WRUP: Ice planet edition

Are you telling a science fiction story? If so, have you properly considered your ice planet just yet? Every science fiction story needs an ice planet. For some reason, you can take or leave every other kind of planet, but there must always be a planet covered in ice. This ice also must be inhospitable except for a couple of huge nasty things that live there somehow. Maybe they eat the ice. Or the cold. Or confused Canadian hikers. The point is, ice planet.

Are you looking to find out what the Massively staff is up to this weekend? If so, have you properly considered reading this week's installment of WRUP? Every installment tells you what the staff will be up to over the weekend, and this specific one talks about what we thought of this year's E3 offerings. Click on past the break to read all about us, and let us know what you'll be up to in the comments.

@Beau_Hindman: I will be playing Illarion, a tiny free-to-play MMO that forces roleplay in more ways than one. It's interesting so far. I'll hopefully be getting some more time in Gemstone IV, and although I wanted to check on my years-old level 70 Tauren in World of Warcraft, I cannot get the game to install on any of the five PCs in my house. I've tried everything, and it won't work.

I didn't hear much about the games I really love coming from E3, but that's common. The Lord of the Rings Online expansion looked neat, though, and ArcheAge seems promising. Maybe it's just me, but I try to wait on judging something until I get it in my hands.

@nbrianna: I'm still winding my slowbie way through Diablo III, though I've been eyeing City of Heroes again more seriously, and last week I picked up Dungeons of Dredmor, which is using the deadly weapon of snarky humor to coax me to play it.

PlanetSide 2 is amazing, of course... if it's your thing. It's not my thing, so I'm going with Neverwinter, though I'm really impressed by RIFT's Storm Legion. I'm reserving judgment on The Elder Scrolls Online until ZeniMax gives actual MMO sites something tangible to chew on. Also: Yay, ArcheAge is coming to the US! Someday!

It's TERA time, all right. I'm going to be doing something a little different this time around, but you'll all have to tune in to Wednesday's installment of Choose My Adventure to find out about it. Other than that, the E3 news about Final Fantasy XIV is spurring me forward, and I'd love to find the time for City of Heroes.

Do I need to say that I was excited about Final Fantasy XIV? Of course not. But Neverwinter once again grabbed my attention. I need to be playing that, like, yesterday. Most of the non-MMO portion of the show sort of slipped under my radar, though.

@elixabethclaire: There's a Guild Wars 2 beta this weekend, so you know where I'll be! After that, there's always time for more D3.

I've been excited about PlanetSide 2 for quite a while, so I've been happy to see it holding its own at the show. That said, the game I'm most interested in coming away from E3 is definitely Watch Dogs. I'll be keeping an eager eye on that 'un.

I'll probably manage some Age of Conan this weekend, and RIFT is looking more interesting with the recent expansion pack announcement.

Best of E3 for me was PlanetSide 2, but to be fair I knew that was going to be the case before I went. Best non-PS2 of E3 was probably Neverwinter.

@Jeremy_Stratton: I know I'll be playing some Guild Wars 2. For all the criticism I'm throwing at it, this predominantly non-PvPer is quite taken by World vs. World... vs. World.

Massively announced it before it was at E3, but I really like the look of SOEmote. I think it's going to be one metric ton of fun. While I felt it didn't need the raw brutality or language to still pull off an intelligently refined and immersive story, I was impressed by The Last of Us. Although it's the subtle ways in which the characters interacted with the world around them that had me smiling; I could care less about the reactive AI. I also thought Watch Dogs and Beyond: Two Souls looked neat.

@Sypster: I'll be settling down with a healthy cocktail of RIFT and Lord of the Rings Online this weekend, unless of course there's something else going on. What? What's that you say? Guild Wars 2 beta? Eh, wake me up for launch.

I don't really have a best-in-show for E3. It was certainly nice hearing about some of the expansions, but I was very disappointed that SOE didn't talk about EverQuest Next. Time to pull the trigger on that one, boys.

@Epykbeard: I'll be playing some Guild Wars 2 during the beta weekend and continuing to die a lot in APB: Reloaded. I'm trying to get some friends together to start a new themed clan in APB. We're thinking of naming ourselves after where-are-they-now child stars from the '80s. It should be fun!

As for my personal E3 best-in-show, I'd say PlanetSide 2. I'm so jealous that Jef got to play it, and I can't wait to drool over it myself one day.

@terilynns: I'll be in Star Trek Online, of course. However, I'm going to be hooking up with a friend or two and re-establishing a character in Champions Online.

I used to attend E3 eons ago when I worked in LA and the con still allowed the general public to attend. Now that I live elsewhere, I still set aside time in my day to watch the coverage. Personally I was most taken by Ubisoft's presentation, especially Watch Dogs. I'm also intrigued by the new Assassin's Creed games, although I wish the game with the female protagonist wasn't limited to just the PlayStation Vita; I would have bought that one for my PS3 for myself. Sigh. Their loss.

At the start of every weekend, we catch up with the Massively staff members and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" (Otherwise known as: WRUP!) Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game -- and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!