Project WAM - Keeping You Informed
Get involved in helping the MMORPG community!
MMORPG players are a dedicated lot. They will work tirelessly, through whatever means necessary, to progress their character, often spending hours over weeks doing quests or crafting items to gain the necessary experience to be the best they can be.
This dedication does not stop in game. The most committed of these players also spend countless hours on web sites and wikis to plan what they're going to do once they're back in the game. In fact, many official game sites now point to these third-party resources for reference, because the crowd-sourced information is more accurate and more meticulously maintained than it could ever be in an official capacity.
Well, the group you're about to meet raises this dedication to a new level. Enter, Project WAM.
First, Some "Lore"
WAM is an acronym for "Wiki-fy All MMORPGs" and consists of about 15 dedicated souls who work tirelessly to populate the wikis of various online games. They do their best to make sure they're as complete and up-to-date as possible.
Project WAM is the brainchild of Tyler Malo, a gamer fanatical about MMORPGs and helping the gaming community. He got the idea while playing Free Realms with his sister, and started helping with the ZAM Free Realms Wiki. He immediately recognized a way he could help:
"I am crazy about data entry jobs so filling out templates is something that I never get bored doing. I pretty much went to town on the items section, adding all the missing ones, checking to make sure data was still correct."
I had the chance to ask Tyler a few questions about Project WAM and, even though we only met through email, I could just hear the passion he has in his words.
Current Affairs
Tyler tells me that the recent spate of new MMO releases has been a boon, but a bit of a curse for his group. A boon, because there are so many great new games to play (and wikify!) Yet, at the same time, the folks playing these games are the very same needed to help populate the sites, and there is only so much time in a day. However, he knows this is something folks do in their spare time out of their love for the games, and maybe — just maybe — have some other things happening, like school or work:
"I do, however, understand that everybody has a life so I do not crack down on inactivity. I am hoping that if my group gets advertised on ZAM we might get some more active members."
Project WAM has a list of 10 "current" games that they work on. Tyler is conscious of burnout, so to help with that, the group has a unique sort of "ladder" system in place:
"The idea is that every 3 months we switch to the next game on the list from top to bottom. This way people will not get bored playing the same game over and over. When we reach the bottom we start back up on the top."
How You Can Help
As you might expect, this kind of project takes a lot of effort, and they're looking for more like-minded folks to help their cause. Tyler is always on the lookout for the right people:
"We are looking for anybody that plays video games, sociable, willing to help others, and spends a lot of time online. I have come up with many ideas for jobs that our (volunteer) members can do. You can check that list out here."
But they're not only looking for folks to help chip-in on the game data. Project WAM is also in need of some technical and administrative help with their web site, including design and the implementation of a user forum.
As you can see, Tyler and Project WAM have their hands full! They're doing admirable work that helps us all in the long run. There's no better time than now to help them achieve their goals and take the project to the next level.
If you're interested in someday getting into a career the game industry, this might be a great first step. You get community experience, in-depth knowledge and most of all show that you're reliable and responsible and can contribute to a project in a professional manner.
You can reach out to Tyler several ways:
If you enjoy MMOs, and especially if you make use of independent resources, this is a great way to give back to the community. I hope to see your name on Project WAM soon!