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RIFT willing to ban players for toxic forum behavior
Official game forums have a reputation for being hopelessly toxic. It makes a certain amount of sense, too; being an utter jerk in the forums usually means that at worst you'll be banned from those forums. So RIFT is taking things up to the next level. If you choose to be persistently awful in the forums, you can eventually have your ability to play the game suspended. Readers with a long memory will note that Sony Online Entertainment has discussed similar possibilities in the past, hoping to encourage a more positive and engaging atmosphere all around. The Carnival of the Ascended is rolling back into the game and helping create a more positive atmosphere as well, giving players a plethora of minigames to enjoy. RIFT Junkies has a full guide to the event available now, walking players through the steps necessary to unlock mounts, pets, and fun cosmetic pieces. So enjoy the addition... assuming you haven't run afoul of the more aggressive behavior policies. [Thanks to Cederhill for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: Do you take part in forum rage?
It's a generally accepted fact that the official forums for any given game are a cesspool of invective, animosity, and rage. Whatever recent changes have been made to a game, you can be sure that there will be an outpouring of rage that detail how the changes were too big, not big enough, or didn't affect real issues. If World of Warcraft is unexpectedly down, there will be plenty of people ready to explain how this is the downfall of a hugely successful game that makes millions of dollars. The flip side to this is that it can be cathartic to just open up and complain on the forums. Even if you know full well that launch week results in server issues for every game, it helps let out frustrations to just explode about those server issues on the forums. The other side would be that this sort of behavior contributes to an atmosphere of negativity rather than discussion. So do you take part in forum rage? Does it depend on the conditions or the problem? Or do you just stay out altogether? 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!
Blizzard's Rob Pardo asks players to direct Diablo III blame to him
When Jay Wilson announced that he was leaving his position as director of Diablo III, the forums were filled with responses. To the surprise of absolutely no one who has visited any forum in the history of the Internet, many of those responses were some variety of blaming Wilson for every issue the game might have or claiming that the game is clearly being abandoned completely. That didn't sit well with executive producer Rob Pardo, who took to the forums to tell players that if they want someone to blame, blame him. Pardo explains that he's extremely proud of the game and that everyone remains dedicated to making it the best it can be. At the same time, he stresses that he was responsible for hiring and overseeing Wilson's work, and he takes full responsibility for the game as a whole. The odds of this actually defusing forum vitriol are still roughly nil, but it does ensure that at least in Pardo's eyes it will be directed in a more deserving direction, and it's a classy move no matter what you think of the game.
The Daily Grind: Should devs prioritize player requests?
A couple of recent threads on Funcom's Age of Conan forums got us to thinking about MMO development priorities and how (or if) they're affected by playerbase desires. Leaving aside the more outlandish requests from the eternally dissatisfied vocal minority that lurks in the shadows of o-boards everywhere, most games feature an intelligent community filled with suggestions that would, on paper at least, expand the game and its playerbase. For whatever reason, though, it's rare that even the smallest requests are acknowledged, let alone implemented. Lacking development experience ourselves, we can only guess that this is because of time constraints, budget constraints, or visions of a game that leave little room for branching out. Ultimately, we're left to wonder if some MMOs wouldn't be better served by heeding a few of the wishes of their more reasonable players. As one poster succinctly stated: We asked for PvP and got Bori. We asked for a Priest of Mitra/Herald of Xotli revamp and got a Ranger/Guardian revamp. We didn't ask for horse racing or graphical engine upgrades (the former was recently implemented in AoC while the latter is currently Funcom's top development priority). For today's Daily Grind, we'd like to know your take on the situation in general. Should MMO devs prioritize customer requests? 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: How useful are your favorite forums?
We here at Massively spend a lot of time on game forums. Whether we're researching an article for a game like The Old Republic, taking the pulse of the community over in Paragon City, or even looking for info to tweak our EQII characters, it's a given that a certain portion of our week will be spent poring over endless walls of flam... er, threads. For my part, I've often wondered how many of my fellow MMORPG players spend much (or any) time on the forums. Inevitably during the course of a particularly polarizing discussion, someone will chime in to the effect of "only the hardcores even read these forums, 90% of the players are happily, you know, playing!" While there is a kernel of truth in such statements, they are impossible to actually prove, much less quantify. That said, I'm interested in your opinions, Massively readers. Are you a regular reader (or contributor) to the discussion boards of your primary game, and if so, what is your gut feeling regarding the percentage of your fellow players who do likewise?
