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The Daily Grind: What have you taken for granted to your detriment?
For better or worse, human beings have a tendency to assume that things will stay more or less the same from day to day. We figure that all else being equal, the electricity will stay on, there will be food in the fridge, and the people we play games with will play fair. But these things aren't natural states -- the electricity goes off if you don't pay for it, the fridge will run out of food as you eat it, and the only way to find out a player is a cheater is to be cheated. MMOs are no different, and with the nature of each game being so mutable, it's very possible that we take something for granted that is easy to lose. You assume that your game's mechanics will stay largely the same until a patch comes along and changes many of them, a la Star Wars Galaxies. You assume that your endgame tank friend will still be in World of Warcraft no matter what, only to find out he doesn't like the latest expansion and is quitting. When have you taken something for granted in a game only to find out you were wrong to do so? Did you think a player wouldn't leave when he eventually did after all? Were you expecting mechanics or classes to remain unchanged when they weren't quite so permanent? Had you counted on having all the time in the world to achieve something only to have the criteria changed or outright removed? 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 stereotypes get your goat within the MMO community?
It's easy to paint every single MMO player with a broad stroke, but the fact of the matter is that we've all got our quirks and our preferences. Even within the larger community we tend to pigeonhole people by their playstyles and games of choice, even though we know those stereotypes aren't accurate. Not everyone who plays World of Warcraft is part of the mass of braying donkeys that passes for a community, not every Second Life player engages in work-unsafe activities while playing, and there are plenty of Darkfall players who would be hard-pressed to survive in a fair PvP matchup. But the stereotypes don't stop with the games you play. There's a long-held assumption that roleplayers can't play the game well, PvPers are antisocial and nasty, and PvE players are only concerned with shiny loot over challenge. We all know the preconceptions, but what ones really bothers you? Which assumptions do you feel are patently false, and which ones seem to hold true from your experience? 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!
Diablo3.com acquired by Blizzard
A few weeks ago, we posted about a countdown on the site that was going towards May 1st, and if you check your calendars, you can see that the day has come, and Diablo3.com is now redirecting to Diablofans.com. There is a post on the site saying that Blizzard contacted the site a few months ago to pick up the domain name, and while the owner (who also runs I-Mockery) wanted it to stay a fan site, he couldn't help but sell to Blizzard. We had speculated that it would mean an official takeover, and while it hasn't actually happened yet (right now the redirect is in place, and we're not sure how long that'll be the case), it looks like we were right.The obvious conclusion here, of course, is that Blizzard is ramping up for a Diablo 3 announcement -- no doubt sweet, sweet candy to the ears of Blizzard fans everywhere. And that's not a huge assumption -- it's been rumored for a while, and what other reason would Blizzard have to start marking their territory? Of course, as the owners of the Diablo trademarks, Blizzard could probably have claimed the domain any time, though from the post on the new site, it sounds like they actually paid money for it -- how much, we're not sure. (they didn't -- see update)At any rate, if you're going to be optimistic about there being a Diablo 3, the new date to mark on your calendars is Saturday, June 28th -- that's the date that the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational starts in Paris. Last year, they used the event to announce Starcraft 2, so who knows -- maybe this year we'll see Deckard Cain in a cinematic saying, "It's about time."Update: Actually, the I-Mockery guys said they gave it to Blizzard for free, just because they were Blizzard fans, which is kind of cool. Also, the redirect will apparently last until June 1st, at which point, Blizzard will take over Diablo3.com. Our guess is that then it'll redirect to Blizzard.com (see diablo.com), at least until an announcement is made.
