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iPhone app developer says MMOs will be abandoned
Although Kepa Auwae and his team are working on Rocketcat Games' first RPG for the iPhone, the developer doesn't see much of a future for MMORPGs. In an interview with MTV Multiplayer, the creator of hit iPhone smashes like Super QuickHook prognosticated a vastly different gaming future than what we see today: "I think developers will completely abandon MMOs and social games, for the most part. Both genres were dead-ends, and they always allowed only one developer at a time to have any real success. Instead, most developers will make games with deep mechanics, designed for heavy replay value mixed with community content. These games will also strongly feature hat customization... top hats, bowlers, straw boaters. SO badass." Ironically, Auwae voiced his dislike for the disposable nature of current games, which seems to describe the polar opposite of MMOs: "I think many games are too disposable. They're designed with no mod content tools in mind, no community involvement, no real replay value, no updates." You can read the full interview over at MTV Multiplayer.
The Road to Mordor: A conspiracy of hats
The hat, as they say, makes the man. Or the woman. Or the Dwarf. Unfortunately, in Lord of the Rings Online, the hat often makes the man completely silly. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but the hats in LotRO have garnered the reputation as being goofy as all get out. Sure, this is hardly a fresh observation, but I've wanted to address it in this column for a while now, so it might as well be today! Rumor has it that Turbine's artists drew upon actual medieval outfits to lend an authentic, renaissance faire vibe to the game. This is perhaps why there is such a distinct fashion style in LotRO that you don't see in other MMOs. Our modern sensibilities, with such fashion achievements as tank tops and crocs, make hauberks and codpieces seem quaint and ridiculous. Truly, we are seeing the height of human civilization in 2010. So while it's laudable that Turbine tried to give us the real deal, that doesn't quite excuse the fact that many of the hats -- especially the light armor versions -- are unbearably weird. It's as if, as The Pix'led Life speculated, there's a conspiracy of hats afoot: "Let's see what we can make them swallow!" one artist cackles. "Ooh, I know -- how about 16 varieties of dunce hats?" laughs another. I kid, I kid. There are 17. Hit the jump and let's take a terrifying journey through headgear that seeks to conquer Sauron by making the Enemy laugh himself to death.
Ask Massively: Look guys I found a picture of a man with a hat edition
When I took over this past weekend's Week in Review column, I informed the usual steward that I would probably give the post some Dadaist nonsense title like, well, the exact title I used for this week's Ask Massively. I realized that the title was really too good to use for just a generic roundup. I have no idea who that man is, why someone painted him with a hat, or any of that. But he definitely has a pretty awesome hat. This week we have a lot of administrative questions, talking about the comment system, the different types of MMOs, and the many different games which feature spaceships. And, as usual, we have the requisite silly question which I try to include every week, because you shouldn't click on a post with a ridiculous title without something to laugh at. Click on past the break for our answers for the week, and as always, leave further questions in the comment field, or send them along to ask@massively.com!
Describe Team Fortress 2's hats in the TF2 Hat Describing Contest
Are you the player in your Team Fortress 2 group known not just for proficiency in a certain class, but in the special skill of hat storytelling as well? If so, you're a shoo-in for Valve's latest contest. "Fans have been mailing us for some time now," Valve said on the TF2 blog, "asking for a contest that didn't involve modeling or level design. So now they get their wish. That's right: you'll be competing over who can describe hats the best." The full details can be found here, but essentially, you can send in a description of one of the game's hats, and Valve might use it in the game. In addition to tales of headwear, Valve also announced a bonus for TF2 fans who buy Worms Reloaded: Holy Hand Grenade accessories and a new helmet for the Soldier. Buy Reloaded before September 2 to get access to these (purely decorative) items.
Catch the VanaFest bug with Final Fantasy XI trivia
With a little over a week left until VanaFest 2010 commences, long-time fans of Final Fantasy XI might well be taking the opportunity to think back on the memories the game has produced. If those memories happen to include some obscure facts, you might be in luck with the VanaFest 2010 trivia contest, yet another chance for fans not in attendance to enjoy some of the spirit of the event. And just to prove that Squre-Enix is an old dog fully capable of learning new tricks, the contest is on the now-ubiquitous Twitter! Running from the 23rd to the 27th of this month, the contest will have an official question asked on the official feed. The first five players to answer the question correctly will get to take away something very special: the Chocobo Beret! Yes, the same hat given away to attendees, a celebration of Final Fantasy XI's long tradition of hats that look like things. Read the full rules on the official VanaFest site, and get ready to start tweeting some serious trivia. After all, even if you don't win you'll be getting up-to-the-minute information on all the big news, and isn't that prize enough?
Fallen Earth puts a feather in your hat for purchasing
It's always nice to get a little something extra for what you were planning on doing anyway. It's even nicer when the "little something extra" is something you would want on its own merits, at that. Fallen Earth has decided to give its new players exactly that variety of something extra: if you buy now through the official site, you will receive the lovely and (dare we say it) eminently pimptacular hat displayed to the right. The hat isn't enough reason for you? Well, clearly you aren't looking closely enough at the hat itself. You also might not know that the hat provides your character with Scavenging, Nature, Geology, and Social skill points just by donning it. It's a really nice hat. Lest we get carried away by gushing about the hat, however, it should be duly noted that the hat is also a limited-time offer for purchasers of the game, and is only being distributed by purchasing the game from the official site. So if you've been on the fence, this might be the time to get off the fence and get yourself a truly excellent hat for your troubles.
TurpsterVision: Tipping My Hat to Cooking
We can't believe it either – Turpster has been let loose on WoW.com to bring you videos from in and around the World of Warcraft! You've heard him on the WoW Insider Show, and now see him on TurpsterVision right here on WoW.com.By the time you read this I'm already on my plane to BlizzCon, but I couldn't leave you guys without showing you the greatest addition to my gear since I fought off Arthas and forged the Argent Crusade in an alternate Warcraft time line. It is most certainly worth saving up your Dalaran Cooking Awards (all 100 of them!) since it will save you countless seconds in the heat of battle the kitchen.Make sure you stay tuned to the site over this week to follow the adventures of myself, an Englishman, Scotsman and an Irishman on our way to BlizzCon - that is assuming that we manage to survive the night of hard rocking on Guitar Hero! Check out more of Turpster's work, from his WoW parody songs to TV previously on Massively.com, not forgetting everyone's favorite podcast 'The WoW Insider Show' and of course, TurpsterVision right here on WoW.com!
Next Team Fortress 2 update to be completely classless
No, the next major update for Valve's oft-expanded FPS Team Fortress 2 won't be without elegance and social graces -- they adequately covered that base with the Sniper update's piping hot jars of urine. Rather, the update won't favor any particular class over another, distributing goodies to every class, and adding new maps into the ever-growing mix.The first of these non-class specific additions is -- brace yourself -- new hats. Eighteen new hats, to be precise, which presumably add two new hats to each of the game's nine classes' wardrobes. (Math'd!) The first map to be revealed is Arena Offblast, a tricky little battleground perched atop a shear mountain cliff. Players will need to stay wary of the cliff's edges, lest they plummet to their death, and stain their lovely new hats with gray matter.Stay tuned to the TF2 blog -- they should be adding more information about the classless update in the coming days.
Swagdog will print your guild's logo on a hat
Our good friends at Swagdog (who are sponsoring our Guild of the Month contest -- have you entered your guild yet? only a little while left this month!) have added a new customized guild item to their lineup: hats. CEO Mike Horn tells WoW Insider that they've "had great success with the personalized Guild Shirts and had numerous requests for accompanying Guild Hats," so wish granted. To buy the hats, just go through the system, and once you get your guild information in there, you'll be able to choose whether you want a hat or a shirt.They run a little pricy for hats, at $24.99, but each hat is custom made to order -- you get your guild logo (with all of the game's choices and colors, or pulled straight from the Armory if you want) on the front, and a Horde or Alliance icon on the back, as well as your guild or character names if you'd like. Hats are flexfit and come in two sizes: Small/Medium or Large/XLarge. Paladins, you'll likely need the larger version.Pretty smooth -- I like the fact that it's just the tabard logo. The shirts can be a little overboard with all of the tabard art and the text and the class icons, so if you want to show some guild pride a little more subtly, this seems like a great way to go.
Design a hat for Guild Wars
Like many of you, all I wanted to be when I grew up was a hatter. The careful crafting of the brim. The fine finishing on the interior.Alas! Like many childhood fantasies, very few of us got to be the hatters we always dreamed of becoming. But someone at ArenaNet is giving you a second chance this Wintersday.Wintersday in Guild Wars is a twisted cross between Christmas, PvP, lots & lots of snow, hats, and a PvP arena in which you slay your opponents with snowballs. No, really.The GW art team are going to use a fan-created concept for their design of the Grenth Wintersday helm, and they want your designs. There's assorted hardware & in-game prizes for the winners, in addition to whoever gets to be immortalized as a GW hatter of legend.The deadline for entry is Monday 19th of November, and the GW team have a history of doing this kind of thing so your hat will be in good hands. Now then, how to tie a Clockwork Orange bowler hat into a Grenth & Wintersday theme?
The LED Pong hat
If for some reason you feel the need to sport a set of obnoxious LED displays on your head, you might as well go all out and embed them in the ugliest hat you can find. Iain over at LushProjects is one person who felt such a need, and spent over six months designing and building the, um, unique piece of headwear you see pictured above -- which besides displaying the text message of your choice, also throws down a pretty mean game of Pong or simulated Space Invaders. To liven things up a bit, Iain even tossed in a microphone and amp, so that fellow concert-goers need only glance over at his creation for a graphical representation of the music blasting at a show. We're not sure if the hat actually lets you play a real game of Pong or not, but even if it does, having strangers stand inches from our face while tugging on our ear flaps doesn't sound all that appealing - we'll stick with our Pong clock for now, thanks.[Via Make and Hack-A-Day]
