something important for non-gamers to understand. I guess I'll have to put some of this in Book 7's Author notes ;)

Reply
James Collier
3/5/2020 01:12:32 pm

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. I started last week and just finished book 6. Which was awesome. I am now left high and dry, as I wait for book 7.
Speaking of which, any idea for when i can slake my literary thirst?

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
3/5/2020 02:07:57 pm

Hey James,

Thanks for the good word. I love hearing that people are enjoying the series. If you're interested in pictures of the LAN party group and concept art for the characters, you can check that out here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007596607095

Otherwise, know I'm hard at work getting book 7 written. I haven't gone longer than 6 months between books and I'm shooting for 4 months if possible. Not sure if I'll make that or not since book 7 is turning into being a lot more complex than I'd initially thought it would be. But than again, isn't that always the case?

Anyway, thanks for checking in.

Jason
PS: Please leave a review on Amazon for the books. It helps indie authors like me out a lot!

Reply
Doug McMillan
3/10/2020 09:36:54 am

Read it. Loved it.Waiting impatiently for the next book. Am I figuring correctly in you are publishing approximately every 6 months or is that just the way it fell out the last few times?

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
3/10/2020 11:20:44 am

Hey Doug,

Yeah, I try to not let six months go by without getting a book out, albeit I was tempted to wait until I'd written two days. Though, after seeing how complex book 7 is going to be, I'm glad I ended up just releasing book 6 how it was. Besides, I was a huge fan of 24 hours ;)

If I can get everything written earlier though, I'll definitely release it sooner rather than later.

Btw, thanks for letting me know you enjoyed the series. That motivates me like nothing else and I always love hearing from fans.

Jason
PS: If you don't mind, please leave a good review for the books. It helps us Indie Authors big time.

Reply
Michael Gilliam
3/27/2020 02:15:54 pm

Anyone that loves MMORPGs that doesn't love this series either hasn't read it or is one of the asshats you've outed in it.

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
3/27/2020 03:20:43 pm

Thanks Michael!

Reply
Alex
4/12/2020 08:06:17 am

Hey Jason,
Huge fan of the series. You honestly couldn't produce these books fast enough for me if you had a whole team of writers putting words to paper. I hope you're safe and healthy during these trying times. Current events happen to be reminding me of the Corrupted Blood incident on the WoW servers back in the day. Anyway, just wanted share appreciation and can't wait for the next book.

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
4/13/2020 12:52:54 pm

Hey Alex,

Thanks for the letting me know you like the series so much. Book 7 is really going to cover a lot of the world and a lot of what's going on in BrokenFang Hold, Darom, Zeven, and Hollysharp. Yeah, the corrupt blood was funny as hell. While I'm enjoying the big battles, book 8 is going to be more of a smaller group of friends doing some old-style Conan types of adventures before the big Hobgoblin battle ;)

I have at least 200 if not more books planned for the series. As long as everyone is enjoying the storyline you can count on me to bring in some great content and unexpected surprises and adventures. Anyway, thank you and Happy Easter.

Jason
PS: Please make sure you leave a good word for the books on Amazon. That helps more than anything for supporting the series!

Reply
Scott Osmond
4/13/2020 10:25:53 pm

How long till the next entry? 200 books is ambitious. I'll be along for the ride.

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
4/14/2020 12:35:23 am

Hey Scott,

I usually don't go over 6 months between books. I'm hoping to have this one out sooner, but won't know until I get it written. Hopefully, I'll have it done in two months ;) I have to many plans for the world and the interactions of monster empires and advancing technology that the series should stay interesting and bounce around between cool adventures, interesting dungeons, large monster empire battles, giants, and PVP battles of all types.

Jason

Reply
Rob
5/12/2020 01:56:00 pm

The world is easily in my top selection of favorite settings. So far, I've enjoyed this series tremendously and have added you to my list of authors that I will pre-order/buy just because you authored it. Even so much as reading the kindle-unlimited copy then a month later, purchasing the kindle + Audible versions just to support your livelihood.
Is there any way that you could be persuaded to do a Patreon page and release a chapter a week? I'd pay 5$ a month for getting just a bit more frequent teases of the books :P
Failing that, I'd encourage more frequent blogging about your life and thoughts. I find that I seem to enjoy a series more, proportionate to the "presence" of the author. I'm a Physician, resident, and have to say that the little breaks from the chaos akin to "you've got mail" in the form of your favorite author has added a chapter or post... kinda makes the mayhem go by just a bit faster.
Regardless of the outcome, appreciate the time and energy you have put into the World. -Rob

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
5/13/2020 01:44:48 am

Hey Rob, thanks for the good word. I can't say how wonderful it is to hear from fans of the series. To answer your first question, you can find my Patreon site here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=23281087

Well, while I appreciate your trust in my writing of The World series, just remember The Last Paladin series was my first two books I ever wrote. While people like them, they were never edited by anyone other than me. I know that people still like the story, but I broke my teeth on those books. I still need to do something with the series to improve them and get out a book 3. The outline for book 3 & 4 are there, but the broad interest of readers aren't, which is why The World currently gets all of my focus.

I'm trying to get better with the Patreon releases. I have a Devil Dog membership that should be one sneak peak a month and a Revenants that gets two sneak peaks a month. I'm still quite new to the Patreon concept so any ideas to help make it grow to be more of what you want would be great.

My blog was being camped from a bunch of authors that were trying to mess with me and due to that it doesn't get as much loving as it should. I've moved most of my presence to Facebook and Patreon due to that. Facebook site is here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007596607095

I'm glad I can help you take a mental break from everything going on. I have plenty of personal opinions, but writing surprisingly takes a lot of focus. Also, I get stuck in my head at times as I build out the story. Sometimes a poke is all that I need to get chatting again. I'm also an Essential Emergency Worker due to my line of work.

I have to say, book 7 is quite the adventure and immensely hard to write. A lot of other locations are coming into play in the story so everyone find out what's happening in the other locations. Also, I think the fight scenes are coming out quite well. It's also is exhausting to write, but exciting at the same time.

Anyway, drop me a line any time.

Jason

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
5/13/2020 03:08:51 am

Oh, one more thing. There are Post Credit Scenes in books 5 & 6 in case you missed the added content =D

Reply
Nicholas Keller
5/21/2020 11:50:36 pm

Hey jason just started to relisten book 5 I just redid all of em in anticipation for book 6 any idea on a release date for the audio for 6?

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
5/22/2020 01:45:44 am

I wish there were a way to fix the small mistakes I've been finding in the story as I re-read the series. Unfortunately, that's not possible or not so easily done on the audible side. Just an FYI, book 5, 6 and the proceeding books will all have a Post Credit scene at the end ;)

Jason

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
7/7/2020 12:13:20 pm

It just posted here: https://www.acx.com/titleview/A4VDLXHRT9V14

Reply
James Cooper
7/3/2020 07:15:10 pm

Loved the series. I’m hooked. I still bounce back to WoW off and on but sadly I don’t have much time anymore. Keep up the good work. I’m excited for 7.

Reply
Jason A Cheek link
7/4/2020 08:51:07 am

Thanks James, I hope to have book 7 out by August 1st. It's a crazy story that updates everyone on the goings with the Sea Elves, Delonshire, Darom, BrokenFang Hold, the Hobgoblins, and of course Star and friends. I think everyone is going to like it a lot. Also, if you didn't realize it, there is a Post Credit scene in books 5 & 6 ;)

I don't dare pull up WoW Classic or I might go deep again and the stories won't be coming out if that happens. Although, now I want a game like The World to play or just bring me to another world hahahaha.

Anyway, thanks for the good word. It means the world to me.

Jason

PS: If you get a chance, please leave a review for the books. It helps a lot for an Indie Writer like me.

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