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The Daily Grind: What's the silliest thing you've witnessed in PvP?
PvP is not generally thought of as something that can be silly. It's serious. It's competitive. It's engaging. And sometimes, it's also something that involves a team running out on to the field wearing holiday equipment and hiding until the other team finds them. I've run several PvP nights with my current Final Fantasy XIV free company, and while some of them are serious matches, by the end of the night we're usually just having whatever fun we can think of. That's not even counting unintentional hilarity, like avoiding death by running in circles around a column for a minute (that happened) or watching a healer in high-end PvP gear do nothing for most of the match before soloing an entire enemy team (also happened). And sometimes it's even in your favor, like when you're running a battleground in World of Warcraft and the other team barely even manages to capture one objective. So what's the silliest thing you've witnessed in PvP? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What abilities do you find the most fun to use?
Hitting 51 on my Scoundrel in Star Wars: The Old Republic meant getting what is probably the greatest ability ever, the ability to quickly roll forward. I absolutely love any sort of quick movement ability like that, especially rolls -- anything that lets me dart around the battlefield without being directly tied to combat. Being able to do so in Guild Wars 2 was one of my favorite parts of the game as a whole. We've all got certain abilities that we just like making use of in MMOs. Sometimes they're not really beneficial to our builds, and sometimes they're not even all that useful, but darn it they're just plain fun to trigger. So what abilities do you find the most fun to use? Silly cosmetic tricks? Certain impressive storms of particle effects? Or are you just fond of abilities that work well from a mechanical standpoint with no concern for silly elements? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What silly thing has bothered you about a game?
I like Star Wars: The Old Republic a great deal, but it still bothers me that I can't just sit in a chair. Same problem with RIFT, which also takes forever to give starting Defiants access to an inn. It bothered me when I couldn't toggle to walk mode in Guild Wars, it bothers me that I can't wear spectacles with a cowl in Final Fantasy XIV, and I'll no doubt find something else irksome in every MMO from this point onward. None of these are game-breaking issues. They're not even issues where the cosmetic style of the game isn't where you'd like it to be. No, these are all problems that can be worked around quite easily, but just wind up feeling annoying. So what about you? What silly and ultimately irrelevant things have bothered you when you've played a game? Strange idle animations? A lack of environmental interaction where it should have been possible? Minor inconveniences? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Doll Festival approaching for Final Fantasy XI
It's not one of the most epic holidays in Vana'diel, but you can't forget the Doll Festival. It's a fairly sedate event players can partake in during their time with Final Fantasy XI, a chance to indulge in some treats, acquire some fashionable decorations for their Mog House, and of course have the joy of taking part in a holiday that's pretty unique to the game. Also, you can run around as a little girl. As always, the announcement is accompanied by a piece of fiction, this one detailing the only sort of conflict you can expect to happen on a holiday filled with sweets and dolls. (Here's a hint -- it doesn't involve dragons.) The event starts on February 17th and will run until March 3rd, giving Final Fantasy XI players ample time to acquire their rice cakes and dolls from the event, a nice lull from the more involved holidays surrounding it.
TUAW picks the 10 worst App Store search phrases
Recently Fortune picked the 10 dumbest iPhone apps for 2009. In response, I thought we should pick ten search phrases that are more or less guaranteed to produce a list of horrible applications. Our list follows. Are they the worst possible search terms? Probably not. But they're certainly guaranteed to return subquality results in your App Store search. (Yes, it is the weekend.) So join in and add your favorite (bad) search phrases to the comments. And remember, unless a search phrase returns at least three or four really appallingly crappy applications, it does not qualify for the title. jiggle: While not as salacious as you might first imagine, this search does bring up both Wobble iBoobs!! [sic], iJiggles Your Mom, and Bikini Fart. pong: We love pong, but we hope we've moved past its retro appeal as far as the App Store goes. Current pong search results include Beer Pong (in several forms), iBlow Ping-Pong Ball (from CLapps!), and Cow Pong Beef. gross: No, we're not talking about items that come 144 per case. An App Store search for 'gross' returns such winners as 101 Gross Sounds, Gross Facts, and (strangely enough) Speed Muscles MD, a game that challenges you to point to specific muscle groups on a cadaver. (Okay, the reviews for this last one aren't bad but the idea is just freaky unless you're a medical student.) stupid: What did the great F. Gump say on this topic? One is what one does? Or at least something like that. A search for stupid returns an absolute bonanza of applications from developers who clearly have a sense of humor. Titles include Make a Face, Stupidity Test, The Idiot Test, Are You Stupider than a Kindergartner and the $0.99 A Stupid Button, which says "That's Stupid" after you have already bought and paid for it. annoy: From dog whistlers, to random noise, to apps targeted to irritating our furry friends, bad App Store entries abound. There's a "Wooo!" Button app, a Free Turkey Calls app, and even one called Annoyance!. The exclamation point is courtesy of the developer. jared: I know it's a little disingenuous for me to include Jared as a search term, given how I love that insanely stupid little app. But after searching for it on the App Store and finding Top Sexiest Men-Jared Leto, Screen Cleaner (from Jared Judd), SupaFan for Supernatural Fans, and The Book of Mormon Plants and Animals (no insult to LDS members, it just seems like a poor choice for an iPhone app), I knew I had to add this phrase to the list. calm: I don't care how much you love your iPhone, it's not going to deliver a light spa day, provide ultimate relaxation or iSoothe your soul. I'm sure those apps are well intended but I'm also sure they're...well, see the title of this piece. pickup: Without being overly insensitive, if you're carrying around an iPhone full of pickup lines, you've probably missed the point. Standouts include Lovetricity, iWingman, and (yes, you knew this was coming), Coed Spring Break strip: If you're sensing a theme, well so am I. Soft pr0n seems to sell a lot of iPhone applications. Items on this search include iStrip (including its Sexy Pen edition), Poker vs Girls Strip Poker, and of course some sort of Hooters app. Sheesh. fart: Yes, no worst search list would be complete without a search for "fart", including such marvelous cultural treats as Fart Shaker Deluxe, Juicy Fart, Fart Lighter, and Atomic Fart. With about 500 fart-related apps in the store, it's a benchmark of goofy that other app categories can only aspire to meet. So, that's our list. Now let's see your picks for the worst searches in the App Store.
Sanity prevails: people find other people sexier than iPhone
So buried in some long poll conducted by Zobgy International and 463 Communications on the unexciting topic of "Internet Attitudes" is this little gem: in a head-to-head battle with various celebrities in the category of sexiness, the iPhone gets thoroughly trounced. In other words, much to the dismay of the residents of Massachusetts, it seems that people are still more attracted to other people than they are to technology -- and by a pretty wide margin. With only 6% of respondents placing it in the top slot (to be fair, the same percentage picked Derek Jeter), the iPhone trailed far behind Halle Berry at 27%, Scarlett Johansson at 17%, and even Patrick Dempsey, who managed to score 14% of the vote despite the fact that he pays women to pretend to be his girlfriend. As do, we suspect, those troubled few who find a telephone sexier than members of their own species.[Photo courtesy of Tasty Blog Snack]
ZunePhone!
Never say that Microsoft is not one to respond quickly to public demand. Hot off the presses TUAW brings you the new ZunePhone! Check out its sleek form factor and intuitive interface, WiFi and megabytes. Unlike the iPhone with its missing-in-action clickwheel, the ZunePhone brings its pseudo-wheel along into its new incarnation. But really, you've got to laugh at the "bluetooth headset". Cute skit, nicely done. And I particularly enjoyed the whispered money quotes.Thanks Andy
Nokia: We don't sell phones here
In an otherwise run-of-the-mill profile on cellphone manufacturing giant Nokia, The Seattle Times reveals this funny little tidbit about corporate culture at the Finnish firm: employees are supposedly barred from referring to the company's products as "phones." Instead, according to Vice President of multimedia strategy and business development Harry Santamäki, all of the handsets are known around the company as "multimedia computers," which we're sure elicits more than a few snickers when they're discussing the no-frills, monochrome, um, computers of the 1000 series. And proving that his anti-phone rhetoric isn't just lip service, Santamäki swears that he'll take a swig from the bottle of cod liver oil on his desk if he himself should ever happen to utter the archaic, forbidden word. Unfortunately for Harry, Engadget Mobile will continue to refer to Nokia's products as phones, cellphones, or perhaps even telephones, but luckily a little program called Greasemonkey should enable him to continue reading the site while remaining blissfully phone-free.[Via textually]
