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Ask Massively: Missives from the Massively yacht
So here we are, lounging on the deck of our yacht, sipping cool drinks out of fake coconuts while lifeguard cosplayers -- they're cosplayers, right guys? -- gently wave palm leaves at us. Later, of course, we'll dock somewhere and whip out our laptops and dash off some posts about video games before we get back to enjoying the titillating payoffs we earn as members of the gaming journalism front lines. Hopefully you've guessed that Massively doesn't have a yacht. We don't even have an office. The Massively yacht is a mythical destination, a running joke that's only mildly funny and then only to the people who work here, since only we know what we're paid, how insanely strict the Joystiq network is about accepting items on the spectrum between gifts and bribes, and how that strictness both hurts and helps us and you. That's something worth talking about in light of the Eurogamer debacle.
Ask Massively: Every six weeks
Every six weeks, another Massively writer takes over Choose My Adventure, a column that asks readers to vote in polls to determine what the writer will play and do within the reader-selected game. The columnist bravely plunges into the role you design, even when you sadistically vote that he or she play a naked blue Gnome who fights in melee with guns and is forbidden to leave PvP battlegrounds except to craft cookie dough. That doesn't usually make for the best showcase of a game, which you're quick to tell us when the writer has a scattershot experience at your bidding. Today's Ask Massively is all about the Choose My Adventure series and finding order in its chaos.
Ask Massively: Rules, sources, and buy-to-play MMOs
There are 4,001 words in the Massively style guide. The abbreviated version of the style guide. And that's without counting a few hundred emails detailing other rules that our writers must follow, plus English grammar and syntax, plus hand-me-downs from Captain Joystiq and peevish precepts imposed by a mean ol' editor-in-chief. Rules help us deliver a consistent product to you, the readership, and when we don't, you notice. Gamers follow a set of rules, too, when it comes to judging games. Indie games are judged less harshly than blockbuster developers. Overhyped games are held to a higher standard. Games with subs are cut less slack than freemium titles. You might not have codified all these little rules into a 4,001-word document, but they're rattling around your brain making decisions for you all the same. So let's talk about rules and how they apply to Massively's sources and buy-to-play MMOs like Guild Wars 2.
Ask Massively: Forums, edit buttons, and staff change-ups
Last week, we announced that we are closing down Massively's forums. What forums, you ask? Yeah, unfortunately, that was exactly the point. The forums were always a bit too adjacent to the site, and in the wake of the success of our newfangled comment system, we'd prefer to focus on publishing articles and engaging readers right here in the comments on the site, rather than on a neglected off-site portal. I'm genuinely sorry, but I hope the few remaining, stalwart forumgoers will migrate over and help make our comments an even more interesting place to be. In return, we'll try to crack down harder on the comment trolls who are hell-bent on killing the buzz. Believe me, they annoy us as much as they annoy you, especially when we're babysitting them on a Friday night. But this is Ask Massively, the meta column where you ask us weird questions and we give you weird answers. So what else did you wonder about this week?
Ask Massively: How awesome is your game?
Welcome to the rebirth of Ask Massively! Rather than try to out-meta former author Eliot (cannot be done; he is the champion), I hope to turn Ask Massively into your place to talk directly to the editors of your favorite MMO blog. If you want to hear what we think about industry topics or ask something specific about the way Massively operates, send your letters to the editor and we might just address your questions using a really loud megaphone so we don't have to whisper answers down in the comments over and over and over... Today's topic is inspired by the comments of our recent Soapbox column: fluffy interviews.
