WRUP: Do not throw meat edition

I understand all the cool kids are doing it these days, but you really shouldn't throw meat. You should definitely cook and eat meat; it's delicious and has protein and stuff. But it's not a good projectile. Throwing raw meat makes everyone unhappy, it ruins the meat, and it also ruins every single event under the sun. Think about it -- have you ever been at a wedding and thought that the one thing missing from the proceedings was a raw chicken hurled at the bride's head? Just don't throw meat.

None of the Massively staff is throwing meat this weekend. If you'd like to know what we are doing this weekend, well, that's what WRUP is here for in the first place. Well, this week it's also about venting our minor irritations with games, but the big thing is what we'll be doing over the weekend. And after you've read our plans, you can feel free to share yours in the comments below.

@Beau_Hindman: I'll be moving on from Allods Online to Dark Blood, a new action-based MMO that reminds me of old-school arcade quarter-eaters with a much more modern look. The gameplay is fast and furious, but there's some surprising customization in the game as well.

Silly things bug me in games all the time, but I think I am bugged the most when a game tries to be scary. I have not played an MMO yet that has truly frightened me, and I wish they'd all stop featuring typical scary clowns or psychotic villains.

@nyphur: I'll be getting a lot of ships blown up in EVE Online as I try to get back into the swing of faction warfare PvP and trying desperately not to waste all my spare time playing Minecraft.

Minor things like actions without sound effects have always bothered me, but I don't think that's silly as sound effects provide very important feedback cues.

@nbrianna: I'll probably play a bit of Skyrim and maybe take advantage of the City of Heroes double experience weekend. I'm so close to the tier with permanent IOs!

My silly annoyance? Bad hair choices. I get so frustrated when I log into a character creator and see 50 hairstyles... and 48 of them are terrible styles that no one would use.

@Eliot_Lefebvre: Oh, Persona 4 Arena, you're finally here. And you gave me multiple robots to play as, so that's also awesome. Aside from having teenagers beat one another up, I'll be in my usual haunts of Final Fantasy XIV, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and RIFT as well as enjoying some of that sweet doubled experience in City of Heroes. But mostly, teenagers.

I'm essentially lord of the minor inconvenience in MMOs, but the one that always bugs me the most is when I don't have the option to walk instead of run. I can deal with almost everything else and work around all sorts of other stupid limitations, but the idea that all of my characters are running around like idiots in the middle of roleplaying really gets up my nose.

@elixabethclaire: I'll be starting off the weekend with the Guild Wars 2 stress test on Friday evening. I might be pushing to finish Blue Mountain in The Secret World depending on whether or not my play-buddy is around; otherwise, I'll probably head back to the Savage Coast for the one quest I missed and call it good. It's a kind of hectic weekend for me, so I don't envision getting a whole lot of time for gaming beyond that. Maybe some Guild Wars? I notice my friends list shows a lot more activity these days, with people making the final HoM push.

I don't know how silly this is, but some of TSW's solo instances really bug me -- the ones that have me running up to interact with a computer and not fight anything (when there are computers that I can interact with in the open world), or conversely, the ones that feature a ton of fighting. I'm of the opinion that solo combat is not on the list of TSW's strengths, which is why I make a point to play with a buddy, so I tend to get kind of peevish if I've got to go into an instance in kill a ton of ak'ab all on my own.

I doubt I'll be gaming this weekend, but if I manage to, it will be in Skyrim or The Secret World.

As for the bonus question, I don't know if I can answer it. Firstly, there are too many things in too many games. Secondly, if it really bugged me, then by definition it wasn't silly, now was it?

@Sypster: This weekend I'll be saying goodbye to Blue Mountain in The Secret World no matter what. As fun as that island is, I can't stands the ak'ab no more! RIFT has its hooks pretty deep in me now as well, and I'm cruising around the Ember Isle with my Rogue while gearing up as much as possible in dungeon runs.

As for annoyances, I wish that MMOs came with some sort of penalty if you hit your spacebar too many times in rapid succession. The "jumpers" really get to me, especially during dungeon runs, and it makes me feel fidgety and not at all relaxed.

@JayeRnH: I'll be playing RIFT with a few friends who have recently returned to the game and perfecting my poses with SOEmote in EverQuest II. There's also a kid-friendly game that I'll be playing with the kids, but I don't think I can name it because it's still in beta. (Yar!)

I think the majority of quests are silly in general, but quest series that makes me go back and forth to the same NPC 10 times in a row are particularly silly. Just give them all to me at once and be done with it, darnit!

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!