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The Daily Grind: How are we doing?
The last time we checked in with you all to ask this question, you gave us some really great feedback. Since then, we've worked hard to incorporate some of the things that you asked for, and have found ways to change up some other things so as to make the site more friendly and enjoyable overall. As some of you may have noticed, we've changed our back-linking policy so that every first mention of a game in our recent posts now takes you to that game's website. (The second one still goes to the category for those who want more news.) Another thing that was talked about was the density of Second Life postings on the front page, which we had to find a more creative workaround for. We actually opted to test out feed-specific postings, using the Second Life category combined with their morning "newspaper" post. So far, response has been good. Beyond that, we've also added more great folks to our staff covering even more games. From seasoned blogosphere veterans to relative newcomers, we've tried to make sure our staff is a good mix. We've snagged interviews and exclusives -- something we're continuing to ramp up even now. On top of that, we added both our Massively Speaking podcast and a Twitter feed, for those who like to get their news on the go interspersed with a healthy dose of us being very silly! But as before -- we want this site to be all it can be for you, our readers. You've helped us grow like mad, and we want to be sure we're doing the best we can possibly do in return. So tell us, how are we doing? What do you think is good? Where can we improve?
The Daily Grind: What's more important: content or polish?
In a recent post, blogger Cuppycake asked a very prescient question that we thought we would relate to you. What's more important to the long-term success of an MMO title: the quantity of content at launch or a high-level of polish? The way development works these days, developers are often hard-pressed to finish a game on a deadline, and at some point they have to make the decision whether to keep implementing new features, zones, and graphical assets, or go back and refine the content they have to make sure it's perfect. Games like Everquest 2 exemplify that first path - pushing out huge quantities of content from the beginning, but turning off many with their initially slow refinement process. LotRO on the other hand is highly polished, but has to undergo frequent content updates to keep players interested.With Age of Conan right around the corner, would you choose that it be refined but small or huge and a little buggy?
The Daily Grind: Are ARGs MMOs?
ARGs (Alternate Reality Games) take the normal boundaries between games and reality and skew them just enough so that the two overlap, offering a new way to think about entertainment interaction. Perhaps one of the most famous of these is the "I love bees" campaign, which was developed to promote Halo 2. Certainly hundreds played, and part of the gameplay mechanics was taking clues from various places on the Web to complete the puzzles and solve the mystery.However, is "hundreds" enough to typify the term "massively"? Given that you could play alone and never see another player, only becoming part of a grander, more widespread team, is that really "multiplayer"? If the entirety of gameplay isn't online, does that satisfy the "O" requirement? How precise does the "MMO" definition need to be?
The Daily Grind: Will Wrath of the Lich King keep you playing WoW?
Over the last several days, the information streaming out of Blizzard about upcoming title, Wrath of the Lich King has hit a number of gaming sites. We have learned that all of the endgame raids for this expansion will be 10-mannable, we've heard lots more information about the Death Knight class, and there's more new eye-candy out for the fans and followers. Of course, amidst all this a question has been raised -- is all of this information interesting enough to lure those burned out on World of Warcraft back to the fold?For people who love to solo, this primarily means another race to endgame -- while 10-mans are better than 25-mans -- if you're a soloist, that's still 9 too many. For those who only play with a few friends, 10-man may actually be too many. Those in larger raiding guilds that have now adjusted to the 25-man content, have 5 men per raid grouping that are going to be waiting around if their guild decides to run 10-man first. For those at lower levels, there's a definite lack of new shiny. And if you don't raid, then what's your endgame like? More dailies, only somewhere new?As such, this morning we'd like to ask you -- will Wrath keep your interest? Are you concerned that it's going to be like Burning Crusade all over again -- hit the new area, and all your purples are gone within the first few quests. Go kill x mobs and bring me even more of their y! Will Wrath bring people back -- or do you think the formula's worn thin and people will instead be heading to some of the newer titles coming out?
The Daily Grind: Gaming moms are win!
We'd like to take this morning to /salute the gaming moms (and grandmas) out there. From some members of our staff who have gaming moms, to other members of the staff who are gaming moms, they are becoming more and more common in the MMOG/VW landscape. We know moms who run guilds in EverQuest, raids in World of Warcraft, create beautiful virtual world content in Second Life, mod large gaming forums, theorycraft, and everything in between! Today, we'd love to hear about any gaming moms you know; friends, guildmates or family! Do the gaming moms in your circle rock the arena? Are they the awesome guild moms who help new players out? Perhaps you are a mom who can tell us about your gaming life as a mom. Whatever the flavor, we here at Massively hope all the moms out there enjoy a day full of epic loot, good times, and lots of pampering! (Also, if you forgot it was Mother's Day in the US and Canada, you still have time to get to the store and get a card!)
The Daily Grind: Keep fishing or cut bait?
A new MMO comes out. You've read the reviews, Watched the promo videos. Changed your desktop to show the buxom model on their cover art. Subscribed to the newsletter. Read all the developer interviews. Attended the chats! Participated in the lively banter between the lead designer and the people of a well known community forum! You've made your own guild before you even got to play the game! You pre-ordered the special collector's edition, and the game's theme music is on continual repeat on your iPod!The fateful day comes, you install the game and ... well, it's a decent enough game, but it just isn't what you expected. You play it for a few days, and then start wishing you hadn't given away all your gold and sharded your epics in your old game. And maybe you suddenly regret telling the raid leader just exactly, precisely what you thought of him. So do you stick with the new game? Or return to the old? How long do you give a new game to grab you before you erase it from your hard drive, put the disks on the shelf, and call it a decent effort but just not the game you wanted to play? Just the free month? Until you reach the max level? Or just fifteen minutes perhaps?
The Daily Grind: Spoken quest text
One of the things that people seem fairly split on lately is the "time" they say is involved with listening to the NPCs talking -- or more properly, reciting the quest text out loud. Some people really like this when coupled with the "multiple choice answer" option that's present in Age of Conan and EverQuest II. Some feel that it leads to greater immersion in the world to hear quests spoken -- and you can always "fast forward" by clicking through if you don't want to hear it. For other people, while this can be a fun and interesting element at first, repeating quests on subsequent alts makes it somewhat annoying. Where do you fall on this one? Do you like the idea of your NPCs actually being voiced and reading out the full quest text to you, or do you think a cursory sound byte (like how it is handled in World of Warcraft) is all that is needed? Do voiceovers tend to make you pay attention to quest "text" -- or do you just click past it all anyway?
The Daily Grind: Do MMOs need more social networking services?
Web 2.0 is all about giving Joe User more choice, more of a voice, and more opportunities for interaction. User-created content is king, as witness the rise of such sites as YouTube. However, many MMOs are still closed systems -- you can't talk to your gTalk friends within World of Warcraft, you can't post to Twitter from Tabula Rasa, and you can't there's no Facebook integration with Everquest 2.But who cares? Chances are you're too busy playing to care about any of those things anyway. However, as these apps mature, and people find more ways to integrate them with everything else, it probably won't be too long before new MMOs will offer connectivity with them right out of the gate. Will this be a boon or a bother? Do you wish your favorite MMO already had this integration?
The Daily Grind: (do you do you) Do you wanna dance?
MMO players must spend almost as much time dancing as they do grinding. Find any cluster of avatars and the odds are that there's at least one person dancing in it. In some worlds, on some servers, it isn't uncommon to see dozens of users dancing the night away. Whatever actually causes this dance craze and whyever we do it, is it a must-have feature? Would you be happy if your next new shiny MMO didn't let you boogie, or is dancing something you can live without?
The Daily Grind: How was the first weekend of AoC's open beta for you?
Some are in the closed beta, many many others are in the open beta. We thought we'd ask you this morning how your first weekend of the open Age of Conan beta went? With our team, the experiences ran the gamut. For some, there were only one or two minor things we noticed and the rest was smooth as silk. Others of the team had horrendous crashes of the client all weekend long, and at least a couple of folks weren't able to get in at all, hitting the authentication errors that some have noted on the forums. (They're waiting on mail replies from support too, so you're not alone out there.) So how was your experience with the Age of Conan beta this weekend? Did you find anything that caused massive problems? How about things that were really done well? Did it make you decide to order -- or cancel your pre-order? Do you just not care? We've told you what some of the team here thinks; now we want to hear from you!
The Daily Grind: WASD or click-to-move?
In an ideal world, we wouldn't have to choose between the two modes -- they'd be options configurable in the preferences tab. Until then, we'll have to make do with one or the other as they're presented to us. Click-to-move games free up a hand to access keyboard commands, but at the cost of increased difficulty in simultaneous travel and camera movement. Mabinogi features this control.WASD, on the other hand, seems a perfect fit for 3D movement, and by now it's a well-accepted standard, but having to cluster frequently-used keys near to your movement hand can sometimes be awkward. Which is your preference? Does it depend on the type of game?
The Daily Grind: Which MMO has the best combat?
The upcoming release of Age of Conan has brought this question farther into the light, with its foray into real-time battle. Sure, there have been others -- the late, not-so-lamented Fury being a great example -- that have tried to redefine what MMO combat can be like, but many games are content to offer the tried-and-true click to attack model, with slight variations.When it comes to fighting in games, surely the biggest defining factor is, or should be, "Is it exciting?" Given that singular criterion, then, which game has the best combat? Which one gets your blood racing? Which MMO really lets you, as the kids used to say, throw down?
The Daily Grind: Is narrative important?
A lot of industry people talk about the importance of narrative in games, and how it's going to be a driving force in revolutionizing the state of games in the near future. Certainly, MMOs with rich histories and lore can benefit from well-written quest descriptions, but there is a cookie-cutter feel to many of them that is slightly off-putting; they're written broadly enough so that any player, any class can fulfill the requirement. Regardless, even if the quest can be boiled down to 'Go kill 10 things', it can make a world of difference to read an engaging lead up, explaining who's involved, and how it affects the world -- but is this the type of narrative people are talking about? Is it possible to craft a true storyline, with a beginning, middle, and end, in an MMO, which for all intents and purposes, is meant to run forever? Do you feel like your favorite MMO could use more active lore? Is narrative as important as gameplay?
The Daily Grind: Now how much would you pay?
For many, the cost of a game -- the initial purchase plus the monthly fee -- is simply assessed once, then never considered again. You have to pay something, after all, and you don't really have a choice if you want the content. Obviously, this doesn't take into account free-to-play games, but some people believe that you get what you pay for.But there is also the consideration of value over time -- was it worth that fifteen dollars for the month if you didn't enjoy the gameplay? If not, then why not? What would be worth that fee? Is it fair to say that sometimes you have to absorb the cost of a game you disliked to find out for yourself that it wasn't worth playing? Are there any games that you're happy to pay for, knowing you're helping ensure the maintenance and further development of the title?
The Daily Grind: Preferred control scheme?
A very large amount of MMO players use the tried-and-true WASD keyboard configuration to play their game of choice. However, we know that there are people out there who shun tradition, and have taken another option. Perhaps you use the typically-neglected arrow keys for movement, or the point-and-click style movement that some MMOs offer? Maybe you've shuffled to the right, along to the ESDF setup, to take advantage of some extra hotkeys? Or are you using something so crazy we may not have even heard of it?Then there's the possibility that you've left the keyboard behind altogether. In games where you have a choice between versions (like FFXI and Phantasy Star Universe), do you prefer the console or PC controls? Have you found yourself looking up applications like Switchblade for use with your favorite MMO, to get that familiar controller back in your grasp? Tell us about any other ways that you like to take control of your MMO.
The Daily Grind: Do you only play MMOs?
We cover a lot of MMOs here at Massively, but that doesn't mean that it's the only type of game we're interested in. Many of us on the team love to rip into a good console game too, or other PC games of the non-MMO variety. Sure, being involved in more than a single MMO can take up a significant portion of gaming time, but it's safe to say that we do enjoy other types of games as well.If you've come to Massively, you likely at least have an interest in MMOs, if you aren't currently playing one or more of them -- but is that the only genre of game that you play? Do you like to play any of the current generation of consoles? Or perhaps you kick it old school with one of the awesome consoles of bygone eras? When it comes to the PC, do you only play the bigger games, or do you dip into the casual realm with titles such as Peggle? And what about those nifty handhelds, and cellphone games -- daily commute anyone?
The Daily Grind: What does WoW do better than any other MMO?
We try very hard not to be partisan here at Massively. In our efforts to bring you the latest news and features for the entirety of the world of MMO gaming, we can't afford to show favoritism for one title over another; we love all of our virtual children equally! Having said that, then, we'd say that the majority of our writers have spent a good deal of time in World of Warcraft. Some still play, others have moved on -- some have moved on and come back.This blogger in particular has spent no longer than a month's running time in WoW before quitting, only to return for another month after some time has passed; repeat recidivism ad nauseam. After researching and playing numerous other MMOs, and still not finding that one "home" game, WoW is always there, solid and reliable. But what is it exactly that draws one back after an absence? Or causes one to keep a running account there even when not actively playing? What does WoW do better than any other MMO?(And if at all possible, please, let's keep this from turning into a reason to bash other MMOs, okay?)
The Daily Grind: How do you justify spending time in an MMO?
For every gamer couple, where the duo is composed of two people who both play games, there are at least 5 non-gamer couples, and probably more. Of these, a good portion are likely composed of a gamer and a non-gamer. In stereotypical fashion, the non-gamer might feel resentful of the time the gamer spends 'playing that stupid game'. Or worse, the gamer herself feels guilty for enjoying her hobby, and spends more time not playing, but wishing she were. Those of us with the great fortune to be professional game bloggers have an easy out: if we don't play, we can't write -- if we don't write, we don't get paid. "Sorry, honey, I have to spend the next couple of hours leveling up; my next feature depends on it, and I'm on a deadline!" But for the rest of you, is it enough to tell your significant other that you work hard, and need your alone time with your favorite MMO? Do you manage to make equal time for your children and spouse? Do you ever suddenly stop to count the days and weeks of game labor, with nothing physically substantial to show for it except for repetitive strain injury? How do you justify your game time?
The Daily Grind: Should there be a spectator feature in MMOs?
Videogames as a spectator sport has always been with us -- you'll be in an arcade, or at a friend's house, or watching with hundreds of others at a sanctioned Starcraft tournament. Someone will challenge another to a game, the competition heats up, a crowd gathers. Sometimes the end-game victory is so close that when the last-ditch play succeeds (or fails), the winner is granted a standing ovation. In such a case, it's just as fun to watch as it is to play.Aside from watching over someone's shoulder, what if there were a way to observe a head-to-head match-up between players in your favorite MMO? Perhaps a central location on the Web which you could visit to watch pre-planned battles? Maybe a program that lets you peek into a game world as though you were an invisible camera, recording for posterity matches between registered combatants -- would that be welcome? Would it ruin the sense of in-world immersion?
The Daily Grind: Which MMO should go away?
People love to hate things. Whether we're talking about sports, religion, politics, lifestyles, or goulash recipes, there are always at least two sides in opposition to each other, and frequently many more. Those on one side will sing the virtues of their choice, and decry the faults of the other side, sometimes with virulent verbiage. Nowhere is this activity more evident than in the forum of your favorite MMO.Gamers will yell at each other over the slightest perceived insult, and heap abuse on any who dare to assert the primacy of anything that isn't in line with what they love. And that's the sort of energy we want to invite! So, Precious Readers, which MMO do you hate the most, and why?
