jerk
Latest
The Daily Grind: Are you an MMO jerk?
I've been doing some auto-fishing in ArcheAge recently, and not an hour goes by without a passing player trying to bump my avatar and disrupt his casting motion. On the one hand it's kind of funny since I'm not AFK and thus am able to immediately continue fishing. On the other hand, I have to wonder about people who go out of their way to screw with someone, especially when there's no benefit to the screwer and there's -- at worst -- a minor inconvenience for the screwee. What say you, Massively readers, are you a jerk in MMOs that allow jerkish behavior? 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: Do you see more saints or jerks in-game?
Well, this will certainly be an extremely subjective topic today, but I say we embrace it! We've all heard and experienced horror stories with players who are extreme jerks in MMOs, from the mouthy trolls in general chat to the scammers out to fleece your hard-earned goods. But are there equal or perhaps greater numbers of generous, kind players whose good deeds don't make the headlines or leave us steaming for hours? Personally, it's really hard to say. The jerks can be really vocal and noticeable, which may make them seem proportionally larger than they really are. The saints can't be doing all sorts of nice things on a one-on-one basis that go virtually unnoticed by others. I see a lot of jerks in PUGs and a lot of saints while leveling in PvE, and I'd like to believe that there are more of the latter than the former. What do you think? 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!
Storyboard: To be the jerk
I've talked many times about the pitfalls of playing a jerk. What I haven't done is mention the benefits of playing one, starting with the fact that playing a jerk can be all kinds of fun. You've got your garden-variety jerks, you've got jerks who are stunningly competent and who treat everyone else as a lesser person because of that, you've got jerks who just don't care about other people, you've got jerks clinging to antiquated beliefs that don't line up with reality... so many jerks, so many ways to make mistakes. But also so many ways to play one correctly. Heck, you can play a character who takes pretty awful actions from time to time without issue -- why not a character for whom "awful" is the default setting? There has to be a way to make a jerk who works, right? The answer is yes, most definitely. Jerks are playable. But you have to be a bit more careful about it because as I've mentioned in previous weeks, if your first impression is "pointless jerk," no one will want to hang out with you. So let's talk about playing one in such a way that your character comes across correctly while still being worth a closer look.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Making League of Legends a better place
It's no surprised that League of Legends has a very caustic community. Players on messageboards all over the internet (including our comments section) can attest to the fact that LoL's community leaves a lot to be desired. Unfriendly players and offensive language are the norm, and these bad attitudes keep many summoners from logging in. Riot hasn't let the issue lie, though. The Tribunal was a good first step toward building a better community, and if reports are to be believed, it does a fairly good job. However, simply punishing players doesn't encourage good behavior. That's where the latest effort, the Honor system, comes into play. Honor allows players to give positive feedback to friendly or supportive players, either friend or foe. Gaining honor alerts a player of his or her good behavior, and Riot has hinted that it may be the basis of future rewards. Is it a good step in the right direction, or will it just encourage "honor trading?"
Verizon to its smartphones: thou shalt have no other app store before mine
Verizon's getting very keen on entering the app store industry, but not without some rough decrees to its smartphone partners. According to GigaOm, VP Partner Management Ryan Hughes said in an interview Friday that its shop will house content from all the major platforms under one roof, with purchases being billed through the customer's Verizon account and not requiring a separate signup / credit card entry. Convenient for consumers, and devs are also being promised a more streamlined approval process and a "competitive" revenue-sharing program, but here's where things take a turn for the worse: according to Hughes, non-VZW app stores like BlackBerry App World or Windows Mobile Marketplace won't be bundled with the smartphones out of the box, meaning consumers will have to take the initiative to download those portals for themselves. An incredibly jerk move, and an extra burden on developers who'll be having to submit two approval applications if they want inclusion on Verizon's own store. Of course, that large subscriber base is the reason it can get away with it, but let's hope we hear some better justifications other than "because we can" when the full details are rolled out at the Verizon Developer Community Conference on July 28th.
Guildwatch: Ninja tested, GM approved
This isn't guild drama, but what a move -- Kokor of Draka convinced a PuG to help him through a second run of Gun'drak just so he could ding level 80. And take a guess what he did as soon as he dinged -- yup, split off to Naxx, leaving the PuG, who'd just helped him level the last few points, in the lurch. The jerk store called, and they just ran out of Kokor.More stories of drama in this week's Guildwatch below, including a prodigal son that isn't so welcome. Plus, we've got downed and recruiting news from around the realms -- if you want to know what the guilds are up to on your server, it's in here. And don't forget, send your tips on drama, downed and recruiting news to wowguildwatch@gmail.com, and you'll see them right here in the future.
Player vs. Everything: Playing with your friends
Players often venture into the wilderness of online games alone and friendless, seeking out allies in the worlds they inhabit and making friends as they go along. Some games are better at encouraging players to work together than others, too. You're not going to last very long playing by yourself in games like EverQuest or EVE Online, so you have to go looking for people to play with. On the other hand, in games like World of Warcraft you can start at the first level and get to level 70 without ever talking to another human being (it's even easier if you're a Hunter). Regardless of whether your particular game of choice forces you to find friends, many people like to have friends to play with anyway. Even if you don't need them, it's kind of the point of online games to play with other people. Right? That's why some people roll into these games with a ready-made posse. Maybe it's a group of real-life friends that want to play together online, or maybe it's a guild composed of players that you met in a previous game and you'd all like to try something different together. Either way, it's pretty nice to be able to work with a group of people you already know, trust, and like. You don't have to hope that the fickle hand of fate will deliver good PuGs to you (we all know how rare those are), and you don't have to worry about trying to find a new group of people who you can relate to in a sea of anonymous faces (many of whom will have value systems, expectations, and maturity levels that will be different than yours). Is it possible you're missing out on something by bringing your own people in, though? If so, do you care?
Getting water from a mage
Wondering why that Mage you asked for water yelled at you and then ignored you? Or why the Mage you were begging for a portal to Stormwind sent you all the way out to Darnassus? Briltur has the guide for you: How to ask a Mage for water.Basically, it all boils down to "Don't be a jerk," which, frankly, is something you're either already doing, or you probably won't ever do anyway. I usually don't bug Mages for water-- it's cheap to buy, and it's not really worth the hassle. Most Mages have already had bad experiences with random people begging them for stuff, and even if you ask nicely, it isn't usually service with a smile.The exception, of course, is instances-- if I'm in an instance with a Mage, I don't expect to be drinking my own water. Yes, I'm nice about asking for it, and yes, I'll wait if you're busy doing something else, but just as my class role as a resto Shaman is to heal when you all get hurt, your class role as a Mage is to give me water. Portals I'm not as concerned about (I've got two hearthstones, after all), but on the other hand, most Mages I'm with are happy to throw up a portal anyway, and usually do so without asking.My guess is probably that anyone who really needs to read this guide isn't reading this site anyway, but at least you've seen it-- if you're a Mage, or see one getting pestered, now you'll know where to send the jerks.
