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Officers' Quarters: Next in command
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Some people became guild leaders because they had a vision for a new type of guild or a new policy. Some just saw a need for better organization among a group of friends and took up the mantle. Some are elected. Some volunteer. Others have the position thrust upon them. Such is the case for the author of this week's email: Hi Scott, I was recently given the GM position by my former GM who also happens to be our raid leader. He's cancelled his subscription as he's not enjoying the game anymore, and left everything to me. His leaving has caused other members to leave as well, for similar reasons. I can't fault them for not wanting to stay if they aren't enjoying the game. I initially feared these people leaving would be the death of both the raid team and the guild (we are small, with few people playing other than to raid), but other members of the guild have stepped up and begun to help with recruiting to replace our missing raiders, and I am very appreciative of their efforts. So my greatest problem at this point is that I never wanted to be GM or raid leader, and now I'm both.
Officers' Quarters: The new burnout
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Mists has delivered new content faster than any WoW expansion to date. The days of waiting six months, eight months, or more between major patches seem like a bad memory now. With patch 5.3 likely to drop in the next few weeks, that will mean we've had an average of one patch about every three months in the wake of 5.0. In years past, officers had to steel their guild for long lulls, which always seemed to land in summertime. They had to make backup plans to account for long absences from players who just couldn't stand to run the same raid one more time. Guilds who couldn't find replacements sometimes found themselves closing shop instead. In 2013, that age seems far behind us. However, the accelerated content has brought with it a new kind of burnout instead, and it's one that officers and raid leaders should keep in mind as we move deeper into Mists.
Breakfast Topic: How do you deal with burnout?
If you've been playing World of Warcraft since launch, that's 8 years of your life you've spent in this crazy shared virtual world Blizzard has created. That's a long time to keep up with any hobby, much less a video game, and plenty of time to run into the dreaded burnout. Not that burnout is a bad thing: sometimes we all need a change of pace or a break to keep even our favorite things fun. So how do you deal with WoW when it just stops being fun? Do you take a break with another game? Catch up with your favorite TV shows on Netflix? Venture out into the non-virtual world for non-virtual time with friends? Read a book? Knit a scarf? And, once you've had time to refresh and recharge, do you find your way back to Azeroth? Or wait for the next patch or expansion?
MMO Burnout: Yucking it up with Saints Row The Third
So how would you feel about running around in an open-world action title smacking enemies with a giant dildo? The answer to that question will go a long way toward determining whether or not you'll dig Saints Row The Third, which is, naturally, the third installment of Volition's sordid sandbox saga. If that question made you laugh, utter some version of "hell yeah," or type "Saints Row 3 dildo" into your Google image search box, you and SRTT will get along famously. If you shifted uncomfortably in your seat, grumbled about kids these days, or fired off a how-dare-you email in the general vicinity of the Massively tip box, well, you can probably skip the rest of this week's MMO Burnout.
MMO Burnout: Do yourself a favor and play Sleeping Dogs
This week I thought I'd travel to Hong Kong as an undercover cop, infiltrate the Triads, enter a few street races, sing some karaoke, and generally kung fu fight my way through another jewel of an open-world sandbox actioner. You're welcome to come with me, but you'll need a copy of Sleeping Dogs to make it happen. Square's 2012 gangster opus got a new DLC injection this week, but it'll be a while before I can report on it since the rest of game is so large and involving.
MMO Burnout: Second time's the charm for L.A. Noire
I don't know about you, but I really wanted to like L.A. Noire at release. I mean, come on. It was Rockstar. It was also a gigantic open playfield based on the 1947 incarnation of a real-life town that's spilling over with sordid, sultry characters all looking to make their mark on post-World War II America. Alas, something about the title just didn't jell with me at launch. In fact, I didn't even finish the original campaign on my Xbox 360, which is rare when it comes to personal gaming habits. Equally rare is the occasion when I repurchase a game that I didn't really like on a different platform, but that's what I did thanks to yet another ridiculous Steam sale this past December. My second tour of duty as hard-boiled detective Cole Phelps has been decidedly more enjoyable than my first, and while L.A. Noire is still a flawed video game in some respects, it makes for an engaging vacation from massively multiplayer convention while riffing on some of the genre's new-school charms.
MMO Burnout: Skyrim's shortcut to mushrooms
"This is Morrowind, not Skyrim," said a stern-faced Dunmer named Adril Arano as he greeted my ship at the Solstheim docks. And just like that, I felt a flood of 2002-ish nostalgia despite the fact that this is actually Skyrim. More precisely, it's Dragonborn, the new (to the PC) DLC pack that expands Bethesda's already sprawling sandbox opus beyond its Nord roots. I'm guessing that a fair few of you have played at least a portion of the game by this point, and the rest of you are probably wondering why it's being written about on an MMO site. Well, that's not a short answer, but as I'm in the habit of looking at non-MMOs that might appeal to MMO players in this column, it would be woefully incomplete without a few deep dives into The Elder Scrolls.
MMO Burnout: Two weeks in the valley with Multi Theft Auto
OK, you know that guy who's always going on about how bloody awesome it would be if someone ever made a working multiplayer mod for Skyrim? If you don't know him, well, you do now, because he's me. Back before I was bitten in earnest by the MMO bug, I spent quite a lot of time messing with private servers of both the Jedi Academy and Neverwinter Nights persuasions. And when I say "messing with," I don't mean I logged into them, I mean I hosted them, made mods and skins for them, and generally wasted significant portions of my youth serving as a GM. Needless to say, it was a blast, and the thought of having that experience again in a larger game world is just short of orgasmic. Alas, no one has made much of a multiplayer Skyrim mod yet, and while private servers for NWN and Neverwinter Nights 2 are still running and serving their niche communities quite capably, those are topics for another edition of MMO Burnout. I'd like to tell you about something similar that I've been playing lately, though. It's called Multi Theft Auto. %Gallery-177696%
MMO Burnout: A week with id Software's Rage
So I've been dabbing in id Software's RAGE over the last little while. Actually, I'm not sure whether the late-2011 shooter is called RAGE or simply Rage, but either way, it has the worst (or perhaps least descriptive) video game name of all time. Also, yes, I know it's not an MMO. This is MMO Burnout and I thought we were past that already. Anyhow, I'm afraid I'm going to have to recommend the title to burned-out MMO gamers for several reasons. It's quite beautiful, quite fun, and it's the perfect getaway from the typical massively multiplayer grind.%Gallery-176557%
MMO Burnout: Revisiting Gotham City Impostors
Remember that scene in 2008's The Dark Knight where those nerdling Batman-wannabes were running around in imitation capes and cowls shooting at criminals with shotguns? That's pretty much what you get when you log into Gotham City Impostors, Monolith's garish, goofy first-person shooter set against the sprawling backdrop of DC Comics' legendary mythos. And for all you MMO historians in the crowd, yes, that's the same Monolith that originally developed the late, great Matrix Online. %Gallery-174397%
MMO Burnout: Quality time with Guns of Icarus Online
Pardon me for being a fanboy, but I need to get this out of the way up front: Guns of Icarus Online is funking awesome. If you're OK with the fact that I couldn't make it past the 24th word of a 1000-word impressions piece without sharing that little nugget, keep reading and I'll tell you why this indie gem is in fact funking awesome... and why you should give it a whirl.%Gallery-173501%
Where does the pressure lie in healing?
I used to be a healer, once upon a time. It was in the days of vanilla, when being a healer consisted largely of staring at 40 bars, pressing Flash Heal, and occasionally mixing it up with a bubble or Heal Rank 4 while swigging potions like they were going out of style. It was a very different time, and healing was by and large much less complex than it is today. My guild didn't use Vent, so I did all the healing rotation calls via macros on my keyboard -- that's how easy healing was. I had time to press macro buttons and pay attention to calling things. But at some point that guild fell apart, as guilds are wont to do on occasion. And since server transfers weren't even a possibility at that point in time, I simply rolled another character on another server, vowing to take a break from any and all raiding. It lasted until paid server transfers were added as a feature, at which point my priest was promptly moved to my new server and I began healing again -- this time, in battlegrounds. I helped a lot of friends by healing them while they tried their hardest to get High Warlord in the original honor grind. So what happened? Well ... healing happened.
MMO Burnout: A weekend with Just Cause 2 multiplayer
Wait, what the heck is this? MMO Burnout? On an MMO site? Yes, kids, this is the scary part of the story where Massively strays from the straight and narrow, beating a path through the tangled underbrush of pseudo-MMOs and single-player games that are nonetheless related to MMOs by way of a crucial feature or two. If you've been following the site for a while now, you've probably noticed us reaching into the realm of MOBAs, shooters, and mobile/browser titles. MMO Burnout, then, is our latest branching opinion column, and as the title suggests, it's largely concerned with what to play when you tire of gear resets, rep grinds, and being your shard's 3,721st incarnation of "the One." Don't worry, though; we're not delving into Call of Duty or Angry Birds. Burnout will turn its all-seeing eye on RPGs and open-world action games primarily, and we'll do our due diligence when it comes to the PC modding community, too. Speaking of, won't you join us after the cut for a look at the crazy fun to be had on Just Cause 2's multiplayer server? %Gallery-168562%
Chaos Theory: Hitting a wall in The Secret World
I've hit a wall in The Secret World. This has happened at one time or another in every MMO I've ever played save one. It's not quite burnout, but it's a relative once or twice removed. I've heard that some players hit a wall when they reach Blue Mountain, as it's the first zone that exposes poor builds and renders their users unable to progress through the waves of ak'abs and the quests that ramp up the challenge level from Kingsmouth or the Savage Coast. For whatever reason, though, I coasted through Blue Mountain. It's Egypt that has me wandering aimlessly about, scratching my head and wondering what now. It's not even Egypt itself. That's just the zone I happen to find myself in during this mid-game-life crisis. Join me as I attempt to use Chaos Theory to figure out what's wrong and what to do about it.
Need For Speed: Most Wanted gameplay video is in hot pursuit
This gameplay trailer for Need for Speed: Most Wanted shows a full race in which the driver navigates the city of Fairhaven to outpace his opponent (yes, similar to Criterion's Burnout series). Need for Speed: Most Wanted is scheduled to launch October 30 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Max Payne and Burnout Crash hit the iOS App Store
Two high-profile games, one from Rockstar Games and one from Electronics Arts, hit the iOS App Store today. The most anticipated of the two is Max Payne. The third-person shooter was originally created by Remedy Entertainment for the PC, and Rockstar Games then ported it to the major gaming consoles. Now fans of the series can fire up the dark action game on their retina iPad and iPhone. The other major title is Burnout Crash from EA. This is another game in a long-standing series that was originally developed by Criterion Games. The car driving title lets you speed through cities while leaving a wake of destruction in your path. Max Payne Mobile is available for US$2.99, while Burnout Crash will set you back $4.99. Both titles are universal games that'll run on the iPhone and the iPad.
Officers' Quarters: Desperate appointments
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available from No Starch Press. It's certainly no rare situation when a guild leader has to scale back his or her time due to offline obligations. The right thing to do is appoint someone who's willing and able to cover your own slack. But what if that person isn't even an officer? This week, a guild member wonders whether it's time to panic. Hi Scott! Recently I joined a re-roll guild that has been around since the first of January. The premise of the guild is simple: new members can only join with a level one character and must level up within the guild without the help of outside resources. For a while, this worked out well. Everyone became fast friends and the guild grew to be called "the fam." But now we are approaching another month of "re-rolls," and drama has reared its ugly head. Our GL just announced an impending life change and since then he's been markedly absent from our roster. One member posted on our forums noting that activity had declined, and another responded with suggestions on how to improve the current state of affairs. A few of the officers replied agreeing and disagreeing with various points, but the general consensus was that the members were not happy with things as they were. Before I go any farther, it helps to understand the... unique, way in which our officers are appointed.
Officers' Quarters: The importance of finding 'me time'
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available from No Starch Press. Something most nonofficers don't realize is the amount of time that officers spend dealing with guild business when we're otherwise off the clock. Nights with no official events can seem like a great time to log in and enjoy a relaxing solo play session. You plan to work on an alt, level a profession, or earn some achievements. Then a member whispers you about a loot issue, someone else needs a few alts invited, a third member wants to talk strategy for the next raid, and so on. Suddenly your night is gone and you haven't managed to finish anything you actually set out to do -- especially relax. This week, one guild leader wants to know how to carve out some time for herself. Hi Scott, I assumed leadership of our social/casual guild early in the winter, and with the help of two senior officers have resurrected that which was once essentially dead. We have enjoyed the process of breathing life into our little community, and welcomed new guildies with open arms. As the weeks passed interactions between the members increased, guild chat started being used, dungeon runs and retro-raids started happening again, and each week more players entered the fold. Then with the addition of the spouse and friends of one of our guildmates, we embarked on a raiding career. We are now 5/8 DS 10N, and run regularly two or three nights a week. As is so often the case, we now have more DPS that are interested in raiding than spots available, so we have stepped up recruiting to find enough raid-ready people so that we can start a second raid group. I sometimes find this process exciting and rewarding, but more and more I am feeling overwhelmed. In addition to raiding and leading the guild, I am also an extremely serious alto-holic. I love questing. I have all the professions covered (some more than once), and on top of seeking out and collecting all the professional recipes, I also collect mounts and pets. I don't mind putting my responsibilities to the guild and the raid team before my own playtime, but I am finding it harder and harder, with the growth of the guild, to carve out any time for myself.
The Daily Grind: Are you currently on hiatus from MMOs?
Something fascinates me about many of the more vocal commenters on Massively. No matter what game is launching, re-launching, closing, expanding, or going free-to-play, someone usually has to make it known that he doesn't play MMOs at all anymore. The fact that he's still reading about MMOs on Massively is a compliment to us, but I'm always curious about what drove him away from actually playing. So if you're a former MMO player and you still like to keep up with the news, let us know why. What drove you away? What makes you still read about it? Are you holding out for the next big MMO, or is it something more? 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!
The Daily Grind: What's the fastest you've ever burned out on an MMO?
Well, I'm taking what is probably the first of many breaks from The Old Republic. I played heavily over the last week and I managed to get two classes to 20 (and do a good bit of warzone PvP and roleplaying). While I love the class stories, the rest of the game is pretty bare-bones, and I'm returning to greener and more feature-rich pastures. I'm a notorious game-hopper, though, and this isn't so much an indictment of TOR as it is an inevitability. That said, I did tire of BioWare's Star Wars opus sooner than expected, and that leads into today's Daily Grind question. What's the fastest you've ever burned out on an MMO? 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!
