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Ask Massively: Feeds and faceplustweets
Google Reader might be on its way out, but old-school RSS is here to stay. If you haven't jumped to Feedly or some other RSS platform yet, July 1st is your doomsday. How is this relevant to your interests and why am I telling you this in Ask Massively? Well, many of you readers probably don't camp our front page, and if you're not into social media and the latest faceplustweet craze, RSS can help you keep up with the parts of Massively you want to read (and avoid the ones you don't).
Ask Massively: Whitebackgroundgate, image captions, and sockpuppets
OK, AndyMonahan. You win. You broke me. This Ask Massively is for you. AndyMonahan asked (approximately eight million times): It doesn't matter what games you cover as I can't spend more than five minutes on the site before my eyes bleed. Any news on a choice of background colour? Do you really think you're going to like the only answer you know I can give?!
Ask Massively: The moving goalposts of MMO reviews
Last week, Massively streamteamer Richie Procopio sat down to play Elder Scrolls Online at a press demo. Like most such "all-day" media events, the press demo was approximately four hours long -- four hours for Richie to see as much as he could and take notes to transform into articles worth reading. "It must be so hard to write an MMO article based on four hours of gameplay," remarked a reader named Dularr. It is and it isn't. Four hours is more than enough time to grok the basics. Of course, if you're expecting a detailed endgame critique after four hours, you're in for disappointment.
Ask Massively: Ruining the internet
Last week, Massively's Larry Everett finished off a miniseries of articles designed to help interested readers learn to livestream. Streaming has become a major part of Massively's purview; we stream about 20 hours a week. So why not use our expertise to help friends and potential future colleagues learn how to play for fun and profit? Not everyone shares our idealism, apparently. In fact, one commenter told us we are ruining the internet.
Ask Massively: How I mine for games journos
In the last few months, the Ask Massively inbox has received several letters about breaking into the games journalism industry and employment at Massively specifically. This first one came from a reader named Vernon: I rarely see current journalists write or blog about their own experiences of getting into the industry. I always told myself I would try to figure out how to make a go of writing about games if the opera thing did not work out. So, how did you get there (Editor in Chief), and how do you get there now? Short answer: the two skillsets rule.
Ask Massively: We bake bread to crush
I have a dirty little secret: A few weeks ago when I was really sick and laid up on the sofa, I got addicted to Pawn Stars. It's a cheesy little History Channel reality show that tracks the exploits of a Las Vegas pawn shop and the shop owners' good, bad, and history-related deals. (I know, I know. I'm bad and I should feel bad.) One lesson the boss repeats to his employees and the viewers over and over is that being rare isn't enough to make something valuable and that many valuable things aren't particularly rare at all. This is not a lesson MMO players have learned.
Ask Massively: With thanks to the tipsters
Massively's tipsters are awesome. You've probably seen acknowledgements of their contributions in posts like these. Without them, we'd be limited to just the research our fairly small staff can drum up on a moment's notice. The tipsters broaden our view and bring us news from games that might otherwise have gone overlooked. We love you guys. We do get tips we won't or can't report on, though. And it's not because we hate you. I promise.
Ask Massively: Choice paralysis and the perfect MMO
Welcome back to Ask Massively! Today's readers don't want much. They just want to know all the things about all the games and then be told what to play. To wit, reader Lord Baron Xooper wrote in with the following request: Hello, Massively people! I need your help; I have nowhere else to turn. I need a new MMO. I'm tired of World of Warcraft and Guild Wars 2 and Champions Online. I'm curious whether you could help me find a sandbox MMO with a heavy RPing community. Thank you! Love, Lord Baron Xooper No pressure or anything, yeah? Thing is, Xoops wasn't the only one with this question. We get it a lot. Maybe once a week.
Ask Massively: Developers, players, and respect
Welcome back to Ask Massively We're pleased you could join us on the deck of the Massively yacht for today's edition. You should really try a mojito. It's the best. In between drinks today, we're talking about respect -- the earned kind, not the given kind. Don't worry; I'm not talking about respect you have for us or even for each other. (We all know that's non-existent.) I'm talking about the respect game studios have (and don't have) for MMO gamers in general.
Ask Massively: We don't need another hero
Welcome back to Ask Massively. This week, I'd like to address a common gripe about Massively's coverage of sunsetted games -- specifically, City of Heroes. Even before the game closed down, some commenters were expressing annoyance that we were daring to cover the closure. Now that it's gone, these same commenters are irate at the fact that we didn't seal up the coffin and pretend that the whole thing never happened. That's just not how it works.
Ask Massively: Counting the hits
At the end of December, the Massively staff laid out its predictions for 2013 in a tidy post, after which a reader named flatline4400 graciously complimented our wild conjecture: I think Bree and Patrick are right on in a number of points. (Bree also did very well in last year's predictions too!) We are pretty awesome, aren't we? Well, except for the part where I also predicted City of Heroes 2. Soooooo maybe not so awesome after all. In today's Ask Massively, let's take a peek back at our staff predictions from last year, the ones we made in 2011 for 2012. And let's count the hits and the misses. Did we get as much right as we got wrong? Come on -- it'll be fun(ny).
Ask Massively: Why we write about only the games you hate
Welcome back to Ask Massively because why not? You're here; I'm here. We've previously discussed defining MMOs and how we select the games and the news Massively covers. This week, let's talk about column selection and perception of story frequency. tomrobbins asked, "Why do you guys cover [WildStar] so intensely yet other MMOs you barely mention? This game can't do a thing with out getting an article written about it here, yet it's not even out. Other MMOs barely get mentioned. This site seems only about WildStar, EverQuest II, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Star Trek Online lately." Does it sometimes feel as if we're reading different sites entirely?
Ask Massively: Defining MMOs
Welcome back to Ask Massively, gamely answering your wacky questions since 1738. spacejesus3k wrote, "'MMO' is a watered-down term that means nothing more than 'online game' now. But why report on something like World of Tanks and not Call of Duty? They really aren't that different. Even games like World of Warcraft aren't that different in what they offer. They all have 'lobby like' co-op and PvP content; the only real difference is the single-player campaigns vs. the leveling world (which is often soloed). So here is a good question for Ask Massively: How do you pick and choose what online games you report on? Is there a set of criteria they must meet?" Yes, but I warn you: This is not a scientific process.
Ask Massively: The one where we talk about our 2012 awards
Welcome back to Ask Massively. Here's your present: an edit button! What? You say you didn't get us anything? Awww. Well, let's get back to the important things, like your telling us how wrong our opinions are. thatchefdude (and zaithnoc and cbv1020) asked: How can Guild Wars 2 be your game of the year and also runner-up for biggest disappointment of the year? I understand no game is perfect, but I would expect game of the year to not have enough disappointments in it to warrant it a place as runner-up for disappointment of the year. Because voting. OK, also because of a few other things.
Ask Massively: Yes, we have heard of your game
Welcome back to Ask Massively, the place where Bree dispenses random thoughts about the sitemeta because you guys are cheaper than a shrink. About 20 people asked: Hey have you guys heard about Pathfinder Online and also why aren't you writing more about Pathfinder Online. P.S. Your coverage of Pathfinder Online is inadequate to my needs. And have you heard about Pathfinder Online?? Yes, we have heard of your game.
Ask Massively: Why isn't this news?
Welcome back to Ask Massively, the part of Massively where you ask us random things, we give you answers, and you yell incomprehensibly at us. natecantbefound asked: Why are you guys reporting this crap [a League of Legends video] when Darkfall has a new video out? Short answer: Perspective.
Ask Massively: The mobile site and trolly trollersons
Welcome back to Ask Massively, that corner of the site where we take a stab at answering random questions you deposit in our inboxes and comments. Hey guys, we have a cave troll, checkit. soundersfc.tid wrote: I have a question or two about the commenting system. Do you think there will ever be a way to flag offensive comments through the mobile version of the site? And speaking of offensive comments, what metric does Massively use when considering permanent bans on commenters? Long-time mobile viewers will know that our mobile site is... well, it's a thing. A thing that doesn't get a whole lot of love from the technical staff, unfortunately. We were thrilled that the new comment system works so well on mobile, but you're right: It has some deficiencies, which is a bummer because according to our site analytics, a lot of you surf from your favorite hand-held gadgets.
Ask Massively: Why tpyos matter
Whenever you sit down to read an article -- let's say it's an article about MMOs on your favorite MMO blog -- the author has a hidden persuasive advantage. Readers are inclined to believe what they read unless they have a compelling reason not to because believing is easier than not believing. In fact, humans have a hard time mentally readjusting if they hear a lie about a topic before they hear the truth, especially when the lie confirms comforting pre-existing beliefs. And like it or not, we grant a measure of authority to published articles, to what we see in print from people we presume are professionals. But even a lowly games writer squanders that "authoritativeness bonus" when he can't even be arsed to press the darn spellcheck button.
Ask Massively: Site redesigns, editorials, and sandbox coverage
For those of you hiding out from family or working your brains instead of your stomachs on this sacred holiday on which we celebrate food or something, this edition of Ask Massively will mop up a few little questions and demands made in the comment section recently. We're addressing a potential site redesign, whether editorial articles really need a gigantic sign declaring the obvious, and whether the Massively writers are fake sandbox fans. Put down that turkey leg and let's get to it!
Ask Massively: Reviewing and re-reviewing MMOs
Back in September, Star Trek Online Producer Daniel Stahl gave an interview that proposed to tell game journalists how to do their jobs. That's only fair; we're always telling developers how to do their jobs, right? Stahl told [a]listdaily, "The whole game rating business doesn't necessarily do a great justice to MMOs. MMOs are designed to grow over time and get better with every major release. It might be better if sites like Metacritic could find a way to rate MMOs by releases instead of just the initial day one . . . There are plenty of MMOs that have made huge strides since day one and some that have even gotten worse. Until then, we will continue to offer the game for free and ask for people to try it out and decide for themselves." Quipped Massively reader Matthew12, "If only there were MMO gaming blogs and websites that keep up to date with the MMOs and their updates... oh wait; there are."
