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A question of culture clash
Just a few days ago, I was questing on a new alt in order to check out how the roleplaying was on a new server I'd heard good things about. As I went through Ironforge to pick up my Winter Veil presents, I saw one of those ads for a new guild, "<Guild Name> is a new RP guild looking for mature new members! PST to join!" and I thought, "Why not check it out? At least there'll be someone to talk to." So, when I whispered this person, his only real question for me was to ask my age. Satisfied by my answer, he sent me an invite.I wrongly assumed that guild chat was in-character, and immediately introduced myself in what I hoped was a humorous way. A couple members said "lol," and the leader introduced himself as a former Horde player who was getting started on a new server too. Somewhat disappointed that this guild was not so "RP" as it had advertised, I proceeded to ask some questions about the status of roleplaying on this server. I must not have impressed them this way, however, as I logged in a couple days later to find myself kicked out of the guild already.One of the members I remembered from that first day happened to be online, so I asked him what had happened. "Oldman" (who's name I changed somewhat in this story) replied that, in the view of his "elder" guild members, I was "too wordy" and also "too juvenile." Thoroughly perplexed, I asked him what exactly I had said that was so juvenile. He told me that was itself a juvenile thing to say, and then used "/ignore" on me. I had been disappointed enough to leave that guild anyway, but to be dismissed offhand like that was rather hurtful until I made a realization: These "elder" members must think that asking questions is itself "juvenile" behavior, especially questions they deem unimportant; while according to my worldview, sincere questions of any sort are paths to more knowledge and understanding, and in themselves a sign of ever-growing maturity. Besides, completely ignoring someone just for asking questions doesn't seem like the pinnacle of maturity to me, either, but who am I to judge? Maybe there was some good reason I don't know about.Have you ever encountered social situations in WoW that left you completely befuddled? Have real-life cultural values and judgments ever gotten in the way of your gaming, especially in ways that caught you by surprise?
Ask Massively: The beginning
Ask Massively is a brand new feature here on Massively-- it's your chance to take control of the little conversation we've got going on, and ask us MMO experts whatever you want. Want to know what MMO you should be playing, or why something in your favorite MMO is a little strange? Have a question about the site, or need an MMO standby explained? We're here to explain and elucidate the answers to all your queries, whatever they be.To ask a question of Ask Massively, you can either put it in the comments on this post (for next week's edition), or drop us a note on the tipline. And this column will run entirely on your questions, so please let us know if there's something you want to know, no matter how complicated or how silly.Click the link below to check out the first edition of Ask Massively! A warning: for the first edition, I cheated a little bit-- these are all questions from my friends. But next week, you'll have the chance to get a question of your own answered.
L2p Paladin with Eyonix
Earlier today, Eyonix created a rather unique thread on the official WoW Paladin forum. He made it clear that he wasn't asking for feedback to give to the developers on the class, but rather that the questions would come from him as a player of the game. Apparently he made a Paladin alt a couple of weeks ago and is seeking advice regarding the best leveling strategy.Threads like this pop up in the class forums quite commonly. When faced with the grind from level one to seventy, players often turn to the more experienced members of their class for advice on talent builds and leveling strategies. Of course, those players are not also community managers, posting with the hallowed blue text.As you can imagine, the thread is already quite long and only promises to grow longer since Eyonix has mentioned that he'll be keeping it updated through the week with new questions. It's interesting to see a Blizzard employee posting his talent spec and asking typical player questions and there is actually a lot of good advice on playing the class. Head on over to the Paladin forum to check out the thread yourself and L2p Paladin along with Eyonix.
Vince D'Amelio has your answers
Have a question you'd like to pose to Vince D'Amelio, City of Heroes Senior Programmer? If so, the WarCry Network wants to hear from you. The concept behind the "Ask a Dev" series is elegant in its simplicity: find a CoX developer who has the time to answer questions, ask the community what questions they most wish answered, then put the two together and have the issues addressed by the minds behind the game.So go ahead, ask your questions, you know you want to. And remember, there's no such thing as a stupid question, only a stupid Rikti.
Another way to get started with roleplaying
In last Sunday's All the World's a Stage column, we talked about one way to get started with roleplaying, using mainly a character description made of two simple words that highlight the essential qualities of your character, without too much concern for background and details just yet. The idea here is that you can start with a basic character idea, and fill in the details later on as you get involved with other roleplayers.Over at WoWBlues, however, Nairuil has a different way of getting started. She has a list of questions for you to answer that are designed to help you think of your character's background, as well as give you some helpful tips for what sorts of backgrounds would be inappropriate for WoW (such as the cliche "vampire" idea), all before you actually get started roleplaying in game.Which approach do you find more useful to you personally, and why?
Questions answered at BlizzCon
There were so many questions I as I stood in line on Thursday to pick up my BlizzCon badge, and now looking back, I am surprised at how many of them were answered. There were just as many questions that popped up because of BlizzCon, I'm not exactly sure if I'm better off. I know, for instance, that my three favorite lost concepts will finally get treatment, namely the creation myth surround the dwarves in Uldaman, Dalaran the bubble city, and the mysterious Grim Batol. I also know that one of my favorite characters from the War of the Ancients trilogy will finally get into the game, the red haired mage Rhonin. But what happens to his twin children, and his wife, the sister of Sylvanas? What will happen to the area where Dalaran is currently? Will they update the quest in Uldaman to reflect the additional info about the creation myth? You see what I mean? The more questions are answered, the more arise. It's a vicious, tantalizing cycle, and one I am definitely enjoying being caught up in.
New Feature announcement: Ask PS3 Fanboy!
We have been inspired by our brother site, PSP Fanboy, and have decided to start up a new weekly feature on our site titled 'Ask PS3 Fanboy.' As we've gotten bigger and bigger, it's been harder to address questions e-mailed to us directly. We really want to help out our readers, so to help us resolve this problem, every week we will sort through our plethora of e-mailed questions and pick out a couple of the best (or most common) e-mails to respond to. So let us know if you have any thoughts/questions about Sony and the PlayStation 3. Do you have a question about the new RGB [Full] option added in the 1.80 firmware update? Curious about the most recent silly MGS 4 rumors? Want to know whether to get a puppy or a kitty? Drop me a line at colin.torretta@weblogsinc.com and we'll do our best to clear up any confusion you may have! And remember to tune in this Sunday (June 9th) for the inaugural addition of 'Ask PS3 Fanboy.'
Information Week's iPhone Questions
Alexander Wolfe of Information Week has posted his list of the top 7 questions Steve Jobs doesn't want you to ask about the iPhone . For example, Wolfe wants to know "Will the battery crap out after 18 months?" The iPod isn't known for either its long-lived batteries or it's user-empowering battery replacement features. My Kyocera's battery regularly conks out after about 18 months, but it's a simple nothing for me to pop onto the 'net, order a replacement and install it myself. Does the iPhone's lack of simple battery care mean users will have to buy extended iPhone warranties on top of the expensive handset and data plans? Pop over to Information Week to read the entire list of questions. I bet #2 will make you laugh out loud.
Ask TUAW: Call for Questions
Attention TUAW readers! This week we'll be starting a a Questions and Answers help column as a weekly feature. But of course to do this well we need some good questions. We'll take questions from anyone, but we hope to be especially useful for all the switchers and other new Mac users out there. Please submit your question via the comments page (put Ask TUAW in the subject), or just by leaving a comment to this post. Each week we'll choose several questions of general interest to answer in the column. Although we will try to be as helpful as possible, we may not be able to answer all questions. And naturally we invite our other readers to pitch in with suggestions as well. So get to asking!
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Adventures in Beta: What do you want to see?
I recently won a Burning Crusade Beta Key and have just begun messing around in the new areas of Azeroth (my main, sadly, has yet to transfer over.) Elizabeth Harper and Paul Sherrard are also participating in the beta. I am planning on doing pictorial guides for levels 1-20 for a draenei shaman and a blood elf paladin. My question to you, the readers is: what else do you want to know about the Burning Crusade? Are you interested in jewelcrafting? The new PVP arenas? How fast the quest rewards will outstrip epics? Post your questions/ideas here. Hopefully, all our mains will transfer over soon, and we'll be able to step into Outland as a blog!
Reminder: send us your tips!
We TUAW bloggers use a variety of methods and resources to track down the news, tips, tricks and other forms of Mac interestingness we post, and among the most important of them are the tips from readers like you. However, we've noticed an increase in questions in post comments on how to send us tips, so we thought it might be a good time to post a reminder.Our tips form is linked at the bottom of our category list (pictured here, though yes: it's tiny and hard to find. Rest assured, we're working on it), and its URL is located in the same place as virtually any other blog in the Weblogs, Inc. network: tuaw.com/tips gets you to our tips form, while DVguru.com/tips will let you drop our sister blog on all things digital video a line as well.So if you've found a hot piece of news, a killer tip or someone who turned their PowerMac into a mailbox, be sure to send it our way, and your name just might get emblazoned in the TUAW archives with our post.
Microsoft survey asks about Aqua
It seems like even Microsoft's marketing department knows a thing or two about nerdy UI stuff, as a recent survey that offers copies of Vista Beta on CD asks what the fancy new 'let's make everything 50% transparent because transparency is teh r0x0r' effects in Vista are called. Wouldn't you know - Aqua is one of the multiple answers! Right up there along with 'Aero' (the correct choice) and 'Zero' (funny how they rhyme). I would honestly love to see the stats on these test results.Fortunately, Microsoft also allows Vista beta hopefuls to share how the four-years-late OS truly makes them feel with another question: "Windows Vista brings _____ to your world" has three options: Confusion, Creativity and Clarity (nevermind the large Vista banner at the top of the survey page - pictured). Be careful how you answer kids; you do want that copy of the clarifying (hint hint) Windows Vista beta, right?Right?Thanks Ety
How to ask development questions 101
If you are a budding developer, there are a few different ways to seek help from your peers. Whether you send an email off to your hero developer or jump into a chat room, it's not just what you ask, but how you ask the question that can make all the difference. Mike Ash, a programmer for Rogue Amoeba (purveyors of Airfoil, Audio Hijack and Nicecast), has written a 10-point article of sorts offering advice on how to ask your coding questions so you can get the right answers. While I am in no way a code ninja of any sorts, I can see that many of Mike's points center on bringing clarity to the questions you ask so those taking time to help you understand the question, instead of having to spend most of their time trying to glean the proper question out of you.Mike's Getting Answers should be an insightful read for any developers who are (or perhaps: should be) seeking help on how to get help with their projects.[via Daring Fireball]
Have Questions for the WoW Developers?
Well, World of Warcraft Stratics has been given the chance to interview the game's developers and is taking questions from you. They will be selecting 15 of the best questions to forward on to the development team. So if you have questions, here's a chance to get some answers. The deadline for entry is May 7th, so you have a couple of weeks to consider.
Lair off-screen trailer looked good at GDC
Stills and screenshots can only do so much to convey how good a game looks. Here's an off-screen video presentation of Lair recorded from GDC, showing off the Factor 5 game in action (or, should we say, motion).You might recognize some of the animation from videos seen elsewhere, but it was nice to catch the newer footage of a dragon wireframe model meticulously rendered with layers of musculature and skin, too.If that's not enough for ya, you can always just listen in to the audio, which features a young lady from Washington asking questions of a developer with the hope of getting hired. Consider this a lesson in networking.[Via GameBrink]
