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The Daily Grind: So what did you get?
It's a big holiday for a lot of people today, and the Massively offices are quiet while we engage in traditional and not-so-traditional festivities. The Massively staffers are not as quiet as many of us have been giving and receiving gifts from our family, friends, loved ones, and random strangers (shouts of woohoo can be heard all the way through the internets). And odds are good that a good chunk of our readers are doing the same. Of course, if the people in your life know you, they probably got you a gift that has something to do with gaming because of course they did. So today we're just throwing open the doors and asking you to just brag. What's the best gaming-related gift you received this holiday season? Was it a new game you've been waiting for? An old game you couldn't find? An accessory? A game system? Or was it a humble in-game gift from a friend or family member playing the same game, proving that it's really the thought that counts over the physical value of something? 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: Do betas give you bragging rights?
This may come as a shocker, but people on the internet like to brag. I know! Surprised the heck out of me too, but there you go. We like to feel important, and when we're not important, we like to prop ourselves up through importance-by-association. Sure, maybe I wasn't part of the invasion of Normandy in World War II, but my grandfather was, so doesn't that make me a hero in a way? It seems as though the only use for betas once they are finished is for bragging rights, as if being there somehow made some people superior to the rest of the plebeians. "Back in '04? Oh, I was part of the great World of Warcraft beta," they say with a distant look in their eyes. "Oh the times we had... the perils we faced... the bug reports we overlooked. Now you may honor me by giving me your gold and prostrating yourself at my feet." Have you seen this happen? Does being a part of an MMO beta automatically give you bragging rights in the form of seniority and experience? Or do people just think it does while the rest of us roll our eyes? 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!
LucasArts: Star Wars MMO will be bigger than WoW
You may have missed this story last week (we wouldn't blame you if you were busy fighting off the living dead), but there was a big announcement in the world of MMO games. BioWare, makers of Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate, and last year's terrific Mass Effect, announced in conjunction with EA and LucasArts that they were going to make their first MMO, set in the same universe as their critically acclaimed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game. Massively's got tons of news about it if you're interested (and even though we won't see it for years and years, I definitely am).But LucasArts didn't stop there -- years before the game is even scheduled to come out, they're ready to say the game will be bigger than WoW. Now, we get it -- WoW's the 800 lb. gorilla of MMOs, and thus they make the biggest target you'll find. But please, can we see some actual gameplay before the hype machine gets rolling?If they don't actually release the game until WoW's servers are turned off, then sure, they'll be bigger than WoW, and hey, maybe if BioWare is able to make their game casual and accessible enough (we're looking at you, Mass Effect inventory system), they'll be able to come close to WoW's current peak of almost 11 million players. But LucasArts, let's get the game working before we start bragging about how big it's going to be.
Mark Jacobs of WAR: "I'm flattered" by Wrath's PvP
Oh, this is rich. We'll admit that WoW's achievements system is Blizzard's reaction to Warhammer Online's Tome of Knowledge system, and sure, we'll even go so far as to say that the PvE to PvP transfers are a shot off the bow of WAR, but claiming that WoW's Lake Wintergrasp is a straight rip from Warhammer? We'd think not. Still, that won't keep Mythic's CEO Mark Jacobs from claiming exactly that -- the outspoken developer says he's "flattered" by what he calls Blizzard's attempts at open world PvP.Too bad it's straight out nonsense -- we were at the PvP panel at last year's BlizzCon, where Blizzard explained all of the experiments they'd made with world PvP, from the very sad Silithus, to the more successful Halaa and Auchindoun, and how they'd landed on the concept for Lake Wintergrasp -- the worldwide buff, the raid boss, the persistent rewards, and so on -- from all of the world PvP that had come before. That's not to say that Blizzard doesn't want to borrow the best things from Warhammer and other popular games out there, but to claim Wintergrasp is an attempt to emulate Warhammer's PvP is just plain reaching. And leveling through PvP? Considering you need a flying mount to get to Wintergrasp and you can't actually get that until three levels left in the game, it's as stretchy as it gets to claim that's Blizzard's attempt at emulating WAR. If Blizzard really did want to rip off WAR, they'd do it better than that, no?Can't say we're that surprised, though. Jacobs and his team do have a habit of biting off more than they can chew already.
My guild is so leet that ...
Normally the WoW Raids & Dungeons forum is the conventional wretched hive of scum and villainy, with raiders complaining encounters have been buffed, other raiders disparaging the previous raiders' progress, and casual players making the 200th "Get out of your mom's basement" post the day. But sometimes, like today, the forum produces wonderful and hilarious things. "My guild is so uber 1337 that ..." is full of raiders talking about how, in fact, their guild is so awesome at WoW it extends beyond the confines of the game itself. In fact, they're so uber 1337 that ...
