The week in Massively features

GamerDNA and Massively look back at the MMO year in review
Today's column features data from July through December. GamerDNA being a startup, our data collection in the first half of the year was not consistent enough to use for anything but wild guessing and drinking games. Listen, a start up tech company can make ANYTHING into a drinking game.

Anti-Aliased: Top 5 things MMOs should learn in the new year
I am absolutely no more inventive than every other blog in existence, this edition of Anti-Aliased is dedicated to the top 5 things the industry and culture should learn and take into 2009, rather than forgetting. Some of it's funny, some of it's serious, but let's be honest -- it all goes towards perfecting how to have fun in virtual worlds.

The Digital Continuum: Sci-fi geeks need to experience Jumpgate Evolution
Even those who should be excited for Jumpgate Evolution are seemingly unaware of it's forthcoming release. This won't do, and so I present to you the essentials of why a sci-fi fan should give this game some serious consideration for their 2009 MMO budget.

EVE Evolved: Making the most of your EVE Online free trial
Since the learning curve is relatively steep to begin with, it's very easy to become overwhelmed in a short trial period. These factors can make it hard to experience what EVE is really like, meaning it's hard to make an informed decision.

The patent that stole Christmas
We can learn a few things from the suit against NCsoft, including (we think) how Worlds.com/General Patent sees its own position with respect to these claims (they don't seem to think it's as firm as it could be). You might also be wondering about prior art (which is abundant). Well prior art, in and of itself, is simply not enough. Not on its own.

Know Your LotRO Lore: Celebrating the holidays Hobbit style
We've talked about the Hobbits here before on Know Your LotRO Lore, but with the winter festivities in full swing, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to explain more specifically about just why those Hobbits are so infamous for their partying.

Why you should be playing City of Heroes: Emotes
For those who haven't ever experienced the wide range of City of Heroes emotes, I've compiled a gallery of some of my personal favorites. That said, this gallery is nowhere nearly the entirety of the emotes in the game. In researching this, I realized there were quite a few I hadn't even seen yet - despite playing CoH for a couple of years now! There are also a few emotes that have multiple /em commands to activate.

Why you should be playing Final Fantasy XI: Level sync
Jumping into Final Fantasy XI with level sync as a viable option is like jumping into an entirely brand new game. Level sync is like City of Heroes sidekicking, but on steroids. All you have to do is select a member of your party and tell level sync to set to their level.

Teenager arrested for making suicide threat to Blizzard rep
The young man was chatting with a Blizzard rep and made the statement that he was "suicidal and that the game was the only thing that he had to live for." Whether or not this was World of Warcraft or a Battle.net account was not disclosed, but even still, it has raised the question in a few circles if Blizzard was beyond the bounds in bringing the police into this situation - or why the police might arrest someone for it.

The death of Lively and some lessons about complexity
It was the perceived holy grail of virtual environment 'must-haves' for success, as so frequently touted in media articles which lauded its simplicity and accessibility. Also, in short, Lively was a failure -- a spectacular one. Spectacular, but not without educational value.

Behind the Curtain: Take a look back
Brace yourself for the obligatory 'New Year' post. I'd resolve to lose weight, tone up and be kinder to my fellow man, but I'd be lying. Not because I'm weak and won't follow through on them, but because I don't need to. I'm practically perfect in every way.

Massively Speaking Podcast Episode 37
Massively Speaking Episode 37 is a quiet little show with just Shawn and Michael. For the last Massively Speaking of the year, we thought we'd talk about the year just past and gab a little bit about what we hope is coming down the pipe. Join us for a retrospective/prognostication episode of Massively.com's companion podcast.