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Leaderboard: What changes would bring you back to a previously played MMO?
I just realized something. The original concept for this Leaderboard column hinged on two competing MMO philosophies duking it out. In recent months, though, it's sort of expanded into a more general feature and an excuse to make sure our criminally underused polling software still works. Eh, whatever. Random thoughts of an MMO blogger, I guess. Anyway and on topic, I've been thinking about going back to Age of Conan lately. So far I've managed to talk myself out of it, but yesterday's dev letter and its crafting tidbits piqued my interest. It also got me wondering what exactly the criteria is for returning to a game you've cast aside before. I imagine it's different for everyone, so for today's Leaderboard, tell us what changes -- if any -- would bring you back to an MMO you've heretofore abandoned. Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: What's your favorite FFXIV class or job?
Today's Leaderboard is about Final Fantasy XIV. More specifically, it's about your favorite class/job/collection of skills in FFXIV. Now that I've gone and spoiled the traditional end-of-the-post question, I've still got to come up with another one-and-a-half paragraphs before I invite all of you fine folk to vote after the cut. Or not. Because I've got a lot of fishing to do. Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: Do you make time for MMOs on your vacation?
This week's Leaderboard comes to you live from the middle of my vacation. OK, it's not actually live, but I am AFK in theory. I say in theory because I still managed to play an MMO this week despite my sabbatical from the cushy confines of the Massively yacht. Anyway, enough wordcount filler. Let's talk about your vacation! More specifically, do you make any time to play MMOs or do you disconnect entirely? Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: Which upcoming Korean MMO excites you the most?
There are a lot of interesting Korean MMOs on the horizon. Well, they're interesting to me, at any rate. The problem is, none of them are playable in the West as of yet, even though one of them has a Western publisher and the others publish English-language news semi-regularly. Assuming you are also something of a Korean MMO aficionado, I've put together a poll featuring some of the blockbusters we'll (hopefully) be playing in the near future. Feel free to vote for the one you're most looking forward to, and explain why in the comments. Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: What's your favorite DCUO power set?
DC Universe Online's newest DLC pack came out yesterday, and with it came the game's latest superheroic power set. DCUO's power sets are sorta like classes, though the game also makes use of weapon skills, movement skills, and universal DPS options to differentiate itself from typical class-based MMOs. Still, Fire- and Ice-based heroes are generally tanks, for example, while the new Celestial power set gives fans of healing another option. For today's Leaderboard, tell us which of DCUO's power sets is your favorite. Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: What's your platform of choice for ESO?
The Elder Scrolls Online is coming. It's coming to your PC, and somewhat surprisingly -- to me at least -- it's also coming to your Xbone and your PlayStation 4. I've been a fan of the IP since I played through Morrowind in 2002, but aside from an impulse bargain bin buy of Oblivion for the 360 -- which I'd already beaten on a PC -- I've never really experienced Tamriel on a console. It just seemed like a waste, you know? Some of the most epic moments in my personal Elder Scrolls scrapbook were possible only thanks to community mods, and those are of course impossible sans a PC. Clearly there's a big audience for consolized Elder Scrolls titles, though. And I'm curious if any Massively commenters will be picking up the Elder Scrolls MMO for something other than a PC. Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: Class-based vs. skill-based
RuneScape recently added its 26th skill, Divination, which is old news now but sticks in my mind because for some odd reason I didn't think of RuneScape as being a skill-based MMO. That's probably because I only played it for about 15 minutes circa 2002, though. In any case, skill-based MMOs are rarer in 2013 than they were in 2002. Pitting them against their class-based counterparts might make for an interesting Leaderboard, though. And if not, hey, you can still berate me for the lack of poll choices! Vote after the cut!
Leaderboard: Why do you play MMOs?
Welcome back to Leaderboard, Massively's completely unscientific weekly polling adventure from which no serious conclusions should ever be drawn. With that caveat out of the way, I'd like to examine the readership's reasons for playing MMOs in today's column. Whether you're a fan of immersion, progression, playing with other people, or some other MMO-specific angle that I probably haven't thought of, head past the cut and cast your vote. Be sure to leave a comment detailing your reasons if they aren't listed. Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: What classes do you want in EverQuest Next?
OK, I know what some of you are thinking. That damn Massively! Just milking the heck of out EverQuest Next! And yeah, I guess we kinda are since we've had several SOE Live features, a Daily Grind, and now a Leaderboard focused on SOE's upcoming fantasy sandbox over the past few days. But you know what? We're not apologizing! It's an exciting time to be an EverQuest Next fan, even though we have as many questions as answers after last week's reveal. Speaking of, SOE has thus far mentioned but five of a reported 40-plus classes. We don't know yet if these will be starting classes, advanced classes, or really anything else about them other than that they're called Rogue, Warrior, Tempest, Wizard, and Blademaster. With that said, what other classes or class types would you like to see? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: WildStar vs. The Elder Scrolls Online
We haven't had a knock-down drag-out battle royal between two heavyweight MMOs on Leaderboard in quite a while. And hey, there's no time like the present, amirite? Let's say that in one corner we have WildStar, NCsoft's sci-fantasy darling. And let's say that in the other corner we have The Elder Scrolls Online, ZeniMax's attempt to take the mega-popular single-player RPG series online. Which game do you see being more successful? Which game tickles your fancy the most? In short, WildStar or ESO? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: How excited are you for EverQuest Next?
So, EverQuest Next is a thing. A rapidly approaching thing, given that SOE Live and the sandbox title's world premier is less than a fortnight hence. We can't really tell you what we know about the super sekrit sequel just yet, but we can indulge in a little bit of speculation. Actually, we've been doing that already, and today's Leaderboard is as good a place as any to continue that tradition. So, assuming that EQN follows EverQuest II's lead in deviating substantially from its predecessor, how likely are you to play it? Let's even say, for the sake of argument, that EQN is incredibly different not only from EverQuest and EQII, but from most other MMOs as well. Would you still be itching to play it? How excited are you for EverQuest Next? Vote after the break! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: Which FFXIV race is your favorite?
Final Fantasy XIV is back on my gaming radar here lately, thanks mostly to the positive word-of-mouth surrounding the forthcoming reboot. I played the original version of the game for a month when it launched, and while I didn't stick around, I always meant to check back at some point. I don't remember much about my original character, though, and due to the fact that all of the races are appealing in some way, I'm having a hard time deciding on a main. That's where this week's Leaderboard comes in, as mayhap the Massively commentariat will influence me one way or another when it comes to A Realm Reborn's races. Which FFXIV race is your favorite? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: How do you like your player-generated content?
I'm a big fan of player-generated content. User-authored stuff, when done right, is usually more interesting to me than dev-authored stuff, and my ideal MMO features toolsets built by devs and content built by players. The key phrase is "when done right," though, because to some people, player-generated content means "let me exploit this dungeon maker tool to get to max level as fast as I can, lulz!" And sometimes it means "I think I'll build a Starbucks in the middle of a steampunk fantasy world, lulz!" These are extreme cases, though, as I've played plenty of player-generated dungeons and missions that were designed purely for fun. That's how PGC should be, in my opinion, but this is Leaderboard, and Leaderboard is about your opinion. So, let's hear it! Vote on the usefulness of player-generated content after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: Which game's business model do you like best?
I was doing a little hard drive housecleaning yesterday, and I couldn't help but notice all of the different MMOs currently installed on my gaming machine. With few exceptions, the business models for all these titles are some form of free-to-play, freemium, or weird hybrid that requires a conversion matrix and an advanced STEM degree to decipher. As I was patching -- and, in some cases, uninstalling -- I couldn't help but compare and contrast all the different business model flavors, and I figured that such an exercise would make for a serviceable Leaderboard. So, head past the break to vote for your favorite MMO business model. If yours isn't listed, share it in the comments! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: Which platform would you prefer for The Division?
I'm really conflicted about The Division. On the one hand, it was one of the more interesting MMOish developments that I saw at this year's E3. On the other hand, it's disappointing that Ubisoft initially positioned it as a console-only title. It's also a little off-putting that the company is waffling with a maybe-we-will-and-maybe-we-won't attitude when it comes to bringing the game to the PC. Maybe Ubisoft truly hasn't decided how -- or whether -- to allocate its dev resources to cover multiple platforms. Or maybe it has decided and it's just milking the controversy for PR reasons, but either way it's pretty crappy from a PC customer's perspective. Assuming that The Division does make it to all three major platforms, and assuming you're interested in the title to begin with, which would you prefer to play it on? Vote after the cut!
Leaderboard: Is an MMO's title important to you?
So, EverQuest Next is officially called EverQuest Next. At least until SOE comes to its senses. OK, OK, I'm only half kidding. It's not the worst name ever, but for a game that's already carrying the burden of substantial expectation before it's even been publicly unveiled, EQN seems a little bit vanilla to me. Titles can be important, too, particularly in terms of first impressions and roping in those yummy casuals. So, how about it Massively readers? Is an MMO's title important to you? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: Marvel Heroes' character customization - Good deal or deal-breaker?
Every once in a while I get intrigued by Marvel Heroes, and then I do a bit of research and I remember that it forces me to play as a pre-existing comic book character rather than an avatar of my own creation. I love superhero MMOs, see, but dude, that's a complete deal-breaker. Half the fun of my favorite superhero MMO -- DC Universe Online -- is coming up with both character concepts and superheroic costumes. The other half of the fun is the IP, but that's neither here nor there, at least for this edition of Leaderboard. What about you, Massively voters? Does MH's lack of original avatar options turn you off or is the rest of the game enjoyable enough even with that restriction? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: What's your favorite MMO platform?
OK, this morning's Daily Grind got me thinking about gaming platforms, and given the rising popularity of smart phones, tablets, laptops and possibly even consoles for MMO playing in recent years, a Leaderboard focused on your favorite MMO platform might be a fun exercise. It might also result in PCs winning by a landslide, but hey. Who can tell until we actually do it, right? So, I'll see you in the voting booth after the cut. Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: What kind of crafting do you prefer?
Today I'd like to talk about crafting. I like crafting, hence my wanting to talk about it. You may not like crafting, but don't worry, you'll get a chance to bash it -- or at least make known your displeasure -- in the traditional poll choice after the cut. This poll will be pretty simple, because, hey. It's Memorial Day and I'd rather not be working. So. Do you prefer complex MMO crafting systems where you're actively involved in the fabrication process or do you prefer simpler systems where you combine a couple of items with a button press (or even have an NPC do it for you)? For the special snowflakes who choose the "neither" option, tell us how you'd do crafting differently. Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Leaderboard: Which upcoming fantasy MMO are you looking forward to the most?
Since last week's Leaderboard went over so well, I figured, why not put up another semi-controversial poll in the hopes that fans of the choices I inadvertently leave off will pepper my inbox with hate mail? Snarkiness aside, I am curious to see the results of today's vote, which pits the big three fantasy MMOs releasing over the next year against one another in a grueling duel to the death. The prize? The coveted title of Most Anticipated 2013/14 Fantasy MMO in the Massively Comments Section, which is going to be really hard to cram onto the trophy. In any case, vote for your favorite after the break. Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
