By gaming standards, many would consider me to be an old man.
Over the years I have come to recognize that there are 3 different types of gamers.
This article will identify what these personality types are and how they might manifest in an individuals consideration of an Age of Conan Gold Guide.
The first type of gamer is the play-for-fun personality.
This player has likely bought Age of Conan because they enjoy gaming (duh right - I know, but read on).
It ought to be pointed out here that fun is an obvious over-arching reward for every gamer, however, some might have motivations which outweigh the enjoyment they obtain from playing.
In other words for some gamers, fun is the side-effect of other more primary motives for playing.
So, as I was saying, the play-for-fun personality is likely to not be as intensely driven to compete as other personality types.
They likely spend more time simply exploring Hyboria than engaging in quests or other game advancement activities.
This player might visit the trader and just browse items that look cool rather than searching for the best bargain or highest price for their listed items.
This player's guide to gold spending might be more based what looks good on his hero than what tweaks his stats optimally.
Finally, this player is likely to be quite interested in the story of the game, not skipping any cut scenes, and reading novels or internet material that enriches the gaming experience rather than figuring out how to dominate.
The second type of gamer personality that one might encounter in Age of Conan and is perhaps the one to be most feared.
This is the play-to-pwn personality.
This type of gamer is interested most in the PvP, and PvE elements of the game.
They enjoy the strategic elements of combat and the exhilaration of victory.
While PvE is an outlet for this type of personality, they are most likely to be more enthusiastic and interested in PvP combat.
This is because defeating a living opponent in a virtual environment is more dynamic (in the sense that humans are more unpredictable), and results in a bigger psychological payoff (because we have defeated someone real who knows that we have defeated them and on some level must acknowledge our supremacy over them - in this instance).
Part of the excitement that keeps the play-to-pwn personality going is that every engagement with an opponent (even if it is a repeat battle with the same individual) will be unique in some way or other, much like a game of chess.
The final gamer personality type that you are likely to encounter in Age of Conan is the play-to-win personality.
This individual is most likely to be the one who brought Age of Conan the day it was released.
They are likely the ones who spend the greatest amount of time playing the game.
However, more important than the amount of time they spend playing is what they do with that time.
The play-to-win personality type is likely to be intensely interested in the economics of the game, questing, leveling, and farming gold.
They will read forum threads, post, study leveling and gold guides.
Of the 3 personality types obviously the one most likely to consider a gold guide is the latter.
Which type of personality are you most closely aligned with? However, can the play-for-fun personality benefit from a gold guide? YES! And this is the reason why - the very reason why this personality type would typically not consider a gold guide is the same reason why such a purchase is valuable.
Indeed, because the play-for-fun personality is not focused on the details of farming gold and the exploitation of the merchant economy they are likely to not excel at it and likely to be poorer resourced the play-to-win personalities.
The play-for-fun personality response to to the suggestion of a gold guide is likely to be along the lines of "but I don't care about getting rich or being successful, I just enjoy playing".
However, I would hazard a guess that even those that respond this way have had the odd tinge of jealousy when looking at another player's inventory and seeing their gold, armor, weapons, mounts, or guild cities, and wanted more of that.
Additionally, the more gold you have the more fun you can have, the more you are free to explore, customize, and enjoy the interactive experience within Age of Conan.
The play-to-pwn personality would undoubtedly benefit in PvP and PvE combat from a gold guide by having more powerful weapons, armor, and mounts.
Finally, the play-to-win personality has probably either written one of these guides, brought one, or figured it all out themselves through relentless, dedicated indulgence.
Either way, they do not need convincing of the value or benefits of a gold guide.
Again, I would ask, which personality type are you and is a gold guide something that could give you more of what it is that you play Age of Conan for?