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Global Chat: Pressed for time edition
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 edition of Global Chat is all about that precious commodity: Time. While there are still plenty of gamers out there who have time for hours-long play sessions, there are more and more players who are seeking a relatively brief and relaxing break from a busy lifestyle. Follow along after the jump and let's talk about those players!
Global Chat: Of developer decisions and player perception
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 Massively reader discussion covered all sorts of topics, but game developer drama and sandbox-style games were high on the list. As usual, we've chosen a few of our favorite comments from our reader base to share with you, so follow along after the jump to see what our readers had to say on this week's Global Chat.
Global Chat: We're only human edition
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 edition of Global Chat focuses on combat styles and playable races. Follow along after the jump to see what our readers had to say this week!
Global Chat: Tough decisions edition
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! Today's Global Chat focuses on developer decisions. From business models to mechanics and even platforms, our readers had some interesting things to say. Follow along after the jump to read, then add your own thoughts!
Global Chat: Follow the money edition
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 paying for things, not paying for other things, and giving even more things multiple chances. Follow along after the jump to see some of the best of what our readers had to say!
Flameseeker Chronicles: Let's talk business
I'm home from E3, and while there was a distinct lack of Guild Wars 2 (which we expected), I managed to have the time of my life anyway. Shawn and I recorded a couple episodes of Massively Speaking, and in the second one, we went off on a brief tangent about Guild Wars 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and what sort of competition the two would be facing with each other and more upcoming releases. Some of what I had to say prompted some heavy discussion in the comments, including my opinion that GW2 will have less competition thanks to the business model. Now, 95% of the time I laugh and move on when someone tells me that my opinions are wrong; after all, they are my opinions. It's not really a question of right or wrong. The other five percent of the time, someone will make an eloquent, well-thought-out opposing case that makes me sit back and reconsider what I've been thinking. I usually won't be completely swayed to an opposing opinion, but sometimes it can open my eyes to the merits of a different viewpoint and leave me feeling that there are some good things to be said for it. That happened this week and prompted me to do something a bit unusual: a Flameseeker Chronicles done Global Chat-style. Follow along after the break, and let's talk business (models)!
Global Chat: Surprisingly not all about E3 edition
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! Sure, we spent a lot of time on E3 last week, and it certainly dominated the news scene. Our readers found time to ponder non-E3 general gaming talk in addition to E3 talk, so follow along after the jump to see some of what they had to say this week.
Global Chat: To each his own edition
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! We had our share of differing opinions this week on Massively! From business models to PvP, everyone had plenty to say. Follow along after the cut for some of the best of this week.
Global Chat: All about the controversy edition
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! Wouldn't it be boring if we all agreed with one another all the time? The general consensus is usually "yes," and I've got to agree. Global Chat this week is all about differing opinions, so follow along after the jump to see a few of those opinions, then hit the comment button and add your own!
Global Chat: Hidden gems
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! Plenty of players were hearing and reading about things that they hadn't been aware of previously -- or even things that didn't exist! Follow along after the jump to see what's new (and new to you) this week in Global Chat!
Global Chat: Free-to-play edition
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! Free-to-play seemed to be the name of the game this week. Our readers were looking for new free-to-play games, talking about the business model, and making suggestions to one another. Follow along after the jump to see what everyone had to say in this week's Global Chat!
Global Chat: Game design edition
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 is all about game design. From housing to combat to races, our readers had some great comments on it all. Follow along after the jump to see some of our best conversation from the week!
Engadget's comments policy: what you need to know
It's been a little while since we took the time to remind you folks how comments work here -- not that long in human years but, since we've had some changes since then, we thought it was time for a reminder. After the break you'll find our "human's guide" to commenting, a sort of care and feeding guide for your Disqus account. If you've been here for awhile (hello, you) it should be mighty familiar but, since the flow of the commenters has hugely increased lately, we're going to be more strict for awhile, deleting any comments we deem to be trollin' or hatin' and banning repeat offenders. We don't like banning people, and we realize that haters do have to hate, but we love encouraging active and open debate down there. This is the best way for us to do that. Of course, to keep things on track we need help, and while a few, proud comment moderators have been doing us service for months now it's time to invite a few more into the fold. Click on through and, at the bottom, you'll see how to apply.
Global Chat: Big ol' FAIL
I'm taking the opportunity to indulge this week by adding a Global Chat quote from a Massively writer. Justin's Perfect Ten column this week touched on overused forum terms, striking a familiar chord with pretty much everyone who's ever spent more than 30 minutes in an MMO forum. Of course, "fail" was in there -- how could it not be? Justin's commentary on this was both accurate and hilarious: It's annoying just how much the MMO community's co-opted this term to sling at anything that meets its disapproval. Oh, don't tell us why you're upset; just belch out a big ol' "FAIL" and call it a job well done. Bravo. Let's move forward to the business at hand: some of the cool things our readers had to say this week. So follow along after the jump and enjoy this week's Global Chat in between the Easter MMO festivities of your choice!
Ask Massively: Bribes are just particularly motivated gifts edition
Once again, World of Warcraft has made itself the forefront of the gaming blogosphere by unrepentantly bribing tanks to run more dungeons. It does seem kind of inevitable that you'd have a shortage of one role when it can only be filled by four specs out of 30, truth be told. So is this a good move? A bad one? A good idea with poor execution? It's not for me to say. This column isn't The Soapbox; that runs on Tuesdays. But it's Thursday, which means that it's time for another edition of Ask Massively, featuring a grand total of zero questions about bribery. Instead, we're fielding questions about years of content and console versions, which should be a fun ride. As always, you can leave questions for the next edition in the comment field or mail them along to ask@massively.com. (I guess you could see having your question put into a column as a sort of bribery.)
Ask Massively: The face of hatred edition
Wii Fit Plus is the devil. It is a devil that I fight with on a daily basis, and I fight it by running for a long stretch at a time, and yet for some paradoxical reason I have never defeated it. The only reason there are no screaming obscenities in this opening paragraph is that I'm not allowed to dip into blatant cursing. Also, I've dropped about 20 pounds over the past four months, so I can't say that it's not having an effect. But seriously, balance board, no one cares if my center of balance is 0.1% to the right. Shut up. This week's Ask Massively is a fairly meta edition of the column, as our questions concern the other major face of hatred on display: the comment system. We're also fielding questions about the plethora of online games that aren't quite MMOs but aren't quite anything else either. As always, you can leave your questions in the comment field or mail them to ask@massively.com.
Global Chat: Best of April first edition
Friday was April Fool's day, and while we at Massively didn't want to stop bringing you all the latest real news, we wanted to get in on the fun as well. In the end, we compromised by making a few little additions to our schedule in the first half of the day. While we had regular news at the top of the hour as always, on the :30s we handed the virtual printing press over to you, our readers. Several of our writers created Mad Libs-style news stories, leaving out the important parts and allowing you, the readers, to create whatever news your hearts desired. Today we're looking at the ones that kept us laughing, so follow along after the jump for the best of April first!
Global Chat: This is not PAX East edition
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! Are you sensing a trend? During weeks when the majority of gaming eyes are turned toward a convention, it's good to spotlight stories and discussions that aren't coming directly from the show floor. With that in mind, hit the jump and let's see what's going on outside of PAX East!
Editorial: Facebook, single identities, and the right to be anonymous
Here in the small but intense world of writing for tech blogs, trolling and spam are a daily nuisance. In fact, on a highly commented-upon blog such as Engadget, dealing with them (i.e., deleting comments, banning spammers, and responding to irrational people) can sometimes feel like a full-time job. I know this firsthand, as I have, possibly more than most of the other editors here over the past few years, made it one of my primary daily tasks (along with our three amazing interns). By engaging with our commenters, I've made a few friends. Mostly though, it's a thankless task, an unending, uphill battle for Engadget, which ranges between 10 and 20,000 comments per day. The low quality of many comments is largely caused by anonymity on the internet, and the fact that anyone can sign up for as many Disqus accounts as they wish. Sure, people can log in using Twitter or Facebook, and while the number of people who choose to do so has risen drastically, nearly half of our commenters still use the Disqus option, which is the most anonymous. I'd venture to guess that 100 percent of our spammers and trolls do so. It's a major headache, and one which we've spent an incredible amount of time combating and discussing, and occasionally, just giving up on.
Global Chat: This is not GDC edition
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! The Massively crew was pretty heavily immersed in GDC 2011 last week -- those of us on site and those of back at "home" all enjoyed the flood of exciting news from San Francisco. That didn't mean that information elsewhere stopped, though! We kept up our regular schedule and had lots to say in other arenas. As usual, our readers had plenty to say as well, so follow along after the break for this week's Global Chat!
