Dragon Quest IX has a couple of neat local-wireless features, one of which—its Tag Mode implementation—has been on my mind recently. Last weekend, I finally got the chance to see it all in action for real, thanks to a little Nintendo-sponsored event at my local Best Buy. I'd gone with the timid hope that I could maybe add a few passers-by to my game's inn, but I left insufferably happy, having stayed for three hours and not only collected over a dozen tags and an assortment of treasure maps but also hours in some really great multiplayer action. Oh, and a sweet "Party Slime" t-shirt for my wife.
But that event was the last Nintendo was officially bringing to my area. I wanted more. Even if I never tagged another person again, I wanted to play some more multiplayer. I was in contact with one of the people I met at the Best Buy event, who was also excited about the prospect of meeting up again, so I decided I'd try to put a plan into action that would not only promote the meet-up we were going to try for this weekend, but also enable local meet-ups all over the place so that others, too, could enjoy what I enjoyed.
I'll remember the official event for awhile, particularly with the very grounded expectations I had going in. I didn't need to go far into my local Best Buy to find the fans; there was a circle of them already standing near the game section. Four of them were engaged in multiplayer mode; they were busy beating the map from the previous week's GameStop event so that they could share it with everyone else (you can't share these maps unless you've beaten them.) The rest of us talked a bit to the Nintendo rep on hand, an awesome woman who had had some trouble getting her briefing on the event but came with a positive attitude anyway; we helped her get started sharing that day's particular carrot—Estark's Map—and set our systems to canvas in Tag Mode so we could watch our top screens fill with the names and titles of those present.
I came to the event as a level 29 minstrel, never having changed my class and being maybe halfway through the game's main story mode (since then, I've finished it!) The other players on hand were generally around level 50, but I jumped in to a multiplayer game with them anyway. We took on a couple maps together, each with the rather difficult (for me!) Shogum waiting at the bottom doing boss duties; mostly I did some Egg On (tension) or the occasional Zing (revive), but even when spending occasional spells dead, I was still having a blast. (I left the event slightly more useful, having graduated to level 31.) The second time around, the Nintendo rep joined in—her game's save had been leveled up to 52, but she still had the starter gear and absolutely no story progress—and it really served to show how much fun playing this game together was, even with near-total novices.
(That multiplay came to an end in an amusing fashion; someone showed up hoping to just nab the free map of the day and run, but the rep couldn't give it out while in multiplayer—so we decided to take the hits from Shogum in the interest of ending the session as quickly as possible. Thing was, our last surviving party member's HP kept going up thanks to a myriad things he had going for him, so instead of losing, a few moments later we were surprised to hear the telltale thwack from four DS's at once—improbably and hilariously, Shogum had fallen from a simple spamming of Attack. XP was distributed, each according to how many turns he spent not dead, and we were finally able to let our poor rep share the map.)
As you can imagine, I would love to do something like this again. While Nintendo still has a few tour events remaining, none are near me, so I devised a plan to enable people to meet up for their own, unofficial Dragon Quest IX tag-and-multiplay meet-up events. It starts with Twitter.
This tweet is the one I posted last night for the meet-up I and someone I met at the Best Buy event and kept in touch with are planning for tomorrow. The key is the hashtags; putting #DQIX and #meetup in the tweet means it'll show up on searches for #DQIX—currently the most popular hashtag on Twitter for the game. But if someone just wants to see the meet-ups, they can search for #DQIX #meetup, or even just "dqix meetup", and see the latest plans. People who want to start meet-up events in other localities can use this same scheme. Just be sure to specify where your hometown is right up front, and enough details so people can get there and meet up with you easily. If you run out of space in your tweet (inconceivable!), link to somewhere that you can explain more. And be sure to keep people updated using those same tags if plans change.
If you decide to go to a meet-up, I do have a little bit of advice for you. You might not be able to just show up, grab a special map, and run. People—particularly people who have the big maps—may be enjoying themselves playing multiplayer. Sit down and watch; it's fun to do, actually—especially the boss fights. If you can start another multiplayer game with other people, do so. You'll get a chance to tag maps over soon enough. And if you don't get what you want, don't be discouraged; try another meet-up—start your own if you can't find one!
I am really looking forward to the event this Saturday, and I hope to see others picking up this ball and running with it all over the country. I think lots of people will find it a great way for getting even more fun out of an already fantastic game.
But that event was the last Nintendo was officially bringing to my area. I wanted more. Even if I never tagged another person again, I wanted to play some more multiplayer. I was in contact with one of the people I met at the Best Buy event, who was also excited about the prospect of meeting up again, so I decided I'd try to put a plan into action that would not only promote the meet-up we were going to try for this weekend, but also enable local meet-ups all over the place so that others, too, could enjoy what I enjoyed.
I'll remember the official event for awhile, particularly with the very grounded expectations I had going in. I didn't need to go far into my local Best Buy to find the fans; there was a circle of them already standing near the game section. Four of them were engaged in multiplayer mode; they were busy beating the map from the previous week's GameStop event so that they could share it with everyone else (you can't share these maps unless you've beaten them.) The rest of us talked a bit to the Nintendo rep on hand, an awesome woman who had had some trouble getting her briefing on the event but came with a positive attitude anyway; we helped her get started sharing that day's particular carrot—Estark's Map—and set our systems to canvas in Tag Mode so we could watch our top screens fill with the names and titles of those present.
I came to the event as a level 29 minstrel, never having changed my class and being maybe halfway through the game's main story mode (since then, I've finished it!) The other players on hand were generally around level 50, but I jumped in to a multiplayer game with them anyway. We took on a couple maps together, each with the rather difficult (for me!) Shogum waiting at the bottom doing boss duties; mostly I did some Egg On (tension) or the occasional Zing (revive), but even when spending occasional spells dead, I was still having a blast. (I left the event slightly more useful, having graduated to level 31.) The second time around, the Nintendo rep joined in—her game's save had been leveled up to 52, but she still had the starter gear and absolutely no story progress—and it really served to show how much fun playing this game together was, even with near-total novices.
(That multiplay came to an end in an amusing fashion; someone showed up hoping to just nab the free map of the day and run, but the rep couldn't give it out while in multiplayer—so we decided to take the hits from Shogum in the interest of ending the session as quickly as possible. Thing was, our last surviving party member's HP kept going up thanks to a myriad things he had going for him, so instead of losing, a few moments later we were surprised to hear the telltale thwack from four DS's at once—improbably and hilariously, Shogum had fallen from a simple spamming of Attack. XP was distributed, each according to how many turns he spent not dead, and we were finally able to let our poor rep share the map.)
As you can imagine, I would love to do something like this again. While Nintendo still has a few tour events remaining, none are near me, so I devised a plan to enable people to meet up for their own, unofficial Dragon Quest IX tag-and-multiplay meet-up events. It starts with Twitter.
This tweet is the one I posted last night for the meet-up I and someone I met at the Best Buy event and kept in touch with are planning for tomorrow. The key is the hashtags; putting #DQIX and #meetup in the tweet means it'll show up on searches for #DQIX—currently the most popular hashtag on Twitter for the game. But if someone just wants to see the meet-ups, they can search for #DQIX #meetup, or even just "dqix meetup", and see the latest plans. People who want to start meet-up events in other localities can use this same scheme. Just be sure to specify where your hometown is right up front, and enough details so people can get there and meet up with you easily. If you run out of space in your tweet (inconceivable!), link to somewhere that you can explain more. And be sure to keep people updated using those same tags if plans change.
If you decide to go to a meet-up, I do have a little bit of advice for you. You might not be able to just show up, grab a special map, and run. People—particularly people who have the big maps—may be enjoying themselves playing multiplayer. Sit down and watch; it's fun to do, actually—especially the boss fights. If you can start another multiplayer game with other people, do so. You'll get a chance to tag maps over soon enough. And if you don't get what you want, don't be discouraged; try another meet-up—start your own if you can't find one!
I am really looking forward to the event this Saturday, and I hope to see others picking up this ball and running with it all over the country. I think lots of people will find it a great way for getting even more fun out of an already fantastic game.