Ask Massively: Transformative edition
Welcome back to another edition of Ask Massively, the column that certainly hasn't been on any sort of hiatus for a little while. No sir. Well, all right, maybe a small one after all. You might notice some small changes with the column, such as the fact that the dashingly handsome Shawn Schuster has handed the reins of questions-and-answers off to the much-less-dashing and notably less-handsome Eliot Lefebvre. But it's still the same high-quality information as ever.
This week has been just a little bit lean, due to the fact that our unannounced hiatus left many readers scratching their heads. But go ahead and jump on past the cut for some pearls of wisdom regarding Global Agenda and Final Fantasy XIV. Next week we're hoping to have a few more questions, so feel free to mail yours along to ask@massively.com or leave them in the comments field!
Scott asks: I am curious why you refer to Global Agenda as an MMOFPS game since the game is not first-person view?
Well, it's one of those situations in which there's just no other option. The game certainly doesn't have a first-person viewport, but it has a variety of firearms, has a strong PvP emphasis, and is a few degrees removed from several genre stalwarts. It isn't PlanetSide, but it's within throwing distance. We'll fudge it just a little bit.
ElZorro asks: I'm wondering if Square-Enix (specifically Final Fantasy XIV) has a North American community manager or if SE has any sort of PR/Marketing apparatus to communicate with us. So far most of the news about their upcoming flagship product has been translated from foreign interviews.
The issue with Square is a natural consequence of simple communication issues. We here at Massively obtained an interview with Hiromichi Tanaka ourselves, but it's difficult to get all of the ideas across in an interview in which each question has to be translated into Japanese, answered in Japanese, and translated back into English. Things get lost in that process.
It's clear that Square is trying to really put a greater emphasis on interaction between the players and the official channels with the player site and its built-in utilities, but we're never going to have the same communication as is enjoyed with other companies. Well, unless we all learn to speak their language.
Looking for some advice on which class is best for soloing in Aion? Not sure who this Raph Koster fellow is? Curious about the release date of NCsoft's newest MMO? You've come to the right place! No one knows MMOs like we do. If there's anything you'd like to know about the MMO genre or the site itself, Ask Massively is here to help every Thursday afternoon. Just ask!
