positivity
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The Daily Grind: Is this a great time to be an MMO fan or what?
I don't often let fly with 200-word odes to positivity, but here lately, news from all around the MMO genre is conspiring to put me in a permanent good mood. Let's see, we've got new, shiny, and feature-rich darlings like WildStar and ArcheAge coming up. We've got some interesting developments in the gameplay department of The Elder Scrolls Online, and we've got a handful of promising indie titles including The Repopulation, Origins of Malu, Camelot Unchained, and others on the horizon. And that's without even mentioning quasi-MMO and Kickstarter king Star Citizen, which has both returned Chris Roberts to the public eye and proven that talented developers can give middlemen the middle finger and interact directly with their customers. So, how about it, Massively readers? Are you down on the MMO genre or do you join me in thinking that this is a great time to be a fan? 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: What's one great thing from every MMO you've played?
In my experience, most projects have at least one redeeming factor to it. Maybe it's not enough to carry the rest of the project's bloated corpse of fail, but it's still there. It can be an idea, a character, a story twist, a name, a setting, or something else. Similarly, with MMOs, I believe that there's at least one great thing in each game. Whether you hated it on sight, fell in love with it, grew to dislike it, or have regularly bashed it in your favorite MMO site's comment sections, if you're honest, you should be able to pinpoint that one thing. Today, I propose an interesting exercise. List all of the MMOs that you have played to any decent length (i.e., more than a one-hour trial), and then share with us one great thing from that game. Was it the graphics, the community, a cool gameplay feature, or another aspect entirely? If you're honest -- and push down that sarcasm that's threatening to bubble up -- I bet you can fill out this list completely. Get to it! 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 MMO features your favorite community?
MMO communities are occasionally viewed as cantankerous, if not downright toxic. If you've played in the genre for any length of time, though, you've probably run across one or two game communities where everything seemed to come together. Folks were pulling in the same direction more often than not, moderators and devs listened to the playerbase, and people were genuinely happy to be playing the game and building relationships both inside and outside of it. For today's Daily Grind, let's accentuate the positive. Which MMO, past or present, boasts your favorite community (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!
The Soapbox: On MMO negativity
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Last week I was given a link to an op-ed piece at Thade's place, and in lieu of posting a comment there, I figured I'd do it on the Soapbox and hopefully generate some discussion (and traffic) for all concerned. In a nutshell, Thade questions whether MMO pundits actually like MMOs, and he comments on a perceived rise in negativity amongst what are assumed to be fans of the genre. I don't know if the blogosphere has taken a turn toward the negative, but if so, there's a pretty simple explanation for it. The games have changed, and the old guard who grew up with MMOs (and are willing/able to devote time to blogging about them) have to try a little bit harder to enjoy themselves as each new title gets further and further from what they like. That's OK, though, and it's also OK -- and even essential -- for the disaffected to speak up.
New EVE dev diary talks PvE content
CCP has fired off another EVE Online press release, this time extolling the virtues of the PvE content coming in the winter expansion. New DED complexes are on the way, as are new bosses, modules, and "more reasons to generate massive explosions in space," according to CCP Affinity. Anomalies will feature increased payouts and more NPCs, and consequently more ISK for the players. Magnometric sites will also see their overall value increase, and CCP is even adding a minimize function for dungeon-related pop-up messages to improve capsuleer quality of life. Read all about it on the official EVE website.
New EVE video takes you behind the core technology curtain
Holy cow, would you believe that CCP has put out another positive press blurb? We know, it shocks us too, and the unfailingly chipper Icelandic development firm is winding down a week full of dev blog updates with a behind-the-scenes look at EVE Online's core technology team. Thankfully there's a video involved, as a text-based behind-the-scenes look would be almost as boring as a New Eden mining run. Also, flying-in-space fans, beware: There are some stretches of the clip that focus on full-body avatars and other "non-essential" gameplay elements. Aside from that, there are bits dealing with ship shadows, readability and usability issues with the star map, and some details on the new open source crash reporting system. Click past the cut for the full clip.
The Anvil of Crom: New AoC devs bringing optimism for the future
Wait a minute. Stop the presses. W. T. F?! Do I detect some optimism here? From the Age of Conan community (and while we're getting all incredulous, from me)? What's next, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, and mass hysteria? As strange as it sounds, I do believe the tide is turning ever so slightly when it comes to Funcom's fantasy MMORPG. Things are, as they say, looking up, in no small part due to some fresh content and the promise of more to come. Join me after the cut for a stroll down why-it's-a-good-time-to-be-an-AoC-fan lane.
The Daily Grind: When has a game made you feel better?
Let's face it, real life has a tendency to throw some pretty nasty curveballs from time to time. Sometimes the negativity just keeps coming, and it feels like all you can do is struggle to keep your head above water for a few days. And then you log in to Guild Wars to find that your friend wants to give you a rare undedicated pet to help you feel better, or you finally reach the next ship tier in Star Trek Online, or you get a lucky night of Incarnate drops in City of Heroes. We talk a lot about the drama and friction in MMOs for understandable reasons, but every now and again the social side of the game is a boon and not a curse. It's not always enough, but a victory in a game can at least help dull the ache when things are going bad, and sometimes it's enough to make your day after all. So when has a game made you feel better? Was it your fellow players, lucky drops, or just a long-awaited milestone that perked you up? 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!
Wings Over Atreia: The positivity column
In the interests of bringing balance to the Force (and reminding ourselves that this is supposed to be fun) we'll use this week's edition of Wings Over Atreia to take a look at Aion's future. In light of recent announcements, you could make the case that it's pretty bright, in fact it may even be bright enough to merit the donning of fashionable eyewear. So, aside from paying tribute to Timbuk3 and aggravating the Debbie Downers in the audience, I feel the need to discuss the recent Aion happenings both here in the west and in Korea. Despite ripping on the game's grind a bit last week, the fact remains that I still enjoy it and it seems like NCsoft has at least turned the ship in the right direction, even if it's still proceeding at a glacial pace. Hit the jump to see what's worth looking forward to.
