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The Daily Grind: Do alternative server rulesets wreck PvP?
A commenter conversation a while back got me thinking about how server rulesets can make or break the PvP in a game, and not in the way you might expect. I've found that when a game offers separate PvE and PvP servers (be those PvP servers factional or open), the middle-ground players are left without a home. My World of Warcraft guild, for example, was opposed to the idea of a PvE-only server where people could flag but rarely would do so, and so we ended up on a PvP server, where smallfry ganking, rather than the Dark Age of Camelot-esque RvR we'd hoped for, is tediously and irritatingly commonplace. Neither choice is ideal because the populations are split along too sharp a line. In Star Wars Galaxies, by contrast, the servers were PvE with factional-flagging consensual PvP, but because there were no full-PvP servers to bleed away the more hardcore PvPers, the population was mixed, and the PvP situation wound up being far more interesting for more players. PvE gamers who wouldn't dream of flagging for PvP in a game like World of Warcraft would see the Galactic Civil War being waged by PvPers all around them in SWG, and even though they could have stayed safely civillian and free from risk, that visible PvP made them much more likely to jump into PvP themselves willingly -- and isn't that exactly what MMOs should strive for? What do you think -- do alternative rulesets divide playerbases and wreck PvP? Are mixed-use servers a viable way to involve more players consensually in side activities like PvP? 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 your ideal MMO group size?
Massively's commenters got me thinking on MMO group size after an article a few weeks ago about socially soloing in games. Even though I like and support the option to solo in MMOs, my favorite games have actually had very large group sizes, far larger than the now-standard World of Warcraft five. Some newer games cut that down to four! But I really loved classic Star Wars Galaxies' 20-person groups and even City of Heroes' and Guild Wars 1's eight-member parties. Something about throwing a huge swarm of people into a group and going out and just Doing Something really appealed to me in a "the more, the merrier" way, especially when the game scaled to meet our needs rather than tried to mash us into a mold for prefab content. And nothing seems worse than having six guildies online and being forced to leave one behind because parties cap at five bodies. What do you think -- what's your ideal MMO group size? 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 has the best economy?
I'm an incurable trader and merchant, maybe even more than I'm a crafter, so I'm forever droning on about the good ol' days in long-gone sandboxes where players, not raid bosses, delivered all the objects used in the world. Making stuff is great, and lots of MMOs, even themeparks, have that, but I also I like setting up shops, trading on auction halls, finding great deals, and knowing just when to buy low to sell high, which isn't always the type of creative PvP gameplay that modern MMORPGs enable, let alone embrace. But you can't trade in long-gone sandboxes, either, so today I want to tap the collective wisdom of the Massively readers: Which MMO has the most vibrant crafting and trading economy, right now, in a legally playable and living MMO? Specifically, where's the best MMO to truly be a player merchant? 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 important is the setting of your MMOs?
Massively reader dirtyklingon recently wrote to us with an interesting observation. He was surprised at the backlash that was generated when SOE's John Smedley teased a new MMO for Star Wars Galaxies fans but then revealed it would not be Star Wars but a survival-based contemporary sandbox setting -- by most guesses, zombies. I don't think most people really expected Star Wars Galaxies II (or Star Wars at all, for that matter), but I was pretty disappointed. The setting of SWG wasn't essential, but I expected something much closer to it in theme from the new game, something a bit more space cowboyish without the Star Wars name. I'll tolerate a lot of settings to play a good sandbox, but a few are real turn-offs and can actually be dealbreakers. Like, you know, zombies. What about you, Massively crew -- how important is the setting of your MMOs? Can it make or break your experience? 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!
Perfect Ten: My favorite MMO April Fools' pranks of all time
There are two types of people on April 1st: those who are annoyed and indifferent to the tomfoolery going on all around them, and those who gleefully embrace the zany antics and baldfaced lies. For the record, I am of the latter crowd. I love April Fools' Day and the humor and creativity that it inspires. While this day is by no means contained to our neck of the woods, MMOs have a long-running streak of trying to pull the wool over our eyes. I think a good goof has to have several qualities to make it truly memorable. It needs to be original. It needs to be actually amusing, whether or not you "fell for it." And it needs to tweak our expectations and understanding of how MMOs work. Sometimes there are even important ideas that emerge from these jokes that could, indeed, make these titles better. So let's go through my favorite MMO April Fools pranks of all time, as catalogued by yours truly!
The Daily Grind: What would you pay to leave a dying server?
One hundred and thirty-five bucks -- that's what Lord of the Rings Online charges for six character transfer tokens to move your fleet of alts from a dying server to one with a bright future. Nevermind that you weren't the one who turned the server into a ghost town and that it's entirely within a studio's power to make merges happen some way or another; you're the one who foots the bill to escape a dead server. And sometimes that bill is just not worth paying. I admit to shelling out a huge amount of money (a few hundred dollars) to consolidate and transfer my old Star Wars Galaxies accounts and characters, and it was worth every penny because it was my favorite MMO and I played it every single day and needed a vibrant server and economy to have a good time. But when it comes to an MMO I play as casually as Lord of the Rings Online, I have to draw the line. Especially as a crafter, I just won't pay that kind of money (or ask my guildies to do the same) to move my alts, which often means I don't go back at all and the game gets nothing from me. What about you -- what would you pay to leave a dying server? How much do you have to love the game before shelling out for transfers is worth 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!
Jukebox Heroes: Top 40 MMO themes, #20-11
We're growing ever closer to my top picks for MMO theme songs, but we're not quite at the end yet. This week we are on to the third part of our Top 40 MMO main themes countdown. To repeat my self-imposed rules for this list: I limited myself to just one theme from a particular title, even if there were multiple themes in a game. Entries had to be a main theme or the closest equivalent of that; they had to be from MMOs, not from MOBAs; and I had to divorce my weighting of the track itself from the popularity of and my experience with that game. So there were no points added or subtracted based on my love of the game. I'm counting down the best music, period. If you missed earlier parts of this series, check out themes #40-31 and #30-21. Otherwise, hit that continue button and get listening already!
Smedley hints at supposed game for Star Wars Galaxies lovers (yet again)
So what exactly will Sony Online Entertainment's love letter to Star Wars Galaxies fans look like? Who knows? Actually, that's a silly question -- John Smedley knows, and he seems to enjoy teasing people about what the game will contain. A recent pair of tweets from the man promise that players who enjoyed sandbox elements of SWG such as player-run towns and bases might well enjoy the new mystery game. Of course, that could still mean almost anything. Will it still have the same science fiction theme? Will it play like SWG? Is it just DayZ with a different name? Can you really make a bigger sandbox than EverQuest Next Landmark is trying to be? Maybe you could offer up a title? But it's a hint, at least. Hopeful fans can keep their eyes peeled for more in the days to come.
SOE teases picture of mystery sandbox MMO
Behold, ex-Star Wars Galaxies players: This is the first glimpse of the home that SOE is building for you. SOE President John Smedley sent out a pair of pictures on Twitter on January 29th showing screenshots from the unannounced MMO that the studio is creating. The pictures are both of the back of a church or chapel with a fenced-in graveyard next to it. In the second picture, snow is falling. The pictures seem to suggest that the game will take place in a contemporary setting. One of SOE's CMs indicated that these tweets were of the new sandbox MMO described as "dedicated" to SWG players.
Smedley: SOE's new unannounced MMO is dedicated to SWG players
It's been a roller coaster day for fans of SOE and the firm's MMO catalog. Earlier we learned that four of the company's titles, including the flawed but much-loved fantasy title Vanguard -- will be shutting down later this year. CEO John Smedley took to Reddit to answer questions following the announcement, and while it makes for a sobering read if you're a Vanguard, Wizardry Online, Free Realms, or Clone Wars Adventures fan, there was a hopeful nugget buried in there for sandbox lovers and more specifically, fans of Star Wars: Galaxies. "SWG players, our next game (not announced yet) is dedicated to you," Smedley wrote. "Once we launch it... you can come home now."
The Soapbox: MMO 'nostalgia' isn't nostalgia
Here's the Merriam-Webster online dictionary definition of the word nostalgia. nos·tal·gia noun \nä-ˈstal-jə, nə- also nȯ-, nō-; nə-ˈstäl-\ : pleasure and sadness that is caused by remembering something from the past and wishing that you could experience it again 1 : the state of being homesick : homesickness 2 : a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition; also : something that evokes nostalgia And here's where I tell you that nostalgia is the most misused, overused, and overly simplistic word in modern MMO discourse.
Some Assembly Required: Pre-NGE SWG's proper sandbox PvP
A few weeks ago I ranted at indie sandbox devs who continue pumping out poorly conceived FFA PvP games. I didn't have any wordcount left at the end of that novella to propose any solutions, so I'm going to do that today. And hey, it's pretty simple, at least conceptually. All a dev team needs to do is iterate on Star Wars: Galaxies' pre-NGE PvP system.
The Daily Grind: Are player councils a good idea?
Turbine recently announced a new Player Council for Dungeons and Dragons Online. The company previously put together a similar panel for Lord of the Rings Online, but thus far we've not heard much in the way of initiatives or results. Back in the day, Star Wars: Galaxies had its own version of player representation that never seemed to actually accomplish anything. EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management has been meeting for years now, and it's probably the most impactful of the ones listed here, though whether that's due to the actual CSM or the fact that EVE is one of the few MMOs permanently affected by player action is up for debate. The question I'm coming to is this: Do you think player councils are a good idea? Would you like to serve on one? Why or why not? 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!
Jukebox Heroes: Reader request 3
Since it's our very last Jukebox Heroes column of the year on the very last day of the year, I thought it would be most appropriate to open up the reader request lines once again and feature MMO tunes that are your favorites. If you'd like to put in your own request for the next time I run one of these columns, please list your favorite MMO music track in the comments along with an explanation as to what you love about it! So check out what your fellow soundtrackophiles appreciate and stay tuned for a totally rockin' 2014!
One Shots: Get to da Choppa!
"This is the last time I ever got to see my Orc Choppa in game," sent in reader Sean. "Oddly enough, I couldn't get a screenshot of my Order character because even in the final days they didn't take out the faction locking, and so I was locked out for eight hours." It's also the last time that I'll be able to make that awesome Predator pun that you see in the title of this week's column there. Man, with Warhammer Online gone, how will I be able to make my '80s action movie references? I guess I'll just put on a brave face and soldier on, somehow.
The Game Archaeologist: Going forward by looking back at the past
Have you noticed? I'm sure you've noticed. It seems as though ever since this Kickstarter fad flared up, the avalanche of retro-themed game projects has exploded. And it's not just on Kickstarter, either. One of Guild Wars 2's most popular content additions over the past year was a tongue-in-cheek recreation of 8-bit games. And now we've got Trove, which above its controversy is definitely appealing to the glory days of gaming past. The Game Archaeologist has always advocated that the past can influence our present and future in surprising ways. It sometimes irks me that current developers have shown a lot of ignorance for past ideas when coming up with new content, although that irritation has lessened recently now that I'm seeing a growing movement to embrace and incorporate what's come before, both ideologically and aesthetically. So what does the past have to offer the future of MMOs and how can game developers capitalize on it? As usual, I have all of the answers.
Jukebox Heroes: Star Wars Galaxies' soundtrack
Ah, Star Wars Galaxies. Even almost two years after your demise, it doesn't seem possible to shake you loose from our thoughts. Maybe the NGE was a blessing in disguise, a never-depleting power source of rage that will forever give life to your memories. In any case, it's time to talk about the one aspect of the game that was there before SWG was created and will go on indefinitely afterward: the soundtrack. Talking about Star Wars Galaxies' soundtrack puts me in an odd position because a great deal of the OST is lifted directly from John Williams' movie scores. And what hasn't been said about those classics, really? But there are a few tracks here and there that I could pick out as being unique to the game, although the actual composer who did the job escapes my Google Fu. So let's take one last trip to a Galaxies far, far away, shall we?
The Soapbox: Seriously, we have enough fantasy MMOs
Let's play a game. I'm thinking of an MMO that features magic, monsters, humans, and a vast fantasy world full of steamy swamps, grassy plains, and deep, dark dungeons -- can you tell me which MMO it is? If you answered RIFT, you're right. You're also right if you answered TERA. Or World of Warcraft. Or Guild Wars 2. Or Neverwinter. Or... you get the idea. We're people who play MMOs. Our hard drives are practically bulging with games featuring wizards and warriors. We've plunged our swords into millions of orcs and gnolls. We've looted more imaginary copper pieces than anyone could possible imagine. We've even slain so many dragons that you have to wonder why dragons even bother showing up anymore. It's not the gameplay but the setting that can make the whole exercise so soul-crushingly boring.
One Shots: Why you sit
Why you sit? Why you sit when there is so much to be done? Every minute you spend sitting, a thousand NPCs die a gruesome death that could have been prevented by your immortal battle prowess! But you sit. You sit and you admire daffodils as you ignore the noise of innocents in peril. Hope that's one mighty fine sit! So who is this sitter? I'll let reader John introduce you: "Here is Pearl, my level 20 Archer in Final Fantasy XIV. She's obviously relaxing and enjoying the All Saint's Wake celebration. Holidays are the best time to explore the Final Fantasy world." Why you holiday? Why you holiday when people need rescuing? With great power comes great loafing off, apparently. For more public shaming in this week's One Shots, hit the jump!
One Shots: Dusting crops with the boys
We're going to begin today's column with a very important announcement. It's so important that I'm breaking all the rules putting very important announcement in bold like that, but hopefully you're paying attention by now. We had a glitch with our email that pretty much blocked all submissions for One Shots since September 22nd, and so I never received them. I'm so sorry this has happened, but if you sent in a picture since then, I'd urge you to do it again. Thanks! Meanwhile, Captain Matt paid a few thousand credits to go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip with Han and Chewie in Star Wars Galaxies. "Here's me going into lightspeed with the closest of friends!" As Matt's living it up playing space chess with a Wookiee and getting his arms torn off, we've got many very important submissions to check out after the jump!
