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The Game Archaeologist: When dead MMOs come back to life
Maybe I'm alone in this, but my jaw just dropped when I came home this past week to see that Massively posted the news that Shadowbane is coming back to life. Granted, it's only going to happen in China, but still, that's pretty incredible. Shadowbane's been in the ground for three years now, and if I had to pick an MMO that deserved resurrection, this particular one would be farthest from my mind (no offense if you liked the game; it's just that there are so many others that are even more worthy). But how can this not give you hope? Many of us have lost an MMO we loved or at least had a decked-out character populating the character select screen, and the thought of that game coming back against all odds is a goosebump-rising one. It may also smack of justice served, as some MMOs fail not because of faulty gameplay but because of mismanagement by the studio, complex legal wrangling, or bad marketing. Today let's look at a few examples of dead MMOs that were brought back to life and what this may mean for the future of the industry. Zombie MMOs! Not, you know, MMOs with zombies.
Hyperspace Beacon: Advice from a master
I had the pleasure of playing Star Wars Galaxies with Brian "OddjobXL" Rucker for at least five years before his unfortunate passing last week. We never met in person, but he was a great influence on my life despite my having only recently found out what he looked like. One of the great things about the internet is that personality really shines through when you don't have a preconceived notion of who someone is based on how he looks. Brian was one of those people whose personality stood out from the rest of the community because of the stories he created and wisdom he imparted to others. When he played SWG, he posted quite a bit as Mandash Grim on the Starsider Galaxy roleplay website; when a good chunk of those players decided to give Star Wars: The Old Republic a go, he moved with them to SWTOR-RP. On this forum, he talked about how SWTOR influenced RP, even though it was not exactly the way he envisioned it. It's hard to summarize in a thousand words his gaming philosophies, which had such an influence on me, but I'd like to highlight a few key things he wrote that I believe summarize his feelings on something everyone reading this column probably loves: Star Wars MMO storytelling.
Prolific MMO blogger Brian 'OddjobXL' Rucker passes away
The MMO roleplaying community lost one of its most prolific authors this week as Brian "OddjobXL" Rucker passed away at the age of 48. Rucker maintained a blog called The Roleplayer's Redoubt on MMORPG.com, and he was also featured in Massively's The Game Archaeologist, where he talked at length about MUDs, MUSHs, and Star Wars Galaxies. Massively columnist Larry Everett remembers Rucker as "a very prominent member of both of my websites and a personal inspiration to me as a gamer, writer, and roleplayer." Rucker, known as Cap'n in SWG circles, covered roleplaying in dozens of disparate MMO titles. He also offered plenty of sage advice for both newbs and veterans alike. [Thanks to Laura for the tip.]
The Perfect Ten: MMO tributes to real-life people
When a beloved friend, family member, hero, or role model dies, we feel the pain of that loss and grieve in many different ways. Part of that grieving and healing process is often entails those left behind constructing some sort of tribute to the dearly departed. Sometimes this comes in the form of a shrine of flowers, sometimes it's the establishment of a charity, and sometimes it's creating an in-game memorial that thousands if not millions of people will see over the course of years. So while death and illness are depressing topics to dwell upon, I find the many MMO tributes that studios and even gamers have erected to be inspiring and a celebration of individual players' lives. With the help of my fellow Massively staffers, I researched 10 wonderful in-game tributes that serve to honor the lives of fellow gamers.
The Soapbox: Nobody's hero
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. We're not heroes, at least in the ubiquitous Hollywood sense. We're teachers and janitors and businessmen, and we may occasionally be heroic in the eyes of our kids or our colleagues, but rarely are we celebrated beyond a tiny circle of family and friends. Games can meet this emotional need, at least temporarily, and that's a major reason they've become such a booming business over the last couple of decades. We get to be Kratos for a couple of hours, or fem-Shepard or a thousand other pixelized pariahs -- until we set foot in an MMORPG, that is. Software companies sell pre-packaged heroism in ways that book publishers and filmmakers can only dream of, and it doesn't really matter that it's fake heroism or impersonal heroism crafted on an assembly line and shipped out to millions of consumers. Shouldn't it matter, though, when it comes to MMORPGs?
The Daily Grind: Do exclusive in-game event items annoy you?
I was looking longingly at an ad for EVE Online's Fanfest a few minutes ago. I say longingly because it's a bit late to be booking airfare to Iceland for a couple weeks hence, to say nothing of getting off work. The event seems like a good time, though, and the icing on the cake is the in-game swag that CCP distributes to attendees. Sony Online Entertainment does something similar for its annual Fan Faire shindig, and I remember tons of exclusive items on display in the virtual homes of Star Wars Galaxies fans who made the annual pilgrimages to Las Vegas. It's bad enough that I never made it to Fan Faire, but it was infinitely worse that I wasn't able to get my collection-obsessed paws on rare no-trade paintings and whatnot (yeah, first-world problems, yada yada). What about you, morning crew? Do exclusive in-game event items rub you the wrong way? 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!
Hyperspace Beacon: Making sense of Legacy
Last week, I spent some time in Austin, Texas, at BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic studio. One of the many things I saw was the Legacy System. Although it's a great tool, it is far from the good storytelling device it's intended to be. But perhaps we can make some sense out of it. The Legacy leveling system begins when one of your characters completes chapter one. Without revealing too many spoilers, I can say that chapter one ends in a non-planetary quest just after the main Alderaan quest line. Based on the average, your character should be level 32 when this happens (or if you're like me, you were level 30 and a friend helped you pass the final stage). At this point, you begin to gain legacy levels, which Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert says cap at level 50 currently (that's 50 legacy levels, not 50 combat levels). Until last week, we were uncertain what the legacy levels would actually give us. Thanks to the latest SWTOR video, we now know that the Legacy System provides rewards ranging from ship customization items to species unlocks. I won't be able to talk about all the Legacy additions in this article, but I can hit the highlights.
GDC 2012: The Repopulation demonstrates world-building elements
GDC literally has a little of everything, from indie developers to major studios, from free-to-play games to shooters to arena battles to retro to family... there really is something for everyone. As a massive fan of sandboxes myself, I was pleased to get to spend so much time with Above and Beyond Technologies' lead dev and co-owner Josh Halls and artist Kevin Grove as they demonstrated some of the features in their upcoming title, The Repopulation. (And I would have even spent longer if I could have!) While I had a monopoly on the team's attention, I had the chance to see some of the customization available to characters, both in appearance and gear, as well as get the lowdown on the world building element. We actually walked through the building of a nation, a feature that will make many a sandbox fan giddy! Although Josh was quick to point out that only a few items were available at this point in development, there was certainly enough to get a feel for the system. And I am looking forward to it!
Some Assembly Required: Six must-haves for creative expression
Creativity. It is expressed in so many ways in so many mediums. Art, literature, architecture, music, performance... I love it all, conventional and unconventional. Heck, I revel in it! Why do you think my work and recreation include gaming? Wait, gaming?! You betcha! Beyond the artistry of the developers, MMORPGs offer outlets for player creativity in a variety of ways. I am not ashamed to admit that the primary reason I delve into MMORPGs is not for the gameplay but to explore and experience the creative expression of others (and to express some of my own as well). In fact, finding and sharing that very creativity by championing and highlighting player-generated content is precisely what Some Assembly Required is about. Between (or in lieu of) the hacking, the slashing, and the plundering, players seize proffered tools in myriad virtual realms to build works of art, pen masterpieces, construct edifices, compose melodies, and take the stage, all within the pixeled confines of a virtual world. Unfortunately, not all games have adequate tools for such creative expression. While inspired players can make do if they must, having supporting features exponentially enhances a game (and positively affects retention). Thankfully, some games provide a few standard-setting features that -- in my opinion -- should be included in every game on the market. Here are six of those must-have features.
The Soapbox: There's no such thing as a miracle MMO
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. They're out there, in every forum, in every comment section, and across the blogosphere. They number in the thousands if not tens of thousands (just spitballing here), and they all share three common traits. One, they're discontented with any and all current MMOs; two, they love to gripe about said discontentment to anyone who will listen; and three, they have a grand hope that a particular upcoming title will finally break the discontentment code to become the be-all, end-all MMO for them. The miracle MMO, if you will. This is going to be the MMO that will right all wrongs. It will shift paradigms, break us out of whatever rut we're supposed to be in, and make us all fall down on our knees in gratitude that we have the privilege of living in such a grand age as this. So let's cut to the chase: There's no such thing as a miracle MMO, and there never will be -- except in your mind. If you can come to terms with that, you'll be a lot happier as a gamer.
The Perfect Ten: Clever ideas
I'm a sucker for a good, clever idea. You know the type: the ideas that make you slap yourself on the forehead and shout, "Why didn't I think of that first?" Or for the less humble of us out there, "Why, I did think of that first! But I got lost on the way to the patent office and I'm pretty sure that someone stole my dream journal to pilfer my genius notions!" While critics point their fingers at the MMO industry and proclaim it a barren wasteland of innovation, there are quite a few awesome -- if small -- ideas that bubble up in MMO and move the genre forward. Maybe they're teeny-tiny baby steps; maybe they're giant hopscotch leaps over the six-spot with the rock in the middle. But these ideas can and have had the power to change how these games are made and played. So this week I'm saluting 10 clever ideas, both large and diminutive, as a reward for a job well done!
Achievement Unlocked: A look at the Guinness world records of online gaming
We're just over a month into the new year, and already we've got plenty to look forward to: The Secret World is expected to hit in April, TERA will follow shortly in May, and Guild Wars 2 will be out... sometime this year (we hope). But before we all start looking toward the future, let's take a moment to look back at some of the gaming achievements of the past. Thanks to the handy-dandy Guinness Book of World Records 2012: Gamer's Edition, we've got a quick compendium of MMO-related records from the past year and then some, so if you're at all interested in the shortest-lived MMO to date or the longest time anyone's spent playing MMOs from inside a crate, join us as we take a stroll down memory lane to take a look at some notably (in)famous MMO achievements.
The Daily Grind: What's the highest sub fee you'd pay?
While recording the podcast last week, Rubi, Justin, and I discussed RuneScape's subscription fee, which is soon to increase to a whopping... $8. Eight bucks doesn't seem like much to me, but I remember when Ultima Online increased its monthly fee from $10 to $13 -- players were pretty upset. "How dare an old game ask for more money?" seems to be a common refrain. But if the game is good enough, why wouldn't we pay what it's worth to us, no matter its age? Consider Fallen Earth, which offers, as its highest subscription tier, a $30-per-month plan. I might pay $30 a month for a really awesome MMO (or to resurrect one I'm fond of). But what's the limit? $50? $100? What's the highest sub fee you'd pay -- and what would you expect out of the game for that price? 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 mob type is too cute to kill?
In Star Wars Galaxies, it was the Gubbur. In Star Wars: The Old Republic, it's the Bantha. In World of Warcraft, it's those weird flower-monsters called Lashers. Every game has a super cute mob that I just feel horrible killing. Sometimes I suspect that the devs are purposely adding adorable things to MMOs and asking us to kill them just to mess with our heads in the service of some sort of Milgram experiment. Or maybe it's just meant to put us in our place out of pure revenge: "Flame my game on the forums, will you? Here's a zone full of fluffy Vorpal Bunnies that can one-shot you. Eat it, suckers!" So what say you? What MMO creature is simply too cute to kill? 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 Soapbox: On MMO negativity
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Last week I was given a link to an op-ed piece at Thade's place, and in lieu of posting a comment there, I figured I'd do it on the Soapbox and hopefully generate some discussion (and traffic) for all concerned. In a nutshell, Thade questions whether MMO pundits actually like MMOs, and he comments on a perceived rise in negativity amongst what are assumed to be fans of the genre. I don't know if the blogosphere has taken a turn toward the negative, but if so, there's a pretty simple explanation for it. The games have changed, and the old guard who grew up with MMOs (and are willing/able to devote time to blogging about them) have to try a little bit harder to enjoy themselves as each new title gets further and further from what they like. That's OK, though, and it's also OK -- and even essential -- for the disaffected to speak up.
Raph Koster: Immersion is not a core game virtue
Yeah, you read that right, virtual world fans. One of the more celebrated sandbox MMORPG developers is apparently throwing in the towel when it comes to immersion. Raph Koster wrote what can only be termed a lament on his personal blog today, saying that "immersion does not make a lot of sense in a mobile, interruptable world." Koster characterizes immersion as a style whose time has come and gone, and he concludes that games are no longer for dreamers due to their far-reaching popularity. "I mourn the gradual loss of deep immersion and the trappings of geekery that I love," Koster writes. "I see the ways in which the worlds I once dove into headlong have become incredibly expensive endeavors, movies-with-button-presses far more invested in telling me their story, rather than letting me tell my own." Whether you agree with him or not, it's a sobering read coming from one of the chief creative forces behind Star Wars Galaxies and Ultima Online.
Leaderboard: Free-form space combat vs. on-the-rails shooter
If mankind's exploration into outer space has taught us anything at this point, it's that sooner or later we're going to need to strap big guns on our bubbles of life support and blast each other out of the cosmos. It's already a prevailing theme among MMOs, with titles like EVE Online, Star Trek Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Black Prophecy, and Battlestar Galactica Online allowing us to jump forward a few hundred years of technological growth so we can have some space shootin' fun. As of late there seems to be two camps developing regarding MMO space shooters. With the advent of SWTOR, some are warming up to the cinematic on-the-rails style of its space combat game. Tunnel shooters allow for a more scripted -- and potentially more exciting -- experience, and this type of combat has a long history in single-player games dating back to Starfox and before. Of course, the other camp just loathes rail shooters, much preferring the ability to fly anywhere one wants and engage in combat on one's own terms. The freedom of this style of space combat appeals to the inner individualist who doesn't want to conform to what everyone else is doing. In which camp have you struck your tent? Are you for free-form space combat or on-the-rails shooters? Let your vote be heard after the jump!
The Guild Counsel: Favorite moments from the Massively livestream
I'm sure you know about Massively's ever-expanding video channel. But what you might not know is that over the past year, I've done a little MMO walkabout, sampling as many different games as I could on my character Mmognaut. What I was particularly interested in was branching out and getting to know the communities that make these games what they are, and the Massively livestream was a great way to do that while giving the viewers a chance to experience it too. Through livestreaming and Twitch TV, I've had a great opportunity to explore dozens of MMOs over the past year, often with my co-host Jeremy Stratton. In my weekly column here, I often focus on common issues that happen within a guild, but I've also looked at MMO communities on the whole, and that should include the community that's grown here at Massively. What's really neat is that there's an overlapping at times during these shows, where the in-game communities of the MMO we're showcasing mesh with the Massively community, and it's made for some fantastic moments. Join me in this week's Guild Counsel as I look back over my favorite moments from the past year.
The Perfect Ten: Most significant MMO stories of 2011
2011 was an odd duck of a year for MMO news. A huge chunk of the year felt devoid of significant releases, but that was mitigated somewhat by the major launches of RIFT and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Titles got shoved back to 2012 or beyond, MMOs that we thought never would go free-to-play did, and the industry continually surprised us with revelations, ideas, and controversy. So in my last Perfect Ten of 2011, I put together the 10 most significant MMO stories of the year. Ten seems like an awfully small number for such a great big field, so I had the rest of the staff members chime in with their nominations just to make sure I wasn't too off-base with any of these. It was a whopper of a year, and Massively was there for all of it -- the ups, the downs, the queues, and the QQs. It's time to wrap it up with a pretty bow and dedicate it to the history museum!
Star Wars Galaxies bequeaths a memory book to fans
Still in mourning and/or shock over Star Wars Galaxies' sunset? Kicking yourself in your rear for never checking out the game while it was still alive? Then Sony Online Entertainment has one last gift for you: a Star Wars Galaxies memory book packed with the game's legacy. And this isn't a brief "So long and thanks for all the fish" pamphlet, either. The memory book is a whopping 253 pages of information and screenshots documenting the title's eight-year run. Former players and MMO historians can expect to read up on the game's timeline, planet, species, professions, space, ships, housing, cities, the Galactic Senate, the trading card game, the Galactic Civil War, and "The End." The book immortalizes the near-total Rebel victory in the game with these parting words: The explosions marking the Empire's end could be seen across the galaxy in the skies above the planets, and the celebrations that followed were unmatched. Peace reigned as Star Destroyers and dark lords became memories of another era, of a time long past, of galaxies long gone. Gone, but not forgotten. You can view or download the entire PDF on the official site.
