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MechWarrior Online serves up community answers on the details of combat
Whether you're a fan of the original BattleTech tabletop games, a fan of the MechWarrior series, or a fan of both, you know that the details of 'Mech combat are always important. MechWarrior Online is being fortunately developed with an eye toward the fine details, as explained in the latest round of community questions and answers. For instance, the developers are designing LRMs to retain their intended long-distance functionality, with any missiles fired too close to the target simply bouncing off as inert duds. The game is remaining very true to its source in many ways -- for example, location of equipment in a 'Mech will still play a major part in design -- but it's also changing certain elements. One of the team's major goals is to ensure that light 'Mechs are still a threat to assault 'Mechs, making sure that no pilot will ever feel as if his machine is useless in a given engagement. There's a great deal of attention to detail in the project, something that fans of the game should appreciate.
Star Wars: The Old Republic posts new Q&A and scheduled maintenance times
The newest patch for Star Wars: The Old Republic is just around the corner. Specifically, it's aimed at next Tuesday, following an extended maintenance period on the servers. So with the fruits of the design team's labor on the close horizon, it might be interesting to get a better insight into the design process with this week's community question-and-answer session, which includes a walkthrough of the process leading to the design of a new armor set. For those wondering about how loot is randomly rolled, the answers also contain a detailed breakdown of the process for determining what an enemy will drop. There's also confirmation that players can expect more character slots in the future, which is certainly good news for any players already feeling the pinch from recent character transfers. Take a look at the full list of answers, and as always, you can submit your questions for next week on the official thread.
Star Wars: The Old Republic explains mechanical questions in a new Q&A
The latest community question-and-answer session for Star Wars: The Old Republic doesn't answer any questions you may have about the server change kerfluffle. It does, however, answer a large variety of questions about mechanical changes and upcoming improvements to the game. If you're wondering about acquiring your very own HK droid, for instance, you should know that the designers are currently thinking it's going to involve a galaxy-wide quest, a level-50 character on one faction, a mid-level character on the other faction, and some different approaches to the game as a whole. Most of the other answers are somewhat less far-reaching, such as the rationale behind limiting group finder flashpoints to instances within a player's level range to avoid abuse. Players wondering about the fact that you can't find certain sister stats on the same Enhancements (such as Critical Rating and Power) can also find an answer which breaks down how stats are grouped together and why obviously linked stats are kept separate. Players should take the time to examine the full list of answers, and add any new questions they may have to the official thread for next week.
Guild Wars 2 devs answer anything, including launch date speculation
ArenaNet President Mike O'Brien and his motley crew of pirates, flibbertigibbets, and developers just stormed the seas of Reddit and fought valiantly through a dynamic event of Q&As concerning Guild Wars 2. No topic was off-limits, although the team didn't necessarily address all of the hundreds of queries put forth. Some of the questions answered included confirmation that there will be a way for guilds to raise their membership cap, word on bug fixes, a detailed explanation of the new trait system, and excitement for the upcoming beta weekend event. For those hoping to hear word on playable Asura or Sylvari, however, the rote response throughout the Q&A was, "Watch this space." What bug will the team actually miss? "Sit jumping," Mike Ferguson replied. "I don't know why, but it seems like everybody loves it (except the guy that introduced it). I'll actually be sad to see it go." O'Brien did directly address the rampant curiosity surrounding the game's launch date: "The fundamental issue here is that we just don't have a release date right now. We're using beta testing in the traditional sense. When beta testing shows that the game is where we want it to be, we'll lock in a release date. We're not that far off. We're obviously going to release in 2012, and any statements to the contrary are absurd."
Ask Massively: Big questions deserve big answers edition
Some questions are just too good to leave to my sole discretion. I like to think that I can provide a reasonable response to a number of questions, but I also think there are some questions that merit more opinions. Case in point: a question last week from potaco about whether or not it's harder to focus on a single game instead of several games as a Massively employee. So I'm consolidating responses from the whole team right now, and we'll have an answer to that question this week. This week's Ask Massively is still packed, however, with questions about getting a new computer for World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic as well as whether or not Guild Wars 2 will provide credible competition for other games when it launches. If you've got a question you would like to see answered in a future installment of the column, mail it along to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited slightly for brevity and/or clarity.
The Secret World answers community questions about the Illuminati
Do you have questions about the Illuminati? Of course you do -- that's sort of their whole method of operation. But when it comes to The Secret World, some of those questions got answered via yesterday's community question-and-answer session on Facebook. While you'll have to Like the page in order to view all of the answers, you're rewarded for doing so with a breadth of facts about the secretive power-mongers and hoarders of secrets. Among the first questions was the simple one of how the Illuminati aren't in control of everything in the game world if their operatives have infiltrated the highest level of government; as it happens, with the world exploding and lighting up with the supernatural, the Illuminati are too concerned with working overtime to keep things under wraps to try to take total control. The answers also reinforce the idea that the Illuminati crave power and competence above all, up to the organization's willingness to discard lesser members for valuable information. You can take a peek at the full set of answer on Facebook, but keep in mind that you're going to need to Like the page first.
Ask Engadget: Is there a Roku DVR?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from Jaime, trying to escape the tyranny of Windows Media Center with a DVR-enabled Roku. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. I gave up cable TV last year, making do with a (not very user-friendly) HTPC running Windows 7 Media Center. I watch free over-the-air HD and Netflix, but WMC is buggy and crashes a lot. Is there a Roku-style streaming player that has a built-in TV tuner and DVR functionality in addition to Netflix, Hulu and other services? Any help would be greatly appreciated!Our first thought was to hook up a Roku with Nowhere DVR and Elgato's EyeTV, but perhaps there's a device that's even simpler to set up that wedges both functions into a single unit without any sort of tweaking required. If you know the inside-skinny, rock on over to the comments and holler.
SWTOR's Reid hosting Reddit AMA tomorrow
Got a few burning questions for BioWare on the heels of Star Wars: The Old Republic's blockbuster launch? Get them ready, because community manager Stephen Reid is throwing himself to the wolves preparing a Reddit-based AMA event for this Wednesday. What's AMA? It stands for ask me anything, and it'll be interesting to see if Reid is able to answer the slew of questions sure to be forthcoming. The tomfoolery starts at 3:00 p.m. Eastern on December 28th, and the Reddit posting features a few preliminary notes. "The format is simple: ask Mr. Reid a question and he will do his best to respond to as many as possible within his area of expertise; he is not a game designer but still has many interesting things to share about the game," it explains.
Guild Wars 2 devs fielding your questions this Wednesday
How is ArenaNet countering the massive Star Wars-related hype bomb that's detonating across the MMO industry this week? Hopefully by ignoring it and continuing to work on Guild Wars 2. That said, the company is trotting out Jon Peters and Johnathan Sharp to field fan questions during a live IRC chat later in the week. The shindig goes down on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. EST, and if you're not familiar with the IRC platform, Guild Wars 2 Guru has a helpful web client that will speed you on your way. You'll need to submit your questions for moderator approval (translation: don't expect an answer to beta or release date queries), so head to GW2 Guru to read all the rules.
MechWarrior Online developers answer forum questions
If you're looking forward to the future of warfare today, you're probably keeping a close eye on the development of MechWarrior Online. And the developers are no doubt aware of this, as they've just posted a lengthy set of answers on the game's official forums, covering a broad range of topics from update speed to character development. While the answers confirm that at this point the software is still yet to see an alpha test, there's still a great deal of information therein. Aside from a few answers that are likely to prove discordant come launch (such as plans for biweekly update patches), the team is aiming at starting off with a strong PvP environment with persistent world elements in a similar fashion to MAG. PvE will not be in at launch, but it is on the table for later release. That's only the barest summary of the information in the full set of answers, which should keep any intent pilot eagerly anticipating his or her personal 'Mech. [Thanks to nimzy for the tip!]
Ask Massively: This is a sneaking mission edition
Let's get something straight: Even though I'm late to the party with Metal Gear Solid 4, I'm a fan of the series. It's not perfect by any means, but it's one of my favorite franchises of all time. That having been said, why is it always a sneaking mission? Just once, I'd like to be told that this is a march-in-with-an-automatic-gun-and-shoot-people-in-the-face mission. But no, solo sneaking mission, every single time. I know, it's the series hallmark, but since my second playthrough is already going to be a bloodbath with a stealth unit equipped, part of me wants to do that on the first playthrough. Just once. Appropriately enough, this week's questions for Ask Massively involve stealth in MMOs. They also involve subscription fees, but that doesn't really segue naturally. If you've got a question you'd like to see in a future installment of the column, feel free to leave it in the comments or mail it along to ask@massively.com.
Siri is the iPhone 4S' most enticing feature
I could have probably told you this without doing all of the research, but Loopt asked around anyway, and found out that Siri was the iPhone 4S' most exciting new feature for consumers. Sure, that camera is really impressive, and that processor will come in handy when running new games and apps. But 45% of those polled say Siri is the killer app for the new iPhone. And that makes sense -- not only is Siri flashy and new (and available only on the iPhone 4S, for now), but it's pretty much the marquee feature for the device according to Apple's marketing. And since that feature was only available on the iPhone 4S, then who, do you think, were the most frequent buyers of that new device? Turns out, according to Loopt's fairly informal data, that it was actually iPhone 4 owners. Personally, I usually go for a "leapfrog" system of hardware upgrades (and since I already have an iPhone 4, that leaves me out of this round), but that's probably not the case with most iPhone 4S buyers -- some people just need to have the latest and greatest, so according to this data, most day-one iPhone 4S buyers were standing in line with their iPhone 4s already. Interesting. This information is all based on "Loopt Qs," which are apparently social questionnaires put on by the mobile social network, so it seems like these answers are self-selected and probably not really representative of anyone but the folks who use Loopt. But nevertheless, the insight that Siri is driving iPhone 4S adoption seems legit enough.
Quora iPhone app puts answers to every question at your fingertips
Quora, the popular Q&A social networking site, has released their first iPhone app. Quora for iPhone allows users to ask and answer questions on the go. The iPhone app has kept the core of what makes Quora popular and easy to use, plus it has added some unique features. The iPhone app offers a new feature called "Nearby." It's essentially location-based questions. You can browse questions based on areas from an embedded Google Map within the app. Nearby hones in on your current location, but if you want you can jump to another city our country and see specific questions for any area in the world. Another welcome addition to the iPhone app: Push notifications, so when you ask a question you don't need to sit around and constantly check the app to see if it's been answered. Quora has also integrated its Shuffle feature into the iPhone app, allowing you to discover new content you might not normally seek out. Quora for iPhone is available now in the App Store. It's a free download.
Ask Massively: Stir-crazy edition
With no power, no real Internet access, no running water, and no access to just about anything, I was getting a little bit stir-crazy. Fortunately, I've made use of my training as a Boy Scout and assembled a crude pastiche of elements to bring some of my favorite electronic online games into the offline space. Success has been mixed. Sitting in dowtown and periodically shouting that a level 34 Dragoon was looking for a party produced exactly the right reaction to simulate logging in to Final Fantasy XI, but my attempt at "logging in" to City of Heroes resulted in a lengthy discussion with police regarding the appropriateness of waving a Nerf sword at teenagers. My makeshift attempts at answering this week's lineup for Ask Massively, however, have proved pretty fruitful all around. Skip on past the break for discussions about some very meta considerations, not the least of which being a potential subdivision of the site. As always, leaving a question in the comments or mailing it to ask@massively.com will quite possibly get it included in a future edition of the column. Sometimes even if the question is ridiculous.
Ask Massively: You're missing the best part of the appearance tab news edition
I've made no secret of the fact that I've long since fallen out of love with World of Warcraft, but I think people are missing the best element of the whole addition of an appearance tab. Sure, it's something that players have been asking to get for years on end without receiving a response, but the best part is that its addition essentially invalidates every single answer we've received to date about why it can't be done. That amuses me to no end. This week's Ask Massively has nothing to do with that news, however; instead, it covers the excitement of upcoming games, the lack of upcoming games, and the relevance of functions within games. I'd promise a zebra as well, but he had places to go. As always, you can leave your questions for a future installment in the comment field or mail them along to ask@massively.com, whichever you prefer.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Answering email
Today's email comes to us from Jack Readman. Dear Jeremy: As the subject suggests, I am curious about Runes of Magic. I have given it several tries before and can say I enjoyed it, but I always left it after a while due to distractions. Currently I'm playing RIFT and enjoying the endgame raiding and to a lesser extent the 5-mans. So I do like my PvE content. What does RoM have to offer in this regard? I love The housing thing and other diversions like that. What else is there? Tell me what is great about RoM and what gives it its flavor? How dependent do you have to be on the cash shop? Thanks for writing, Jack. I'm sure many players have very similar questions when approaching Runes of Magic for the first time. I've tried to formulate a response akin to how I'd explain RoM to my friends -- if they'd actually want to listen to me for as long as this article is. I can only offer my opinions, but ultimately what you think of RoM is up to you. I play RIFT, but I haven't gotten beyond level 20. I'm also not really into endgame in RoM yet, although I think I'm fairly familiar with the MMO as a whole. Keep in mind certain features will net you different answers depending on how a player approaches MMOs in general. I can tell you right off the bat that the majority of RoM's dungeons are six-man or twelve-man, but for the rest of my verbose answers, you'll have to click past the break.
Addon Spotlight: A very mailbag episode
Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. Oh, hi. There have been so many mailbag questions lately that it might be a good idea to just, you know, get them all out of the way in one shot. You guys love sending me in questions! If you've got a question for Addon Spotlight, send it on over to mat@wowinsider.com and hopefully I can get to your question. There will be addon recommendations. There will be heartbreak and sadness. There will be reunions and jubilation. So many emotions are running through me right now. A mighty burden Hey Mat, I know you dislike Carbonite, and it took me a long time to understand why, but I get it now. It's huge and slows down my computer, and they don't make their code easy for other addon authors to use. I've decided to not use it anymore, but there are a few things I really, really miss about it! Top on the list is the infinite scroll and sizing of the map and its google earth type layer. I also really liked being able to right click the map to place a "go to" waypoint. Finally, I miss the "Punks" feature that alerts me when an enemy player is nearby and also puts a dot on the minimap with the player's approximate location and time last seen. Everything else it does that I like I've found replacement addons to use, and I like that I'm using less memory than with Carbonite. I'm also having a lot fewer conflicts with my other mods. Are there any addons out there that can give me back the three features outlined above? Thanks for any help you can give me! Ann Thanks for the email, Ann. Carbonite is one of those addons that has its heart in the right place but overstays its welcome very quickly, like relatives in your living room or that raider who holds down his push-to-talk button constantly. The bloat you feel with Carbonite is heavy, it's true. All of the features that you describe, like the map scaling and that Google Earth layer, are the ones causing you the bloat and slowness. That's the problem.
Ask the Devs Round 11 answers your healing questions
Ask the Devs Round 11 focuses on healer and healer-related topics, as Blizzard wraps up this format of questions and answers. Blizzard gave some long and detailed answers for healers this time around, ranging from topics about the nature of the changed healing game in Cataclysm to the choices healers must make in terms of which heal to use in 5-man content versus raid content. The devs also made an interesting remark about a radical new type of healing class that could appear in a later expansion -- a radically different type of healer that might bring back players who have become burned out on the role. As a raider, I think the best answer came for the question about raid healing being hard for healers and why it sometimes feels like damage is unhealable. The devs commented that raids are not meant to be unhealable, and in most circumstances when the fight seems unhealable, players might be taking the wrong approach to the mechanics. Translated: It might not always be the healer's fault. Check out all of the questions and answers after the jump.
Google+ code reveals intent to unleash Games and Questions to the social world
Having a difficult time getting your honeydew list checked off because you're trying to level up in Mafia Wars? You may want to just chuck the whole sheet of paper in the trash. Buried deep in Google Plus' source code are a few curious references to at least two new services that may very well be destined for the invite-only social networking suite. The first is Google Games, the tech giant's first venture into the world of social gaming. While this isn't a big stunner -- recent job postings insinuated that this feature would come around sooner or later -- it makes perfect sense for it to be included as part of the Google+ experience to help strengthen Mountain View's bid against the likes of Facebook. Also on the company's white board is Questions, a likely love child of Google's $50 million acquisition of Aardvark. When the source code offers up hints like "you might try rephrasing or tagging your question to make it easier for someone to answer," along with the utterance of sharing questions with others and commenting on answers, nothing could be more indicative of a social service. There still isn't a strong indication that we'll see these two features pop up anytime soon, but the hamster wheels are definitely turning right now, and we're piecing the clues together. At the rate things are going, these services may easily be ready before we all get invites. [Thanks, Ian]
Undead Labs talks about environments and the undead
The upcoming zombie games from Undead Labs are aiming to give players a feeling of genuinely surviving in a world ruled by shambling corpses. To make that work correctly, players are going to need lots of little touches here and there to reinforce just what has gone wrong and what sort of threat living humans are facing. In the most recent set of questions and answers from the development team, more elements of the environment and interaction with same are spelled out, giving prospective survivors an idea of what to expect. While the game isn't planned to be an ornate physics simulator, there will be a practical limit to how much an individual can carry -- and while vehicles can carry more, the problems of noise and fuel will place some limits on stacking an SUV to the brim with heavy weapons. Hunting wildlife and handling aquatic environments will both be issues in the game, with the obvious caveat that humans drown far more easily than zombies. There are a lot of other interesting tidbits in the full rundown as well as some valuable takeaways that aspiring survivors would do well to internalize.
