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Massively Speaking 278: Bloopers, outtakes, and tomfoolery
It's the final Massively Speaking podcast of the year! We've been diligently collecting bloopers, outtakes, and general tomfoolery from our past shows, and now we've assembled them all for a hilarious stream of weirdness and non sequiturs. Laugh with us and at us (mostly the latter), and we'll see you all in 2014! Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. [iTunes] Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. [Stitcher] Follow the podcast on Stitcher Radio. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes.
One Shots: Why you sit
Why you sit? Why you sit when there is so much to be done? Every minute you spend sitting, a thousand NPCs die a gruesome death that could have been prevented by your immortal battle prowess! But you sit. You sit and you admire daffodils as you ignore the noise of innocents in peril. Hope that's one mighty fine sit! So who is this sitter? I'll let reader John introduce you: "Here is Pearl, my level 20 Archer in Final Fantasy XIV. She's obviously relaxing and enjoying the All Saint's Wake celebration. Holidays are the best time to explore the Final Fantasy world." Why you holiday? Why you holiday when people need rescuing? With great power comes great loafing off, apparently. For more public shaming in this week's One Shots, hit the jump!
Massively Speaking 267: The night MJ went crazy
Astute listeners might notice that there's a 43-minute gap in the middle of today's episode. That's because MJ, having stayed up a record 98 hours, decided that we were all pod people and the only solution was to gas the studio. Fortunately, she used Lysol, so we merely had to evacuate while everything got much better smelling. And then we went back to talking about the news, because that's what kind of pros we are. Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. [iTunes] Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. [Stitcher] Follow the podcast on Stitcher Radio. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes.
Massively Speaking 257: Bubble hearth
Meet Justin, the original MMO hipster. He was playing massively multiplayer online games back when the rest of the world was gaming on the Atari 2600. Meet Bree, the original MMO poser. She claims that she grew up playing Star Wars Galaxies and Ultima Online, but she was really just into Second Life and Habbo Hotel. Together they form VOLFORCE, defender of the inner solar system! It's truth, justice, and the Massively way! Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. [iTunes] Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. [Stitcher] Follow the podcast on Stitcher Radio. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes.
Massively Speaking 256: Still flying
Take our love, take our land, take us where we cannot stand... but you can't take the sky from Bree. Between discussing the official Firefly MMO and a Make-a-Wish tale, it's a week of emotional twists and turns for the hosts of Massively Speaking. Bree's being replaced by her stunt double, Shawn, who will do his darndest to talk in a California valley girl accent. Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. [iTunes] Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. [Stitcher] Follow the podcast on Stitcher Radio. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes.
Massively Speaking 255: A sonnet for spreadsheets
Spreadsheets, seesaws, and songs -- it's going to be a weird, weird show today, folks. Just giving you a heads up about it. Perhaps you should go do something exceedingly normal and boring before giving this a listen so as to counterbalance it. And as always, make sure to take a drink and shout, "MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!" any time that Bree mentions a certain deceased sandbox. Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. [iTunes] Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. [Stitcher] Follow the podcast on Stitcher Radio. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes.
Massively Speaking 226: Stuffed!
With the holiday week here in the states, the news cycle downshifted while belts loosened. Justin, Jef, and Bree gorged on both turkey and MMOs this past week, and can now legally be declared "brain dead but heart happy." Even with Thanksgiving we still had an interesting week of stories, interviews, and even a major launch! On today's exciting episode, we digest both the food and the most interesting bits of news for you. Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes.
The Daily Grind: How would you improve tutorials?
Yesterday on Massively Speaking we had a lively discussion about what we dislike in MMO tutorials (the popups, oh the popups!) and how we'd improve them. But we are just a few humble souls slaving over old-fashioned typewriters, while you are a legion of computer-savvy geeks who have timed the wild, wild web. So how would you improve tutorials? Keep in mind that MMO tutorials can and should be aimed at two different demographics: those who have never played online RPGs before and those who are experienced genre vets who are giving this game a go. Introducing a newcomer to the genre in such a way that he or she is not scared off is trickier than you might suspect, especially in the era of Angry Birds accessibility. What could be done to ease new players into the games? How could tutorials better transmit the information that you truly need and skip the stuff that you don't? Let's brainstorm today! No idea is too silly, except for the sixth, 20th, and 41st comments. Those are just wack. 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!
Leaderboard: Leveling vs. endgame
It's the eternal debate that's occupied our attention on so many episodes of Massively Speaking that we had to bring it to you, the impartial judges and juries of the MMO world. What is better and more enjoyable: the leveling journey or the endgame activities? In my opinion, it's all about the journey up through the levels. You're constantly traveling through new regions and vistas, watching your character increase in power and abilities. It's almost like a movie, in which the young inexperienced hero heads out for a life-changing quest. But others claim that the endgame is where the true MMO experience lies. It's here that your character finally has a full range of his/her/its abilities and is able to tackle the toughest challenges and most epic confrontations in the game. So let's see how this pans out in the public arena. Which aspect of MMOs gets your motor running? Which is where the true spirit of gaming rests? Vote, and live a life free of regrets!
Free for All: Everything I know I learned from Iris Online
OK, so the title is a little overly dramatic, and I should clarify. I meant to say: Everything I know about how I currently feel about the different types of MMOs coalesced once I downloaded and played Iris Online. I will admit to being extra-excited at first, since I had a great conversation with Tara from gPotato about the game, but my excitement has carried through so far. Iris Online comes from the same people that published Flyff and Rappelz all those years ago, so I was eager to see how similar games have evolved since that time. After all, everything in the industry has changed since even a few years ago, so why would imported "grinders" be any different? I would have to spend some time revisiting old games and downloading new ones. I had no idea that playing Iris would set off a chain reaction of realizations that I previously thought I already had. The game simply lit the spark under my foot and set me off on an even deeper exploration of this classically styled type of game.
The Daily Grind: Got Champions Online questions?
We've done three features packed to the brim with information about Champions Online's beta, but we'd like to answer some of your questions directly. So, if you were unable to find an answer to that niggling question of yours, this is the place to ask it! Today is recording day for the Massively Speaking podcast, and this particular blogger will be on the show answering as many of your questions as possible -- at least until Shawn Schuster kicks him off in a fit of rage.In case you hadn't seen them yet, we covered character creation, combat intricacies and the first five levels of the game experience. Still, we're quite sure that many of you have burning questions yet to be answered. Just promise us you won't ask us to pick a favorite power framework, because that's just too hard a choice for anyone to make.
Real-time online community software, aka 'Voon' enters beta
Just recently, Voon entered its beta for Windows and Mac users, which means almost anyone can download it and give it a go. Although, you may be wondering, "What the heck is Voon?" Simply put, Voon is a sort of online community system that can work like a chat room or like Ventrilo. You just download it and use it, no sever or vast knowledge of VoIP technology needed.Its users can interact for the sake of argument or they can all discuss a event that's being broadcast through Voon itself. Eventually, Voon users may be able to talk between the Voon client and other Vivox in-game clients such as EVE Online or any Sony Online Entertainment title. Each company will be choosing how such a system might work.For instance, right now Voon users can listen to daily re-airings of Massively Speaking and comment vocally or textually in real-time with one another as the podcast is being aired to them. It's all very cool and meta -- but in a good way that doesn't make everyone feel a bit uncomfortable. So check it out! Update: Noted that communication between Voon and in-game clients is something companies get to decide for themselves.
Destruction's dominance is temporary, says Mythic's Drescher
Today the 24th episode of Massively.com's companion podcast, Massively Speaking, is live. In it, we talk with Warhammer Online's Josh Drescher and Dan Enright all about the game since launch. We had a great time, but we felt that we needed to ask some tough questions for the community. We went for the good stuff, asking about everything from Public Quest imbalances to the grace period miscommunication last week. One question in particular we wanted to make sure got addresed, and that was the percieved imbalance between the Order and Destruction factions across the servers. Drescher said that all signs point to Destruction's dominance being temporary.Josh Drescher: There's something about the kind of person who likes to Beta test MMOs that draws them towards the badguys. All throughout Beta we saw a disproportionate popularity on the Destruction side. We know from previous games we've worked on, the good guys tend to be significantly more popular. Everyone wants to save the princess and have shiny armor. Even though we don't offer any princess saving in our game, we knew that the good guys were going to wind up generally more popular in the long term.What we're seeing now is that people looked at server populations on launch day and made a choice. "Oh, I've heard bad guys are really popular, I want to be on the side that's most popular." They chose Destruction characters initially.Dan Enright: Actually, a lot of people have been going in and choosing Order deliberately. Whether they saw the shorter queues or knew they'd have more opportunity to participate in Scenarios, or they just wanted an increased challenge ... we're seeing a lot of people move to Order.Be sure to check out the full interview in Massively Speaking Episode 24! Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Tune in tomorrow as Massively Speaking goes to WAR!
Every week Massively's companion podcast brings you a viewpoint on the MMO gaming industry and the latest news from the genre. This week we have a special episode of Massively Speaking to announce. This week Massively Speaking goes to WAR! Tune in tomorrow to hear the podcast crew speak with the frontmen from Mythic: Josh Drescher and Jeff Hickman!Be sure to join us as we speak with the Mythic Entertainment folks that have helped to guide Warhammer Online to launch. We'll be getting their feeling on what's gone well (and what hasn't) with the game's launch, as well as touch base on future plans. Watch this space tomorrow for all the WAR you can handle.
The subscription debate continues
Ah, the ever-debated subject of MMO subscription models. We've seen a lot of discussion on the subject, some good and some bad. Gamasutra just so happens to be running a pretty good discussion featuring SOE's John Smedley, Three Rings' Daniel James and EA Mythic's Mark Jacobs all chiming in with their opinions on the matter. The selection is also a good one as Smedley represents a company hybridizing its models, while James is from a company that's more or less full-on microstransactions and Jacobs is firmly for sticking with subscriptions.Each of the three mens' reasoning for their companies' model choices all make sense when you consider their reasoning. From what we can gather, all three viewpoints have their merit and really no one subscription model is going to win out anytime soon. Subscription models were a hot topic this year at ION and of course Massively discussed it as well in one of our podcasts. So if you'd like to dig deeper on the current state of the argument we highly recommend those features to you.
The Daily Grind: Your favorite MMO podcasts?
One of the things we really love about VirginWorlds is their awesome podcast collective. Not only has Brent given us his general VirginWorlds MMORPG News podcast, but he's provided a syndicated home for many other fantastic titles like Shut Up. We're Talking., The Drone Bay, to more recent additions like The VanHemlock Podcast and even our very own Massively Speaking! With such a treasure trove of fantastic podcasts, we gleefully load up our iPods and get our game on -- even when we're not gaming!For today's Daily Grind, we wanted to ask you what some of your favorite MMO podcasts are. Are you a follower of TabulaCast? Can you not resist the awesome Epic Dolls? Is The Instance your favorite? Perhaps something well off the beaten path that you think everyone should really start listening to? Let us know!
The week in Massively features
MMOGology: Gamerz is speshulMarc Nottke looks into research covering the social problems online gamers can face. Anti-Aliased: Gentlemen! Behold! Chocobos & Static Parties!Colin Brennan argues for the great possibilties offered up by Final Fantasy XI. MMOS X: A roundup of MMOs for the MacMarc Crump runs down a list of MMOs compatible with Apple's slick-looking OS. Massively video exclusive: Villain epic archetypesOur exclusive video introduction to the City of Villains epic Archetypes. Massively Speaking Podcast Episode 1The first episode of Massively's brand-new podcast is live!
