WRUP: The future remains disappointing edition

As a young lad, I was convinced that the future would be a marvelous place, full of things that I loved. Especially robots. And not only has it been 2011 for 10 hours now with none of 2010's problems having been solved, but the world remains free of personal jet packs or buckets of robots. It turns out that all of the things you want in the future don't just magically show up; you have to actually do the work required to get them, assuming that they're even scientifically possible. Thanks a lot for killing my nuclear-powered flying car, science.

Luckily, there's one thing that never disappoints: cold liquor. And as you wash away the taste of all of that, we've got a fresh edition of WRUP right here for your enjoyment, complete with the Massively team looking forward to the games we most want to improve over the course of the next year. So if you can wash your disappointment with the future out of your mouth, click on past the break, and then let us know what you'll be doing this weekend in the comments.

Beau Hindman (@Beau_Hindman): I'll be playing more Dofus this weekend and will be sludging through the RIFT beta. I also have quite a few new laptop-capable games to check out, so that's exciting!

There are too many games to list in this small space. Which will I hope improves the most? RIFT. It's got some goodness in there, buried underneath all the vanilla coating.

Brianna Royce (@nbrianna): I haven't been gaming much at all the past few weeks, due to real-life things that have nothing to do with the New Year. Another few weeks and I hope to be back into it, because I miss my guildies terribly.

What game will improve the most? There are so many games I hope will improve. I'd like to think Incarna will revolutionize EVE! But really, the easy answer is "the worst new game that's still getting money dumped into it," and that's Final Fantasy XIV. If Final Fantasy XIV doesn't improve this year by leaps and bounds... yikes!

Eliot Lefebvre: After spending way too much time doing some inexplicably stupid work over the weekend, I'm going to actually probably cut the internet for a little while and indulge in some Katamari Forever and maybe Disgaea. Although I'll probably wind up in FFXIV, just because.

Speaking of games that I hope will improve, I have to echo Bree's sentiments — I like FFXIV in its current state, yeah, but it can be better, and I'm hopeful that it will improve. Of course, that's an obvious answer coming from me, so I'm also going to send some good vibes to the team behind Star Trek Online.

Jeremy Stratton (@Jeremy_Stratton): I just founded my own settlement in WURM Online, although I plan to just have me on the deed. I want to build something elaborate like a tiny castle. I've started some chapter 1 dungeons in Runes of Magic, and I'll continue thoroughly re-exploring each one. I really want to say Runes of Magic will see the most improvement in 2011. Runewaker has been putting out lots of content-rich updates this past year, but my money is actually on Lord of the Rings Online.

Justin Olivetti (@Sypster): With RIFT's third beta event out of the way, I suppose I'll be mixing it up with skirmishes in Lord of the Rings Online, knocking out dailies in Star Trek Online, and perhaps succumbing to Massively peer pressure and joining WURM. What do I think will improve the most in 2011? I think STO has a fair shot to become a lot more than it is if it stays funded, particularly if the team includes more factions and endgame content.

Karen Bryan (@JayeRnH): I probably won't be gaming much at all. I'm on the road doing the holiday thing. If anything, I might be able to sneak in a little EverQuest II on Sunday when I get home. I'm prepping for Velious beta, which starts next week!

As for improved games, I'm basing it on MMOs that have already launched. Of those, I'd say Final Fantasy XIV, simply because of the sheer number of improvements they needed to make after the game launched.

Shawn Schuster (@SSchuster): The great things about a global holiday is that everyone else is off, so I can be off! I will spend the weekend catching up on a few games like Fallen Earth, Wurm Online, Fallout: New Vegas and Mass Effect II.

As for the game I think will improve the most, I'd say APB. I can't wait to see what GamersFirst has in store for it. And seriously, it can only get better from here, right?

At the start of every weekend, we catch up with the Massively staff members and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" (Otherwise known as: WRUP!) Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game — and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!