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Ask Massively: Always on the wrong weekends edition
So for those of you wondering, the move went quite well. The expected problems occurred at times of minimal inconvenience, and we almost completely finished unpacking at the new place in one weekend. But we still have to finish up at the old apartment, so of course the first beta for The Secret World is scheduled to be this weekend when we're slotted to head down there. Just like how Guild Wars 2 scheduled a beta weekend for our last pre-move weekend. So that's awesome. This week's Ask Massively does not discuss this particular state of awesome. Instead, it discusses the deferred awesomeness of switching combat styles on the fly and what games feature something similar. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of the column, leave it in the comments below or send it to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for brevity and/or clarity.
Ask Massively: Moving shop edition
As you read this, I'm making my final preparations to move from my home for the past three years into a new and much nicer home. Of course, this brings with it certain concerns. Will the utility companies reconnect everything correctly? Will the movers drop something I can't easily replace? Will I forget something in the old apartment and have to go back? So, if my posts next week seem a bit off, assume that the move resulted in fiery death all around and I've been replaced by a crude AI pasted in Visual Basic. This week's Ask Massively, sadly, does not include anything about AI or my new apartment. Instead, it's about player-run events and why we cover some of them but not all. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of the column, send it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
Ask Massively: This hat has ruined everything edition
I was having trouble coming up with a topic for this week's header, so I tried writing down a bunch of different topics on pieces of paper and sticking them in a hat. Then I put the hat on. Now I still don't know what to write for this week's header, and I have an ugly hat on my head. Plus, little bits of paper are jammed against my head, and it's itchy. I knew this would be a problem starting with the bowler hat. This week's Ask Massively will go on despite my itchy scalp and ugly hat. And in this edition, I'm talking about potential Eastern games for a player looking for new games and beta invitations. If you'd like to have a question answered in a future installment of the column, send it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
Ask Massively: I approve of more staves edition
You know what we need more of? Staves used as melee weapons instead of a caster's Set of Stats in a Stick. Usually, what we get is closer to a cane than an actual staff, so it makes sense that a curvy stick with a lawn ornament on one end isn't much for actual combat. But come on, folks. You can do some serious damage with a metal pole and a few witless mooks. City of Heroes is ahead of the curve here. This week's installment of Ask Massively has nothing to do with staves, however. It has to do with a few more lingering questions about the comment system and some wide-ranging "best of" topics. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of the column, you can leave it in the comments or mail it to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
Ask Massively: These are not Firefall beta impressions edition
So near as I can tell from my limited time in the beta thus far, Firefall is a game in which you play a character with remarkably poor conceptions about the function of armor, especially if your character is a girl. I log in, jump around with a pair of rocket boots, and shoot things, and then my computer crashes for some reason after about 20 straight minutes of playing, so I haven't formed many other opinions. The parts I've played have been pretty satisfying, though. But as this week's headline for Ask Massively explains, these are not actually beta impressions. Instead, this is a column covering a couple of the weird issues with our new comment system, something that I have absolutely no doubt will come up again later. If you'd like to have a question answered in a future installment of the column, send it along to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
Ask Massively: The diversity of New England edition
Every year, when I head up to PAX East, some well-intentioned soul will point out that it must be nice to have a convention so close to home. Except it's really not. I live in Connecticut, and PAX East is in Boston. Despite what years of media exposure may have led you to believe, New England is not a uniform sea of snow, lobsters, and wizened old men spouting curmudgeonly wisdom. The lobsters are pretty much all Maine, for instance, and Rhode Island has the mafia instead of wizened old men. Also, no one in Connecticut says "cah." We say "car." But you didn't click on through for me waxing poetic about my home region, I imagine. No, you came here for this week's installment of Ask Massively, which is all about how we schedule articles and why it seems like time occasionally passes us by. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of the column, leave it down in the comments or mail it along to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
Ask Massively: A confluence of awesome edition
Every so often, awesome things happen. Apparently, for reasons I cannot begin to explain, I can now dress my characters in Final Fantasy XIII-2 in N7 armor from Mass Effect 3. This makes me happy in countless ways. I'd like to have full-on armor customization for the suits, but then, I'd also like the game to be a totally separate storyline as opposed to providing a wholly unnecessary epilogue to Final Fantasy XIII. So I'm focusing on combining an awesome game system with a visual element of an awesome game. This week's Ask Massively has nothing to do with combining one thing with another thing. Or maybe it sort of does, seeing as how it's all about crafting and gathering instead of killing stuff. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment, send it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
Ask Massively: Misunderstandings about our robot overlords edition
As I personally have no real reservations about the impending destruction of human society by perfect killer robots, I thought I'd take the opportunity to dispel certain misunderstandings about living under the thumb of mechanical overseers. Specifically, I'd like to dispel the idea that we'll be living. Robots wouldn't be sending us to work in mines; they can build machines to do that faster than our frail organic bodies. Not to mention that those machines would whine a lot less. So don't worry! You won't be toiling for a monolithic AI for years; you'll just be obliterated or used as organic building material. Doesn't that make things better? In unrelated news, it's time for this week's installment of Ask Massively, which focuses on the question of raw, unfettered action. If you've got a question you'd like to see 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 clarity and/or brevity.
Ask Massively: A world without boats edition
As you probably have already ignored, the big news of the day is that the world's boats have all been lost due to mysterious boat-related circumstances. Unfortunately, as human beings are extremely stupid and easily thwarted, no one can remember how to build a boat, nor did anyone take any notes on how one might build a boat. There aren't even pieces of information about how boats work. Long story short, Australia is now completely on its own. In less boat-related news, it's time for this week's installment of Ask Massively. Written while not on a boat, it's fielding questions about the ubiquity of social networking and Collector's Editions that cost nearly as much as a boat. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of the column, mail it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
Ask Massively: A week to sleep edition
Last week, if you've forgotten, we had a big multi-person answer. This week, Mass Effect 3 released. Between those two factors, this week's column is aiming less at huge overarching answers to profound questions and more at producing some lower-key answers to some lower-key questions. I'm sure next week we'll have bigger answers and I'll go back to stretching out "maybe" over 200 words. For this week, maybe we can take a nap? What? Animals do it all the time, and they seem pretty happy. Especially the orange killing machines in the picture. Anyhow, this week's Ask Massively is briefer than the last installment, but it still covers some Massively meta-issues as well as the looming prospect of ArcheAge's hopeful release stateside. If you have a question for a future installment of the feature, send it along to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited slightly for brevity and/or clarity.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Did Steve Jobs gift me an iPad?
Dear Auntie T, Hi! First time writer. I was just curious if anyone else was receiving an email like I received. My first instinct is to say it is fake and/or an April Fools' joke. However I want to be sure. The entire message is below. From: Steve Jobs Subject: Congratulations! You've won an iPad! Date: April 1, 2010 4:05:24 PM CDT To: [Redacted] Reply-To: steve.jobs@apple.com Dear Kris [Redacted], You are the winner of a brand new Apple iPad! Please show up at your nearest Apple Store on saturday April 3rd from 9am to 3pm. Bring an official ID an give Authorization Code # [Removed just in case it is real.] I personally hope you enjoy our new product! Steve Jobs Apple Corp. Please give me your take on this. Thanks! Love the site. Love and Kissies, Kris McG.
Ask a Faction Leader: Genn Greymane
WoW.com is likely the luckiest news outlet out there, as we've stumbled upon an unprecedented opportunity -- the faction leaders of the Horde and Alliance have agreed to give us an audience and let us ask them questions about whatever we'd like. To take advantage of this wonderful opportunity, we're letting our readers send in questions to ask the leaders -- whether they're looking for advice, seeking answers to lore questions that've stymied them, or need a great idea for a gift for that special someone. This week's leader, in honor of the upcoming Cataclysm expansion, is King Genn Greymane, ruler of Gilneas and leader of the playable Worgen faction. Greymane has taken time out of his very busy day to let us have a word with him in Greymane Manor on the coast of the besieged Gilnean Peninsula. Our first reader question: Dear King Greymane, My friend Spookydark has been acting a bit strange lately. When he's not chasing the undercity mail master around, he's either digging down various insignificant items or running aimlessly in circles. He also spends a great deal of time shaving, and when we tried to confront him about his behaviour a week ago, he bit my guildmaster and ran away for 3 days. Is this something to be concerned about, or is it simply a phase he's going through? Yours sincerely Kilran P.S. Do houses in Gilneas have stairs in them?
Age of Conan's Kalanthes offers answers to all your questions
In what can only be described as a very interesting concept, FunCom has put its own version of an advice column. Kalanthes -- a kindly old man with a piercing gaze -- will be answering questions about Age of Conan or life in general. You have to wonder what sort of personal questions they're going to receive, they certainly won't be timid. We certainly wouldn't want to be in charge of opening some of those emails. But hey, if you've got some burning questions about how things in the upcoming barbarian romp are going to work or just want to know the answer to life, the universe and everything (ahem, forty-two) then give it a whirl.
