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Ask Massively: Misconceptions about new, old, and sunsetted MMOs
As the editor-in-chief of Massively, I make it a point to read as many of our comments as I can. We have some really smart people here chatting at the bottom of our posts, and I learn a lot from them. But I also see the same illogical statements and easily countered arguments being made independently by different commenters across many different threads and games. I'd like to address some of those misconceptions today in the first part of a new Ask Massively miniseries. Today's misconceptions are all about new, old, and sunsetted MMOs.
Storyboard: Six things people (falsely) believe about roleplaying
Roleplaying is one of those things that you know a lot about if you've done it and very little about if you haven't. That's fine; it's not as if you need to know the fine details of PvP balance if you never PvP. But there are tons of gaping holes in people's conception of what roleplaying actually entails. So what do these people use to fill in the blanks? The horror stories. The nonsense. The garbage. A bunch of things that have no real resemblance to this important portion of our hobby. All you can do to fight ignorance, of course, is provide information. So let's go ahead and look at some of the most common misconceptions I've seen about roleplaying and what the reality is behind the misconceptions. If you already know this, feel free to just pass this around to your non-roleplaying friends and family. Or just nod vigorously all the way through.
Hyperspace Beacon: Six misconceptions about SWTOR free-to-play
I am not an apologist for the Star Wars: The Old Republic free-to-play model, but many people (mostly those who have not seen it in action) make it out to be something that it's not. But before I begin breaking down those misconceptions, I would like to talk about some cold hard facts. For Instance, completely free players do have a significant experience point penalty, so much so that I could not finish grinding my way to level 50 in my free-to-play experiment. It was a bust on that front. I believe that BioWare needs to work on changing that portion of SWTOR. However, the game changes when you hit maximum level; at that point, the free-to-play model becomes unlike any other F2P model I've ever seen. In my guild, we have a couple of players who no longer pay for the game through a subscription. Most are raiders who do nothing but raid or roleplayers who are just interested in telling their characters' stories within the MMO. However, there is one member of my guild who I believe has truly beaten the free-to-play model. Surprisingly, he has spent nothing on the game since coming back a little more than a month ago. He has everything unlocked, a stockpile of bonuses and weekly passes, and about three million credits sitting in his bank that he can actually use despite the escrow limitation. During the next couple of editions of my free-to-play experiment, I will focus on his experience. But first, let's debunk some misconceptions about F2P.
The Elder Scrolls Online gets some myths dispelled
Are you looking forward to seeing what happens when the developers at Bethesda finish working on The Elder Scrolls Online? Are you unsure how the game's Skyrim-based combat will work when accounting for lag in your aim? Do you have a fear of having everyone grouped on a single server? If you answered yes to any of those questions, it's probably a good idea for you to take a gander at the video below the cut, because all of those questions are based on misconceptions that the video aims to correct. The fansite Tamriel Foundry has put together a short video hitting several of the most common misconceptions about The Elder Scrolls Online, explaining both the inaccurate belief and the truth of the matter. This covers everything from the actual developers (Zenimax Online) to the changes to the combat system (you won't be actively aiming, with the game instead establishing a soft target lock on your selected target). Even if you think you know all there is to know about the game already, it couldn't hurt to sit and watch -- and maybe have a few mistaken ideas cleared out.
The Mog Log: Getting up to speed on Final Fantasy XIV as it is
If you're just joining us after a rousing session of Final Fantasy XIV, this column may not exactly be for you because this week isn't about speculation; it's about discussing the many things that people don't like about Final Fantasy XIV which either no longer exist or are known to be removed in version 2.0. This might seem like it's kind of silly, but honestly, I think there's a lot of stuff that people not actively following FFXIV don't know about. The game's biggest burst of visibility happened when it launched, just like every other game in the history of anything ever. While the game isn't for everyone now any more than it was a year ago, the development staff has taken pains to address gaps in the structure and improve the play experience for everyone. So here's an article about just that. And while you might already know the content of the article, the next time you know someone worried about something in the game that's long since been excised, you can point him back here.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Nine misconceptions about Freedom
So one of the interesting elements of having written up the initial column and post on the newest City of Heroes change is that I didn't have time to really see what the community reaction would be. I knew that I was excited about City of Heroes Freedom, and I knew that there was a lot to hope for, but the only guess I could make was that people would crow about the game's impending demise rather than focusing on the many positives coming from the switch to a hybrid model. It's been two weeks now, and while I won't claim to have my finger on the pulse of the community (who the heck is Leonardo Leonardo?), I do think I've gotten a general idea of the biggest complaints about the upcoming change. Some of them are entirely accurate -- yes, you will have free players on your server, and yes, that will include the already-burgeoning Virtue. But other complaints are a bit inaccurate or stem from misunderstandings, so today I want to talk about the nine points that seem most frequently misunderstood about Freedom.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Yikes, don't do that!
The Care and Feeding of Warriors grinds ever onward. This week, Matthew Rossi has picked out one of his 70 warriors who hasn't been getting as much love and has dedicated him to PvP, trying to gear him up for Arena. At the moment, he has a nice mace and not much else. In the process, he's also had to farm up some money for enchants and armor kits, leading to witnessing some interesting behavior. Interesting like the times can get, if you know what we mean.I try and keep my various characters separate financially when they're on the same server, because the temptation to rob all of your alts to pay for your main can be overwhelming at times. I mean, I've done it. Only two of my 70's have their flying mounts because every time it looks like one of the others might make the cash, I get a hankering for a flask or what have you and I raid them. Sad for poor Sarnie pictured over there, in his mix of crafted blues and whatever greens dropped/were quest rewards. In a quest to find some use for him I've decided to take him into the Arena, which has led to increased BG's for the guy. I had enough honor for a couple of pieces of armor for him, but my impulse buying soul grabbed the mace instead.In addition to it making PvP possible (mace stun means that even my crappy 9k health behind can contribute, if I eat some stam food and use commanding shout to get him above 10k health) the mace has made farming cobra scales and signets/marks easier in Shadowmoon. I like farming there because not many people seem to on my server of choice for Alliance, good ol' Norgannon, or maybe I'm just an insomniac.
Dell says XPS 700 will NOT ship overclocked
We can't blame TG Daily for reporting that the Core 2 Extreme-powered version of Dell's XPS 700 gaming desktop will ship with a factory overclocked processor; after all, the placard in front of that demo machine at the World Series of Video Games did indeed mention an overclocked Conroe, with the promise that "system specs like this [will be] available within the next 30 days at [Dell's website]." After Cnet received a review unit of the new configuration that had not been overclocked, however, they called up Dell to set the record straight once and for all. According to company spokesperson Liem Nguyen, although "Dell has unlocked the BIOS so that customers can overclock the processor themselves...at this time Dell is not factory overclocking the system." So there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth: Dell's not actually doing the dirty work here, but it is giving customers the opportunity to tweak and possibly fry their machines themselves.
