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The Game Archaeologist: WAR's biggest battle was with itself
Who would have thought that on WAR's fifth anniversary and just days after I dropped a few favorite things about the game, Mythic would be announcing a closure instead of an exciting celebration? While we can all say it that Warhammer Online's upcoming sunset was expected, nobody predicted that the news would go down on its fifth birthday. Maybe someone over there likes order more than chaos and sees a nice symmetry in this. Personally, I think it felt a little bit mean to do that to the remaining community that was patiently sitting there hoping that the studio would toss them even a small bit of recognition. But facts are facts, and after December 18th, the game of public quests, the Tome of Knowledge, "bears, bears, bears," Slayers and Marauders, RvR and scenarios, exploding squigs, and drunken Dwarves will be no more. There are a few months left to experience the game if one so desires, but the end is finally here. It's caused many of us who were invested in the game back in 2008 to take stock of our memories and deal with the last chapter of this strange, wild rollercoaster that started with a strong IP, a studio steeped in PvP MMO development, and a pair of white sunglasses. In the end, WAR's biggest battle was with itself -- and it lost. Today, let's look at the whys, the what ifs, and the community reaction.
Ask Massively: The better to stalk you
Long-time reader and podcast-listener Avaera recently posed a question to the Massively staffers clearly designed to send our egos into the clouds: Is other any chance for Massively itself to somehow integrate the wonderfully reflective and personal blog entries that you and the other writers maintain separately from their paid work? Even a round-up style column of some of the best MMO blog posts of the past week, or on a particular theme, would be fascinating. My first thought was that most of us put most of our work on Massively because if we can get paid to write, we'd be fools not to do so! I didn't think there'd be enough writing material to even justify a roundup, and that's probably true; I update my own ranty blog only every other month, for example. But who's to say blogs are the only interesting thing we do? So I polled all of Massively's staffers about where they write their writings, video their videoings, and tweet their twitterings. If you have a serious urge to stalk us, you're in the right post!
Sony throws down new games, new footage, and the gauntlet at E3 2013
Sony finished day 0 of E3 2013 with a bang, following up on its PlayStation 4 console announcement from earlier this year with some more game teases and reveals, and then laying down one of the most memorable E3 moments ever, with Jack Tretton taking full advantage of the public discontent with Microsoft's Xbox One licensing policies. Here's a post-conference rundown of what exactly took place at the Sony event last night.
Defiance dev blog covers common issues and cheater voyeurism
Defiance executive producer Nathan Richardsson is getting serious today in a very serious blog post uploaded very seriously to the official site, a post that discusses fixes already made and promises even more fixes for some of the problems that have plagued the game since launch. MMO launches typically go about as smooth as a rhino's hindquarters, but it's always good to hear official word that the team is aware and working on the problems. According to the post, the "big team" is working overtime addressing issues like PC server woes, general game server crashes, Xbox problems, and PlayStation 3 client patches. In happier news, the team promises that hackers and cheaters are being taken very, you know, seriously. The blog even admits that some cheaters are allowed to linger in the game for a while so the team can "enjoy" watching the scum. The team is also looking into the Case of the Disappearing Items, although it is admittedly a tough nut to crack. Future blog posts, Richardsson says, will cover player feedback on many of the issues since launch.
Texts From Azeroth
Texts From Last Night (NSFW language warning) isn't exactly a new website, and neither is the idea of taking one of the texts featured there and pairing it with some sort of imagery to add to the hilarity. So really, the appearance of Texts From Azeroth, where selected texts are paired with WoW screenshots, was only a matter of time. I feel compelled to say this again: just assume that nothing beyond either of those links is safe for work. It's better that way. I am almost embarrassed at how entertaining I am finding this blog. At first I saw it and thought, "Oh, this might be amusing" and within ten minutes I was weeping with laughter, linking pictures to Facebook, and trawling the Texts From Last Night page looking for inspiration. Making that header image up there represents a few glorious moments of my life that I can never get back. Oh yes. Cherished readers of WoW Insider, do share in the comments -- which are your personal favorites? I'm quite partial to Garrosh and Kromgar here, for example. If you decide to make your own, link it here, and/or submit it to Texts From Azeroth yourself! Just please include a warning if the subject matter could potentially get someone in trouble. That's all we ask.
Well-known druid blogger Lissanna lowers the boom(kin) on autism research
It's only been a couple of weeks since we reported on the crowdsourcing effort to fund the autism research of well-known Restokin blogger and Blizzard MVP poster Lissanna, aka Dr. Elisabeth Whyte of the Laboratory of Developmental Neuroscience at Penn State. So far, supporters have boosted Dr. Whyte to just over a quarter of her funding goal for the project, which focuses on how children and adolescents with autism understand language and process information from faces (such as recognizing people or understanding emotional expressions). Her goal: designing a video game to help kids with autism improve these skills. How does an MMO-playing grad student transform from anonymous gamer to well-known WoW blogger, Blizzard forum MVP, and Ph.D.-level researcher bringing gamification to the treatment of autism? If you follow the example of this lady: with ease. WoW Insider: One-fourth of your funding already under your belt -- congratulations! Our readers already know that WoW can be beneficial to kids with autism, so it's exciting to hear about a gamification project designed to help kids with autism. Lissanna: Many kids and adults with autism seem to enjoy playing video games. We have some evidence that using fun activities can motivate learning. Our goal is to develop and test the efficacy of an educational game that impacts face processing abilities and social skills. With much of the research focused on important early intervention work, there is a huge gap in the services that individuals with autism can receive when they are older. We think that a sophisticated game can fill the need for social skills services targeting older individuals to help with tasks like preparing them for jobs or developing friendships with their peers.
Breakfast Topic: Do you actively blog about WoW?
As we get closer to the launch of Mists of Pandaria, the information from the beta gets more and more meaningful. Of course, Blizzard can and will make changes at the last minute, but as the summer progresses, so does the relevance of the beta experience. Many beta testers are blogging about their MoP antics and giving their impressions. Quite a few bloggers are still playing their mains and experiencing the game as it is. Some even have a Cataclysm bucket list they are trying to complete in the waning hours of the current content. Their blogs are filled with commentary about what is happening now rather than what will happen. And yes, many bloggers are writing about both current and future Azerothian adventures. As one would expect, a lot of players are taking a hiatus during the pre-expansion lull. And unfortunately, some talented bloggers have given up writing about WoW entirely. My feed reader isn't as busy as it used to be. Are you actively blogging about World of Warcraft? Do you write about other games as well? What kind of content do you have on your site (art, fiction, commentary, etc.)? If you don't blog, what other active blogs other than WoW Insider do you read? Note: Good posts may be mentioned and linked to on our site. A link to your active blog would help us do that, if that's something you'd like.
Blog Azeroth Shared Topic: What would your character do as a WoW NPC?
Each week, Blog Azeroth posts a Shared Topic, and WoW bloggers link to posts on their blogs responding to the topic. This week's topic: If Blizzard added your main as an NPC in WoW, where would they be located and what would be their function? Give us a shot illustrating the fact. Though Roblinator isn't exactly my main and she's only level 62, she is the guild leader of WoW Insider's It came from the Blog, so I'll use her for this topic. Roblinator the Goblinator would hang out across the way from the bar in the Goblin Slums. They have been saving a place for her, complete with libations! Please ignore the laundry. It's the neighbor's.
The Game Archaeologist: The Anarchy Online bloggers
It's a simple fact of life: Newer MMOs get all the blog love. World of Warcraft and EVE Online, in particular, are lavished with so many dedicated blogs that it's almost embarrassing, while most of the games that we look at in this column are practically ignored. It could just be that blogging didn't really come into vogue when these games came out, but whatever the reason, it's kind of a shame that few if any folks are out there blogging about their in-game experiences in Ultima Online or Asheron's Call. That's why I was utterly surprised to see two brand-new bloggers hit the scene writing about Anarchy Online: Sephora's Closet and Donovan Drones. Both of these blogs came out of a community-wide effort to encourage new game writers in May, and I was so fascinated with their game du jour that I contacted each of them for an interview. What would drive someone to blog about Anarchy Online in 2012? What is there in the game worth writing? How many more words do I need to write until this paragraph doesn't look pathetically skimpy? Come with me and we'll find out!
Face of Mankind rolling out major updates
Face of Mankind has been on the quiet side for a while now, but the game is gearing up for some major mechanical changes. A new developer blog outlines several of the large shifts, starting with several major improvements to the World Takeover system. Players at a high faction rank can take on special contracts to help take out the enemy presence, or they can choose to take part in a more secretive income-siphoning operation to discreetly hurt the enemy. The game is also removing the weight system, the quality levels system, and the factional restrictions on armor and equipment. This also has resulted in a change to the way that armor values are calculated in an effort to make more pieces of armor relevant to gameplay. And that's just the tip of the iceberg; current or potential players would do well to take a look at the full development blog to see all of the changes en route for the game's mechanics. [Source: Nexeon press release]
EVE Evolved: Setting the record straight
On Monday the story broke that EVE Online's new CSM 7 chairman The Mittani said something extremely controversial during the Fanfest alliance panel. The story rapidly spread across the major games industry blogs, and in true telephone-game-style, it got progressively more bizarre with each version. The most disheartening part of it all was the absolute deluge of comments suggesting that the EVE community is made entirely of sociopaths and griefers. If you think that EVE has a poor community, start a trial and ask random people to help you out. You'll be surprised by what I think is the friendliest and most tightly knit MMO community on the planet. Jester's Trek wrote an article attributing part of the whole Fanfest debacle to the various different personas that The Mittani embodies. Jester described how The Mittani wears three hats: EVE spymaster and ruthless Goon leader The Mittani, CSM chairman Mittens, and the real-life person Alex. Jester asserts that these three personas clash terribly and may be incompatible and that the alliance panel talk slip-up was made from the perspective of The Mittani and not his CSM persona. In this week's EVE Evolved opinion piece, I drill down into some of the details of the recent drama, from the proliferation of media coverage to exactly what line was crossed.
WoW bloggers take off and unite with Sixth meme
What's that image above? Why, that's a screenshot of Azshara before the goblins took over, taken for our massive series of Before the Shattering galleries we put together just before Cataclysm launched. It also happens to be the sixth image from the sixth subfolder in my images folder, which leads us to a meme started by Gnomeaggedon from the blog Armageddon's Coming -- a meme that has taken off with alarming speed. The premise is simple: Head into your images folder, select the sixth subfolder, grab the sixth image in the folder, post the image, and select six bloggers to tag for the next part of the meme. Those people post their own sixth images, tag six more bloggers, and so on. Those of you who are skilled at math can already see where this is going.
Fallen Earth developer blog talks territory control and world events
The conversion to free-to-play has gone live, but there are more changes in store for Fallen Earth. A new developer blog entry has just been unveiled, discussing two of the bigger features in store for the game -- world events and territory control. The former will be dynamic content that appears at random, with multiple events able to feed upon one another and create some changing landscapes for players to explore. Territory control, by contrast, will start off in a single region north of Blaine. The region will have a total of 13 different control points for factions to hold, with six of them out in the open and seven in more fortified locations. There will be notable rewards for players holding these objectives, including resource nodes, increased experience gain, and improved death toll. It should certainly lead to some interesting battles in the wasteland as players fight over the region's spoils.
Breakfast Topic: Do you blog about WoW?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Have you ever noticed that a search for tips about WoW brings up about a million blogs on the subject? Blogs can be found on nearly every aspect of WoW -- you can find lore blogs, class blogs, race blogs, profession blogs ... You name it, there's a blog on it. I personally maintained a blog for raiding mages for a while, but I had to let it go when my raiding group went on hiatus and I simply couldn't fit any of the other raiding groups into my schedule. I'd like to get back to it. It was a lot of fun, and I also noticed that since I was trying to pay really close attention to mechanics so that I could pass the information on to other mages, it made me a better raider. My husband currently writes a blog about being a dad who games. I know that there are a bunch of those out there too, but it's fun for him to discuss situations that come up in his daily life with other people who understand completely. What about you? Do you blog about WoW or gaming in general? What's your specific topic of expertise? Do you feel like you have a lot to contribute on the subject? Have you thought about starting a blog but just haven't found your niche yet? Do have any specific blogs about WoW that you really like?
TUAW's Daily iPhone App: Tumblr
Tumblr is, of course, the blogging platform that's taken off lately, featuring an easy way to quickly post a lot of different kinds of media, as well as share it across friends and networks. Tumblr's iPhone app has been serviceable since it came out, but it hasn't always been the best option for posting to the service. Still, a 2.0 complete rewrite has helped a little bit, so if you're a Tumblr user who wants to post more while mobile, it's worth another look. The new update brings a brand new interface to handling multiple blogs, as well as improvements to posting and the main dashboard. You can now read and reply to messages on the service from right in the app, and if you're new to Tumblr, you can sign up right from the iPhone app, too. The service is free, and so the app is too. Power users will probably still find some issues with the app, which makes sense -- posting blog posts from the iPhone is probably never going to be quite as easy as doing it from a PC. But for those times when you're out and about and want to do a quick Tumblr post, the app should serve you just fine.
World of Warcraft bloggers fight back against RIFT
While RIFT is certainly a four-letter word, it's becoming that kind of four-letter word for certain bloggers in the World of Warcraft community. Reala of Click the Lightwell went so far as to whip up a graphical badge certifying WoW blogs as RIFT-free zones in response to the amount of virtual ink devoted to Trion's title on Azeroth-centric websites. "Many of us are experiencing tough times in WoW, we have lost friends, guildies, entire guilds have crumbled and fallen. I don't begrudge RIFT the shelf space, but when there are more RIFT posts on a WoW blog than WoW posts... well... I don't like it," Reala wrote. While we doubt that Blizzard is circling the wagons just yet -- or scheming up ways to fend off the new kid on the block -- the fan community is clearly feeling the heat of what some are calling a sizable migration.
Breakfast Topic: How has reading WoW Insider changed your game experience?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Long, long ago, there was a time when I didn't read WoW Insider. When I started playing the game in vanilla WoW, I didn't read anything -- I didn't even know there were WoW sites on the Internet. I got all of my information by word of mouth, and when someone finally told me about Thottbot, it was a game-changer for me. It wasn't until late BC, however, that I even heard about this blog, and I don't think I read it regularly until Wrath. Keeping track of World of Warcraft news and changes has completely changed how I play the game. Rather than wandering through the world until I come across something interesting, I get a heads-up about new reputation factions, daily quests, mount drops, and craftable items that I can then go searching for. I've learned more about my class, become a better player on my alts, and been assured that it's not just me who hates heroic Grim Batol. I even have an auction addon now, and though I don't play the auctioneer game, I am impressed by those who do. When did you first start reading WoW Insider? Has the game changed for you as a result? What have you learned about here that you never knew before?
The Daily Grind: What MMO would you like to see covered more?
Let's face it: Life isn't fair, and as a result, every MMO in existence doesn't get the same amount of coverage by the press, blogosphere, and fans. Some MMOs are just more popular; some have much better PR reps; and some are simply newer than the rest. Although we at Massively do try to make the rounds to cover as many MMOs as possible, there are always a few titles that seem to get noticed less than others. It's not uncommon for us to hear from fans of a niche title, "Why haven't you talked about GAME X for two years?" It's also not uncommon for many MMOs to simply be so quiet as to negate any news at all. So if wishes granted more coverage -- not just by us, but by everyone -- what MMOs would you love to see get the spotlight more often? Perhaps it's an older title that's limping along with a skeleton dev team or a game that's a little more unconventional than the rest. Sound off: Be the voice that stands up for these MMOs! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Lost Pages of Taborea: Community spotlight
Runes of Magic's second anniversary is not far off now. In the nearly two solid years since the official launch, a thriving gaming community has been cultivated. Within this active community are some talented players who weren't satisfied with just playing RoM. For whatever reasons, these players ventured outside the digital confines of the game to share their talents and their adventures through the land of Taborea. I wanted to highlight a handful of members of this talented community that has evolved around RoM. Some have made outstanding guides, while others have made useful websites or fun blogs. There's a lot of great talent on the official forum and within the addon community, to be sure, but I tried to focus on examples of great forum guides and others who have stepped further away to do their own thing. Click past the break to see if you made the list.
The Road to Mordor: Community check-up
It's a quiet week around these here parts, what with the Thanksgiving holiday in NA and the lull before the November Update hits on the 29th. As such, I thought it'd be a great time to catch up on the current state of the community, especially as we've seen so many new bloggers and sites and podcasts arrive on the scene in the past year. I've always said that Lord of the Rings Online is truly blessed with not just a stellar community but an active one as well. Some MMOs see very little in the way of fan-created sites, keeping most of the community action centered on official forums and the like. However, when it comes to LotRO, we have not only the MyLotro.com blogs set up by Turbine, but a cornucopia of web delights fashioned by hard-working players. So to say "Thanks!" to this wonderful community, today I want to highlight some of the best LotRO resource websites, blogs and podcasts that consistently go above and beyond in making our slice of the MMO landscape a delight to visit.
