WRUP: When in doubt, post a character shot edition

Normally, I have a better burst of Dadaist absurdity ready to go for this feature, but today I've got absolutely nothing. I'm working on a minimum of sleep and I've been gorging myself on the run of Transformers Animated, so instead, you get a character shot. I thought Rhio was looking rather nice when I took the shot up in Coerthas, but her unexpected blinking improved the overall look. Not pictured — me nearly falling asleep at the keyboard during the event.

Imagine I offered a bigger non-sequitor for the opener.

With the introduction out of the way, it's time for this week's installment of WRUP, in which the Massively crew shares its plans for the coming weekend. We're also taking the time this week to talk about the little things that can turn us off from a game. So click on past the break to see our plans, and let us know what you'll be up to in the comments.

Beau Hindman (@Beau_Hindman): I'll be switching to Earth Eternal for my next Rise and Shiny this weekend, which makes me so happy that it is back! Also, I'm sure I'll be playing any number of different games, including Dragon Nest, a certain beta, and several of my other favorites like Illyriad, Ministry of War and the new Milmo update.

I have tried every game that promised a "sandbox" experience and almost every time the good parts are blown away by the presence of free-for-all PvP. I just don't get it, how is killing someone with no restrictions "realistic" at all, especially when you consider that there is no death penalty most of the time. In the end, free-for-all PvP is just annoying, not exciting or dangerous.

Brandon Felczer (@bfelczer): This weekend, for a change, I actually have both days off so I will be spending quite a bit of time at the beach enjoying the amazing San Diego summer weather. I will also hop on Star Trek Online in the evenings to hang out with some fellow fleet members, complete some dailies, and run a STF (raid) or two.

As for what "little" thing has kept me from a good game, I would have to say "time" — I wish we had more time in the day so I could play all of the other amazing games out there (or win the lottery so I didn't have to work :P).

Brendan Drain (@nyphur): I'll be spending much of the weekend getting dozens of cruisers smashed into tiny bits in EVE Online in the name of research! I may also be picking up RIFT again, as my housemate just got into the game and has been looking for help. I'm not often turned off a game by little things, but when a game has no free trial or a very limited free trial I'm unlikely to ever play it. There's just something inherently off-putting about not knowing what you're getting into with a game.

Eliot Lefebvre: Ms. Lady is away at the moment, which means I'm going to dive facefirst into Final Fantasy XIV and keep plugging away at the new content. I'm also going to finish off my run in Warhammer Online and probably play some Catherine, since that just released.

The funny thing is that even though I've played a lot of different MMOs over the years, I couldn't give a detailed reason for why I didn't stick with most of them. Something usually just feels very slightly off in the gameplay, and I just quietly walk away, generally without any bitterness. I do tend to get touchy about little attention to the details of the game world, though — things like signpost texts, emotes, interacting with objects out of combat, that sort of thing.

Jeremy Stratton (@Jeremy_Stratton): I've hit the big six-oh on my Priest in Runes of Magic. Two more levels and I can add three more pieces of armor to my set — that will need upgraded, of course. I'm switching gears to start memento-runs in Dungeon of Dalanis. There's a cape I really want from one of the Black Codex vendors, but it costs hundreds of mementos. I've been trying to think of a good game I initially stayed away from and the original Resident Evil comes to mind. I know it's not an MMO, but I remember my friend showing it to me and the fixed camera angles turned me off. It wasn't until Resident Evil 2 that I got hooked on the series.

Justin Olivetti (@Sypster): Since I have the weekend relatively free, I'm planning a RIFT leveling marathon — rifts HOOOO! Will I hit 50 by the end of this decade? Doubtful, but I'll have fun trying!

I'm often turned off by halfway-done UIs, or games that use absolutely atrocious fonts. If I log in for the first time and the screen is a cluttered mess, chances are that's going to be the last time I visit your game!

Matt Daniel (@mvmatt): I'm gonna be playing this new game called Help My Boyfriend Move. Aside from that, I'll be messing around in the Dragon Nest beta, dropping into World of Warcraft for some RP, and trying to make some progress in RIFT since I haven't played in like three weeks.

As far as little things that have turned me off to a game, poorly-done UIs top the list. I don't care how badass your game mechanics are, if your UI is a pain to navigate, I won't play. Also, shoddy voiceovers. If you're going to do voiceovers, do them well. If you can't do them well, don't do them.

MJ Guthrie: I plan to gorge myself on some double XP in EverQuest II when I am not out gallivanting with my munchkins. I will also spend some enjoyable hours on patrol with my legion and maybe get an instance or two in in Aion.

The one "little" thing that kept me from a good game was actually when my gaming partner and other half left it — it just wasn't as much fun even though the game was good. The other thing I would say is that I have a need for an avatar to run around and explore all sorts of lands, so I have had a really hard time getting into EVE. Sure I am told it is good, but I wouldn't really know because apparently exploring space just doesn't quite satisfy my exploration bug; I wan't to climb mountains, cross rivers, run about a great expanse, and poke about everywhere.

Patrick Mackey (@mackeypb): I've been playing a ton of Terraria lately, but I'm still squeezing Champions Online in when I can. I've been running Resistance a lot for the various bonus stuff, although I would like to run Aftershock more for the perks, Elite Resistance is a little easier for my lowbie character.

In my case, the otherwise good game is RIFT, and the biggest thing that turned me off is the sameness. It seems like RIFT is so much like every other game I played and got bored with that it just didn't click for me. It's a really polished, excellent game and I love a lot of its features, but... I can't play it because I get bored too quickly.

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!