devils-advocate
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Free for All: Two weeks on a private Infestation server
I remember when I first laid eyes on Infestation: Survivor Stories. It was GDC Online in 2012, and I did an interview with Alex Josef, Hammperpoint's PR consultant We made a quick trip to the press room, where he popped out a large gaming laptop to show me the game. I was really impressed with how simple its premise was: You're dropped in the middle of the wilderness, there are zombies all around, and you can starve to death. It felt great, as well, sporting realistic lighting effects and systems to simulate hunger, thirst, and sound. So much has happened since that first meeting. I am very, very aware of all of the drama concerning the developers -- the name changes, the patches, the community issues, and so on. I am not writing this to discuss that part of the story. My specific goal over the last couple of weeks was to see whether playing on a private, paid-for server would give me a different experience than Massively's Mike Foster's. During his time with the game at launch he was, to put it mildly, miserable.
On Blizzard and caving
Players complain that dual specs are available only at the highest level, and Blizzard drops them down to level 40 (and removes the reagent, to boot). Engineers complain they don't have a self-buff, and they get one. Hunters are finally getting that last bag back. Even after the Love is in the Air holiday ends, Blizzard decided to nerf the achievement so everyone can get it anyway. And when ghetto hearthing, a much-loved exploit, is removed from the game, Blizzard decides to nerf, of all things, the hearthstone cooldown. Is it just us, or is Blizzard doing a lot of spelunking lately?Not that it bothers us -- most of those changes are welcome. The good thing about Blizzard caving is that at least it'll make somebody happy. But on the other hand (just to play devil's advocate here), this game is great because the devs made it, not because the players did. If Blizzard caves in every time players throw a fit on the forums, won't that hurt the game?It's not happening, says Zarhym. He says the Hearthstone change, as well as presumably all of the other changes above, came about not because of constant pestering of the devs, but because they sat down and made the decision that it was right for the game. He doesn't say they never cave (we can probably all agree that the dual spec at 40 change likely came about from player feedback, even if it was very insightful feedback), but Zarhym says the devs won't move on stands they believe in. Given that patch 3.1 is like an early tax return with all of the bonuses we're getting back, we wonder what exactly those are. Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.
The arguments for power levelling services
The MMOG Philosopher has taken it upon himself to provide a little Devil's Advocacy toward the sometimes controversial subject of paying an outside agency to level up your character. While he's used World of Warcraft as his example, these apply to any MMO where these services are rendered. The actual title of this piece is "Five reasons why using power levelling services shouldn't have to be evil." His 5-point reasons are these: If ya ain't enjoying it, it ain't a game. Power levelling companies gotta play by the rules, too. There's a splinter in my eye - what about the log in your own? Big Blizzard is watching you. The lolcat's in the cradle. Of course, for the full meaning of what these intriguing titles represent, you'll have to read the actual article. We take a hands-off approach here at Massively. The end result is the same: someone is playing that character, grinding it up. If it isn't the person who originated the character, it's their issue -- but it seems a shame to miss out on all that mid-level content.[Thanks, Tim!]
