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WRUP: Freedom edition
As of yesterday evening, my second job is no longer an issue. I'm free to focus on working on Massively full-time. Three and a half years I've been working most of the day, but now I have time to start new writing projects here, more time to play games and engage with readers, and more time to pursue the career that I love. Also more time to sit in a panic whilst fearing I made a horrible mistake, but I've been struggling to fit that into my schedule anyway. Too personal for you? Then you're going to hate the rest of WRUP, because it's nothing but myself and the other Massively writers discussing our plans for the weekend. Very personal stuff. If you can stomach that, you can check our plans out past the cut, and you can let us know what you'll be up to down in the comments.
Eliot Lefebvre06.22.2013
Ask Massively: The best and worst of E3
Massively is finally recovered from E3, whose MMO reveals surprised even the most jaded gamers among us. Now that we've had time to process the entirety of the event and our coverage of it, we think it's time to deliver our overall impressions of the show -- the most surprising reveal, the most disappointing offering, and of course, the best MMO in show. The ground rules for our discussion? It had to be something we can justify covering -- MMO, MOBA, pseudo-MMO, or related topic. It had to be something shown in public, be it a demo or video or interview. If we can't talk about it and you can't see or read about it, we're not including it. Ahem. Every staff member and on-the-ground freelancer was permitted to chime in. We stuck to three big categories rather than create so many that every game could win something. Let's do this.
Bree Royce06.20.2013
WRUP: Addressing concerns regarding Massively One edition
I understand that some of our readers are concerned about some of the details regarding Massively One, so let's clear the air. Yes, in order to use Massively One, you do need to connect to the internet at least once an hour or your house and pets will be set on fire. But you should be online all the time anyway, and it's not as if the infrastructure ever suffers problems you can't foresee. Besides, the connection requirement is only for a small amount of personal data to enable features you don't want and never asked for, like preventing you from owning things you buy. For the record, this is not satire. Satire is subtle. Moving along, it's time for this week's installment of WRUP, which can be found past the cut as usual. As always, we'd love to know what you'll be up to over the weekend, so feel free to leave your own plans down in the comment section.
Eliot Lefebvre06.15.2013
WRUP: A public service announcement for the Saints Rowless edition
If you have somehow still not found the opportunity to play Saint's Row the Third up until now, you now literally have no excuse. The game is playable for free this weekend on Steam, and you can also purchase the game at an extremely steep discount. But this shouldn't be necessary, because everyone should already own a copy of this game. I realize this may be seen as overenthusiastic praise, but please believe me when I say that I consider my own lack of interest in the title at launch a tremendous mistake on my part. If you think "it's just a sandbox Grand Theft Auto clone" and write it off, you are depriving yourself of something truly wonderful. Download and install it, you have nothing to lose. So we now know what you're playing for the weekend, but what are we playing? Check that out in WRUP just past the cut. And then let us know what else you'll be up to in the comments.
Eliot Lefebvre06.08.2013
Massively seeks a new Guild Wars 2 columnist
Yes folks, it's that time again: the time when Massively hops into the hiring channel and says, "Looking for more!" We're looking to hire fresh meat a new staff member for the site, a Guild Wars 2 columnist to keep up the quality of our GW2 coverage as produced by past experts Lis Cardy and Rubi Bayer and our interim Flameseeker Chronicles video guru Richie Procopio. Here's the skinny on us: Massively is Joystiq's geeky MMO cousin. We're owned by AOL; we're all paid, remote contractors; and we uphold a strict set of ethical standards you won't find among our rivals. We focus on high-quality writing with fair sourcing and a mix of news and features. We employ actual copyediting and editorial oversight, so you won't see trainwreck English in every headline. In short, we are the MMO site the other sites use as an RSS feed. This position would be an awesome chance to break into paid gaming journalism if you happen to have just the right blend of Guild Wars 2 experience, availability, excellent writing skills, and passion for the MMO genre. If that describes you, then read on and apply!
Bree Royce06.07.2013
Hands-on with Meta 1, a 3D augmented reality headset with a natural UI (video)
Augmented reality is the future, or at least the proliferation of AR apps and hardware seems to indicate that'll be the case. Meta revealed its own augmented reality device, called Meta 1, in January and is currently in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign to ramp up manufacturing and get it to the people. If the headset looks familiar, that's because its hardware is: it's comprised, in no small part, of Epson and SoftKinetic gear. It utilizes the 960 x 540 binocular 3D displays from Epson's Moverio glasses and the depth sensor sitting atop them comes from SoftKinetic. Of course the glasses you see are but a first generation and are wired to a battery pack worn around the waist -- the company's currently working on slimming things down with customized eyewear that'll be revealed later this year, however. For now, the dev kit and the still-in-development Unity-based SDK are slated to ship in September, but we got to see some of what Meta 1 can do a bit early.
Michael Gorman06.06.2013
Ask Massively: No one loves blog comment systems
Welcome back to Ask Massively! Today, let's beat our heads against some totally valid emails relating to Massively's adorable comment system, which we lovingly call "Hey, Livefyre is down again!" Chris wrote, "Is there some way to create an ignore list? I'm irritated by a few people in certain articles who try to make the comments entirely about themselves. I primarily read this site at work, and the work network is garbage, which means that the browser freezes up when I try to load more comments. Is there some way to filter out certain users' posts?" This is a good idea!
Bree Royce06.06.2013
WRUP: Things that are actually written by us edition
I'm not calling anyone a liar, but there's a pretty good way to tell if something is being written by the Massively staff. If an article shows up on the front page, yeah, one of us wrote that. If the article is supposedly a rough draft that got posted to a message board, well, odds are low. Especially if that draft is a barely disguised rant. We have a column for rants, it's called The Soapbox, and those aren't disguised in the slightest. Educational! This feature sometimes serves as a thinly disguised rant in the intro, but mostly it's just good old-fashioned WRUP. Like mom used to make, if mom used to serve up rundowns of what the Massively staff will be doing over the weekend. Even if your mother just served you normal stuff, though, feel free to check out our plans past the break and let us know what you'll be up to in the comments.
Eliot Lefebvre06.01.2013
Ask Massively: You can't cover WoW because of reasons
When I took over Massively last fall, I made myself a little digital post-it note in Gmail Notes that read, "Remember: You work for Joystiq, not studios." Today, I've amended that to also read, "And not commenters." I love commenters, even the trolls sometimes when you make me laugh. You guys provide instant feedback and adoration but also entertainment and skepticism of our ideas. You're the much-maligned vocal minority of readers, and interacting with you guys and being enlightened by your mad and witty and insane posts is a highlight of my work day. But it has to be said that the most bizarre feature of working at Massively is that legions of commenters have deemed themselves better-equipped than we are to decide what we can cover.
Bree Royce05.30.2013
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Marvel Heroes' strengths and weakness
Those of you who have followed the column for a while are familiar with the fact that I'm not the biggest fan of Marvel Heroes, though it's more an issue of apathy than malice. Still, early access has started, players are starting to get what they paid for up front with Founder's Packs, and it's time to stop considering what the game could do before testing ends and start considering what it's actually doing. Leaving aside the discussion of whether or not it fully succeeds at its goals, I think Marvel Heroes has a couple of big positives in the current market and one staggeringly dumb decision. So we're going to look at that sandwich-style. And then let's talk about the future of the column at the end -- if we're talking about Marvel, we really need a shocking revelation at the end or it won't ring true.
Eliot Lefebvre05.29.2013
WRUP: Visiting the Department of Inevitable Arguments edition
The Department of Inevitable Arguments is there when life happens, you know it's going to happen, and more than anything you just want it to get on with the happening so you can go to lunch. Filing at the department saves time and reduces stress for all participants. Do you know you'll disagree with your friends about a movie or game? Did you eat the last doughnut like a jerk when someone else wanted that doughnut? Put in for the argument in advance and avoid the hassle of having an argument crop up in the middle of an otherwise uneventful evening of amateur machete fights. All of our writers have already filed their gaming choices for your potential objection, but if you want to be sure about whether or not you object to what they play, just check out this week's WRUP. It tells you exactly what the staff is playing this week so you can argue about it in the comments. Or you can let us know what you'll be playing in the comments, same difference.
Eliot Lefebvre05.25.2013
Ask Massively: The irony of media and betas
It's a running joke on Massively that some readers believe our lives are glamorous and that we sleep in beds made out of free video game swag. The truth is that video game bloggers are working in this field because they love the job. At least that's how it is around here. Or maybe writing in our pajamas is too posh to pass up. But people still believe we are loaded with perks just because we get to wear fancy hats that say "PRESS." Just kidding. There are no hats. Here's a recent example from a reader named Will6: Lucky you, getting to test drive the game. Everyone knows the press get instant invites because they are a free way [for studios] to advertise their game and get the word out. It's time for "everyone" to be disabused of that notion.
Bree Royce05.23.2013
WRUP: Someone no longer likes us on Facebook edition
It finally happened. Like fools, we ignored the dire warnings of what would happen if we kept posting stuff about games you don't like or articles you didn't agree with. The worst has finally come to pass -- someone no longer likes our Facebook page. We've been in shock here at the office. I've been hitting the rum pretty hard even by my standards, Jef is sitting in an empty bathtub sobbing, and Bree has been playing "Unbreak my Heart" on loop for about seven hours. We'd plead for that reader to come back, but he'll never see it. He no longer likes us. It's really the worst insult you could deliver. Despite the fact that this traumatic event has left us as broken shells, we somehow managed to pull ourselves together long enough to put together an installment of WRUP. Click on past the break to see what we're up to for the next couple of days other than staring at the number of likes on Facebook, and let us know what you'll be up to in the comments.
Eliot Lefebvre05.18.2013
Why I Play: PlanetSide 2
I was this close to saving myself a lot of time by finishing this article with only a few simple words: Why do I play PlanetSide 2? Because it's fun. I'm pretty sure my boss would want me to expand on it just a bit, however, but let me drive those three words home: Because it's fun. I think we are all familiar with the word "fun," but it's something that we really don't hear enough about in MMOs. I don't think we play MMOs mainly because they're fun; I think we play them because they pull out other emotions in us, emotions like wonder or awe. They might help fill in social needs that are sometimes hard to fill out in real life. These are all positive and worthy reactions, but they're different from sheer fun. I have oodles of fun in PlanetSide 2. Gobs of it. Barrels of fun. The fun is powerful in this one. You get the point. PlanetSide 2 actually makes me laugh to myself, makes me yell at the screen -- you know, those noises you hear from someone who is having a blast. Of course, there are a few other reasons I play PlanetSide 2 as well, so I'll fill you in on those.
Beau Hindman05.17.2013
WRUP: Next week on Massively edition
Next week on Massively, tensions run high as Bree races to prevent Justin from assembling the shards necessary to release The Matrix Online from its shutdown. Meanwhile, Eliot, Matt, and Lis continue their investigation into Allods Online by concluding that it is in fact a game. Shawn investigates the fact that every game in the world is now free-to-play and concludes it's the fault of space aliens from another dimension who are also ghosts. Terry O'Quinn guest stars. We hope you enjoyed this week of Massively, and now it's time for WRUP because no one read the end credits before. Instead of telling you who did what, we've opted to just let you know what we'll be playing over the weekend. You can let us know what you'll be up to in the comments and tune in again next week for the exciting episode that we just explained to you, thereby obviating any need for you to sit down and watch it.
Eliot Lefebvre05.11.2013
Ask Massively: Trailers, emulators, and 'skill caps'
It's time for a grab bag edition of Ask Massively! A reader named Nicholas is up first: I was wondering if you could help me remember a game studio that was developing a new Korean action- MMORPG game engine (and it wasn't Bless, Blade and Soul, or ArcheAge). In the tech demo, no environment was being shown; it focused on the combat aspect of the engine. All the combat took place against a white background, and it was combo-based and reactive to hits. I remember a slow motion scene with an NPC being punched in the face and the face distorting. At the time, there were no announced games using the engine; the video was just showing what tech the game studio had developed. If it helps any, I remember the comments saying that the engine was just going to be vaporware. I think we might! Massively's Lis pegged it as NetEase's Dragon Sword trailer. +1 to Lis.
Bree Royce05.09.2013
WRUP: A glance at Paragon City edition
It's a lot quieter in City of Heroes these days without all the heroes around. A lot more boring. But it's all right, after a fashion. Bringing over the old Praetorian Police seemed like an iffy idea, but it's turned out to work well, and ultimately the two worlds have learned to work together. Sometimes there's a bit too much zeal involved, but old habits die hard, and everyone's keeping an eye open. As for the heroes, no one knows quite where they went. Some people are guessing that they ascended to some deific plane of existence; others figured that they just left when they weren't needed. The favored theory is that they're needed elsewhere, that after the Praetorian invasion they found someplace in greater need of heroes. There's no memorial in the city, but that's because everyone still remembers. Not every random WRUP opening needs to be funny. Don't worry, we saved some jokes for our weekend plans just past the break. Let us know what you'll be up to in the comments.
Eliot Lefebvre05.04.2013
Ask Massively: A new era of soft launches
Neverwinter soft launched this week. What's a soft launch? It's when a game really shouldn't be launching yet and knows it and yet has to launch anyway for reasons probably involving money. Soft launches are incredibly confusing to old school gamers who are used to a certain kind of testing and release cycle, the uncomplicated kind that involves, you know, some testing and a release. Soft launches make games writers uncomfortable too. Why won't your weird special snowflake of a game launch fit into our perfectly planned box? Massively reader zmeul expressed his annoyance with us thusly: "I can't understand why some games get this 'soft launch' from you and others do not, even if the criteria are met." It's a brave new world out there, zmeul!
Bree Royce05.02.2013
WRUP: A spectacular week edition
Certain moments force you to re-evaluate certain life choices. Monday evening was one of those nights for me. Specifically, it forced me to re-evaluate the choice to ever eat anything other than saltines, as I was suffering from the most debilitating stomach virus I have ever experienced. You don't want to know the details; I will say that it was about 24 hours before I ate anything approaching food again, and that was a handful of crackers. Given the pattern of the past couple weeks, I fully expect for everything I love to burst into flame over the course of the next several days. Right now, it's time to stop thinking about the week that's past and focus on WRUP, wherein all of the Massively staffers let you know what they'll be up to for the weekend. Check out the rundown past the break, and let us know your plans in the comments!
Eliot Lefebvre04.27.2013
Ask Massively: Why we cover what we do, part two
Last week, I promised you a second round of questions and answers regarding the types of calls Massively makes on which games and stories it will cover and why. Let's get to it. Mike9 wrote, "I will play [State of Decay] because it looks awesome, but I never understand why Massively covers it; it is a single-player game, not an MMO by even the loosest of definitions, not unless Super Mario World is also considered an MMO now (well, I guess that did allow two players)." I assume you're looking for a better answer than braaaaaiiiiinnnnsssssss!
Bree Royce04.25.2013