Interview of Mmohawk.com

[Jack Salvador]

Well, The Natures Wildwolf had time to chat with Ren the Admin of Mmohawk.com we both had a lot of fun and can't wait to do some more interviews sometime just like this one downbelow but with the members and moderators asking them stuff.

Anyway's, here is our interview of Mmohawk.com

Jack Salvador says:
Q.1. Hello Ren, I would like to thank you for the time to ask you some questions.

Ren says:
It's my pleasure. It's the first time I am being interviewed so I am quite excited.

Jack Salvador says:
It’s also my first time to get to interview someone myself.

Jack Salvador says:
Q.2. After all your website is for MMORPG’s to talk about games and such could you tell us a little more about your forum website and or what else you talk about?

Ren says:
I first started MMOTP.com a year ago with my friend Arthur. The inspiration was quite unusual.

Ren says:
I had been playing world of warcraft for 2 years, and someone told that I could sell gold to IGE for some cash. So I did. Unfortunately I was banned the next day, and I have left is 5 dollars in my paypal account from IGE.

Jack Salvador says:
Well, that doesn't sound so good

Ren says:
Seeing two years of my work just disappeared out of thin air, I researched about why my account was banned. Later, I reached a conclusion, that regardless what the attitude toward RMT is; it's not safe for mmorpg players to deal with companies. This process can be made safe if players were to trade face to face with other, and that's what gave me the idea of starting MMORPG Trade Portal (MMOTP.com)

Jack Salvador says:
Wow that's a very good idea! And for sure it should save a lot of players from being banned.

Ren says:
Yes, that was our goal. Since the start of MMOTP.com, Arthur and I kept thinking about how we could better serve gamers. So we added many improvements to the trading site, including a forum.

Jack Salvador says:
Well, damn I wish I knew about this before I sold my account to Gamepal /sigh

Ren says:
There are two differences between trading with a account buying/selling site and trading with gamers directly.

Ren says:
1, Account buying/selling sites pushes price down when buying accounts, and raising prices up when selling them, which takes away benefits from players both sides.

Ren says:
2, Account buying/selling sites acts as the middle man, and increases the possibility of the account being flagged, raising risks for both players.

Ren says:
MMOTP.com solves both problems by functioning not as the middleman, but the marketplace that allows direct trading between both gamers.

Jack Salvador says:
Q.3. Could you tell us what you offer to member’s and people that join up? (Like what they can do to help your forums in many ways from moderating and to sharing stuff with your members).

Ren says:
Of course, the forum has expanded dramatically since its start. It has grown from a supporting forum for the trading site, to an active online community for MMORPG players.

Ren says:
The forum has gotten its own domain at MMOHAWK.com. Please beware that it's pronounced as "mmm...mohawk!” The forum also had a new skin placed, and many new sections put in.

Ren says:
There is two major projects we are working on the forums:

1, Setting up a RPG right on the forum. There are 15 levels being made already, and the rest is up to the forum members. Any members can submit ideas and take part in the making of this RPG.

2, Hosting guilds / clans under Mmohawk forums. We believe that it's to the benefit of both forums and the guilds. When I go to guild launch or similar sites, I see two things happening to the forums that they host there.
A, The forums never became active.
B, The forum was active for 1-2 months, and dies out after that.
I believe this is because there is no circulation of new people into individual guild forums, causing lack of new content and members losing interests to visit it. By hosting under our forums, both problems are solved.

Ren says:
I believe that by making improvements like this, we are sending out a message to gamers, that we care about the wellbeing and growth of the community.

Jack Salvador says:
Well, for one thing for sure I’m very happy of being one of your members of your forums and getting to do this interview with you

Ren says:
I am glad that both of us are members of Armada, which is a very active Pirate’s of the Burning Sea society. I can't wait to get in the prelaunch party!

Jack Salvador says:
Same here Haha!

Jack Salvador says:
Q.4. Are you planning any kind of way to get members to promote your website or are you hosting anything from ads on other gamer website’s ect?

Ren says:
Absolutely, because both Arthur and I are college students, we are on a 500usd/month budget.

It's amazing that sometimes even with money, it's very hard to reach other site owners and purchase ads. For example, I've been trying to reach Top 100 Game Sites - Private Servers, Cheats for almost a month.(Maybe because it's the holiday season).

In essence, the best promotion is done by Word of Mouth. We believe that if gamers like the community, they are going to tell their friends about it.

Jack Salvador says:
Yes your so right with so many community member you would think they would share info about your website and or if they have their own website thy could have a interview with you or one of your mods.

Ren says:
There are a couple of ideas being worked on that encourages people to help promote the forum.

Jack Salvador says:
O-right would you like to share them with us?

Ren says:
Of course.

Ren says:
Firstly, we are looking into offering free dedicated Ventrilo / Teamspeak host to your guild / clan regardless the size of your guild / clan. If you need a 100 user vent, you got it! All we ask is that you and your clan members to use the forums.

Jack Salvador says:
Haha! Got a question coming up asking about something like this of what you offer to clan/guilds

Ren says:
Secondly, we are looking to establish a more rewarding experience for forum users. Every time a member engages in forum activities such as posting and referring new members, they receive points. These points can be used to redeem many prizes:

- Virtual prizes such as medals and titles
- Real prizes for gamers such as new gaming gadgets
- Possibly even cash
We fill that by spicing things up a notch, gamers are more likely to be engaged into the community, and tell their friends about it too!

Jack Salvador says:
Sounds good

Jack Salvador says:
Q.5. Do you host any events for your members?

Ren says:
Certainly, there are many events coming on the Mmohawk forums.

Surprisingly enough, I am multitasking and typing up the header design contest as we speak. By the end of the week, the chosen design will be placed on top of the forums. For prizes, you can get your name on it, and receives a special medal. All members who participate will get something in reward of their efforts too!

There will be all kinds of activities on the forums such as contest in the forum RPG, honorary mentions for forums members, and etc. We will always keep you busy on Mmohawk

Jack Salvador says:
Sounds like fun

[Jack Salvador]

Jack Salvador says:
Q.6. If a member join’s your website and would like to host a guild/clan on your forums what do you do for them? (As in helping them out and do you offer anything to them like Ventrilo or Teamspeak ect?)

Ren says:
I think we've gone over some areas of this topic before, but to summarize:
1, free dedicated Ventrilo / Teamspeak hosting for your guild no matter the size.
2, a constant stream of potential recruits for your guild.
3, fresh content generated everyday from members outside of your guild.
4, engaging an activity that keeps your clan members busy and happy even when they are not playing mmorpg.

Jack Salvador says:
Well, I know I don’t have this as a question but how can you host a TOIP (Ventrilo, Teamspeak) without having this member pay you for doing it? Also how do you get your founding if you may tell us?

Ren says:
Because the 500/month budget is not fulfilled yet, and we have about 200/month left that could be used in things such as toip. There are many ways to spend money on promotion, but I feel that even paying for 25/month for a 100 server is a costly, it can be very rewarding to the growth of membership. When we do have many guilds hosted with us and cannot fulfill the demand with current budget, we will be able to make more revenue due to the increased membership and keep the balance sheet positive in the future.

Jack Salvador says:
Very cool info

Jack Salvador says:
Thank you =D

Jack Salvador says:
Q.7. Is there some kind of level you’re looking for as in how many members your website get’s?

Ren says:
The sky is the limit! Our server is currently using only 1% of its capacity. So there is no currently no limit budget or technology wise that can restrain our membership. Especially with the future plan of expanding Mmohawk into a general MMORPG site network, what we are aiming for in a few years is to reach and surpass the membership of currently popular sites such as MMORPG.com and Cursed.com

Jack Salvador says:
Q.8. Are you planning on having more thing’s on your forums to cover more thing’s with games ect?

Ren says:
There are many suggestions for additions to the Mmohawk forums, such as a anime section, more detailed PC and console section, and website/programming related section to reach in the different interests of a MMO gamer. But these plans needs to be taken very delicately, so that we don't run into the situation of having a little bit of everything and lose the strong focus of MMO gaming. Thus, we rather add more modules instead of just adding sections to the forums. The current possibility include a content driven Mmohawk index for MMORPG news, and another content driven site on Welcome to MMO Trade Portal, MMORPG Auctions, WoW Accounts for sale and trade, Buy WoW Gold and more! that provides strategies and guides for individual MMOs.

Jack Salvador says:
Q.9. I hope we get to do more interviews soon sometime even with some of your moderators with us to see what they have to say and to have members join so they can ask you and your moderators stuff.

Ren says:
I hope so too. It was very interesting discussing with you about Mmohawk's current situation and what it has to offer to a MMO gamer. It was very exciting talking about some of our future plans for the Mmohawk MMO Gaming Network. I am sure our moderators will have many things to share with you too. I would love to have you here next time with moderators and members of the Mmohawk community. I believe that everyone has something they can share and contribute to our community.

Jack Salvador says:
Well, thank you very much.

Ren says:
Thank you very much and see you in game!

Jack Salvador says:
Q.10. Well, with thing’s coming to an end is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Ren says:
I just want to say that it has been a very rewarding experience starting Mmotp and Mmohawk. The most rewarding part is to watch our community grow gradually every day. I invite everyone who reads this to checkout our forums and see what it has to offer. Finally, I wish every gamer happy New Year and a rewarding year to come. GG!

Jack Salvador says:
O-right well we would like to thank you one last time this has been a very good interview with you and like to ask everyone to please take some time to join up with Mmohawk forums and to keep a eye out on The NaturesWildwolf Blog It site for more things to come!

Special Thanks To: Ren the Admin of Mmohawk.com

&

Thanks To: The NaturesWildwolf.

Ren says:
Thank you

Jack Salvador says:
Welcome

[Jonathan]

Cool, sounds good