When Aeria was at PAX, they had a contest on Twitter so people who didn’t get to go could have a chance to win. It was a random selection from people who tweeted Kitty’s father and mother’s name. Any HKO player should know that like the back of their hand. A few days later, I got a private tweet telling me I was the winner.

Oh and beware,  as usual, there’s a little bit of hot air at the end…

When I got home, there was a package sitting at my door…

It was rattling :O Hmm… Lots of stuff fell out of the box!

Underneath is a tee-shirt. From left at top: a congratulatory letter (sealed for the photo, is all); a DVD of HKO!; a magnetized refrigerator notepad; and one of those insanity-inducing tilt games where you have to get the balls into the holes.

But wait, that’s not all

A little Hello Kitty tote bag, stuffed with goodies.

Underneath is a sheet of stickers; a Hello Kitty candy tin; an HK eraser shaped like a Popsicle;  a pen and two pencils; HK band-aids; and an Aeria branded 1g memory stick.

Whew. And wow! Thanks Aeria!

And now for the rant I promised you.

There have been a few, but not many, instances of HK haters showing up in-game or on the forums. Surprisingly few, actually. But see, this is something they’re not getting.

Not only is there the “social” aspect of HKO, where I’ve met many people online, including some pretty girls that, well dot dot dot (nothing bad, just that they make me forget my name when I think about it). I know some HKO players even have “HKO meetups”, where they all get together and have lunch or something. Alas, no HKO meetups in my neighborhood :P

But how many other games give you the opportunity to win real-world goods? This is the FOURTH time I’ve won something related to HKO. Sure, you may have tier 16 ubertank gear from the final boss of whatever-the-latest-raid-instance-is, but this is real stuff. I can put this stuff in my pocket, bring to my friends to show, and say “look what I got!”.

I think what I’m trying to say is that the HKO “experience” is not just virtual rewards, but tangible. I hope that continues. It is one of the things that really sets HKO apart.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 2:41 pm and is filed under HKO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.