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Ask Massively: Misconceptions about game criticism, free-to-play, and lazy scrubs
In previous editions of Ask Massively, we've covered misconceptions about new, old, and sunsetted MMOs as well as misconceptions about jerk players, Kickstarters, and untrustworthy studios. Let's tackle a few more this week: who gets to dish out criticism, what F2P portends for a game, and which MMO generation really has the most lazy scrubs (answer: all of them).
Some Assembly Required: Yet another FFA PvP sandbox
I dabbled in yet another alpha-state indie sandbox game this week. As you'd expect, the title is rough around the edges. Also as you'd expect, it boasts FFA PvP and the correspondingly godawful community for whom the game's "do whatever you want" mechanics immediately translate to "kill everything that moves first and ask questions later, if at all." Since it's still alpha, there's plenty of time for the devs to correct this unfortunate bit of business and separate this particular game from the legions of crappy FFA-PvP-with-zero-consequences titles clumping together in the vast litterbox of bad MMO ideas. Will they do that? Probably not, but at least I'll get a good rant out of it.
Breakfast Topic: How lazy are you?
I must admit that I'm lazy when it comes to World of Warcraft. I don't mean that I don't research things or read about my classes. I also love to level the slow way without heirlooms. But I really don't like crossing cities, particularly if I don't have flight yet. See where Roblinator is in that picture above? The bank is just down there /points. Yet I have called Gobber more than once while just a short distance from a bank. He only hangs around for a minute, has a half-hour cooldown, and I might need him when I'm questing a few minutes later. But it's all about the instant gratification of not having to travel across a city. My blood elf mage who is also a scribe is constantly needing to hit the bank or the AH while grinding up Inscription. She has to rocket across Silvermoon City to restock and then get back to the Court of the Sun to buy supplies and train up. But she never scoots back (rockets can't fly in Silvermoon, as you probably know). No, she uses up a rune and ports back to the mage enclave and then just bops down the ramp to the inscription room.
Prospero the robotic farmer robotically plants seeds, makes humans even more lazy (video)
Let's face it -- humans are lazy, yet incredibly industrious. We've seen everything from a self-making bed, to a channel-changer to even a touchless keyboard. And now, we're blessed with a robot that plants seeds for us. That's right, the image you see above is of a five-legged machine that has the ability to complete all of the necessary steps to grow a plant. Thanks to a Parallax Propeller chip that's mounted on a Schmart Board, Prospero is able to autonomously navigate in any direction and avoid obstructing objects. There's a sensor that lies under its body that senses where seeds have been deployed. If the robot detects that the ground is in need of a seed, it'll dig a hole, drop the seed, move the soil back over the hole and then spray paint the ground white to note that the process was successful. The belly of the bot is also equipped with fertilizers and herbicides, and Prospero can 'talk' (via infrared) to other robots in order to maintain crop-creating efficiency. You can check out a 48-second clip of the planting process after the break. Or, if you're a harvest-enthusiast, hit the more coverage link for 5 minutes of glorious green thumb action.
Automated remote control changes channels every minute, on the minute (video)
Confirmed: your last remaining reason to lift a finger in life has just been removed -- and in dazzling fashion, might we add. Instructables user randofo has created a timed trigger mechanism that affixes to that giant remote you purchased for your grandfather last Christmas, and every minute, on the minute, it mashes down in order to change the channel. Or slowly increase the volume until the neighbors complain. Or continually input the number "1," which your television vehemently refuses to recognize. We'd blame the creator, but given that he took the time to detail his methodology in the source link and whip up a few demonstration vids after the break, it's hard to paint "sloth" across his chest with a straight face.
Disguising the grind
Believe it or not, grind is an essential part of an MMO and we might be pretty lost without it. Repetitive content is the cornerstone of the MMO genre but it's not all just smacking monsters over the head for hours on end or completing yet another "kill ten rats" quest. The repetitive elements in an MMO give us predictable gameplay in a form we can digest. We don't feel lost when we pick up a quest because it uses similar mechanics to previous quests we've done. From a development standpoint, the amount of time it takes to create new and unique gameplay for an MMO is quite large and it's just not feasible to churn out unique gameplay with every new piece of content. Instead, developers are forced to re-use the same gameplay mechanics over and over again. So if we genuinely appreciate predictable, repetitive gameplay and it's not feasible to do otherwise, why are we always so up-in-arms about the evils of grinding? In this probative opinion piece, I look at why we need repetitive gameplay in MMOs and the various ways developers disguise grind to keep the game entertaining. Update: Link to page 2 fixed. Thanks Brian!
Disguising the grind, part 2
Other quests may require you to kill a named monster but to get to him you have to go through several passageways full of other monsters. The core idea here is pretty solid -- the quest isn't the mundane task of running from A to B or killing some monsters. The quest has another goal entirely and the mundane tasks of travel and killing monsters are challenges to overcome in accomplishing that goal.
Underachievement: EA selling 'unlock everything' DLC for Skate 2
It won't instill gamers with the same red-faced anger as EA's fizzled plan to offer for-pay weapons in Battlefield: Bad Company; instead, the newly released "Time is Money Pack" for Skate 2 will simply make those who buy it feel varying degrees of guilt, regret and perhaps even fear. That's because, for 400 ($5) on XBLM or $4.99 on the PlayStation Store, owners of the game can literally pay their way past the effort it would take to unlock everything in the game. The "everything" in question includes "all locations, skaters and gear that can be earned by playing through Skate 2's career and online modes," according to the DLC's description. So, basically, you're paying for access to content that's already in the game. Or, to put it another way, you're paying five bucks for a cheat code. A downloadable code, if you will. Next thing you know, people will be paying for good grades and -- who knows -- even Senate seats. Oh, wait ... [Via X3F]
Barrens Chat: All hands on deck
This week's comic I have decided to do by hand while waiting around for various people and events to catch up to my time line. In other words, the only thing I used my computer for this week was some minor touch ups, framing, straightening, and of course sticking it up here for all of you to razz.I don't know how common a problem this is for other people, but when I'm actually playing World of Warcraft in the same room as my significant other, he tends to use me as his hotkeys. I'm the "M" key when he wants to know where we are on the map, for instance. I don't know if this is something that happens with everyone who plays in the same room as another person, or if it is just a singular case. Do any of you have instances like this one where you end up being the macro, hotkey, or info guide for someone else?For the record, I'll go back to doing things with photoshop next week. Small drawings are evil.See you next week! %Gallery-22361% Barrens Chat is a weekly comic strip that has gone back in time to the good old days of markers and pencils. Although the emo oozes were shiny, and the water elemental looked like a fun time, nothing beats some retro action. Don't worry, everything should be back to normal next week!
WoW, Casually: Wrath of the Lich King is for casuals too
Each week or so, Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has 2 hours or less to play at a time.You may have noticed that there has been quite a bit of news about Wrath of the Lich King lately. In that news, there are some very wonderful things in store for those of us with limited playtime. There is also a lot of resentment because of that from some of the players. In this column, I'll be discussing what we casuals have to look forward to in the next expansion and I'll be defending what is essentially our right to participate in the WoW lore and endgame.What I won't be discussing, like I used to, are the casual friendly events in the schedule. If you look in the right hand column of this page, you'll see a great calendar of Upcoming Events. So check there for the latest Call to Arms weekends, Holiday events and It came from the Blog activities. Join us after the jump for the news and perhaps a little ranting.
Inventor proclaims laziness, shows off self-making bed
It's one thing to exemplify laziness; it's another to buck the habit just long enough to invent something to keep you idler, longer. Enter Enrico Berruti, an everyday fellow who has created something that almost anyone with a bed could see as useful. His Selfy bed, quite simply, uses a variety of moving parts, bars and linens to make itself at the push of a button. To be fair, Mr. Berruti was thinking of disabled individuals who would have a difficult time making their own traditional bed when conjuring this thing up, but he didn't hesitate to mention his own indolence as motivation. Hopefully there's some kind of safety feature to prevent users from accidentally activating the thing while they're still snoozing -- can't imagine that being any fun.[Via Physorg, image courtesy of AFP / Getty Images]
iPhoneSender sends addresses to the iPhone's Google Maps
Even I can see that this one is a little lazy, but hey, maybe someone out there will be looking for a way to more easily send street addresses to their iPhone without actually typing them in. What? That's you? Well then, pardner, you're in luck-- give iPhoneSender a look.It is a Safari bookmarklet and/or Firefox extension that, when it spots a street address on a web page, will let you right click the address, ask for an email, and then send that address, in convenient Google maps format, directly to your iPhone. It's all of the iPhone's Google maps functionality, without any of the actual address-typing that usually requires.Lazy? Perhaps. But I can see a sliver of a demand there-- what if you're rushing out the door to the pizza place, but didn't remember to print out the directions and don't have enough time to write the address down to punch in later? Like many things in life, you might not realize how necessary this little extension is until you actually have to use it.Thanks, Matt L!
Are Wii developers lazy?
Although the Wii had many good games this year, it's clear that some developers noticed the Wii's hype and have put out some unsatisfactory products in an attempt to ride the popularity wave. We're often critical of such games, "tsk, tsking" at them to our hearts' content, but it makes us feel better when developers notice this trend since they're the ones with the power. It's up to the developers to really push themselves and the machine they're working with, and as time goes on, the process becomes easier and more efficient.Tancred Dyke-Wells, the creative director of Kuju (the company behind the Wii's Battalion Wars 2), recently criticized many Wii developers for "under-exploiting" the little white console. We tend to take his word seriously, since we think that BWII "has just about everything that fans of first-party Nintendo games are looking for," as you can see in our review of the game. Dyke-Wells' main beef with developers is with the way in which graphics are handled on the system. While the Nintendo Wii can't compete in the graphics department with Sony's Playstation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360, he believes that the Wii is a "pretty good piece of kit" that overpowers the GameCube "by a factor of two."In the end, Dyke-Wells thinks it comes down to how much respect these developers have for their companies, their products, and their consumers, and we can't help but agree. The possibility of making a quick and easy buck is tempting, but we expect developers to make good games simply because they can.[Via Aussie-Nintendo]
Wii Warm Up: Let's get physical
We know that the Wii has the potential to help people shed pounds, but we wonder how often it actually has. We suppose it's a question of dedication, but still, we're curious -- how many of you have benefited physically from the Wii? We're pretty much as lazy as we ever were, but we want to know about you. Do you use Wii Sports regularly as a means of exercise? Or are you perhaps waiting for Wii Fit to get your glutes into shape? Let us know whether or not the Wii has inspired you to get physical.
Actbrise's Touchless Keyboard for your laziness, handicap
While targeting the physically handicapped, there's nothing to prevent your lazy ass from taking home the new touchless keyboard from Actbrise. Well, nothing but $2,573. With the keyboard plugged into your PC, a device worn on the head or other mobile appendage allows the user to navigate the keyboard and mouse. For that price though, you'd best have a fat check from Johnny Gov in hand or your insurance policy paid-up in full.
Player evolves pokemon with the aid of two wrenches
The most time-consuming part of any Pokemon game is capturing and strengthening your horde of creatures. To make things worse, some pokemon will only evolve after they've attained a certain level of happiness. An intrepid (lazy, impatient, resourceful, etc.) gamer named Joshua didn't want to wait, so he came up with a plan. For every 256 steps you take with a pokemon in your party, it gains one happiness point. To reach the maximum level of 250 you would have to take 64,000 steps and waste roughly half your life running in circles. Instead of whittling his afternoons away, Joshua found a few locations in the game with a moving floor that allowed him to take 13 steps every six seconds. That adds up to 7,800 steps in an hour and would allow maximum pokemon happiness in about eight hours. Two wrenches and a good night's sleep later, Joshua was the happy owner of several fully-evolved pokemon.
Need one more at meeting stone
Elizabeth put a good post up the other day about lazy folks who don't take the time to run back into an instance after a wipe, and this forum post by Eleutheria on EU Earthen Ring points out the other side of instance group laziness: Meeting stone standoffs.Here's how it should work: if there aren't yet two people in your group standing by the meeting stone, everyone in the group should be running, riding, or flying to get there. But of course that's not what really happens-- what happens is that the leader of the group makes it there first, and everyone else continues grinding, or goes to check the AH one more time, or has to run repair, or finish a BG, or any number of things that don't involve getting to the meeting stone and summoning. Worst case scenario is that people start trying to convince others to go for them, and one guy is left at the meeting stone shaking his head.Now, some people say that whoever made the group should be summoning, and in most cases, that seems like a good idea. But there are always exceptions. Even if I'm the last to enter a group, I usually start making my way towards the instance anyway-- the trip is never that long, no matter which instance you're going to, and it's better to be nice and use the flight to get another beer/soda then to sit around demanding a summon.Unfortunately, there's no real way to fix this except to call out people for just plain being lazy. I guess it would be cool if Blizzard gave a nice timed buff to the first two people in a group to use a meeting stone summon, except then you'd probably have tons of people hanging around the RFC meeting stone in Org before they queued up for the battleground. As a few people point out in the thread, probably the best way to deal with it is just to give up on the group. Maybe next time they'll be ready to work together outside the portal as well as inside.
RemoteLinc wirelessly controls everything in your crib
While it must be nice to own a home that's completely controlled by your voice, a clap, or a simple remote, getting this stuff up and running isn't always easy, and the INSTEON-compatible RemoteLinc doesn't seen to make things any less complicated. Sure, controlling your garage door, fireplace, kitchen appliances, home theater components, and six or so lighting schemes throughout the house may sound novel, but considering the extras required to make it happen with the RemoteLinc, you may want to look elsewhere for your home automation needs. The control only dictates items that are first connected to an RF-capable AccessPoint, which acts as a bridge between the item and the RemoteLinc, but hooking up a multitude of devices can get quite pricey when buying a SwitchLinc, LampLinc, or ApplianceLinc for every single unit. Still, it does boast of "Plug and Tap" ease when setting things up, and the remote itself will only set you back $49.99, but we'd be well aware of the necessary add-ons you'll need to make the magic happen before diving on in.[Via CNET]
A Wii bit lazy
Months ago, Penny Arcade outlined the dangers of playing the Wii with small, controlled movements -- namely, looking like a total toolbox. As if this wasn't enough warning, the guys at Dog Rodeo have put together a humorous look at just how slothful you can be while still playing a decent game of Wii Sports. Personally, we find it hard to believe that a ceiling fan could be such an able tennis player, but the humans will have the last laugh when the fan is taken out by an errant remote. [Via TechFresh]
