So, we’ve seen that RSS works, and that is has potential within the gaming world, but what about an example that could actually work? One of the most obvious examples of RSS in games is Bungie’s Halo 2 community, where you can get up to the minute stats and rankings; but, this is only a fraction of what can be done.

Final Fantasy XI

I know I’ve spoken about it before, but this genre (MMORPG) benefits the most from content syndication.

Server notification
Computers are not perfect. They occasionally crash, need maintenance, and a slew of other things. Keep your fans updated on the latest in the “real world” of the game so that they can know when the servers will be down instead of having to log into your system to read that the system is actually down.

Auction House
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the economy of an MMORPG is driven by the players, and auction houses are usually the way to go. With that being said, it would be nice to get an update outside of the game when my items have sold and for how much. Yes, I could run the game every so often to check on the items, but this is a much more efficient way of being notified, and allows players to manage their auctions even better. I know, this may seem crazy, but better management tools allow for the in-game economy to grow (which, in return, allows the real game to prosper in the form of subscription fees).

Clans/Groups/Linkshells
True “unity” in FFXI is a very rare thing, and usually limited to some elite groups of people who schedule fights with Notorious Monsters. This sort of community is limited to a very hardcore group of players because there is no real way of communicating with the casual player – you’re either in the game, or you’re not. The ability to subscribe to your clans RSS feed would allow for much easier communication between clan members, and easier communication means more players who are willing to build the community.

Special Events
Someone getting married? Perhaps there is an invasion of Quadavs knocking on the gates of Bastok, or Orcs are trying to overrun San d’Oria. In either case, if you’re going to run a special event, you probably want as many players as possible to take part in it, and to do that, you need to contact your players outside of the game world. Content syndication helps again, because not only will subscribers be able to read it, but it can be reposted on many gaming websites (such as Allakhazam), which can propogate the news of your big event even further.

Customer Support
A lot of people may think I’m crazy, but RSS can be used as a means of customer support. No, I don’t mean actual interaction with a representative, but in terms of letting people know about game bugs, patches, updates, and other tasks that must be taken care of.

Game Updates
MMORPGs are a genre that is ever evolving – gaming gets out of balance, hacks are released, and updates are just generally needed. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: when I launch your damn program, I intend to play the game, not sit there for 8 hours downloading and installing updates. The best possible way to handle this situation is through content syndication, since we’ll be able to download the updates automatically.

So, there you have it, a specific example of how RSS can be implemented within an MMORPG.

Of course, it doesn’t have to end there. You could very well use RSS as a means to advance the story of a game; for example, in the wait between Halo 3 and Halo 4 (which is just a guess on my part), by not keep the fans updated on the story that will take place in Halo 4 through RSS feeds? Heck, you could go one step further and have the game interact directly with RSS feeds via new maps that come with the new part of the story.

Heck, you could base an entire game around RSS. The possibilities of content syndication within the gaming universe are almost limitless, and could very well provide for a new genre of game.

We just need the developers to hop on board the bandwagon.

Provided by Geekstreak