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Ask Massively: Dancing on WildStar's grave
This week's revelation that WildStar Design Producer Stephen Frost is quitting his role is not the first and likely won't be the last blow to the beleaguered game. Carbine lost several high-profile developers before and after launch, and with raiding guilds abandoning the title, server merges on the way, endgame grind being scaled back, updates being heavily delayed, and Christmas being canceled, even more players are losing faith in the title. That's nothing new in our industry. MMOs are big and unwieldy and sometimes launch with terrible underlying problems. They can usually pull out of a nosedive, given time. So let's give them time. But there's a whole contingent of gamers already dancing on WildStar's grave when it's not even dead. It's one thing to deeply oppose a game's design, but if you take delight in watching major MMOs flounder, you don't really deserve this genre at all.
Ask Massively: The one where we talk about our 2013 awards
Let's talk about our 2013 awards (not the 2012 awards, though this image demonstrates why we avoid easily manipulable community polls). Some of you agreed with our picks. Some of you didn't. That's OK. Not everyone on the Massively staff agreed with all of them either. A lot of sites just let the Important People reach a consensus on nominations or even the final vote, but we let every staffer vote on the entire pool of everything. Everything, as one columnist put it, was a write-in. Goodness, even TUG scored a vote in there. Of course, TUG is adorable. A bunch of people wrote something to the effect of, "How dare you say subs are the year's biggest mistake? Massively hates subs! You're so biased for F2P!" Specifically, we said that subs were a huge blunder for The Elder Scrolls Online and WildStar. "Massively" is not a hivemind entity, and "Massively" does not hate subs. Quite a lot of us like or even prefer subs. Most of us grew up when subs were the norm. I'm subbed to two games right this very second, even though what I personally prefer was classic Guild Wars' buy-to-play campaign set-up. We also voted for a sub game as our game of the year! But let's be perfectly clear when we're fighting this F2P-vs.-sub war: The sub model we remember so fondly is not the sub model games are deploying now.
The Soapbox: Community or comments
If there's one thing gamers love doing, it's insult games they don't play. Any news item, editorial, hands-on, review, or general pile of text dedicated to a few key games -- normally those with high profiles -- receives an instant and visceral response from a collection of commenters who seem to exist only to insult a particular game and berate its fans. Much of the time, these commenters have no actual experience with the game in question. Here on Massively, EVE Online and World of Warcraft seem to be the biggest magnets for such tomfoolery. Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic attract these behaviors as well, and WildStar is well on its way to becoming the next troll-favorite comment piñata. There's nothing wrong with not liking a game, of course. And a little conflict is good; why allow comments if everyone's going to have the same opinion? There's just one problem: If your opinion of a game is based on preconceived notions and not actual experience, that opinion is adding nothing to the dialogue. In short, you are trolling.
Ask Massively: Everything in moderation
Happy Fourth of July, Americans, and happy new columnist day to Massively! Yes, it's official: Anatoli Ingram will be joining the Massively staff this month as our new Guild Wars 2 columnist. Those of you who dwell in the land of comments and trolls might recognize him from his erudite posts as Ring Bonefield. We're thrilled to have him on board to lend a pen and a critical eye to such a popular game, and we were equally thrilled at the impressive pool of applicants. Thank you all for applying! Speaking of commenters, we have comments on the brain today in Ask Massively. Let's review how -- or more specifically, when -- we moderate the comment section.
Ask Massively: Why we cover what we do, part one
Welcome back to Ask Massively. We're all aboard the yacht this week, answering your questions while dressed like characters in Scarlet Blade. Because that's pretty much what the characters in Scarlet Blade should be doing rather than, you know, mortal combat in a thong. Yes, today we're talking Scarlet Blade. In between all the crazed commenter ranting, several of you guys posed legit questions about why we covered it in the first place. Let me try to answer you without turning this into a debate about sexism. Why? Because it's not really about any one specific -ism.
The Soapbox: Dispelling the 'easy' myth
A few weeks ago, I took a nice long look at World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. Then I wrote about it. My impressions, like most things on the internet, were met with both ardent agreement and defiant protest. Everyone has an opinion, especially when it comes to World of Warcraft -- some people love the game, some people hate it, and some give it a resounding "eh." I don't mind people disagreeing with me. People react to games differently, and what works for me may not work for you. But there was one specific critique that rose, repeatedly, in the great debate raging in that article's comments section. A critique that, frankly, I cannot abide: "World of Warcraft is too easy."
The Daily Grind: What's your MMO of the year?
You've all heard Massively's (somewhat contradictory) opinions on the best MMOs of 2012, and some of you wanted a chance to chime in on the top awards, even though the results of polls can be... somewhat dubious (see image above from a few years back -- and also raise your hand if you've never even heard of like half of those). So let's test the theory that community polling is worthless and do some informal best-of polls anyway! Remember, the games and expansions you're voting on had to have been released in 2012 (that means Star Wars: The Old Republic is more or less out for having launched at the tail end of 2011, but if you want to write it in anyway, that's OK too -- we did for our awards too, after all). We don't really have room for every game in the poll, so feel free to do write-ins at the end and then tell us why you voted the way you did.
Massively's comment system gets an upgrade: Yes, you can has edit button [Updated]
As several of you have noticed, the Joystiq network's tech team has just pushed through the latest version of the Livefyre comments system. The update comes with a comment edit option with a timeout, meaning that yes, you can finally edit your posts (if you're quick -- it's apparently six minutes). Woot! The new features also include formatting tools like bullet points, bolding, italics, and embeds for links, images, and videos. There's also a little floaty widget to help you stay on top of the busiest threads. We're still digging through the update and chronicling the cool stuff and the bugs ourselves. Let us know what you like and don't like so we can pass it on to the tech guys and gals! [Update 12/21/2012: Readers have alerted us to the fact that the comment system is not functioning for users of older versions of Internet Explorer -- specifically, 8 and 9. Chrome and Firefox appear to be working well. Upgrade to IE 10 if you can! Tech is aware of the problem and investigating a fix, but we have no ETA.]
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.
The Daily Grind: Do you hold developers accountable for what they say?
Yesterday, Gamespot broke a story about an executive producer for zombie MMO The War Z who took to his game's forums to rant about gankers in the beta test. The developer, Sergey Titov, used a homophobic slur to describe those beta testers, which caused some commenters to erupt in a fury. He later altered his comments and issued an "apology" for the rant, expressing astonishment that anyone would take his homophobic slur as a homophobic slur. "I don't know where they [are] coming from," he wrote, "but I used it as a curse." The sad thing is Titov's probably right: Far too many gamers think nothing of careless insults based on gender, race, and sexual orientation. But to see it from a developer and then see it dismissed by the game's supporters as something trivial and all good in fun between bros is embarrassing for the community. I'm glad he (or more likely, the game's PR) rescinded the slur, but I also know that subconscious and conscious bias seeps into gaming at the design, culture, and corporate levels, and I'm far less likely to pony up for a game whose developers just don't seem to get that the MMO demographic stretches beyond the privileged straight white male 20-something stereotype. So today I'm wondering how you hold devs accountable when they say something that exposes their prejudices or blind-spots or just poor business sense. Do you expect heads to roll? Do you vote with your wallet and pick games where customers aren't subjected to unprofessional tirades by devs, or are you resigned to the suspicion that most studios are saddled with this mentality? 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!
Commenting on Engadget: a refresher, and how you can help
It's been far, far too long since we've had an excuse to run that rad picture of dinosaurs with laser guns. It's also been some time since we offered up a gentle reminder about the delicate dance that is the Engadget comments system -- and since things seem to have gone off the rails a bit lately, we've found a good way to accomplish both tasks. After the break, you'll discover everything you need to know in order to become a valued member of the world of Engadget commenting. As ever, we reserve the right to delete those comments that we deem to be trollin' or hatin' -- and to ban repeat offenders. We don't like banning people, and we realize that haters do have to hate, but we do want to encourage active and open debate. This is the best way for us to do that. Of course, to keep things on track we need some assistance, and while a few, proud comment moderators have been helping out for months now, it's time to invite a few more into the fold. More information on how to become a member of the elite moderating forces after the break.
Global Chat: January 1-7, 2012
We love hearing what the Massively community has to say. What better way to salute the smartest reader opinions and posts than by sharing them in a weekly column? Join us every Sunday morning for Global Chat, where we do just that! This week we've got a poke at the lighter side of game bugs, some thoughts on development costs and how they affect us in the end, and some compliments (we always love those). Ready to see what they are? Click past the cut and let's get started!
Global Chat: December 25-31, 2011
We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! Welcome to the first Global Chat of 2012! This week is all about some of your responses to our MMO predictions for 2012. You all chipped in plenty of great thoughts, so follow along after the break for the best of what our readers had to say last week!
Global Chat: December 11-17, 2011
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! It was a crazy busy week with so much to talk about, and while we could go all over the map with reader comments, we're going to focus on one last goodbye today. Follow along after the break for our readers' fondest farewells to Star Wars Galaxies.
Global Chat: December 4-10, 2011
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! Our readers have been giving plenty of attention to the impending launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic and the impending shutdown of Star Wars Galaxies, but that doesn't mean they had blinders on. This week's Global Chat features some great insight into other topics from the MMO world, so follow along after the break and let's see what our readers had to say this week.
Global Chat: November 20-26, 2011
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! Games we love, games we don't, and games we're not sure of are all on the menu for this week's Global Chat. Everyone loves to talk over upcoming games and expansions, sharing his thoughts and debating various points. Follow along after the cut to see what our readers had to say about that last week!
Global Chat, November 13-19, 2011
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! This week's Global Chat is about our love of games, even those we didn't think we'd be so crazy for, and that ever-interesting topic: what we spend our gaming funds on. Hit the jump and see what our readers had to say last week!
Global Chat: November 6-12, 2011
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! This week's Global Chat is all about choices -- be they social or in our gameplay, we like to have as many as we can. Follow along after the break to see what some of our readers had to say about choice in MMOs last week!
Global Chat: October 30-November 5, 2011
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! Global Chat this week touches on some of our most reliable hot topics: free-to-play and game design. Business models, as well as how games are created and whom they're created for, are always good for discussion, so follow along after the jump to see what a few of our readers had to say.
Global Chat: October 23-29, 2011
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! This week's Global Chat -- just like the news and stories on Massively last week -- is a combination of the fun and the somber. Our readers had plenty to say about both, so jump past the cut and take a look!
