MMO Companies: Seize the Opportunity

For the life of me I can not figure why more gaming companies are not supporting their customers more in ways that no other business can. I'm not talking about increased Customer Service or more servers. I'm talking about fund raising for charities. Sure some companies have done it sporadically...whether its EVE's particpation in MMO Charity calendars,  EQ2's charity pets, Free Realms Dinosaurs for Haiti relief or Wizard101 pet tiger mounts for Child's Play.

But these events only seem to come around during the Christmas holiday or large scale events (Haiti). That, to me, is a bit sad. Companies like SOE, CCP, Blizzard and others have the resources and money to really get out there and help these charities and solidify the support and admiration or their fan base, whether it's charity dinners, in game items for sale or other fund raising or awareness events. For example why don't we see in-game pet adoptions during the National Pet Month (May), where half the the purchase price of specialty in-game pet(s) goes toward the ASPCA or other animal charity? MMO players have shown time and again they are more than willing to spend and ready to spend for a good cause, so why not jump on board and provide them the means to do it?

So often it seems to fall on the shoulders of gamers to raise awareness and give to charity. One such group is Gamers Outreach. These folks go out serve the public on several fronts, Project GO Kart and Fun For Our Troops. If you have a few moments, take a look at these projects and the amazing work they do for not only kids in hospitals but our troops serving down range.

There is an amazing potential for these companies to help those in need, raise awareness and really put a positive shine on gaming as a whole that the non-gaming media loves to villanize so often. They just need to seize that opportunity and run with it.

Except that ASPCA idea...I think I may run with that one....