Barb Dybwad
Articles by Barb Dybwad
Massive giveaways: N52 SpeedPad winners
It's been an amazing first couple of weeks here at Massively, and we've been thrilled to be able to give away so many treats. Our very last two launch contests are still running all weekend long, and they're worth tuning in for -- you can enter once per day to win a GeForce 8800 PCI-E video card and a 24-inch Samsung LCD monitor. Good times! If you can remember all the way back to our Day 3 old skool giveaways, you'll know we had two Nostromo N52 SpeedPads up for grabs. We're pleased to announce our winners: Winner of Nostromo N52 SpeedPad number 1: Commenter #21, Carrie! Winner of Nostromo N52 SpeedPad number 2: Commenter #47, retroguru (who has a thing for candied yam sandwiches, yum!)! Once again, thanks to everyone who took the time to enter, grats to the winners, and good luck to those entering to win the GeForce 8800 and a 24-inch monitor! For those of you dying to know about the rest of our contests, bear in mind that we have sent out notifications to all of our winners -- so check your mailbox (and spam folders) for messages coming from massively.com or weblogsinc.com, and we'll announce all of our winners as soon as we've heard back from everyone.
Ask WoW Insider: Who pulls?
Welcome everyone to Ask WoW Insider, where your questions get answers every week. Last week we looked at whether there are really people without alts, and this week we turn our attention to group strategy. David wants to settle the matter about who should be doing the pulling in groups: Now, this may just be me, or does it seem strange when people talk about hunter or mage pulls? I understand that in certain cases there is a need to have a hunter pull, especially with Misdirect, but when it comes down to it, any time I run something I never get to pull (Hunter here). Not that it's much of a complaint, more of a curiousity. For the most part Warriors will have a ranged weapon, Bears will use Faerie Fire, and Pallies will go with Avenging Shield. I just usually find it more complicated to pull with a hunter and then have the tank grab the aggro, when they all have ranged capabilities for pulls. I might also have been spoiled with all my tanks, as it has been months since I've PuGed a tank and we never seem to use CC in any instances anyways. Thought this may be a viable question, or maybe I'm the only Hunter out there that has been spoiled like this? What say you folks -- should hunters or any one class be doing the pulling in instances or in groups? Are there classes that should never pull? Should warlocks have "Wait for sunders!" mandatorily tattooed on their virtual eyelids? Who should pull -- let's hear it! Think of the glory and fame that could await you here on Ask WoW Insider -- your name up in lights! If you'd like us to link to your guild site or personal blog, we are happy to promote you if we choose your question. So send 'em in to ask AT wowinsider DOT com!
Everquest I and II expansions launch today
For those inhabiting swank digs under rocks, or those uninitiated in the ways of the Everquest, you may not realize that two major expansions launched today: EQI: Secrets of Faydwer and EQII: Rise of Kunark. We've been following both expansions extensively, so thought we'd round up some of the more notable features for those about to Everquest (we, of course, salute you): Beta tours Everquest Secrets of Faydwer beta tour Everquest II Rise of Kunark beta tour Guides Sarnak starter quest guide Sarnak character creation how-to Rise of Kunark mega information link overload Video Sarnak character creation how-to Sarnak dance movie Sarnak fire breathing movie Galleries Secrets of Fawydwer gallery Rise of Kunark gallery Sarnak starter guide gallery %Gallery-9857%%Gallery-9771%%Gallery-10174%
WoW giveaways winners: Murloc suit and 3 game cards
As some of you may have noticed by now, we've been busy giving stuff away last week and all this week in celebration of our launch. We've been waiting for many of the winners to get back to us (and we've also been busy with a bunch of other stuff!), so we'll be rounding up our winners and making official announcements this week and next. If you haven't seen a winners post for a contest you entered yet, sit tight! They're coming. Right now I'm happy to announce all four winners from our day of WoW giveaways: Winner of the first 60-day game card: Commenter #253, Grendel! Winner of the second 60-day game card: Commenter #93, Girricane! Winner of the third 60-day game card: Commenter #25, Joshua Z! Winner of our grand finale BlizzCon murloc suit: Commenter #36, Moragaine, who is somewhere right now spamming guild chat like a fool. Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who entered! Over the rest of the week you'll have plenty more chances to win stuff, so stay tuned!
Massively weekly highlights: November 5-11
Along with bringing you all the MMO news that's fit to print, we at Massively also strive to bring you a healthy dose of original features. You can always find the complete features collection at massively.joystiq.com/tag/featured, but we'll help you catch anything you might have missed (including the top breaking news posts of the week) in our weekly highlights roundups. Here are the highlights from the week ending November 11: Breaking news We launched! NCsoft acquires City of Heroes IP Wow patch 2.3 confirmed for November 13 Hellgate: London works out some subscription issues Animal Crossing MMO for Wii confirmed Regular columns Adventures From the Back Row: The cost of healing, by Michael Zenke Behind the Curtain: A look at skills, by Craig Withers Building a better MMOusetrap: Can you teach old content new tricks?, by Dave Moss The Digital Continuum: Don't Fear The Re: Console, by Kyle Horner MMOGology: Addiction and you, by Marc Nottke Under The Hood: Pseudo-MMOs, Part One, by James Murff Under The Hood: Of Titles, Badges, and Achievements, by James Murff
Ask WoW Insider: Does anybody really only play just one class?
Alts are like potato chips -- you can't eat just one. Or can you? Today's Ask WoW Insider question comes from JM Campbell of Comicsradar, who writes: I've noticed a lot on the official forums and in the comments on wowinsider, people seem to generally stereotype players of certain classes/specs. I've even done so myself after a string of run-ins with bad Ret paladins. But you see all the time: Mages always qq. Rogues are always gankers. Hunters are always noobs. or Horde are a bunch of children or Alliance players suck at PVP. I have an alt of almost every class and almost every race. So, how can you classify me as any one of those play styles? And my wife plays at least 3 different classes. Everyone I play with has at least one Alt of another class. Are there really players that only play one race/class/spec? JM makes a good point -- if most of us tend to play several different characters, how can we get away with stereotyping so many of them? Or is it that not everyone has a chronic case of altitis, afterall? There are really two questions embedded here: do most people play more than one class, and if so, where does all this stereotyping come from? Ask WoW Insider survives on questions like these -- we need yours! Send us what's on your mind at ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
Massive giveaways: Win a Belkin N52 gamepad!
This post is your second chance to win a tasty N52 SpeedPad from Belkin. We will not make you leap through flaming hoops of fire to win this thing (we tried, but Legal didn't like our idea for some reason... damn suits!). All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this here post by 2pm EST Monday, November 5 -- that's it. Really! Well, okay -- there's fine print (isn't there always fine print?). You do have to be 18 years of age and live in the United States. Or be able to fake it. We kid, we kid (o hai, Legal! Did you get a chance to replace those burnt suits?). Oh, and here's the other fine print... you know, the official rules. So official. So ruly! But... where were we? Oh yes, we were giving stuff away! Go forth and comment!
Massively's Massive Giveaways Day 3: Old skool
O hai, have you come back for free stuff? We've been expecting you! Today's theme is a salute to the classic MMOs of the past. How many folks here played UO back in the day (how many do still?)? Where my DAoC vets at? Even EQ is still kicking. In honor of a wide variety of titles, our prizes today are something that can help you be more ergonomic in all of them: two Belkin Nostromo N52 SpeedPads. Want to win one? Leave a comment in this thread by 10am EST Monday morning November 5. You need to be 18 and live in the US to enter (official rules!). We'll choose one random winner from the comments of this post, and tune in later today for another chance to win an N52 gamepad!
WoW giveaways, the finale: Win a Murloc suit!
Yes, we held this closely guarded secret deep, deep inside. The underground bunker was kept airtight; no leaks escaped. We kept it secret; we kept it safe... oops, wrong IP! Okay, okay, so we're terrible at keeping secrets. We hope all is forgiven for a chance to win what must be one of the few remaining BlizzCon murloc suits left... or not! But ours is better because it's free. You wanna win this thing? We'll keep the entries open for two full days. Leave a comment in this thread by 3pm EST Monday, November 5 telling us the first thing you'll do in-game once you activate your murloc suit. And here's the best part: this contest is open to everyone regardless of age or where you live in the world. That's right -- anyone can enter. So get to it!
WoW giveaways 2 1/2: moar game time plz
Yep, it's still WoW day here at Massively, and we're giving away the last of our 60-day game cards of the day right now so gather 'round! By now you should know the drill -- please be 18. Please live in the US. Please be aware of these official rules. We all set? Eggselent -- now quick, go comment in this thread! You have until 1pm EST tomorrow, Sunday November 4 to get your entry in. One lucky bastard winner will be chosen at random to take home this bee-yoo-tee-ful prize. Very nice! Oh, but the day is not yet over, my friends. You'll want to check back again for a special, uber-secret prize. You can scour the interwebs but you won't even find a shred nor scrap of evidence regarding what we're giving away. It's so secret, we won't even let ourselves know what it is until 3pm EST. Oops, did we let the kick-off time slip out?
WoW giveaways part deux: the revenge
So a few of you may have heard about this obscure little game. We hear it's all the rage in Tajikistan and all but surely you understand, we have bigger fish to fry here at Massively. Therefore, we're giving away a 60-day game time card to you kind folks in the hopes that one of you might just pick it up and play it for a bit and tell us what it's all about -- think of it as field reporting. In order to win, you must have existed in this universe for no less than 18 years, and reside currently in these here United States (official legalese here). So you say you want this World of Warcraft game card, do you? Leave a comment in this thread by 11am EST tomorrow, Sunday November 4, and we will choose one lucky winner at random to spend 60 free days in this strange little world... of Warcraft. Good luck!
Like loot? Massively wanna give ya some.
As you may have heard, there's some new kid on the block covering MMOs (no, not that one!). Luckily, that kid brought along some bribes in a cheap and transparent attempt to win your love and affection, and all of today's giveaways are WoW-themed. We know some of you principled individuals have a firm stance against Free Stuff, and we respect that. For the rest of you, check in on Massively today to win some 60-day game cards, and even a special prize. We could tell you what it is, but we'd have to kill you -- because it's top secret. We can't even give you a hint, so don't ask us!
Massively's massive giveaways day 2: World of Warcraft
If you joined us on day 1, you'll know that we armed you with enough Tabula Rasa loot to bury all the Bane you're killing. You'll also know we have nefarious plans to give a ton more stuff away, so let's get to it! Today's giveaways are World of Warcraft-related, so WoW players, get your trigger fingers on your keyboards and get ready to leave some comments to win some cool stuff. Our first giveaway gives you a chance to win one of our perennial favorites, a 60-day game time card. Short of being a US resident 18 years or older (be sure to check out the official legalese), all you have to do to roll on this phat lewt is leave a simple comment in this thread by 9am EST tomorrow, Sunday November 4. No fuss, no muss, easy as pie. Mmmmmm, pie...
Ask WoW Insider: Is there a class/spec truly viable for both PvP and PvE?
Welcome everyone to this week's edition of Ask WoW Insider, where we throw your questions out to the wisdom of crowds. Last week we looked at how to approach PuGs when everyone can see your spec in one click, and this week we have another talent-related question. David wants to know if there are any truly great builds that are highly viable in both PvP and PvE: I'm on my second re-roll and finally have my character to 70, fairly well geared and have found myself in the exact same position as before... My PvE 5-man spec is entirely unsuitable for raids, or PVP, my raid spec is unsuitable for soloing or PvP, and my PvP spec is useless outside of BGs and Arenas! I was previously a Warrior, who needs to be Prot for tanking but Arms/Fury for Arena and I at least only had to bounce between two specs. Now I'm a Mage, and I have to consider bouncing between THREE specs to be what everyone expects me to be if I expect to be competitve! I know the common answer is "suck it up and pay to respec whenever you want to do whatever you want to do" because dailies give out so much free money, but this doesn't work for my mage with however many hundreds of gold and hours of work put into getting my Frozen Shadoweave set. The problem is, I rolled a mage for the exclusive purpose of not HAVING to fill two roles with one character and not having to respec every time I wanted to branch out and experience multiple aspects of the game. So, my question is this: Is there any class+spec out there, that is equally effective and in demand for 5-man instances, raids, solo play and PvP? You heard the man -- what's your answer? How do you find a balance between PvP and PvE-oriented specs, and how do you maximize your ability to enjoy all the types of content you want to enjoy without spending a fortune respeccing every 5 minutes? We know you've got questions, and Ask WoW Insider wants 'em! Send us your queries at ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
Blue Mars sneak preview
We had a chance to sit down with Avatar Reality's VP of Development, Li-han Chen, at E for All to get some details about their recently announced title, Blue Mars. Set on a futuristic, terraformed Mars circa 2177 AD, the world will be far more akin to something like Second Life than like other more typical MMOs; in fact, the company is calling Blue Mars a "massively multiplayer virtual world," or MMVW, in lieu of labeling it specifically as a game world. Two main mechanics will separate Blue Mars from SL: a suite of pre-programmed in-game activities (minigames, essentially) to provide a framework for socialization, and no user-generated content -- all environments and objects in the world will be coded by third party developers. By the time Blue Mars enters closed beta at the end of 2008, Honolulu-based Avatar Reality hopes to have at least 3 of these minigames developed and ready for testing. With golf and vehicle racing listed as two of the activities, it seems clear that Blue Mars is going to cater to the more casual side of the gaming audience. If combat exists at all in the world, it will be relegated to specifically designated areas -- the core mechanic is casual socialization. Perhaps paradoxically, the game is going to be aimed at users with high-end machines and graphics cards (Quad Core CPU and GeForce 8800 or better) in order to feature the CryENGINE2-rendered "breathtaking graphics."%Gallery-9463%
Warhammer Online hands-on
The beta may be closed now, but we were lucky enough to get our mitts on Warhammer Online at EA's booth at E for All recently. We were only able to access lowbie characters and starting area content, so unfortunately weren't able to experience some of the juicier RvR content that awaits characters later in the game -- but a few hours' worth of exploring several zones and spending some time with a handful of Warhammer's 24 careers left us pretty excited to see what else is in store when this launches. Initial impression: the game looks gorgeous. The environments are lush, detailed, compelling, immersive. The art style is unique -- not as "cartoonish" as WoW but not photo-realistic either... unique. The combat animations are dynamic and diverse for characters and NPCs alike. The several zones we saw were populated with a diverse assortment of nasties to beat on, interesting landmarks and scenery, and a general feeling that there's a lot of action going on around you -- there's a huge war on, and Warhammer manages to convey a sense of generalized anxiety and excitement that makes it difficult to forget that you're in this world with one primary duty: to smash faces.%Gallery-9466%
Joystiq presents: Massively
We've been working diligently behind the scenes to put the finishing touches on our new offering to the MMO-crazed among you, and we're super proud to announce Massively, a blog that obsessively covers massively multiplayer online games. If you like WoW Insider you'll love Massively -- and if you've been itching for in-depth coverage of other worlds you currently inhabit, Massively is the place for you. We've assembled a team of top-notch writers and players to deliver breaking news, original features, and expert analysis about the MMOs you play, and the titles you're most looking forward to. Hop on over and check us out -- to sweeten the pot we're doing 24 hours of Tabula Rasa giveaways to celebrate our co-birthday with Richard Garriott's new opus today, and 2 more weeks chock full of schwag after that. Hope to see you there!
Tabula Rasa exclusive interview and NCsoft tour
We had the chance recently to head over to the NCsoft studios in Austin, TX for a tour of their swank living shrine to Richard Garriott and a one-on-one interview with Tabula Rasa producer Starr Long. We'll be rolling those features later this morning, but while you wait we leave you with something even better than elevator music: the NCsoft HQ gallery!%Gallery-9639%
Everquest I and II expansion beta key giveaways!
What, 24 hours of Tabula Rasa schwag isn't enough for you people? Fifteen days of action-packed sweepstakes not keeping you satisfied? Fine, then -- we'll have to resort to giving out some beta keys to you greedy mofos. Check back later this morning for chances to win 10 EverQuest: Secrets of Faydwer beta keys and 15 EQ2: Rise of Kunark beta keys courtesy of the lovely folks at SOE. See you soon!
Massively's Massive Giveaway Extravaganza
We conducted some recent focus group research and made an astonishing discovery: people like free stuff. Therefore, to celebrate the kick-off of this here blog, we are giving away boatloads of stuff -- every day for the next two weeks we'll have some amazing giveaways lined up. There will be something for you whether you play Lord of the Rings Online, Guild Wars, EVE Online, or any other of a number of current MMOs. So what do you have to do to win free stuff? Just check in with us every day for the next week and see what we have to offer -- you can always find out what contests are currently running at this link. We're kicking off day 1 with a non-stop series of 24 hours' worth of Tabula Rasa giveaways -- you'll have no less than 24 chances to win some cool TR schwag today. Everything kicks off at 8am EST, so tune in for some fun and prizes. Say what you want about Massively, but don't say we never gave ya nothin'!