My elderly neighbor didn't seem to have any family around. I would help her anyway that I could, but there were several things that I was unable to do for her. Her home was not in the best shape and I watched as she struggled to make it up the front stairs to get inside her home. I knew I had to do something more to help her, so I contacted the local humanitarian service. I talked with them about my neighbor and told them about the difficulties she was having. They were wonderful! To find out about what they did to help my sweet elderly neighbor, visit my site.
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The world of online and mobile gaming has opened the minds and wallets of billions of gamers across the world. With all the potential for profit and fun, there's a lot of opportunity to do good work for the betterment of the world using both awareness and donations. If you've got a great idea that works and would like to use it as a platform for change, consider a few ways to bring humanitarian efforts into your game with real results.
Microtransactions Can Help
What if there was a way to do more than sell the video game? What if there was a way to convince people that they didn't have to convince customers into a committed subscription for a continuing game? Microtransactions can be used to buy certain virtual items in game through an in game store, also known as a cash shop.
Consider the traits of a standard online game. A player signs up for the game by buying the core game, then pays a subscription to continue playing. In role-playing games, a player becomes stronger by fighting enemies, acquiring experiences and advancing in levels with some content at the end for maximum level (max level) players.
Instead of making the cash shop purely a source of income for your gaming business, you could dedicate some of the items in the cash shop towards humanitarian efforts. Many game companies have used the method in the past, usually by creating themed items.
For example, a city-building game could create new maps, buildings or features that resemble the cultures of an area dealing with natural disasters. If you don't want to go deep into designing new things that could sway the balance of your game, you could simply mark a certain percentage of purchases for charity only. Just be sure to make it clear that the funds are destined for humanitarian causes, and that you follow through with the proper use of funds for humanitarian aid.
Can Your Game Economy Help?
If you're managing a game that has an in-game market with players selling items to players, it's likely that you have a video game economy that can be measured. In-game gold might not be real money, but you can use market activity towards humanitarian efforts.
To drive a bit of interest in the humanitarian items for players who aren't exactly charitable in nature--but still willing to spend--keep an eye on your in-game market and look for spending trends. Are players spending money on certain items for a regular basis? How difficult is it to get those items? Is getting the items fun? Answer these questions for the different items and arrange them by worth.
Don't sell the most powerful or sought after items in the cash shop. This cheapens the worth of your game and can make many players mad--even if they end up buying the items to stay competitive. Try to aim for the middle value in terms of demand and effort to gather.
Offer these items in the cash shop with the intention of supporting humanitarian aid and make sure that the items can't be given away or sold. The term "bind on pickup" is used in most games to mean that only the character who gets the item is able to use it. This way, some players can bypass the in-game currency market with real money without flooding the market with their purchased items.
There are many other ways to garner interest for humanitarian aid in gaming. If your game is successful and you'd like some guidance on choosing a worthy cause, creating a nonprofit business entity based on your original game or learning about other specifics of the humanitarian world, contact a crowdfunding platform for US nonprofits professional.
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