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The Daily Grind: Do you make ugly characters?
With the Thanksgiving holiday safely behind us, it's now time to assess the damage to our waistlines. With all the leftovers likely making the rounds over this long weekend, it might even be Monday before some of us get back to our normal dietary routines. All the food talk got us to thinking about character customization in MMORPGs, specifically the fact that few games allow you to make unattractive avatars. Those that do tend to resemble a veritable theater of the absurd, as the silly folks among us delight in making grotesque caricatures and over-the-top uglies. One former Star Wars Galaxies player even made an in-game career out it. Starsider veterans in the audience may remember one Ichben Einberliner, a strange chap who loved to strip his Fat Bastard avatar down to a pair of speedos and do a seductive pole dance for the unfortunate patrons at the Coronet spaceport. Rumor has it that Berliner was even awarded a character badge by SOE GMs (ostensibly for his unique personality) after regaling space travelers with his diaper-clad cabaret act for months on end. Whether it's the Ichbens of the world or the folks who make bobblehead midgets in Aion, there are always a few on every server. Today's question is two-fold: Do you make unattractive avatars? Why? 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!
The Daily Grind: Do you rage quit?
Our favorite games provoke a range of emotions, and whether it's love, hate, fear, amusement, or simple relaxation, we usually keep coming back for more. Anger is an emotional response that is pretty common for some folks, so common in fact that the catch phrase "rage quit" is circulated several times daily on many message boards and in-game chat channels. While most emotions make us want to play more, anger often leads to a quick disconnect, and depending on your personality, either a string of expletives or a weary sigh. Whether it's due to failure in the team-based combat scenarios common to Global Agenda, losing your loot (and everything else) in FFA corpse-defiling contests like Lineage II and Darkfall, or dying at the hands of AI in one of the thousands of PvE-focused titles littering the landscape, we're constantly confronted with digital mortality and its emotional effects. The question of the day, Massively folk, is have you, do you, or did you used to rage quit? Why and in what game(s)?
The Daily Grind: How many alts do you have?
Most of us have a primary MMO that we play, and whether it's our only game or simply the one we spend the most time in, somewhere along the line we end up rolling alternate characters. A few games allow you a maximum of one (EVE Online) or sometimes two characters per account or per server (Star Wars Galaxies), but most current titles give you ample character slots to fill. While some folks probably stick with their "mains" through thick and thin, I suspect I'm not the only one who has run newbie content multiple times -- or paid for extra character slots -- in order to satisfy the particular brand of OCD that compels me to try every single solitary class in a given game. The question of the day, ladies and gents, is how many alts do you have on your main game account? For the bonus round, tell us whether you play them regularly or if they simply exist to be mules for your main. 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!
The Daily Grind: Do you turn off XP?
Craig Morrison's latest blog post got me to thinking about MMORPG design, progression, and the sweet nectar of the gods known as XP. When you get right down to it, XP is a huge part of why we play these games, whether it be the simple pleasures inherent in watching the bar move, or the fact that we're hell-bent on a particular plateau that will allow us to equip the one-shotting batarang of WtFpwned!!11! +1. There are some among us that do the unthinkable, though, or would if their game of choice gave them the option. Yes, a few hearty souls turn off XP gain. I know, right? The horror! What could possibly motivate such a bold and rebellious act? Is it to avoid out-leveling a compatriot? A desire to continue questing in a particularly awesome section of the game world? Even the wisest cannot tell why you'd want to disable the almighty XP, so today's question is a bit simpler (but feel free to expound on it if you wish): Do you turn off your XP? 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!
The Daily Grind: Do you like dynamic events?
A recent Blizzard forum posting regarding the coming of Deathwing reminded us of a certain zombie plague that ravaged the lands of Azeroth two years ago this month. It seems that, in a nutshell, the fiendish dragon will soon take to the skies to terrorize questers throughout the realm. True to form for huge fire-breathing monstrosities, victim conveniences are an afterthought. According to the post, "Deathwing will randomly choose territories in Azeroth to attack each day until his ruinous reign is brought to an end [...] the unfortunate victims of his malice will receive a rare Feat of Strength... as well as a repair bill and corpse run." While the prospect of dynamic events of this type excites some gamers, the zombie plague showed us that it irritates just as many (if not more), as it detracts from the steady diet of progression. What about you, Massively readers? Will you be upset if your gaming session takes an unexpected turn, or do you like surprises of this type? 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!
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite collector's edition?
While many of you prefer digital downloads to retail packaging judging by a recent Daily Grind, collector's edition boxes continue to roll out of MMO studios for virtually every major release. Whether you've pre-ordered the Cataclysm or DC Universe packages, or you've recently picked up a sealed gem from the Amazon.com bargain bin, there's no shortage of MMORPG art books, figurines, maps, soundtracks, and in-game items to be had on the open market. Quality varies widely along with quantity, from the sublime (Age of Conan's stunning 128-page art book and Final Fantasy XIV's leather-bound diary) to the sub-par (Lord of the Ring's Online's somewhat flimsy cardboard sleeve). The question of the day, dear readers, is which of these packages is your favorite? Is it due to the packaging/contents itself or the in-game bonuses? 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!
The Daily Grind: Why do you PvP in an MMO?
Ah, PvP. It's right up there with politics and religion when it comes to divisive topics. A recent interview with Earthrise's Atanas Atanasov got us to thinking about PvP, and more specifically about why people choose to do it in MMORPGs. Even the most hardcore PvP fans would be hard-pressed to argue with the fact that the vast majority of MMOs are designed with PvE in mind, and those that feature PvP usually do so as an afterthought. There are exceptions of course, but only a few of these are still among the living. Even Darkfall, supposedly the hardest of the hardcore, just released a PvE-focused expansion. In general, MMOs are about character progression and gear/item accumulation, whereas PvP is theoretically about player skill and tactics. Why then do people try to force the square peg that is PvP into the round hole that is an MMORPG? It's not like there's a shortage of competitive online multiplayer games, designed expressly to showcase player skill and cater to the killer in all of us. In a nutshell: Why do you PvP in an MMO? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of our 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 The Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Would you play a weird MMO?
Here at Massively, we've got a diverse range of opinions as to what constitutes a weird MMO, or a AAA MMO, or even an MMO, period. There's truly no accounting for personal taste, as a few of our writers stick to one or two MMOs, while others play any and every game that comes down the pipe (in both single- and multi-player genres). Occasionally though, MMOs come along that test our diverse interests (and in some cases, make us laugh). Whether it's the strange Michael Jackson MMO, the (presumably) well-intentioned but ultimately misguided use of the world's most popular IP, or any number of other weird titles, there are some games that simply leave us scratching our collective heads. What about you, Massively readers? Do either of the aforementioned bizarro-world titles (or any similar off-the-wall ones) interest you? Why or why not? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of our 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 The Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Do you miss virtual worlds?
There's no doubt that MMORPGs have become more game-like and less world-like as the genre has gone mainstream. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends largely on what attracted you to MMORPGs in the first place. For some, combat, killing, and an endless avalanche of gear, achievements, and character stats are the main draw. For others, crafting and world-building are the raison d'etre, with small helpings of escapism and immersion on the side. With the exception of Second Life, you'd be hard pressed to find a well-known MMO that isn't an exercise in tightly controlled carrot-chasing in one form or another, and the days of highly evolved non-combat gameplay systems seem to have gone the way of the dodo bird. Today's Daily Grind question is three-fold: Do you miss the days of MMO virtual worlds, and what current-generation title do you do think best does the term justice? Finally, how do you personally define "virtual world?" Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of our 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 The Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What would bring you back?
So you unsubscribed. It happens. Much as we'd like to think otherwise, no MMO entertains us forever, and whether it's a patch that changed a lot of fundamentals or just a general growing dissatisfaction with the game is largely irrelevant. What matters is that you stop and let the game drift out of your consciousness for a while, until you really barely remember your favorite times in the game. That is until something catches your eye and gets you reading about all the things that have changed; until you find yourself drawing out your credit card and eagerly re-subscribing. Just like no MMO keeps us forever, many games won't lose us forever, even if we take a break. The question is: what would spur you to start playing an old favorite again? A new expansion? Promises that the biggest problems you'd found had been fixed? A change in management? Or is it just a case where time heals all wounds and absence makes the heart grow fonder?
The Daily Grind: What do you hate about a game you love?
Loving someone doesn't mean you lose the ability to see flaws; if anything, close proximity makes flaws all the easier to spot. The same is true for MMOs. Your six-year playtime in City of Heroes isn't coming to an end any time soon, but you still loathe the way the game handles experience post-30. You've been playing Star Trek Online since launch, but the time it takes to get out of the starter ship rubs you the wrong way. You'd never say no to Warhammer Online, but you hate the mono-gendered classes. We all find it easy to say sweepingly negative things about games that we dislike on principle, but if you play EverQuest II and not World of Warcraft, you probably have a clearer picture of the former's failings. So today, think about your favorite game and say what it is that you don't like about it. Even if it doesn't break the game for you, what do you hate about a game you love? You'll feel better for getting it off your chest. Really.
The Daily Grind: Does beta ruin your launch day glee?
The common view of a beta is that it's a wonderful way for someone to experience a game's "work-in-development" state of flux. It's a magical time when you feel like you're being treated to a special preview of the game before thousands of other people in the world. That's at least one point of view, but in truth lots of people don't want to get into beta. Why? They want to experience the game in all its unknown luster on launch day, throughout launch week and well into those first few months. There's definitely something to be said for jumping into a fresh digital world, so we pose this question to you, our dear readers: What's better: getting into beta and avoiding the first few months of launch or skipping beta and experiencing everything with everyone else in those first few hours, days and weeks?
The Daily Grind: How well do you think SWTOR will do?
We're not very surprised to hear that Electronic Arts is expecting a heaping ton of subscribers for Star Wars: The Old Republic. After all, we're talking about an MMO based in the beloved Star Wars universe, made by BioWare and set during the Old Republic era popularized by the developer's hit game, Knights of the Old Republic. There's still the mystery of Star Wars: The Old Republic's business model to consider. A blended system seems possible, but at this point there's no solid evidence for any one particular system. But is two million a bit too much, you think? Or perhaps you think it's not enough. Whatever you do think the success level of the game is going to be, we're curious to read everyone's thoughts on the topic.
The Daily Grind: Tokens or luck?
Back in the old days of MMO playing you had to hope that something dropped for you when a boss tipped over and gave up his precious loot. It was all about the luck of the draw -- praying that the rare items, first of all, dropped and then, second of all, were for you. But, as we continued forwards with our game design, Blizzard came up with the idea of giving every player involved in downing a boss a token. If a player participated enough, they were guaranteed to get something -- even if the luck of the draw was not on their side. This became a controversial topic for some, as accusations of "welfare epics" began to fly around. Today, Grinders, we're going to briefly revisit this topic. Do you prefer games that come down to the luck of the draw when loot drops, or do you prefer the new token system instated by World of Warcraft? Talk, discuss, and feel free to battle it out. Opinions, go!
Ithaca College hosts panels and posters on MMO topics in Second Life
If you're a game theory/design nut, or you just really love talking about MMOs in an academic sense, or even listening to others talk about MMOs in an academic sense, then we've got the opportunity for you! This week is finals week for many universities around the country and Kim Chihuly's (real life's Kim Gregson) Games & Society class at Ithaca College is taking the opportunity to present their final posters and presentations inside of Second Life for the public. The presentations will cover a wide swath of topics from gold farming, to MMOs versus single player experiences, to Second Life versus Casual MMOs and much more. Each event will give the public the chance to ask the students questions and discuss their individual topics in an open forum. The the poster pavilion can be found here at this SLurl while the panel amphitheatre can be found at this link. Looking for the full schedule of events? We have it right after the break, or you can keep an eye on the Second Life Events page, under the heading of "discussion."
