time-investment
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The Daily Grind: Popcorn or full course meal?
Game design has been trending in recent years towards offering quick, jump-in-jump-out gameplay, moving away from a long standing tradition of extensive dungeons, long group gameplay, and intensive challenges. Certainly many of us would agree that the "new way" is much more versatile than the old way, yet the old time intensive challenges still haven't been forgotten by many members of the community.So today's grind question is a matter of your opinion: Do you prefer being able to jump in and out of your game quickly, a la "popcorn missions," or do you like to sit down and take a few hours for your gaming, a la "full course meals."Shoot your feelings down into the comment box below. We look forward to hearing your opinions!
Silicon Knights developer says EVE is better than WoW
Silicon Knights President Dennis Dyack is apparently a balanced gamer. Sure, he's worked on games like Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and he's president of the company behind the big Xbox 360 exclusive Too Human. But it would appear that he's also a connoisseur of MMOs.He told videogaming247 that EVE Online is (for him, at least) a better game than World of Warcraft. "I know it's a lot harder core," he said, "but the depth of it's unparalleled and I love it." It's been mentioned again and again how different the EVE and WoW experiences are. They represent two fundamentally opposing game design philosophies. That serves as a reminder that this genre can be potentially achieve more than the treadmill-loving, fantasy RPG style it has become known for.But Dyack had one complaint that applied to both titles. "I have to ... force myself to stop playing those games because it takes too much time," he said. That seems to be a problem with MMOs in general -- especially ones that use the subscription model. Blizzard and CCP want you to invest as much time as possible into the game so you'll stay subscribed, right? Looks like it backfired in Dyack's case. We wouldn't be surprised if it alienated a lot of other potential subscribers as well. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
Tempus just keeps fugiting right along when you're in WoW
Justin Olivetti has written an intriguing post on his blog Time Well Wasted, all about how we invest time in our favorite MMOs. He asks the question: how do we choose to spend our time, and what are your options once you've reached a level beyond which you can't progress? Do you create alts and re-climb the ladder? Do you learn to roleplay? Do you become a mentor?Although his post is geared toward World of Warcraft, it's applicable to most MMOs, and even to some social virtual worlds, with modifications. At what point do you decide that you're done with the game, and move on? Especially considering you'll face this issue again?(Thanks, Justin!)
