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The Think Tank: How did you get into MMO blogging?
Contrary to popular belief, we at Massively didn't drop down from the heavens as the best MMO bloggers in the universe. We started small, on our own blogs, before making the leap to the neon lights and gold-plated yachts of Professional MMO Blogging. But where exactly did we get our starts? This week I asked the team members to share a bit about their individual origins in the MMO blogging world.
The Think Tank: How do you handle hype?
We all like to get excited for new stuff, right? A shiny new MMO is no exception, as it usually means new types of game mechanics, better graphics, and a fresh perspective on the genre. Usually. At Massively, we approach hype with a different filter. As gamers, we're usually excited by the new shines, but as MMO bloggers, we have to be realistic and often skeptical. But since each one of us is different, I decided to see what each staff member thought about handling hype.
The Think Tank: What goals do you have in your current MMOs?
If there's one thing our modern games do well, it's organize goals. We went from simple shoot-'em-ups and hack-'n'-slashes to micro-managing with leaderboards and tiered quest logs. This organization allows us to set finite goals and make the games all about achieving those goals. I asked the Massively staff members about their own goals they've set for themselves in the MMOs they play. Who's organized and who's scatterbrained? Read on past the cut to find out.
The Think Tank: What mistakes did you make when you first started in MMOs?
In a recent Daily Grind article, we recently asked you to tell us about mistakes you've made as an MMO noob. The reader response was so amusing that I thought it might be fun to pose the same question to the Massively staff. Which one of us deleted characters without cleaning them out first? Which one of us picked skills based on how cool they sounded? Which one of us thought NPCs were real players? Find out in our embarrassing confessionals just after the jump.
Second Wind: EverQuest II, part two
Hello again, friends, and welcome back to another installment of Second Wind. You might remember that last time around, I decided to jump into the world of Norrath by way of EverQuest II and found the experience to be more than a little bit... mind-boggling, let's say. The game is so immense, in fact, that it couldn't be contained in a single feature, so I had to split it up into two parts. In part one, I took a look at some of the game's basic features and systems, such as progression, questing, and combat (which I thought were solid, lacking flow, and a bit clunky, respectively), but I didn't have the opportunity to tackle some of the game's deeper features, such as dungeons and crafting. So now that everyone's up to speed, let's get down to business. I've spent a great deal of time in Norrath at this point, and I believe I'm finally starting to get a feel for the game. Of course, the fact that it's taken me this long to get to that point should tell you something, but I'll leave that for later. For now, how about jumping past the cut to find out what I've discovered during my recent adventures?
The Think Tank: Which MMO can you just not bring yourself to delete?
Whether it's a closed MMO icon still taking up space on your desktop or a free-to-play game that you "might play again one day," there's bound to be at least one MMO that you just can't bring yourself to delete from your hard drive. Since many of Massively's writers are MMO hoarders (we can stop at any time!), I felt it was fitting to take some time aside and work out our issues with separation and letting go. Hold my hand and breathe normally while we tell you which games will always maintain a special place in our hearts (and on our PCs).
Second Wind: Ultima Online
When I (legally) sold my Ultima Online accounts in 2000 for the hefty sum of $1800, the game was already three years old and being challenged by the likes of EverQuest and Asheron's Call. I thought I was done forever. My guild was eyeing Dark Age of Camelot, and I wanted to cash out and rid myself of the chore of maintaining a dozen grandfathered houses on the dying half of a shard struggling to find its footing in a post-open-PvP ruleset. I was wrong. A year later I was back in UO with a new account, prowling around Britannia. And the year after that. And every year since, only I never again made the mistake of selling my accounts even when I took extended breaks. It has a special magic that only a handful of MMOs have captured (let alone topped) since, and what it lacks in modern conveniences it often makes up for in unique features. The granddaddy of MMORPGs and one of the only true sandboxes still standing turns 16 this autumn, having survived EverQuest, World of Warcraft, the internet bubble, EA's blundering, Mythic's takeover, layoffs, price hikes, a recession, and disastrous design shifts. But is it still worth playing?
The Think Tank: Do you play single-player games as well as MMOs?
As gamers, most of us enjoy a wide variety of game genres. The social interaction of an MMO is great, but sometimes you just want to hide in the corner of a single-player game and forget that the healer in that raid PUG today didn't heal or that XxXGrImReApErYoLo420XxX is better at PlanetSide 2 than you are. Since everyone on the Massively staff is obviously an expert in the field of MMOs, I thought it might be interesting to pick the writers' brains and find out what single-player games (and features of those games) they also enjoy.
Second Wind: EverQuest II, part one
Oh, Norrath. I don't know what it is about you, but for some reason I just can't stay away. I probably fell in love with the setting in the early 2000s, when I took my first (somewhat) serious dive into the original EverQuest. In my eyes, it's the quintessential high-fantasy universe when it comes to MMOs, and every time I'm eyeing my bookcase and I catch sight of my Planes of Power instruction manual, I get this strange urge to have another visit. But for this edition of Second Wind, I figured I'd take a look at the other Norrath instead. Let me tell you something about EverQuest II that I quickly discovered: It is absolutely immense. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that it's, in many ways, overwhelming. I imagine I could spend 25, 50, even 100 hours with this game and still feel as if I had only dipped my toes into the sea. That aside, I'm still brimming with things I'd like to talk about, so how about joining me after the cut?
The Think Tank: What do you look for in a guild?
Guilds are what make MMOs. It's that social interaction among real people that defines a massively multiplayer experience, but our guild preferences differ greatly. Some of us like to stick with the same guild throughout multiple games, some of us only play with real-life friends, and some of us seek out new guilds as part of the adventure in each new game. The Massively staff is certainly no different as we all have our own way of interacting with guilds in the MMOs we love so much. How do you think each team member likes his or her social interaction? Follow along after the jump to find out.
Second Wind: Returning to Wurm Online is a process
After being away from Wurm Online for almost a year, I have to admit I was a bit scared to return. Anxiety levels are high as you log in and have a quick scan of the area to see if you're surrounded by something that will immediately eat your face. It's also fairly unsettling to see how much of your stuff has rotted or been stolen since you left. In fact, once I determined that my house, my boat, and most of my possessions hadn't been taken by other players in my absence, I had to log back off. I just had to do something else offline for a bit while that anxiety flow slowed to a trickle. But I soon answered that unexplainable call to log back in and start my new life as a reborn Wurmian. I've heard so many great things about the game's improvements over the last few months that I just had to check them out for myself.
Second Wind Roundtable: Allods Online
Hello again, kind gentlefolk, and welcome to the latest installment of the Second Wind Roundtable. This time around, I coerced, extorted, and otherwise blackmailed the wonderful Bree and Eliot (and Lis, though she was unfortunately unable to join us for the Roundtable chat itself, but she was there too!) to join me in a few rousing sessions of gPotato's aether-sailing free-to-play title, Allods Online. We laughed, we cried, we nearly died from rage-induced aneurysms. But despite all that, we all survived to tell the tale. So buckle your swashes, raise your sails, and join us past the cut, won't you?
The Think Tank: The best MMO of 2013... so far
At the end of each year, we like to put our heads together and figure out the year's best MMOs in several categories. Often times, the games released earlier in the year aren't as fresh in our memories, so we might not be as excited about them by the time December rolls around. But in this week's The Think Tank, I wanted to make sure to play off of that mid-year enthusiasm and have the team members pick their favorites as they stand at this halfway point. So what did the team pick for best MMO or expansion released from January to May 2013? Read on past the cut to find out.
The Think Tank: What got you started in MMOs?
Can you remember your first MMO buying experience? What series of events led to your interest in massively multiplayer gaming? What made you finally accept that paying monthly for a game is a thing that's OK? Or did you wade through countless free-to-play games before finding one that suited you? As the guys and gals you turn to each day for your MMOs news, the team at Massively has a solid history with this genre. So I dug a bit deeper to get those stories from a few members of the team. Feel free to leave your own MMO origins story in the comments below as you enjoy our own after the jump.
Second Wind: Age of Conan
I remember playing Age of Conan when it first came out; it seems like an eternity ago. So many titles have been released and failed since then that it's easy to get it all mixed up, and it doesn't help when many of those titles are sub-par or just plain boring and forgettable. Age of Conan sort of messed with my head with its insistent instancing and odd combat mechanics. I just couldn't wrap my head around what the game was trying to do. Is it a hardcore PvP-centric MMO? Many would say so. Is it a grand, single-player adventure? In some ways. Is it an immersive romp through the long-lived lore of Conan the Barbarian? I guess so. It's a bit of all of these but does none of them perfectly. I decided to jump back into the game because the last time I played it was when it switched over to its odd freemium model that is all-too-common in Western MMOs these days.
The Think Tank: Would you play a chat-free MMO?
Last month, Justin asked you in a Daily Grind article whether you'd play a chat-less MMO. His examples included The Endless Forest, where communication is done through emotes and symbols, and Journey, where players use visual cues to signal intent. As MMO players, we feel that massive communication is a must-have feature and socializing is just part of the game. So I was curious about the opinions of the massively staff members on this topic. Would they play a chat-less MMO?
What to expect from EVE Fanfest today: World of Darkness, EVE Keynote, and an interview with Jon Lander
The second day of EVE Fanfest 2013 is now underway, and the schedule is packed! Today kicks off with a highly anticipated talk on World of Darkness at 7:00 a.m. EDT, and continues with the CSM Panel at 8:00 a.m. EDT, Alliance Panel at 9:00 a.m. EDT and Art Panel at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The CSM and Alliance panels are usually filled with hilarious banter, but this year the CSM Panel happens at the same time as the Faction Warfare roundtable and a talk on DUST 514 planet conquering in lowsec. The big event today is of course the EVE Online Keynote at 1:00 p.m. EDT, where we'll find out details of the upcoming Odyssey expansion. World of Darkness is still pretty early in development, so the presentation will be talking mostly about the tools being used to build it. We're unlikely to get a release schedule or any solid gameplay demos, but with developers raving about their internal play-tests I expect to see some serious progress compared to last year. Since the CSM panel is likely being streamed, I'll try to hit up the Faction Warfare roundtable and see what CCP's current thoughts are on how to improve this aging game system.
What to expect from EVE Fanfest 2013 today: DUST 514 keynote and more
EVE Online's colossal tenth anniversary Fanfest hasn't even officially begun, but the excitement from attendees is already practically palpable. The Reykjavik nightlife has been invaded by hundreds of foreigners yelling about internet spaceships as players from around the world reunite with their online comrades and meet corpmates for the first time. Over the course of the weekend, a record 1,400 EVE fans and hundreds more press and partners will flood into the Harpa building for non-stop news and festivities from EVE Online, DUST 514, and World of Darkness. The talks and events start later today, but last night CCP kicked off the festivities with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra delivering stunning renditions of tracks from the EVE Online soundtrack. Today, I'll be reporting back from key talks including the Retribution expansion roundup at 8 a.m. EDT (noon GMT), ship rebalancing at 9 a.m. EDT (1 p.m. GMT), lowsec PvP and crimewatch at noon EDT (4 p.m. GMT), and of course, the DUST 514 keynote speech at 2 p.m. EDT (6 p.m. GMT). I may also be able to join in on the roundtable discussion on wormholes and live events at 10 a.m. EDT (2 p.m. GMT) for an inside look at CCP's current thoughts. Check out the Fanfest timetable and let me know if there's something interesting you think I should try to squeeze in. I'd expect the tone of these talks to be one of looking back at another successful year and the great player response to the Retribution expansion. We probably won't hear much of anything about the Odyssey expansion today, but I do expect some big DUST 514 news from the keynote. While many are probably hoping for word of a PC release, I'd be very surprised to see CCP actually do it. We'll most likely just get a release schedule for the PS3 launch and possibly footage of the game running on a PS4 devkit. I'm personally also hoping for more details on post-release updates such as the ability for DUST corps to own and manage their own territory and industrial supply chains. Whether you're a die-hard fan of internet spaceships or just a gawker on the sidelines, EVE Fanfest is the EVE Online event of the year (and the key source of new DUST 514 and World of Darkness scoops!). Follow Massively's Brendan Drain as he reports back on this year's Fanfest starpower, scheming, and spoilers from exotic Reykjavik, Iceland.
Second Wind Roundtable: NSFW edition
For this edition of the Second Wind Roundtable, I thought it'd be a funny little prank to coerce a couple of my colleagues into playing Scarlet Blade with me. I was wrong. I was so, so very wrong. We lost some good men in there, but those of us who survived to talk about it gathered 'round for some group therapy over hard whiskey and mind-bleach. Coincidentally, we also transcribed it so that you can learn from our mistakes. Be warned, many screenshots below the cut are explicit, though some have been tastefully censored for the sake of all things holy and sacred. No, really, we are not kidding: This post is not safe for work/children/anyone with a sense of common decency. That being said, you can join us after the cut. I'm so, so sorry.
The Think Tank: Have you ever quit an MMO over an update patch or expansion?
One of the beauties of the MMO is that it's ever-changing. This means that the world expands, the community grows, and skills are always being re-balanced. Sometimes this comes in the form of a patch or update, and sometimes it comes in the form of a full-fledged expansion. But when these changes affect the original game too much, it's inevitable that some players will not like what the devs see as improvements. In the case of the infamous Star Wars Galaxies NGE, players left in droves. So I threw the question out to the Massively staff to see if anyone had been so turned off by a game update that he or she left for good. Read on to find out who left what and why Patrick might need to leave the country for a bit.
