motivation
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The Rock wants you to wake up and smell what he's cookin'
It can be difficult to get up and going in the morning, especially on Mondays. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has no trouble in the motivation department, and the actor/pro wrestler is looking to lend a hand with your morning routine. The Rock Clock is an alarm app that allows you to input goals you're working to achieve so you can wake up with some motivation from The Rock himself. There's over 20 alarms too choose from, ranging from the sound of a chain saw to songs and regular clock sounds voiced by Johnson.
EVE Evolved: Designing EVE Onland, part 1
When I'm not playing or writing about EVE Online, I can usually be found huddled over my computer typing lines of code into a compiler and chipping away at bugs that make varying degrees of sense. Designing my own hardcore space game is a really fun challenge and very fulfilling work, but I have a dirty little game dev secret: I've actually always wanted to make a fantasy game. While the budget and personnel required to take on a project the scale of an MMO remain quite far outside my grasp for the moment, it's still fun to think about how I might design such a game if the opportunity arose. The MMO genre seems to be heading for a sandbox revolution this year, and there's no bigger sandbox than EVE Online, but could all of EVE's gameplay translate to a fantasy game? EVE is probably the most atypical MMO out there, maintaining a subscription-based single-shard PvP sandbox in a genre that's typically headed in the exact opposite direction. There are several new sci-fi sandboxes on the way that may or may not qualify as massively multiplayer titles, but the vast majority of MMO gamers still prefer to keep their feet on the ground in fantasy lands. I often find myself wondering how much of EVE Online's core gameplay is possible only because of its setting -- and how much could actually be applied to a fantasy MMO. Not only should it be possible to adapt most of what makes EVE great to a modern land-based game, but many of the mechanics sandbox gamers now attribute almost solely to EVE actually started life in classic fantasy MMOs like Ultima Online. In this week's unusual EVE Evolved, I'd like to start a game design thought experiment as I delve into the hypothetical world of EVE Onland.
The Soapbox: What's my motivation?
If you play MMOs, odds are good that you're familiar with the classic "kill ten rats" quest trope. Kill quests are one of the most fundamental elements of traditional MMORPG design, and a great deal of modern and classic MMOs would have little to no content without them. Whether it's ten rats, ten wolves, ten bandits, or ten dragons, the basic gist of the quest is always the same: You, the seasoned adventurer, must eliminate animals or enemies for an NPC who for one reason or another cannot handle the task himself. MMOs are built on combat. It's difficult to design a full-featured MMO that engages players for years on end without some sort of PvE killing content; only a handful of MMOs have even attempted it. And while some would say the days of the kill quest are coming to an end, modern MMOs certainly aren't cutting back on killing in general. As a primary mechanic for advancing a character, slaying seems to be the most popular design choice. I don't have a problem with the bulk of my progression coming from throwing fireballs or bashing shields. I don't mind obliterating monsters in multiples of five. What I do mind, however, is being asked to kill without a good reason.
The Daily Grind: Which games make you feel lost without a guild?
There are games I will play happily without a proper guild. I'll happily tool around in Star Wars: The Old Republic or Final Fantasy XIV when I'm between groups, after the old one fades away or doesn't work out for my playstyle. But I'm finding there are other games where the loss of a guild just kills my enthusiasm. There's no reason why I should suddenly stop feeling a push to move forward in Guild Wars 2 without a guild, but that's what happens. For some people, not having a group for endgame content is a dealbreaker, but sometimes it's nothing so transparent. You find that you just prefer having a guild around for roleplaying or chatting or PvP or random instance runs or whatever you like. So which games make you feel lost without a guild? A couple of games? Every game? Or do you keep playing even when your guild isn't there any longer? 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: How intense are you when you play?
We all play at different intensity levels. It's human nature. Some of us sit down for a night of dungeons in World of Warcraft and we play primarily to have fun, with no more intensity than we would devote to playing Tetris until the screen fills. Other people sit down for a night of dungeons with an intensity level that rivals Olympic champions, screaming for people to keep moving and running through pulls with elegant efficiency. We all vary a bit from day to day, either pushing harder or relaxing more as circumstances dictate, but we also have a level that we wind up defaulting to when we play our games of choice. So how intense are you when you sit down to your favorite game? Are you more laid-back? Serious while avoiding taskmaster status? Driven to succeed at all costs? Or does it depend a lot based on your nightly activities? 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!
RunKeeper and GymPact want you to get paid for tracking your fitness
Staying motivated to achieve your fitness goals is always difficult. But would you be motivated if someone actually decided to pay you for sticking to those fitness goals? That's the idea behind GymPact, which today announced a partnership with RunKeeper to link the latter company's fitness tracking app to its pay-for-workouts motivational service. The idea behind GymPact is simple. You make a "pact" each week basically setting a monetary amount you'll pay if you don't make your exercise goals. For example, your pact may be to pay $25 if you don't work out five days this week for at least 30 minutes. If you've made or exceeded your goal at the end of the week, you get paid by the money of those who didn't meet their goals. If you decide to sit around and watch TV every night instead of working out, you are out $25. How does RunKeeper come into this? There's now a way to link your RunKeeper account with GymPact. If you already use the RunKeeper (free) app to track your physical activity, then you can click on the new RunKeeper button in the free GymPact app to link the two accounts. RunKeeper activities that count towards your GymPact include any runs, walks or bike rides that are tracked by RunKeeper's GPS and include a minimum of 1/2 mile distance and 30 minutes of activity with a pace above 2 miles per hour. GymPact is a unique way of staying motivated to keep active, and the integration with the very popular RunKeeper app makes a lot of sense.
Storyboard: Why roleplaying is worth the trouble
Why bother roleplaying? I've covered a lot of topics in this column that circle around that topic. I've talked about why roleplaying is important and how you can roleplay without tears, but I've never touched the central question, something that was brought to mind recently by a fellow Massively writer. Why even bother with roleplaying? The usual answer is a shrug and a self-evident "because it's fun," but that's more a dismissal of the question than a functional response. That's not a good thing because there's a case to be made against roleplaying. Your character doesn't have an impact on the game world. Your roleplaying is, in the context of the game itself, irrelevant. The game doesn't care why your character wears weaker gear than normal; it just downgrades your stats and makes your life harder. You derive no benefit and wind up losing a lot of time for social interactions that are prone to drama and arguments. So why bother?
Storybricks video reveals UI, gameplay, zombified NPC
Back in January, Namaste Entertainment released its second video dev diary for Storybricks. Prior to that, company representatives drip-fed information to the press and convention-goers relative to the new title's story-based sandbox and its unique approach to both NPC and quest design. Today we get to actually see the game in action courtesy of the newest video dev diary. Storybricks CEO Rodolfo Rosini walks us through eight minutes of gameplay, complete with a look at the UI, a small story instance, and some of the options available for customizing NPC action and motivation. Storybricks looks to break the traditional kill-10-rats MMO quest paradigm. The video clip shows us how with multiple NPC actions, behaviors, and customizable flavor text (not to mention a zombie ability, which Rosini describes as "very important."). He also says the footage is "pre-pre-alpha," but it's pretty exciting nonetheless. See for yourself after the break. [Thanks to John for the tip!]
Does a video game have to force us to make good choices?
Take a moment and picture this: There's a politician out there, a pretty sleazy politician, who is basically in a position of power to use that power to do whatever suits him or her best -- no regard for anyone that voted him into office, no real sense of caring for those he is supposedly serving. One day, someone comes up to that politician and says, "Hey man, I'll give you $3 million if you start taking an interest in your constituents and doing what is best for them, OK?" The politician agrees, takes the money, and promptly starts doing the right thing. Is that politician in the wrong? Or is that politician simply learning that if he behaves badly, he'll get a bribe to start behaving correctly? What's to stop him from behaving badly again, if he thinks he's going to get another $3 million out of the deal? More importantly, if all the other politicians out there see this guy get a bribe to behave like a decent politician and all of those politicians decide to start behaving badly in an effort to get that bribe for themselves, are they in the wrong?
Storyboard: Motivational seekers
Every character has a reason for adventuring. Call it what you will, depending on setting, but there's always a reason you're out in the midst of danger rather than sitting back at home with a nice cup of tea, even if that reason is "home isn't an option any longer." Motivation is one of the big elements informing the entire archetype discussion series of columns -- it's all about why a given character would do one thing and not another. Of course, the game itself doesn't have any way of integrating that motivation. Much like the issues with lore, the problems of reconciling a game's stated motivation with your character's actual motivation can be pretty thorny. Especially in this day and age of quest hubs and heavy storylines, it can sometimes feel like all the efforts to draw you into the game world are pretty severely curtailing your ability to enjoy it. After all, you've envisioned a set of reasons for your character's actions already, and by all accounts she shouldn't even be talking to a questgiver -- except that said questgiver is the only way she's going to keep advancing in the game.
EVE Evolved: Corporate benefits and new players
In a recent article, I explored the effect that power players have on EVE Online's subscription retention. In particular, I suggested that CCP has stopped developing features with EVE's power players in mind and that this could be the cause of a worrying downward trend in new player retention. It's the responsibility of corp leaders and organisers to give players a place in EVE, to provide them with something to do and to instill them with the ambition to continue playing in the long term. I believe that CCP has let those organisers and leaders down by failing to provide the updated tools necessary to give players a purposeful place in the universe or give them a good start to the game. A similar issue I've touched on before is the importance of corporate goals in EVE. I've always been amazed at the willingness of EVE players to donate their time and effort to achieve a collective goal rather than a personal one. People are far more likely to join a corporate mining op, for example, if the proceeds will be donated to the corp funds or the minerals will be used in a corp production scheme. Similarly, I've found players to be much more enthusiastic about a mission night or wormhole op if the intent is to fund the production of a corp capital ship or the purchase of starbase fuel. With CCP's summer focus aimed at helping new players get into good corporations, this week's opinion-filled EVE Evolved examines some of the developments necessary to make that goal possible.
Buff(ing) For BlizzCon: The final countdown!
Buff(ing) for BlizzCon is a bi-weekly fitness series written by ShrinkGeek authors Rafe Brox and Michael McGreevy. Join the WoW Insider team in getting in shape for the ultimate WoW geek event: BlizzCon 2010. BlizzCon is just over a month away, and in a few weeks, we'll be checking in with the folks here to see how well they managed to conquer their personal health and fitness goals for the big event. Obviously, we aren't going to be able to do the same for all of you who have been playing along at home, but we certainly hope that you've managed to keep focused and have made some changes that have had a positive impact on your life. But what if you haven't? The reality is that it's very easy to get excited about making positive changes, but it's another thing entirely to actually tough it out and make those changes permanent. Excitement wanes. Reality is a harsh mistress, and all of that extra energy you found to stop at the gym on the way home from work is harder to come across after the first few weeks. What was once fun can become a chore, and we all know that chores are easy to put aside if you aren't in the right mindset to do them. While you may have thought our Buffing For BlizzCon challenge was a neat idea at the beginning, it's quite possible that you have slipped a bit since we initially started the series. That's OK. Really. In fact, it's pretty normal. It does not, however, mean that you are a failure. Far from it.
Buff(ing) for BlizzCon: Programming for dummies
Buff(ing) for BlizzCon is a bi-weekly fitness series written by ShrinkGeek authors Rafe Brox and Michael McGreevy. Join the WoW.com team in getting in shape for the ultimate WoW geek event: BlizzCon. From the comments and discussion after the last installment of Buff(ing) for BlizzCon, we learned that reader Saitenyo has combined a laptop with an exercise bike so she can get her exercise and WoW fix at the same time. Sweet! Settle down, everybody, I'm not going to bust out something like COBOL, or even worse, FORTRAN (which during my one programming class in college, I got a D in). Rather, this goes out to the folks who are ready to take things to the next level and are thinking about coming up with their own workout plan and strategy. Much like developing a character spec or laying out the route for a road trip, it's often best to approach things from the far end and work your way back to where you are now, so you know both where you want to end up and how to get there. As the man behind the Jabberwock (no, not American McGee) said, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there."
Buff(ing) for BlizzCon: It begins
This is a guest post written by ShrinkGeek contributor Rafe Brox. Get in shape in time for BlizzCon along with the WoW.com crew! If there's one thing that Blizzard does well, it's build anticipation for upcoming events. And, other than the release of upcoming expansions, nothing gets players going like BlizzCon itself. With it being six months away, it's certainly not too early to begin thinking about going, but that brings with it logistical and social considerations. I'll leave the logistics to someone in the hospitality or travel industry; however, for anyone who wants to make a killer impression on their fellow gamers, this column is for you. Welcome to Buff(ing) for BlizzCon, a bi-weekly guide to getting in shape, brought to you by the fitness freaks at ShrinkGeek. To quote Hanz and Franz, "Vee ahr goink to pahmp joo ahp!" Keen observers of this space may be saying to themselves, "Hey, wait a minute... that sounds a little familiar." You would be absolutely correct. That said, (re-)introductions are probably in order.
EVE Evolved: Motivating the troops
In EVE Online, pilots are encouraged to join player-run corps in order to find a place in the game they can belong and meet like-minded people with similar goals. As the CEO of a small EVE corporation, I've often found the hardest part of running a corp is keeping the members motivated. In a previous article, I gave advice on running a corporation, from details on keeping your assets secure against theft to the different types of operations a corp can go on. Following that, I explored the importance of corporate goals and a few of the things corps routinely work together to achieve. Maintaining motivation is integral to both running corp operations and achieving goals. Demotivated pilots will rarely join in on corp activities and are more likely to leave the corp in search of a better one. This is a particularly big problem in PvP-based organisations like faction warfare corps, pirate squads or territorial alliances. In this short article, I look at four of my favourite ways a corp can motivate their pilots.
EVE Evolved: The importance of corporate goals
When new EVE Online players give up and quit the game, their reasons are usually very similar. A lack of drive to play the game is common, with players logging in only to change skills. Similarly, people complain that the game is boring and isn't really taking them anywhere. Most of these reasons boil down to a basic lack of motivation, purpose and goals. As a sandbox game, EVE doesn't really lead the player anywhere after the tutorials and it can be easy to get lost. This is where the EVE community steps in by providing a whole host of player-run corporations to help pilots find their way in EVE. As a very social game, I don't think EVE truly takes off until you get into a good corporation. In addition to help and advice, a good corp with some solid corporate goals will offer players a sense of purpose and direction that can be hard to find on your own. The opportunity to be a part of something bigger than yourself and accomplish goals you could never hope to on your own can be a great motivator. Whether your corporation's goal is to build a freighter from scratch, run a massive industrial complex, engage in PvP or even lay claim to a system, it stands a much better chance of being achieved when pilots cooperate. In this opinion piece, I show how the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts as I look at a few of the goals corporations commonly work toward as a team.
Philips Activa fitness MP3 player reminds you to move
It's the new year, so what better way for a company to prey upon your insecurities than by offering devices that accessorizes your ambition to really meet your fitness goals this time around. Philips knows this, so it'll be expanding its DirectLife wearable activity monitor to Germany this month and then to the UK a few months later while launching its new Activa personal audio player here at CES. Activa brings along a little trick called TempoMusic; a feature that analyzes your music library to later match songs to your aerobic intensity. That means that Activa can help keep you motivated by shouting out feedback on your progress in addition to words of encouragement while automatically selecting the appropriate music to match the pace of your workout or give you a boost when needed. Later, while cooling down with some cold suds and a delicious slice of warm tobacco pie you can check your progress and caloric burn rate via the bundled PC software. Activa will be available worldwide sometime in April for about $130, suggested.
Earn It Stars: a motivating little app
I came across a very simple little app that I felt would be useful -- at first thought, just for small children, but after thinking about it for awhile, realized that it could be helpful for just about everybody who tends to procrastinate (guilty!), or wants to reinforce or change a behavior. The app is Earn It Stars [iTunes Link] which sells for $.99 US and runs on iPhones and iPod touches with OS 3.0 or better. This app is all about motivation and is really very simple; in this case, that's a good thing. Let's say you want to get your kid to clean her room and no amount of hectoring is getting the job done. Earn It Stars works on a reward basis, which some may call bribery, but I'll just call it positive reinforcement. Negotiate what the pay-off will be and how many times the room will be cleaned before the the prize is awarded. Let's say 20 cleanings before the kid gets to go to the movies to see something that will probably make the parent gag and retch. I'm looking at you, New Moon. The app lets you designate what the task will be and how many times it needs to be done before it pays off. Then each time the room gets checked and you can see that the color of the carpet isn't laundry, someone gets to tap on Star Earned which plays a nice sound and increments the counter. When the counter hits 20, a badge is displayed that says: Earn It Stars. You did it! That's Great!! Enjoy (your) New Moon, or whatever the reward might be. That's about it. It's really nothing more than a fancy looking counter, but sometimes simplicity is a good thing. Having grown children, I know that I could have used this years ago and that it would have worked. It would have eliminated the circuitous discussions based upon: Yes I did. No you didn't, Yes I did. No you didn't etc. Once you get into one of those, getting out is never easy, or fun, and if you don't think that kids like getting stars, ask any first grade teacher. Given the app's meager aspirations, I think it's fine, and the only thing I would add is a big audio flourish when the goal is reached. Earn It Stars can be used for anything and can be used by anyone. Right now, I have it set that if I write 10 posts I get to eat. Simple. TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page.
Breakfast Topic: Finding motivation to level or grind
Arrowd of the US Cairne server has a question: How do you keep leveling without getting bored, abandoning a character, or rerolling? She says that she's had around 14 characters, and she's never managed to stick with one past about level 45. She always gets bored, and she wonders if there is a way to avoid it. Now as I've mentioned before, I've leveled a lot of characters myself, and have a few 70s, but even I can sometimes get a little bit tired of the grind, and sometimes even I need to make up goals to keep myself focused. Sometimes I even need it for my level 70s if I'm running low on gold or raiding supplies. In that way, I can definitely feel where she's coming from, but I do (usually) manage to keep myself motivated. Sometimes, for me, the Motivation is pretty simple. For example, on that Shaman I'm leveling, what keeps me going is the prospect of getting some sweet Dual Wield action going. I'm actually having a lot of fun with her, so I don't need to focus on it too hard, but the idea of imagining her with 2 axes enchanted with Windfury is a mental picture that is too awesome to put into words. I mean, we're talking cover of a Dragonforce album awesome. So now I turn the question over to the rest of you. Whether it be leveling on a lowbie or grinding on a 70, how do you keep yourself motivation when the going gets tough and you get tired out? Is it the promise of a new skill? A new piece of gear? What keeps you charged up and logged in?
Ask WoW Insider: Seeking motivation to level
Welcome to today's edition of Ask WoW Insider, in which we publish your questions for dissection by the peanut gallery -- now with extra snark and commentary by one of our writers. This week JJ writes in:I was wondering if you could give any advice to those who struggle with leveling. I guess you could call me a very casual wow player as I hardly have any time for it.Recently my friend let me look at his level 70 and once I saw those in action, I have a hard time committing to leveling. When I play WoW I generally hang out around cities chilling with the other players. I just can't seem to get myself to level. I get bored very easily and I don't have a very high-level character. My highest is a level 29 hunter on a PvE but i recently rolled a warlock (level 12 -.-).Please explain how you go about leveling. Is there a state of mind that you use to continue?Thanks in advanceJJ
