WRUP: The content machine edition

It'll be all over the news soon, so we figured we'd just get this out of the way. That up there is what's known as a content machine, used to generate any and all content in MMOs. It's incredibly easy to use, and as you can see, you can slide things around on the board to make new kinds of content. There are also knobs and adjustments to be made for whether or not you'll be developing good or bad content. All games that you do not like are made by developers who are too lazy to use the content machine correctly, which is why those games are bad. Luckily, your favorite game uses the content machine very well and always keeps the "good" switch on.

Anyway, we'll probably all be making MMOs in a week or so now that the secret is out, but for the moment, it's time for WRUP, where the Massively staff shares what we'll be playing over the weekend as well as our thoughts on whether or not we'd like realistic combat in an MMO. Feel free to let us know in the comments what you'll be doing this weekend, too!

Beau Hindman (@Beau_Hindman): I'll be moving on to 2029 Online for Rise and Shiny and will be jamming on about 674 different RPGs spread out between my PC and Xbox 360. The great thing about console RPGs is that, if you wait just a few months, you'll find them for 10 bucks each. Also, I will be trying out the 12th anniversary stuff in EverQuest II and building up my army in Ministry of War.

Realistic combat? I'm going to go with Rubi on this and sort of laugh at the notion. For me, realistic death would be more important. As it is right now, there are either games with no penalties at all or games with ridiculous penalties that still do not feel right. How about we have wounds like in Wurm Online, wounds that can be healed by a physician-type or that can get worse? I think developers might be wrong in assuming that players do not like to be penalized for losing in combat — it's just that they don't want these meaningless death penalties. In "realistic" games like Darkfall, the death penalty is really nothing but a pause in gameplay. That feels silly, especially in a game that tries to recreate realistic shadows and other features.

Brandon Felczer (@bfelczer): This weekend I will be playing RIFT and Star Trek Online. I have been doing a great job splitting my time between the two games and making sure I don't forget how to play either. In Star Trek Online, I will be helping some friends who recently came back to the game from a year ago. In RIFT, I will be continuing to level up my Mage on the Firesand server — I just started doing my soul quests, and I am looking forward to trying out the various souls.

As far as "realistic" combat, the more the better — I really like my game to look as if I am watching a movie. This is why I love love LOVE the space battles in Star Trek Online.

Brianna Royce (@nbrianna): I have peeked back into Guild Wars a bit this week (yay for seven-hero parties!), but maybe there will be some RIFT or Lord of the Rings Online in my weekend.

I don't usually like twitch combat or reactive combat in MMOs, but the original TDG wasn't really talking about twitch so much as realism, the kind found in, say, assassinating your enemy in one precise strike rather than thwacking someone with a lightsaber 20 times before he finally runs out of hitpoints. While that kind of realism sounds very RP and works beautifully in solo games or even FPS games, it undermines the entire point of building characters with skills and gear. Do you really want to wander around an MMO pressing one I-win button over and over? Is PvP really fun when everyone dies in one or two hits from a stealthed character? Not really on both counts.

Edward Marshall: I'll be playing Fallen Earth, Minecraft and maybe a few Mount & Blade mods if I get the time.

Bonus question: I love realistic combat in MMOs, but it's difficult to balance realism with the RPG mechanics of an MMO. If it's too realistic, the combat doesn't pace well and isn't fun.

Eliot Lefebvre: I'm spending the weekend with my brother, whom I don't get to see very often, so my gaming time is going to be fairly limited (at least in terms of MMOs). What time I do get is probably going to be spent with Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV, which I've rather missed.

Realism in combat is something I'd like to see more of, but I probably wouldn't want to play much of it. I'd be glad to see the option become a bit more common in MMOs, since catering to multiple different playstyles is always a good thing, but a lot of people mean different things when they think of realistic — low magic? High mortality? More intricate? It's a word with a lot of different meanings depending on who says it and when. I'm perfectly happy with games that break away from reality.

Jef Reahard: Not a lot of gaming for me this weekend. Maybe some Xsyon and Age of Conan if time permits.

As for realistic combat, it hasn't been tried aside from in World War 2 Online, so no one can actually say how it might work in a newer MMO, a fantasy MMO, or with a host of other variables. I'd like to see a dev team take a crack at it. Most people who take the time to think beyond the herp/derp/it's-not-"fun" knee-jerk response offer something similar to Bree's reply, i.e., it wouldn't work in an MMO because of one-hit/I-win buttons.

To be honest, I think those would only be troublesome if the game were built on combat and nothing but (and even then, quick-kills don't stop people from playing shooters). The entire point of realistic combat is to stop making combat the sole focus of the MMO, and if you know that you can potentially die at the drop of a hat regardless of your build, you'll stop investing all your time in grinding said build. Hello non-combat gameplay.

Jeremy Stratton (@Jeremy_Stratton): I'll be concentrating on Runes of Magic and Perpetuum this weekend. I have to start dialing back my play time, because spring break is almost over. I'm mainly working on gear for my Runes of Magic character right now and manufacturing in Perpetuum. Realistic... reashmistic. Whatever floats your boat. I prefer fantasy. I cast... Magic Missile!

Justin Olivetti (@Sypster): I'll be playing Gauntlet and Tempest and probably Yars Revenge. My parents won't buy me Pitfall! Waaahh!

Karen Bryan (@JayeRnH): I'll be playing EverQuest II and RIFT as usual. In RIFT, I'm still busy leveling up, and in EQII, I'm having a major nostalgia trip thanks to the in-game anniversary event honoring EverQuest that's going on right now.

As for the bonus question, I just want combat that takes my eyes off my hotbars and lets them focus on the action. It doesn't necessarily have to be realistic, just more fluid than what most MMOs offer.

Krystalle Voecks (@Krystalle): This weekend brings more time in DC Universe Online as I level up yet another character (or two) to endgame. While I've been able to resist RIFT thus far (easy to resist when you can't afford it!), it seems like more and more of my friends are picking it up every day. Might have to work some budgetary voodoo soon, as I miss seeing them.

As for the question, I think I prefer completely unrealistic combat myself. I don't have the ability to shoot fire out of my hands or cast magical spells, nor am I an awesome martial artist in real life. I like worlds where my imagination can stomp around freely, unfettered by gobs of realism.

Patrick Mackey (@mackeypb): I'm going right back into Global Agenda, which should tell you something about what I think of this week's topic. Global Agenda isn't necessary the king of realism, but people die quickly, so skill is very important. There are ways to make gear and skills relevant without keeping combat from being decisive and lethal. I don't like duels that take minutes; take me back to World of Tanks where an encounter with an enemy player might take me 15-30 seconds, maybe a little longer, but not the affair that chewing through a health bar in World of Warcraft is.

Rubi Bayer (@Rubi_): I'm still really enjoying RIFT, so I'll be spending some time there this weekend. I hope to fit in some Dungeons and Dragons Online and WURM Online time too — the former has an event that I want to spend some more time with, and in the latter I have a farm to take care of and mountain lions to kill.

Realistic combat? In most MMOs I play, my character shoots fire and lightning from her fingertips. Realism pretty much went right out the window at character creation, so I don't get too bent out of shape about it. I just sit back and have fun.

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!