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The Daily Grind: Do you appreciate environmental hazards?
Whenever I find lava in an MMO zone, my first instinct -- as in real life -- is to jump right into it and see if it will hurt me. If it does, then I die horribly while giving a salute to the developers for caring enough to make such a hazard more than a cosmetic visual. That's not to say that I always appreciate how virtual nature might trip me up, slow me down, obscure my vision, or outright kill me. But even as I grouse about it in chat, I realize that for me it's an essential part of feeling as if the world is believable and not merely a stage set. From lightning to blizzards to lava flows to poisonous swamps, do you appreciate environmental hazards? Are they important even if you don't like them? 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: Which game world do you love the best?
The game world can be a magical, wondrous place, and it can be a mechanical, sterile gaming experience. The difference between the two types is both subtle and clearly apparent for me. I've been in MMOs where the world is just a stage where props have been thrown around to provide a basic, expected setting. I've also been in MMOs where the world honestly comes alive to me through the shared imaginations of myself and the developers. So I have a simple dare when I log into a game: Make me fall in love with your world. Enchant me. Come alive to me. Be more than a winter zone stitched together with a lava zone, and exude a history and continuity that helps me believe that this could be a place where people actually lived. Of all of the game worlds you've experienced, which do you love the best and why? 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!
