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The Daily Grind: Why do you love your favorite game?
Yes, we know what's coming. But we don't want the next few days to be a cavalcade of sorrow because this is a site and a community built around our shared love of MMOs. So let's spread some cheer today. Why do you love your favorite game? I make no secret about my affection for Final Fantasy XIV, obviously. It's a great game that fuses progress organically with stuff that you'd have fun doing anyway and gives you no shortage of freedom in what you want to do in the game. It's a great time. But my favorite game might not be yours. So let's share. No bashing, no whining, no complaining; let's make this a positive time for everyone. Why do you love your favorite game, be it a critical darling or a title you feel doesn't get nearly enough love? 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!
Breakfast Topic: When your gaming gets emotionally charged
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. It was going to be a regular Tuesday night for me: Get home from work, have dinner, lounge around on the couch with my hubby before bed. I didn't even really want to log into WoW that night, but I logged in just out of habit. Once there I thought, "Ah, I'll just queue a random and get my two frosts; hopefully it's a quick run." And then, almost half-heartedly, just because I had to find something to do during the 20-minute DPS wait, I hopped on a flight path to my favorite fishing ground, the lake next to Camp Winterhoof. Exactly four casts later, I'm whooping at the top of my lungs like I had just won a million dollars. I hadn't just won a million dollars -- I just happened to fish up the Dark Herring, an achievement that had been evading me for the better part of a year. I look over at my spouse, eager to share the fantastic news. I can't blame him, the poor guy is looking at me like I just lost my mind. ... At which point I more or less simmered down, got a grip and proceeded to my dungeon. I was still ecstatic, mind you. Days later, I was still ecstatic. I would be sitting on the couch with my hubby, calmly watching TV, and all of a sudden I'd burst out giggling, "Can you believe I caught that fish? I can't believe I caught that fish! Heehee." If that's not having an emotional stake in this game, I don't know what is. Another example: I had only been playing WoW for a few weeks, after my spouse finally got me to try out the game. I was only level 20 or so, questing in Ashenvale, when I got a random group invite -- my first ever. I figure, "Why not? He wants help on the same quest I'm doing; it can only go faster." Being new to the game, I hadn't quite grasped the concept of rez sickness ... Two minutes and five mobs later, my new-found friend and I were both dead. Two seconds after that, my new-found friend dropped group without saying anything (probably for the best, given the choice words he could have had for me if he'd wanted). I was devastated. I felt like I had let this person down. I started bawling -- tears, sobs, the whole bit. I turned to my hubby for comfort and he immediately burst out laughing. (OK, right now I'm laughing, too, but at the time it was very distressing.) My point is, I often find myself emotionally invested in this game. And while my husband can laugh and raise eyebrows and roll his eyes, he's felt it too; he rerolled on a PvE server two weeks after Wrath of the Lich King came out because leveling in a PvP environment was stressing him out too much. How about it, fellow gamers? When has this game had you jumping for joy, crying in sadness, seething with anger or wringing your hands in desperation? Have you ever wanted to write for WoW.com? Your chance may be right around the corner. Watch for our next call for submissions for articles via Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. The next byline you see here may be yours!
The Daily Grind: What game has generated the strongest feelings for you?
There are some games that you just sort of play. You pick them up, you enjoy them, and then you walk away without any real feelings about them one way or the other. And then there are the games that you launch into a screaming two-hour argument with one of your closest friends about on your birthday, because they happened to say that they didn't like it. Or maybe you finished an intense, epic play session on the game, working your way through an emotional questline and roleplaying all the way, and you find out afterwards that you need to lie down for a little while. Or maybe they're just the games that inspire you to post long forum diatribes wherever you can about why this is the greatest game in history. Whether it be in the game or out of it, what games have generated the strongest feelings in you? Whether it's an intense emotional reaction to a character's death that you would nominate as an exhibit in the ongoing "are games art" debate, or just some impassioned soapboxing off-the-cuff, we're sure you have some moments and games that just resonate with you. Tell us about them. We're all ears.
Raid Rx: 5 Heroics to help toughen your healers
Raid Rx has returned from retirement! Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. This week we look at which heroic encounters will help strengthen your new healers and why! A question I get asked from healers is how can I prepare myself for raiding? On the other side of the spectrum, guild leaders ask me how can they judge or measure a healer in other areas other than healing output. Let's knock out two birds with one well timed stone.
Wow-Pen's Joy mouse is a like a fat, melted marker
It's strange how "ergonomic" devices rarely look like they'd be comfortable to use. Such is the case with the Wow-Pen Joy, a new mouse that conforms to the hand like a pen would, apparently making your computing experience a little less tough on the wrists. Although it resembles one of your clay sculptures from elementary school, the twisted lump of plastic sports 800 dpi resolution and can be jacked right into any XP or Vista machine. We can't promise this will actually help with the chronic, stabbing wrist pain caused by your "regular" mouse (see inset), though we can tell you it won't break the bank at 20,000 KRW, or about $30.
Meet LG's KS10: their S60 HSDPA slider with Google
Looks like the first of LG's phones with Google -- not Google Phones -- just peaked out from under the velvet cloth. Meet the LG-KS10, a WCDMA/HSDPA slider bringing a full-blown Symbian OS. We're talking 2.4-inch LCD, 2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, and multimedia playback when this pup hits Italy in April and the rest of Europe and South East Asia before the year is up. Come to think of it, this is the same "Joy" S60 slider we saw back in October sporting a full xHTML browser and microSD expansion. Mmm, mmm... good cracker. Check the gallery for more hot Symbian-on-LG action. Meet LG's KS10: their S60 HSDPA slider with Google [Via AVING]
LG's Joy does Symbian S60 and HSDPA, too
Step aside Samsung i520 and Nokia N95, you've got company. That's right, LG's first Symbian S60 slider rides the glossy success of their Chocolate phones and is said to feel remarkably light considering the kit packed within. No official announcement has been made, but from the looks of reports spillin' outta London's Symbian Smartphone Show, the Joy is set to deliver Symbian OS v9 and S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1, a 2.4-inch LCD screen, GSM / EDGE / HSDPA radios, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, a full xHTML browser, microSD expansion slot, a 2 megapixel camera for snaps and a second shooter for VGA quality video calls. Damn near identical specs as the Sammy. But you won't hear us complaining about choice, albeit not ours, since we won't likely be screaming for Joy Stateside anytime soon.[Via All About Symbian]
