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The Daily Grind: Has an MMO ever implemented your idea?
Earlier this month, Massively's MJ sat down with the City of Steam devs and discovered that you, the Massively readers, had actually influenced one of the game mechanics. Wrote MJ, There is one new feature that was put into game specifically because of Massively fans: jumping! That's right. You made it clear you wanted jumping in game, and the devs listened. Who says you don't have the power to change things? Leaving aside the implication that we spent one of our precious wishes on jumping, I thought this was really cool, and I tried to think of other examples of players coming up with amazing (or not) design ideas that were subsequently implemented in a game. I can think of certain demands that were met in classic MMOs. World of Warcraft is infamous for implementing the most popular player mods as official features, and in more recent news, there are Guild Wars 2's efforts to split reset times for different continents after much player protest. How about you? Has an MMO ever implemented your idea or the ideas of a fellow player? 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!
Daily iPhone App: Sneezies Match is a good idea made better
I know developer Gavin Bowman of Retro Dreamer (co-creator of apps like Velocispider and Duckers, along with artist Craig Sharpe) fairly well, having met up with him at a number of different conferences and events in the past. His studio released a game called Socks a little while ago, which was just a fun, simple puzzle game (meant for kids, really) where you matched socks of similar patterns. "It's fun," I told him after I played that one, "but it needs some more depth -- a real progression system." A little while later, Gavin showed me a new game he was working on that actually used my feedback (which, disclaimer, was freely offered and unsolicited), and this week on the App Store, Retro Dreamer released it as Sneezies Match, which uses the company's "Sneezies" characters in a simple matching puzzle game, similar to Socks, complete with a full power-up and progression system. You play Sneezies Match by dragging around lines of variously colored Sneezies, lining them up so that Sneezies of the same color are adjacent to each other. Once they're all together, you can tap on them, and they'll clear out and drop off into buckets below, scoring points and powering up extra abilities. The game isn't timed at all, which I really like -- instead, you just get a certain number of turns, and the goal is to score as high as possible within the turn limit. Sneezies is colorful and interesting -- there could be a little more depth to it, and it's sometimes annoying to have to re-align a whole structure of Sneezies if you want them to fall in certain powerup buckets down below. There are also ads placed liberally throughout the app, which can be annoying, though you can remove them (or buy more in-app currency) with an in-app purchase. But aside from those issues, Sneezies Match is a lot of addictive fun, and well worth a download. Just personally, it's really exciting for me to see Retro Dreamer taking feedback and doing something fun and new with it. Apps on the App Store are always growing and evolving, of course, but it's very cool to follow the line of a gameplay idea through the course of its evolution.
Storyboard: The RIFT project
The biggest problem with roleplaying in an MMO is that there's a certain amount of enforced stasis. No matter how determined you are to bring about long-term change in your group, there's the simple fact that you generally need to have characters working together and staying alive. Game considerations force you to refrain from anything that would rock the boat too severely. So most main characters have plot armor, most relationships need to stay at a functional professional level, and most villains have to be guest stars. It's a compromise we make so that the game itself remains playable. But what if you didn't have to make that compromise? This isn't a story about RIFT, and it isn't a story about PAX East, but both of those elements come into play because that's how the idea came to me. What would it look like if you had a month during which there were no restrictions on roleplaying? How would things play out if you could feel confident about a month of play that's completely self-contained, with no need to preserve characters any longer than the story required? Would it make roleplaying more interesting, or would nothing change?
Turn your Kinect hack into a startup with Microsoft's Accelerator program
Wanna turn your Kinect hack into, um, money? Microsoft can help you out, now that it's teamed up with TechStars to launch the Kinect Accelerator -- a program designed to turn Kinect-based ideas into real world startups. To participate, innovators must first apply to the Accelerator before the January 25th deadline. Ten applicants will then be accepted to a three-month incubation program, and rewarded with $20,000 in seed money. To participate, however, you'd have to relocate to Seattle for the duration of the program, scheduled to kick off this Spring. Plus, if you manage to bring your company to market, you'll have to set aside a six percent common stock stake for TechStars, which is both funding and spearheading the initiative. For more details on how to apply, hit up the source link below.
iPad rental business is booming in Madrid, Spain
PadInTheCity is a company offering up an intriguing proposition: Rent a 3G iPad while you happen to be touring around the city of Madrid, Spain. I do happen to be traveling to Europe next year, and while I just bought an iPad for myself, I can see the benefit of not only being able to carry an iPad around, but also a 3G iPad already configured to work with the local wireless networks. PadInTheCity charges 25 Euros, or about $35, a day to rent the iPad, and they'll even deliver it to your hotel and pay for all the data you use in the same period. The company is also targeting hotels and events, perhaps renting iPads to conference attendees, or setting them up for hotel guests when they buy certain packages. Each iPad is equipped with a certain number of apps set up for feeding users information about the area, but it's not clear if users can add their own on if needed. It's quite an idea, and apparently business is going great in Madrid so far. Apple has even forwarded a few customers on to the company, and in one or two years, PadInTheCity plans to have outlets in places like London and New York, and hopes to "talk about profits." I don't know yet what my plans are in Europe next year, but if I make my way down to Madrid, maybe I'll check the service out.
Recco claims to provide hyperlocal restaurant savvy
The New York Times recently profiled a new iOS app named Recco. It's yet another social network app, but this time one built around restaurant recommendations. Rather than a service like Yelp, Recco is attempting to be extremely local, picking up restaurant recommendations not from people in your state or city, but from your actual friends and a few food experts. It's an interesting idea, even if the Times' piece makes the app sound just like any other social network startup. The Times actually mentions that Recco only has 2000 users so far, which is adorably tiny in this day and age. Still, if you have a circle of friends out frequenting new restaurants and ready to let you know which ones are the best, Recco seems like it might be an interesting experiment -- it's a virtual replacement for the kind of standard food chatter around town. Recco launched back at SXSW this year, and it's available for free on the App Store right now.
Snapstick could use your iPhone to program your television
The video after the break shows off a product called Snapstick, though there's not actually a product yet, just more of an idea. The idea is that you select a bit of web content (like a YouTube video or Hulu show) on your phone, and then use a flicking motion to send that content up to a bigger screen like your TV. The company is really excited about the 'snapping" motion, but the idea is that you can use your phone to control what's shown on screen, and pull that from anywhere on the web. At this point it's all vaporware, unfortunately -- you'll obviously need something plugged into your television, whether that's an official Snapstick piece of hardware, or something like an Xbox 360 or an Apple TV that's designed to actually show that content off. But however they figure it out, the idea will be that you can use an iPhone app to program and then share web content on your television. Interested? Doesn't seem to me like much more than a glorified web browser, but Snapstick's taking sign-ups for a private beta right now. We'll have to see how this pans out.
Darts from the iPhone to the iPad
This is probably the coolest bit of iOS connectivity I've seen so far. KL Dartboard is an iPad app (for US$3.99) that serves as a virtual board for darts thrown by an app called KL Darts ... for the iPhone. So, the idea is that you buy the iPad app and set it up on the wall, and then you download the free iPhone app and connect the two using Bluetooth. Once the setup is complete, the position that you hold and shake the iPhone in determines where the darts land on the iPad's board. What a weird concept. Unfortunately, it's probably a better idea than it actually is a game; the iPhone app requires OS 4, you've got to have both devices, and the reviews on the iPad app say it doesn't really work that well. It's impossible for the iPad to know "where" the iPhone is, so you don't even need to face the screen to throw the darts correctly. Still, I think we'll see more cross-device interaction like this; Chopper 2 is a game that is due out soon, and it allows you to use your iPhone as a controller for the iPad version. I think there are plenty of possibilities like that for developers to play around with. [via MacStories]
WoW Moviewatch: Confusion
Not every idea or sketch turns into a masterful piece of art. While I'd argue that they still have value, it's just not the way of things that each moment of film is going to turn into brilliance like Citizen Kane or legends like Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter. Sometimes, these metaphorical scraps of film don't make it anywhere but the floor of the editing room. And, like I said, those scraps do have value; there's often neat or fun little bits in there. Machinimator Paus has gathered these pieces together into an overall larger piece of work called Confusion. He's got a couple different things happening in this film, so see if you can't sort out what he's created. This work is influenced by Derren Brown's How to Control the Nation. In case you recognize a bit or two of this piece, but don't recall from where, Paus is the master behind Idea. I still think of Idea as being one of the most original and dinstinctive machinima films I've seen this year, so it's always awesome to see something new from Paus. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
WoW Ratings lets you rate anything in Azeroth
I had an idea like this one -- a site that would allow you to rate anything at all (from a new movie to the casserole your aunt makes), and then let other people share their own opinions about whatever you rated. My idea never got off the ground (standard operating procedure for the idea mill I call my mind), but reader Antoine apparently had the same idea, and built it specifically for the WoW universe. WoW Ratings is kind of a silly site with some interesting outcomes: basically it's a database of everything in the game, from bosses to zones to game features or what have you, and you can come along and rate whatever you want on a scale of 1 to 5. The ratings don't actually mean anything (though Antoine has them listed as qualities from Uncommon up to Legendary), so it's really just a broad temperature-taking of the World (of Warcraft) at large.The most interesting screen is probably the "Best and Worst" screen (which you can reach by clicking on the toolbar at the top of the homepage -- note to Antoine: permalinks are your friend, scale back on the javascript), where, as of this writing, Hakkar the Soulflayer is sitting on top of the heap, and the Voice Chat patch and Darnassus are sitting in the bottom 10. No Fandral Staghelm yet, strangely, but I'm sure things will get shaken up after all you readers head over there (and if the site's a little shaky under the flood of our link, give it time to get back on its feet). Sure, it's a little silly, and it's not so much a "resource" as it is just a free-for-all of player opinions, but it is interesting to see kind of a meta-overview of what players do and don't like. Useless features for the loss, old school raid bosses for the win.
IDEA's Solar lamp glows like a Sputnik heatshield
While the original Sputnik burnt out after only 3 months in orbit, here's an homage that promises to be rather more resilient. IDEA, Japan's answer to you know who, is offering a 30cm tall (11.8-inches) self-sufficient ambient light that pretty much does its own thing. Integrated sensors detect when the light should be on, while inconveniences like power cords and on/off switches are completely done away with. The light's batteries are recharged by the sun at a rate of 2 to 5 hours sunlight for 8 hours operation, while its waterproof design means it can be dumped outside to collect rays during the day and even provide garden lighting at night. It's quirky, to be sure, but the obvious design cues taken from the Russian satellite should make true geeks smile with glee. You can find a gallery of the various color choices courtesy of Engadget Japanese below, and if you're passing by the land of the rising sun later this month you can snap up your very own solar light ball for ¥1575 ($16).[Via Engadget Japanese]
SOE wants to know what you want at Fan Faire
Looks like things over at Sony Online Entertainment are really gearing up for this year's Fan Faire in Las Vegas. Sure, you know something big has to be coming because it's the 10th anniversary of EverQuest this year, but to sweeten the deal SOE is looking for player input. Did you hate that you didn't have enough time for Q&A on your favorite SOE title last year? Would you have preferred to hear John Smedley sing something other than Guns & Roses at karaoke? Did you really enjoy the silly competitions that Brenlo held during dinner? Perhaps you'd like to suggest a whole new panel that they haven't considered doing yet? Whatever your reasons, be sure to pop by the Fan Faire forums and let them know!
Making the Racial traits more individual
Hot on the heels of word about all the new changes to racial abilities in Wrath, reader Mike sent us a suggestion he thought up to give a little twist to racial abilities in game: Blizzard could unlock some of them from a few races, and instead give players the ability to choose a few on a peronal basis -- they could pick and choose certain abilities for their characters to have from the beginning. As in, each ability would get put into a budget, and instead of merely choosing a race, players could then choose one or two skills from the budget to give to their characters. You could end up having a Troll with Escape Artist and Diplomacy, or a Human with Hardiness and Magic resistance.Of course, some abilities are pretty strictly defined by the races themselves, so not everything could be pick and choose -- Gift of the Naaru and Will of the Forsaken would have to stick with Draenei and Undead, respectively (they'd have to stay Racial traits, not personal ones). But abilities like Endurance and Quickness are so insignificant in the bigger picture of things that it would be nice to customize your character a little bit more -- match it up to your style of play rather than just want race you'd like to be. Character creation is quickly becoming the one thing in the game that's stayed exactly the same since launch, and for many reasons, from RP to theorycrafting, players would really get a kick out of customizing their characters that little bit more.As Mike told us, each character has their own personal background and insights, so why shouldn't each individual character have their own personal traits to shine in? It's a little late for Wrath, of course, but it's something to think about in the future -- if Pets get their own choices about their strengths, why shouldn't the different ingame races?
Subsidizing profession progress with guild funds
Lileah over on WoW LJ has an interesting idea that I've never thought of before. Well, her guild does -- she has a question about Illusion Dust, which yes, is hard to find. Usually your best bet is to run through the old level 55-60 instances, so Scholomance, Stratholme, and so on, but your best bet is probably the AH -- lots of people who can craft greens DE those and put the Dust up for sale there. Pricy but probably worth the time you'd spend grinding for them.But the reason she's looking for Illusion Dust is because her guild is paying out a 1,000g bounty to anyone who has two leveled professions by next week. That's a super interesting idea. I'm the kind of player who never seems to find time to level my professions -- I'm too busy killing stuff and leveling and gaining reputation to run around picking up herbs or mining nodes. But 1,000 is a nice prize, and definitely helps pay for not only my time running around, but also the extra costs associated with leveling a profession -- crafting mats and so on.And considering how useful a 375 profession is to the guild, any guild that's raiding at a fairly high level should see benefits come out of having most of the guild crafting endgame items. Very cool idea -- if you have a guild that could use a few more crafters and some gold to spread around, subsidizing profession leveling might be just the ticket.
Iwata and Itoi talk shop over dinner
Perhaps inspired by our recent interview with Starmen.net's Reid Young, Shigesato Itoi, best known in video game communities for his work on EarthBound and the Mother series, posted a few English-translated notes from a conversation he had with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata six months ago over supper.Itoi and Iwata spent a great deal talking about Shigeru Miyamoto, as Japanese developers/designers are wont to do, discussing his belief of ideas being "something which solves multiple issues at once." Though the two chums didn't chat much about past projects or games, there are still ten more portions of the roundtable that Itoi promises to release over the next two weeks. We'll make sure to notify you if we hear of any megatons.
E-rope: saving the planet one socket at a time
As we all know, the biggest problem with conventional power strips are the unconventional plugs with whom the ol' girl mates. These boys come in all sizes and shapes resulting in at least one or two unusable sockets due to overlap. Well no more dear reader, at least not if the 2006 IDEA award winning design concept from the kids over at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute is taken from art to part anytime soon. The E-rope, designed by Chul Min Kang and Sung Hun Lim, is a modular power strip which can be twisted about to better accommodate cable gore with large, bulky plugs. Worried about vampire devices quietly leaching power off the mains? No problem, just give the socket section a 90-degree twist to strangle-off the current. Of course, while you're down there you could just unplug the damn thing but that's just an inconvenient truth, eh?[Via inhabitat]
Braille via SMS: Samsung's Touch Messenger
The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) has just announced their IDEA 2006 awards for excellence in design, and paddle-shaped phones appear to be all the rage this year -- Samsung has been tapped in the "Design Explorations" category with their oddball Touch Messenger device for the blind. Typically, SMS-capable devices for the blind have involved text to speech, which, as IDSA points out, is a bummer for privacy not to mention generally defeating the purpose of text messaging to begin with. No word on production prospects, but IDSA does mention that the Touch Messenger "gives blind users in China an affordable, user-friendly cell phone experience on par with sighted users," so it sounds like we can expect this or a similar device in the pipeline -- at least for China.[Via Telecoms Korea]
