Ask Massively: Off-with-a-bang edition

Wow! When we imagined a rebirth of the Ask Massively column, we never thought it would get such a great response from the start. It seems the Massively readers have a lot of questions!

Not only did this turn into an excellent opportunity for us to answer your questions, but it also worked to get commenters together answering each other. While it would be great to answer every single one of the questions asked in the comments and email, we opted to leave a few behind in the interest of article length. If your question didn't get answered this time around, feel free to ask it again for next week.

Of course we still want your questions each and every week, so if you have something game- or site-related to ask, plug it into the comments below and we'll try to cover it next week.

Now, on to your questions and our answers!
Wild Colors asks: Two questions: Are there any MMORTS games out there that are worth playing? And are there any other games out now or in development with a mystery/horror atmosphere, other than The Secret World?

Oh labels, how I detest thee. It's not much the MMORTS part of your question, but the "worth playing" part that makes me cringe. Until there's an Age of Empires or Empire Earth MMO, we'll have to make due with games like Soul Master and Dawn of Fantasy. Trion Worlds also has a potential mega-hit on their hands with End of Nations, so keep your eye on that one.

As for horror games (I imagine you're asking about MMOs in particular), the one that sticks out the most is Requiem: Bloodymare. World of Darkness is another one in (slooow) development by CCP, centering around vampires and werewolves.

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Wade asks: What major 3D MMOs can be played reasonably well on a Netbook? Do any of the Massively staff have netbooks and, if so, could they try out the games they have access to on their netbook and put together an article for the rest of us, maybe with short video examples?

You know, this would make a great guide. I own a netbook (Acer Aspire One) and I've only played World of Warcraft on it (which worked surprisingly well). We'll get to cracking on that! And by we, I mean someone else. And by cracking, I mean I might forget in an hour.

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Anon asks: What are the guidelines for submitting a game for articles and interviews at massively.com?

Step 1: Send an email to shawn AT massively DOT com.
Step 2: In your email, include descriptive information about your MMO.
Step 3: Don't tell us your 12-player hub-based multiplayer game is an MMO.
Step 4: Profit!

Actually, that's about as simple as it gets (except the profit part). Send me an email about your game, we'll check out the website, the client (if available) and see if it's something we think our readers would enjoy.

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kidsneedtoswear asks: Im fed up of pressing a button, watching a pretty animation and waiting to see who dies first. Are there any MMOs out there which use console style combat? Like / makes you swing your sword?

While this one was answered by another commenter, I'd also like to throw Age of Conan into the consideration pool. Sure, it's button-mashing, but combat is really unlike anything else out there. You can control which angle to swing your sword, block and parry.

Also, TERA has a really fun, action-y combat system. In fact, the concept of "console-style" action in our MMO combat is becoming more and more popular with current games in development.

While it's not officially an MMO, try out the multiplayer mode in Mount & Blade: Warband. The movement of your mouse actually controls how you swing your weapon, which is a refreshing concept.

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Lateris asks: How can someone who is new to the RPG scene in MMO's learn what stats are, how to read them, add to them, and translate it in user friendly terms? Are there guides to this mathematical process that would help players become uber.

This is just one of those things that I think is different in each game. If you want to learn the RPG mechanics of something like Fallen Earth, go through their extensive tutorial, read the help tips and you'll learn a ton. Same with most games. At this point, explaining RPG is like explaining what a game is. It's something that you need to just jump in and experience.

It's like driving a car. Just jump in, grab the wheel and go! If you run over a few people and the cops chase you, go back to a previous save point. Wait. No. I forgot where I was going with that.

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Blah? asks: How did Shawn, Sera, and Rubi all get their start here at Massively.com?

We sent in applications!

Actually, Sera and I (Shawn) got hired on only a few months apart, back in early '08. I ran a Guild Wars fansite and podcast for a little over three years before being hired on as the Guild Wars and LotRO Lead Blogger. Sera was a game designer, working on Alternate Reality Games as well as the legendary PMOG. Rubi... well, Rubi just follows us around, so we thought we'd finally pay her for it. It's worked out well!

If you'd like to read more about the writers at Massively, check out our About page with short bios for each writers and links to extended bios for those who wish to share more.

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heynow asks: Where will the MMO market be in 10 years? Will WoW still dominate or will there be a new leader? What kind of innovations for MMOS will there be, or in your opinion, should there be in a decade?

In 10 years, MMOs will be riding around little floating cars with jetpacks strapped to their backs!

And WoW will not still dominate in 10 years. You heard it here first, folks. I have no earthly idea who could ever topple WoW, but it won't happen with anything currently released or in development.

As for what innovations there will or should be, I firmly believe that the innovations we'll see in 10 years are ones we can't even imagine right now.

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Faryon asks: Question 1: Do you know of any MMOs with the same/better combat pace and animation fluidity as WoW?
Question 2: Got any tips for leveling a character in any MMO? Can't get new chars to levelcap because I usually reach a point where every quest looks exactly the same as the last one and I get bored 15-30min after coming online.
Question 3: Can you get a developer to design a MMO with combat inspired by the combat in Drakengard?
Drakengard: Old PS2 game; terrible story and quite a few annoying systems, but running into squads of 10+ enemies and slaughtering them all with a big sword is the some of the most fun I have ever had with console game.

1) There's a reason WoW is so popular, and that's one of them.

2) I have this problem, too. It's one of the main reasons I make so many alts. I don't think there's hope for us, to tell you the truth. I'd be interested to hear more about which games you've tried. If it's simply reaching level cap that frustrates you, try something like Guild Wars, where level cap is an easily-obtainable 20, and 80% of the game is played after you hit that level cap.

3) I can't get a developer to do anything. There's this inpenetrable wall of energy built between us and them called PR. It's brutal!

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miatt asks: Will there be another MMO worth playing released in the next 6 months or are we stuck with what we have got for 2-3 years?

We have APB and LEGO Universe to look forward to this year! A few others are rumored to come out by the year's end, but those are the brightest blips on my radar. And for the record, I'm ommitting FFXIV from that list because I don't think it will release in the next six months. Prove me wrong, Square Enix!

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Cray asks: What question does Massively ask and gets rejected the most when you interview people within the industry? Do they give you a reason why they don't answer? Are they rude or polite about not answering?

Usually it's something about an unannounced feature of an upcoming game. Many of the major games (GW2 being a perfect example) have schedules for their information leaks and they're very precise about when that information is released. We could ask 3876387563 questions about unannounced info and continue to be met with "We're not discussing that feature at this time".

I would say in general, most developers are extremely polite during any interviews. With most developers, they're happy to have any potential interest in their hard work, even if they have to give us the ole non-answer.

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IammeBlue asks: Hi! I have a friend who's interested in trying out an MMORPG, however, she's never played one before. What is the best MMORPG for a complete and utter newbie?

Get ready to cringe, because I'm going to say World of Warcraft. It's a simple game to learn and it really opens up a new MMOer to the features they're likely to see in just about every other MMO out there.

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DrewIW asks: In your opinion, why have MMOs moved from non-linear, sandbox style games, to linear tours of the content?

I think all facets of design move in cycles. Non-linear games were predominant 10 years ago so the "different" was linear tours. Players got tired of that quickly so we're looking at a return to the sandbox. Evolution takes over and we're looking at a future with a mix of the two, exactly where they fit the best. For example, there are a few MMOs with an open, sandbox world to explore at any time, but if you want to finish the storyline quests, it's all linear.

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Graill asks: Why isnt there a law that puts MMO devs and suits and their lawyers in jail after they take my money and a game is sh**?

You know, this is a good point. I truly fear sometimes that the amount of new MMOs popping up every day is numbing us to the process, and it's entirely too easy for someone to take advantage of that. We've already seen a few of these companies steal content directly, so it makes you wonder what their intentions are. If they're willing to steal art assets, what's to say they won't be stealing your payment info as well?

While I don't think there's any judge in the world who will touch the "your game is sh**" case, we do need to more-closely watch what we sign up for and play.

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Georgio asks: Is it a requirement at Massively to bring Aion in any MMO related discussion ? In 33 comments nobody bothered to say 1 word about that failed game. Please stick to MMO which are alive and let the dead ones rest.

These are the types of questions that brighten our day the most at the Massively offices. You can literally insert any other MMO in place of "Aion" in your question, and we've received emails asking the same thing.

When you purchase a new car, you tend to see many more of those cars on the road. It's the way the human mind works. So if you obsess about hating a game and being overly aware of its existence, you will see it everywhere.

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Valdamar asks: Which MMO in development is each member of the Massively staff most looking forward to playing? (for me it's either GW2 or SW:TOR – don't ask me to choose between them!).

The results of a quick scientific poll (asking a few members of the team in our chat room) conclude that we are most excited for All Points Bulletin, TERA, Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic. I'd like to personally throw in The Secret World, also.

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Valdamar asks: Now a question you asked us to answer a few months ago – which intellectual property would you like to see made into an MMO that hasn't currently been licensed for one? (for me that's Battletech/Mechwarrior).

I'm not a big fan of IPs-turned-games. They're restrictive and the game forums are usually full of trolls complaining that so-and-so character isn't exactly the way it was in Season 3, episode 11, and they're never playing the game ever again because it ruined their lives.

That said, a G.I. Joe MMO would be pretty awesome. Old G.I. Joe from the 80s, that is. None of that new movie crap.