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The Daily Grind: Should MMOGs and virtual worlds be separate?
Friday held the Social Gaming Summit, a meeting of the luminaries of the various virtual worlds -- Gaia Online, Neopets, and IMVU to name a very few -- in San Francisco. This blogger was on hand for several of the panels, and came away with a deeper understanding of where the demarcation between massively multiplayer online game and virtual world was drawn. On the virtual world side, developers are beginning to incorporate more and more elements of what would normally be considered MMO-only features, like quests and leveling up.However, similar integration of virtual world-like elements in MMOs has so far remained off-spec. Chat aside, games like World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, and City of Heroes don't have features like profiles with integrated blogs for players, or spaces in which one could post photos and media for others to enjoy. Is this something that might change as the Web 2.0 landscape evolves? Are MMOs better off remaining "pure"?
The Daily Grind: Realism in MMOs ... good or bad?
When you hear the word "realistic" as it's applied to graphics and/or gameplay, do you cheer or wince? World of Warcraft, Mabinogi, Hello Kitty Online -- these are all titles that make a fantastical graphics aesthetic work well for them. At the same time, Age of Conan, Guild Wars, Tabula Rasa -- these games make a good showing of a more "realistic" style, and people seem to like it.Then again, there's "realistic" taken to an extreme; we're thinking of the way The Sims makes you exercise, eat, sleep, excrete, etc. Now, while The Sims is of course not an MMO, do we want that sort of thing in our fantasy worlds? Does realism attract more people than surrealism? Could you take currently realistic/cartoony games and switch the aesthetic around and make it all better?
The Daily Grind: When have you had enough?
Sometimes, we play games well past their expiration date. Long after it's stopped being fun, a particular game continues to get our attention. The reasons for this vary: You want to unlock every Easter egg; you can't afford anything new; you play through as a soothing exercise, trusting in your foreknowledge of every beat of gameplay to relax you enough to fall asleep.However, with an MMO, there are different considerations. Perhaps you're holding out for that patch you're hoping will fix that one annoying bug. Maybe you love your guildmates too much to consider quitting. Whatever the reason you keep playing, there comes a point at which you just can't hold on anymore, and you cancel your subscription. Tired graphics? Abusive chat? Constant griefing? What's caused you to finally quit a game?
The Daily Grind: What's your funniest death
The other day, we were kicking around some of the funniest deaths we'd experienced in different MMOGs. There were those who had accidentally typed "a" back in the day in EverQuest while trying to /hail an NPC -- thereby attacking them, since "a" was auto-attack. Others had some great stories to tell from World of Warcraft, such as one tale of a poor unwitting group that went into Scarlet Monastery and weren't aware you needed to clear the entire cathedral before you pulled the boss at the end. (He calls all mobs still alive in the cathedral to come beat you to a pulp otherwise. Oops.) One of our favorites had to have come from our own blogger, Adrian Bott. Adrian's own silly character death came while playing Age of Conan. He said that while merrily smacking chickens to watch them explode in game, he was unexpectedly attacked and beaten to death by an angry chicken seller NPC. That has to be one of the strangest (but funniest) deaths we've heard of as yet. What would be some of your funniest deaths in an MMO?
The Daily Grind: Which MMO deserves the movie treatment?
The World of Warcraft movie is coming, barring one of those infamous Hollywood accidents that seem to happen to many movies before they're finished. We've covered the others before, with a gloomy outlook. But statistically, surely at least one of them will be watchable.So if not City of Heroes, or Everquest, which property might make a good movie? Which one has a good setting, visually interesting powers or abilities, a rich storyline, and engaging characters? Tabula Rasa might be a fun romp if it could avoid comparison to Starship Troopers. Perhaps Hellgate: London might make a good Summer spookfest. Weigh in with your thoughts!
The Daily Grind: Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition?
Today's the day, long anticipated by tabletop gamers of the d20 variety; Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition releases today, coming to a Friendly Local Gaming Store near you. If you aren't familiar with the new edition of the game, Eurogamer has a great rundown on the system's ins and outs. For a more hands-on technical approach, you can't beat the official Wizards of the Coast site and their lengthy series of preview articles. You might have also noticed Penny Arcade's recent discussion of 4E. Though it requires a site login to reach, their hands-on playtime with PvP's Scott Kurtz is hilariously listenable.We ask, because we have to imagine some of you MMO fans out there also have occasion to 'roll the bones'. These games are ultimately all built on the foundation that the late, great Gary Gygax built, right? So, how about it: are you jumping to the newest edition?
The Daily Grind: Does chat break immersion?
There are areas in Second Life devoted to roleplaying. There are roleplaying servers for several of the major MMOs. Obviously, these exist to fulfill the need for full-immersion experiences, away from the frequently inane chatter to be had in most games's chat. But outside of these specialized environments, it's open to all and sundry, the polite and foul-mouthed alike.In a futuristic scenario like Tabula Rasa's, or an alternate modern setting like Hellgate: London, players can get away with contemporary language. Yet even there, if the talk comes around to non-game issues, it breaks the suspension of disbelief just enough to remind you you're just a person playing a game, rather than a character inhabiting the game world. Is this bothersome? Do you turn off general chat whenever possible? Are you perfectly happy feeling one step removed from the game's reality, and don't need the immersive experience?
The Daily Grind: In-game or private VOIP?
One of the best things for many gamers who play in team settings (in PvP, in raids, etc.) is voice over IP (VOIP) software. Need to give out raid instructions? No longer do you need to waste time typing things out or boring people with long macros full of information. Now you can toss on a headset and away you go. Of course, you have your pick -- games like EVE Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online, and even World of Warcraft have introduced VOIP. However, the interesting thing we keep finding is how few people actually use it. This morning we thought we'd do something of an unscientific poll amongst the readers just to see where the unofficial Massively reader thoughts lie on this. Some of us are figuring it will be against public in-game VOIP, others are warning them that it's generally cheaper than running a server, so they may be in for a surprise. You let us know -- do you use public VOIP, or private servers? If you don't use the in-game systems, why? If you hate private servers, what turned you off from them? %Poll-14988%
The Daily Grind: Do you run old raid content?
One of the things that we heard about people doing over the recent holiday weekend was tackling legacy content. Why? Well, what we heard was mostly about how with people traveling, lots of raid schedules were changed. This meant "whoever can show up" groupings seemed to occur, with many of them heading for old raids (like the above Molten Core raid in World of Warcraft) for fun. Of course, this got us to thinking.... Does anyone just run old content for the fun of it -- at least, beyond the occasional raid-schedule disruption? Are you more focused on progressing in your game of choice? If you do like to check out old-school content, what is it about it that draws you? Did you never do it before? Did you prefer the mechanics? Or maybe you just like the storylines better. Let us know!
The Daily Grind: Why can't Earth have a fantasy MMO?
Take a look at the preeminent Fantasy MMOs available: World of Warcraft takes place in Azeroth. Age of Conan's setting is Hyborea. Guild Wars boasts Tyria as its location. Lord of the Rings Online has Middle-Earth, which Tolkien refers to as much as an age as a location, hinting that it could in fact be Earth's past, but the landscape as described doesn't really match anything in our reality.And what does Earth have? Hellgate: London, The Agency, The Day, and possibly The Secret World. While there may be supernatural elements in a couple of these titles, for the most part they belong firmly in a science-grounded reality, and couldn't be considered true Fantasy settings. So what gives? With the unlimited imagination on display for all these other titles, why does Earth get short shrift? Is there any good reason for our fair Terra to be left out of the Fantasy loop?
The Daily Grind: What do you want to know about Warhammer Online?
So ... guess where Massively is today? That's right, we've ventured outside the labyrinth of tunnels and warrens that makes up our headquarters, and are spending some time today and tomorrow with the fine folks at EA Mythic. Our hands-on time with Warhammer Online means tons of information for you, the greenskin fanatic or Chaos cheerleader. But we're only human, after all, and there's only so many hours in the day.We want to know, then: What do you want to hear about? Does the game's unique Tome of Knowledge system make you sit up and take notice? Are you really looking forward to those innovative Public Quests? Or do you just want a bunch of footage of dudes killing each other hardcore in RvR? Whatever you're in the mood for, we'll try to keep our eyes and ears open. Don't expect to see much on the site just yet, but your two cents today could make you a very happy MMO player next week. Leave a comment below!
The Daily Grind: What should Conan's patches be called?
We've been enjoying the recent developer creativity that's gone into naming patches. Some companies offer evocative names for their patches, like Lord of the Rings Online's Doom of the Last King, or Star Wars Galaxies' Fury of Exar Kun. Other games just use quirky titles, like Tabula Rasa's deployments or Dungeon Runners' heaves and chunks.Age of Conan has just launched, of course, and as far as we know they have no plans to name their patches anything out of the ordinary. The few updates they've had so far aren't even numbered. But what if they were to give their patches names? What sort of catchy title would you give it? Bloodsplash? Fatality? Give us some idea of what you want to see us tagging their future updates!
The Daily Grind: Memorial Day in MMO-land?
In the United States today it's Memorial Day, a holiday designed generally to remind the average citizen of the military's role in the union. As it's a government holiday, this means a lot of people in the states have the day off of work. There's not likely to be a ton of breaking news today as a result. Here at Massively we'll keep the MMO-newsfires burning just in case you need a break from barbecuing or relatives.It does beg the question, though: what are you doing today? Stepping AFK to have a burger or brat with loved ones? Camping, maybe, or attending a parade? Or are you celebrating the way we do every holiday, Pinky? By jumping online and touching base with friends in a massively multiplayer game? Give us a shout-out.
The Daily Grind: Does your guild like to party down?
As has become tradition for this blogger, every year on Memorial Day (aka 'the birthday') weekend, lots of people from our guild like to get together and party down. There are friendships in our guild that span many years and almost as many games. Of course, beyond just discussing whatever is going on in MMOGspace, there's lots of good food, beer, and geekery to be had for everyone! Since this is the perfect weekend for getting together with friends and family here in the States, we thought that we'd ask you -- do you ever have guild parties in meatspace? Are there any particular times of the year that you and your guild-mates like to get together, like at a convention or fan faire? Or is your guild a strictly online-only guild?
The Daily Grind: Your favorite MMO podcasts?
One of the things we really love about VirginWorlds is their awesome podcast collective. Not only has Brent given us his general VirginWorlds MMORPG News podcast, but he's provided a syndicated home for many other fantastic titles like Shut Up. We're Talking., The Drone Bay, to more recent additions like The VanHemlock Podcast and even our very own Massively Speaking! With such a treasure trove of fantastic podcasts, we gleefully load up our iPods and get our game on -- even when we're not gaming!For today's Daily Grind, we wanted to ask you what some of your favorite MMO podcasts are. Are you a follower of TabulaCast? Can you not resist the awesome Epic Dolls? Is The Instance your favorite? Perhaps something well off the beaten path that you think everyone should really start listening to? Let us know!
The Daily Grind: By Crom?
The day of much anticipation for fans of Howard, blood, and boobs has arrived: Age of Conan officially launches today! Whether you've had your preorder in the system since last year, or are studiously avoiding the game like the plague, you've got to have some opinion on this enormous launch. Age of Conan represents almost five years of Funcom's efforts, and marks the beginning of this year's struggle for the AAA MMO space.So what do you say, Massively? Did you take the day off of work to sign in first-thing? What class are you going to play? Are you giving this one a miss? How are you celebrating Hyborian Independence Day?
The Daily Grind: Do MMO leadership skills scale?
According to this article from the India Times, there is a direct correlation between the kinds of skill needed for leaders to excel in an MMO, and the skills required for success in the real world. Namely, these skills break down to "Collaboration is key", "Vision is important", and "Information gathering and synthesis generate results".However, while it all sounds great on paper, there is a literal world's difference between decisions that affect the outcome of a game, and choices that determine the fate of a business. This is not to say that games can't be a testbed for quality decision-making behavior, but it takes real ingenuity to directly apply game experience to the real world and have corresponding value. What do you think? Do gamers make better leaders?
The Daily Grind: How will Ambulation change EVE Online?
Going purely by the recent NY Comic Con video, EVE Online's upcoming expansion Ambulation will be an incredible addition to the game universe. Aside from the sheer fun to be had in designing your avatar, the socialization component has the potential to cause players to reevaluate their interactions with others, both friends and enemies.There will likely be some über-hardcore, there-from-the-launch, "back in MY day" kinds of users who will feel that this ability to step outside of the ship is a dilution of what makes EVE great. There is also something to be said for the argument that this could possibly attract more people to try out EVE, by adding something familiar (a controllable human avatar), thus inflating the population to the point where things no longer feel the same -- sort of the "bridge and tunnel crowd" attitude. What are your thoughts? Are you for or against this new expansion? What do you think its effect on the game will be?
The Daily Grind: Are you addicted to your MMO?
Sure, it's fun to say that you're addicted to your favorite MMO, but for some people, it might actually be true. If you can't stop thinking of playing during those rare moments when you're away from the computer; if you miss work or school because of play; if your friends and family express concern over your pastime, you might want to consider if it's time to take a step back. In fact, here's a handy guide to overcoming MMO addiction. But as serious as actual addiction is, only you can decide for yourself if you've crossed the line. And it can be somewhat tricky to make that distinction. What do you think, are you perilously close to being addicted to your favorite MMO, or can you quit whenever you want?
The Daily Grind: What MMO would you buy as a single player game?
Sure, it's fun to hang out with the other players in your favorite MMO, but nothing you do really has a permanent effect in an online game. Wouldn't it be nice, for once, to kill Quarm and have him stay dead? To defeat Illidan, and have that event shake the world forever? To finally clear 0.0 of all the pirate corps, or to once and for all rid Paragon City of those vile gangs? Do you think MMOs should have an offline, single player mode that leads into the online MMO later? Would you want to go it alone, or hire some trusted NPCs to explore lost cities and forbidden dungeons with you -- for a share of the loot? If you walked into your local computer store tomorrow and you saw a new stand-up display filled with boxes of World of Warcraft: Single Player Edition (or insert your game of choice) -- would you buy it?
