WRUP: Front row at the zamboni championships edition

Yes, it's Massively's anniversary, and... wait, what? Darn it, that header was supposed to read "Front row at the Massively anniversary celebration and zamboni championships." Well, at least we can... oh, wait, apparently the zamboni drivers already started. They weren't supposed to go on until after we'd done our thing for the anniversary.

I mean, I'd say something to them, but they've already started. Driving a zamboni is hard work. I think. I've never actually driven a zamboni. Maybe if we're really nice to them they'll let us play around on the zambonis afterwards. Only we shouldn't say it like that, because then they'll think that we think zambonis are just toys. That's insulting to them and us.

Look, let's just move on to WRUP for the moment. There we can all talk about our favorite memories from Massively's five years, and also discuss what we here at the Massively staff will be playing over the weekend. Once the zambonis are done, we can do the full anniversary thing. What does a zamboni championship actually entail, anyway?

@Beau_Hindman: I have no idea what I will be playing this weekend. I'm not even sure what I will be playing for Rise and Shiny next week. Occasionally I run into a wall of coverage, not because I've covered every MMO in existence (not even close), but because I am having a hard time finding one that I have not only not written about yet, but one that has a working website, client, or login page. You'd be surprised at how many broken websites, outdated clients, and dead links are out there. So who knows?

I have a lot of great memories from the last few years here at Massively. Too many to count, really. My favorite general moments are when I write something that is actually not half bad and it gets my point across to people. I think every writer struggles with how to say exactly what they mean in a way that is easy to understand. Thanks to the staff, I've stolen a lot of ideas... I mean, I've become a better writer.

@becripps: No gaming for me this weekend... seriously. Work Saturday with possible work Sunday. It'll be a weekend off gaming for the most part for me.

Certainly has been a chance over the past five years going from a viewer of the site to a guy that gets paid to play video games for a couple hours per week and run his mouth about them.

@nyphur: I'll probably not get much gaming in this weekend, so I may just end up playing with the trading post in Guild Wars 2, the Auction House in Diablo III, and the Jita market in EVE Online. Market trading isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's something that can be done in the background while working on other things, and it's nice to build up some funds for the next time you play properly.

I've been writing for Massively for four and a half years, and a lot has happened in that time. My favourite memories would probably be the investigative journalism I was able to do surrounding Monoclegate last year and helping put together our Redefining MMOs series back in 2009. Much of what we predicted would happen with MMOs has since come true or is only now starting to happen, so it was definitely the right series at the right time.

@PsykopigAU: I'm ducking in and out of Guild Wars 2 and the new Painkiller. My dad is making me play it and I can't escape it.

My story is more a journey, similar to some of the other guys. Going from clueless noobian to a Massively.com reader and then eventually getting the position as a livestreamer. Its been amazing and I love my time at Massively!

@Eliot_Lefebvre: This weekend, I get to briefly pretend once more that I'm a bachelor, which means that I will probably hole up in the office to play games, emerging only for food and to address the needs of my cat. Some Star Wars: The Old Republic will be on the agenda, and some Final Fantasy XIV roleplaying is there. Also, I'd like to do some offline stuff while I have the chance. Maybe finally get around to finishing Metal Gear Solid 4 or something.

I've had some wonderful experiences with my fellow staffers at Massively, with people I've interviewed, with designers who've brought me on tours, even just trying new games. That's not even counting the friends that I've made on the staff or readers that have said spontaneous nice and encouraging words. There's no way I can summarize all my positive memories, but it occasionally dawns on me that I've now been a part of this site for more than half of its existence. I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be working for another year.

@elixabethclaire: I'll be splitting my time between leveling my Necro (now that I have some seriously shiny level 80 gear for her) and getting through some dungeons in the evenings in Guild Wars 2. It's a pretty busy weekend, so I don't anticipate time to branch out to other games.

I'm going on, uh, nine months here? In that time I've been lucky enough to meet up with folks for coverage of two conventions, which I've absolutely loved. I think attending the most recent ArenaNet party at PAX with Matt Daniel (and meeting Rubi, whose shoes I've been struggling to fill, while we were there) is one of the top nerd-culture nights of my life.

@jefreahard: There's a good bit of Assassin's Creed III and The Secret World in my immediate future.

And I don't really have a favorite Massively memory. This is a fun job in almost every respect, and every day I cackle at the fact that I get to wake up and do it again.

@Sypster: I'm hoping to scope out the brand-new expansion dungeon in RIFT at some point this weekend, although I feel an equal pull to my teenage Smuggler in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Chances are I might end up playing Punch Quest on my iPhone instead, however.

So a story about working for Massively. Hm. OK, so when I went to PAX East, I really wanted to be known for working at Massively. All the other outlets, including fan sites, seemed like they had cool t-shirts. However, I was told by Shawn that the t-shirts he had made were given away about a month before I came on staff.

So I made my own. And it was 100% cooler than the old version, because it incorporated lightning bolts and neon colors. 80s Massively is totally tubular, dudes! (OK, it didn't have neon, but I still liked it. And then I wore a jacket over it because Boston is chilly.)

@JayeRnH: No gaming for me this weekend. I'm headed to the beach to help my parents begin to clean up and rebuild. Best wishes to those who were affected by the storm. Hang in there!

As far as my experiences at Massively, I agree with everyone else that this is a great team. People here are really passionate about gaming, and equally passionate about well-written, high quality articles.

Oh, and I saw Justin's t-shirt at PAX. It really was that awesome.

@MikedotFoster: There's a new beercade down the street from me, and that Galaga score is going down. Also on deck: World of Tanks and EVE Online, plus I might just check out the new free-to-play Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I'm new to the staff here, but my favorite memory is definitely landing a slot on the Stream Team. Sometimes I remember randomly that I talk about games for money, and it nearly blows my mind.

@mackeypb: I'm probably going to be playing League of Legends as usual, putting down more Dominion games and winning most of them (yay!). I'm also playing SMITE a bit, as it is pretty cool and a good wind-down game. I actually find SMITE a little easier to play than other MOBA games, so it's nice to play in-between stressful LoL matches.

Most of my good stories about Massively as a whole involve voice chat. Whether it's the podcasts or gaming with voice, the other Massively writers are all very unique characters and add a lot of flavor to the gaming experience. It's always great to sit down and play with them.

@Epykbeard: I finally reached 80 on my Guild Wars 2 Mesmer so now I'm aiming for 100% map completion; I'm only 52% now! I'm sure I'll also dabble in some APB here and there.

I've almost been with Massively since the beginning, so I'm full of great stories from the last five years. I would certainly say my favorite times have always been conventions and hanging out with these wonderful co-workers in person. We have so much fun in our virtual office/chat room every day, but joking around in person is a whole different animal.

@terilynns: Of course I will be participating in the Tribble Test Weekend over at Star Trek Online. I've already had an opportunity to do a few patrol dailies and I'm excited to see what else I can help test for the upcoming Season Seven!

I don't have a single story in particular. I've only been with Massively since last December, but I can say the Massively team makes me laugh (out loud even!) on a daily basis. We may be all over the world but thanks to modern technology I can honestly say the team is one of the nicest I've ever worked with, in any profession.

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!