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The Daily Grind: Your favorite gamer term
It could be because you saw it in an online comic (like the awesome MacHall comic to the right) saw a friend using it, picked it up from a forum, or just are amused by the pop-culture nature of it all. But there are some phrases that have become part and parcel of MMO language. There are a lot of non-WoW playing people who know just what you mean when you yell "Leeeroyyy Jennnkinnns" or when you start saying "throw more dots, more dots" (note: NSFW language in videos) We see it in-game, hear it at conventions, and we may even use it ourselves -- generally among friends or guildmates who won't look at us funny for it. But we wanted to ask -- what kinds of gaming phrases have made their way into your conversations? Do you have any particular terms you've adopted and made your own catch-phrase?
The Daily Grind: Will your MMO still be here in 2009?
Nothing lasts forever. MMO's come and go, business plans succeed and fail, and sometimes the best will in the world keeps bleeding cash. MMOs and virtual worlds cost a bundle in power and bandwidth to operate and (for decent customer service, GMs, admins and billing) can cost even more in staffing (hint: That's why a lot of operators keep the staff counts down). All the while the developer/operator is trying to keep the cash-burn rate down and recover the costs of the game, in the hope of breaking even before the money runs out. Asheron's Call 2, Auto Assault, Saga of Ryzom, Earth and Beyond, and more are gone. Sometimes subscriptions never quite rise high enough for the long-tail model to be sustainable for an MMO. Do you think your online world will still be here this time next year as the end of Q1 2009 rolls around?
The Daily Grind: Swords, spells, arrows, maps, potions or pickaxes?
What do you focus on most in your MMOG? Are raids your especial thing, mixing it up with the team for epic/legendary drops and glory? Are you an explorer, who is out to see the sights and visit the corners that not every player gets to? Are you a quester, trying to get complete all the quests that the givers have to give? Maybe crafting is your primary focus, and you spend the bulk of your ingame time on crafting and the materials for crafting. Heck, maybe it's the ding of a new level that gets you hot. Regardless of why you joined your MMOG, what aspect do you really get the most pleasure from, and is that what you spend most of your time actually doing or do other activities or circumstances in the MMO keep you away from that?
The Daily Grind: Quest designing
Well, as anyone who has been around MMOs can tell you, one of the most commonly complained about quest types is the "kill x" quests -- where x is any number, just like back in algebra class. Quest designers have been accused of everything from being unimaginative, to being downright lazy for using this mechanic so frequently in their games. We keep waiting for someone to offer something more. Today we thought we'd ask you what kinds of quests you'd design if you were able to create MMO quests. (And don't be surprised if we pelt you with rotten produce if you answer with the "kill-x" variable.) Would you use more stealthy missions, quests involving retrieving a certain item that you had to fight your way through a bunch of bad guys to get to? Timed? Escorts? What is your ideal quest design?
The Daily Grind: How long is it?
Well, more properly, how long has it been since you changed your MMO/VW passwords? With your game and virtual world account credentials increasingly becoming more valuable to Real Money Traders than your credit card details are, there's a lot of value for people to be gained in hacking your account. There's certainly enough people intent on getting that information by any means necessary, including hacked devices, kidnapping and murder. Are you one of the folks who changes your passwords every month or so, just in case? Twice a year? Once a year? Or are you one of the set-and-forget types who never changes it unless the service forces you to? Do you feel comfortable about the safety of your gaming and virtual world accounts, given your choice?
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite archetype?
It seems like no matter what game you spend time in, the majority of classes fall into the "trinity" of archetypes. You have your damage-soaking tanks, standing on the front line, drawing aggro and taking a beating. Then you have the DPS classes, who can generally DoT, fear, kite, sneak, stab, shoot, and a myriad of other nasty things to bring the pain. And without the third part of the trinity, the healers, the other two would spend most of the time dead on the floor or fighting mobs while using lots of bandages, med-packs, potions or the like. Once in a while you'll find one class that are a "hybrid" these abilities, taking one or all of the three unto themselves, making for a more solo-friendly character.Personally, I've played all three primary archetypes as well as hybrids. While I've really enjoyed them all, my heart keeps coming back to pure DPS classes, with a close second in hybrids. Whether with stabby knives, flowing robes and fireballs, or carrying a gun, the straight damage classes are fun to me when I've got a good group to run with. When I need to get into a game and see how it works, I tend to go hybrids for their self-reliance. How about you? What's your favorite class archetype (or archetypes) and why?
The Daily Grind: Which MMO has the best PUGs?
PUGs (that's Pick-Up-Groups, for those of you keeping score at home) are those groups that get thrown together around getting a mission or a quest completed, tackling a boss or snagging a rare drop, where you just can't handle things on your own, and your regular posse (if you have one) isn't around. Around the Massively office (composed largely of tubes, gnarley space-time, tofu and Cheetos), we've been swapping some of our own PUG stories, and it seems clear that some MMOs seem to have much better PUG experiences than others. Some seem to always be golden, others about half and half, and others are full of ninja-looting, healers tanking, and team members suspiciously going connection-dead at the first sign of a stiff fight. Over to you, dear readers. Which MMOs have consistently given you the best PUG experiences?
The Daily Grind: To upgrade or not
Anyone who has spent any time around Massively is most likely aware of the One Shots column we run daily that showcases many different user-submitted screenshots like the one above. One of the things that strikes me in running it from day to day is how completely different games look from one person's screenshots to the next person's. Obviously, this comes down to things like hardware, whether or not they're running DX10, and the like. For today we'd like to ask you this -- would you, or have you ever upgraded your entire machine just to play one game? Perhaps you just turn your graphics down to the lowest setting and get by? Alternately, do you not mind if you're required to turn everything down, or do you feel like you're not able to enjoy the game as much? With WoW being so system-resource friendly, is it wise to try to push into games that have much higher system requirements -- or do developers risk cutting themselves off from part of the new-MMO player market?
The Daily Grind: Which game has the best admins?
In-game admins (or GMs, if you prefer): they get us unstuck, they deal with bigots on the chat-channels, remove spammers, listen to us whine, look into problems and more. Nine times out of ten, all we do is carp about them when they can't help us with a problem, can't walk us through updating our video drivers, can't restore our lost inventory or when they make a judgement call that doesn't go the way we think it should. Which MMO or virtual world is sporting the best admins? Which of them should be getting awards, pay raises, and celebratory booze-ups for treating us all with respect, sensitivity, boundless patience, and taking on task after task with energy, professionalism and cheerful good humor?
The Daily Grind: Does WoW really need to be 'beaten'?
When will the constant cries of 'Will this be the WoW-killer?' be stifled once and for all? It's an endlessly fascinating debate, apparently, with some huge cachet to be awarded to the winner -- well beyond, of course, the obvious monetary spoils to be accrued. But then, of course, the question transfers to the victor: 'What will be the WoW-killer-killer?'Pfagh, enough. Let's instead concentrate on the far more interesting question: 'Why does there need to be a WoW-killer?' Does everyone think that Blizzard will just hang it up if some new title manages to amass more persistent accounts then they have? Will current players suddenly think 'Thank the gods, there's an alternative! I can escape my slavish chains!' and then recapitulate their drudgery with the new game? Or do people just feel the need to root for the underdog? Chime in with your thoughts, O Constant Readers.
The Daily Grind: What's your gamer fuel?
We saw this above image at our sister site, WoW Insider, and we couldn't help but wonder -- do these folks know their market or what? Personally, I'm working on my 3rd cup of coffee (hooray, hazelnut) and glad of both the caffeine and warmth considering a cold weather snap in my area. Our very own Moo Money is notorious for getting sugar-free Red Bull by the case because she likes the carbonation. Getting between Moo and her Red Bull can be a dangerous thing. We haven't tried the above "mana" potion elixir, but we've heard it tastes like Flintstones vitamins. (Of course, in a pinch and needing more energy, there are those among us who would probably drink one anyway.) Have you tried one? Do you like the pre-packaged energy fuel for gaming, or are you more the tea and coffee type? What's your favorite gamer fuel?
The Daily Grind: Your favorite news from GDC?
The Game Developer's Conference for this year is a wrap, and from what we've seen, it looks to have been a roaring success. There's been all manner of great news, views, and more coming down the wires! For today's Daily Grind, we thought we'd ask you just what you thought was the most interesting news coming out of GDC this year? Is it one of the new titles we heard about, or did one of the myriad of excellent panels catch your attention?
The Daily Grind: What would bring you back to a game?
One of the bits of news yesterday was that of a stupendous deal on NCsoft's Tabula Rasa Collector's Edition version for the cost of $14.90. Now, as I tend to collect MMOs like many people collect books, this definitely got me to put down the $15 to give Tabula Rasa another go. I know a few other MMO fiends who were similarly interested, considering the extra goodies for the low price point and who have joined me on the "try again" bandwagon. This got me to thinking, though -- what would a company need to do to get your attention, and perhaps entice you into purchasing their game after a first try that didn't (for whatever reason) work for you? Is the promise of something shiny and extra -- on top of changes to the game structure from when you tried it -- more likely to get you to give a game a second go? Is there ever a time when you're willing to try an MMO again? Would a free trial or change to a free-to-play/microtransaction structure help? Or is it pretty much one try and move on for you?
The Daily Grind: Forms of transportation
No matter what game you play or virtual world you inhabit, one of the major points is how to get around. In Second Life, you can hit a SLurl and teleport, or if you're just exploring, you can fly around the landscape and check out what people have designed and built. In World of Warcraft, you can run around on different land-based mounts in "old" Azeroth, and enjoy lots of different forms of flying mounts in Outland. In EverQuest, you could take boats, books, portals, be transformed into a wolf, or just get a speed-buff in the form of a SoW. Perfect World allows you to pile a land mount on top of a flying mount, even! It seems like with as varied as each game is, there are always preferences for one mode or another. I will admit that one of my favorite ways to get around is SuperJump in City of Heroes just because it's just so much fun to bounce into a group of bad guys, then bounce away. Today we thought we'd ask you what your favorite methods of getting around are? Do you have a Peep (the phoenix mount from WoW) or are you all about catching portals to save time? Do you like the city-to-city teleports offered in Guild Wars, or prefer to adventure with your noble steed in Lord of the Rings Online?
The Daily Grind: Happy Valentine's Day!
Ahh, it's the day of the year when roses will be everywhere, and everything heart-shaped is suddenly "in." Yes, indeed. It's Valentine's Day -- both in the real world and in many different MMOs! While not all of the events include things as funny as the Weighted Companion Crate, there are lots of great quests (easy xp and prizes!) silly and fun events (kissing Lindens!) and more going on in our different lands. For this morning's topic, we thought we'd ask you what your Valentine's plans are for your game of choice? Or are you going to be working on getting some RL love faction, forgoing games altogether and instead heading out for dinner or a movie? Whatever you've got planned, we hope you have the very best of Valentine's Days!
The Daily Grind: How many MMO subscriptions do you have?
While not everyone around is quite as insane about signing up for and playing MMOs as some of us here are, we know of more and more folks who spend time in at least two different games. We know folks who jump from WoW to LotRO, others who jump from City of Heroes to Everquest II. A few non-writer friends of ours even have three or more different subscriptions. Today we thought we'd ask you -- how many different MMOs do you have subscriptions to? How many of the free-to-play titles do you play, thus saving on subscription fees? Or are you a devoted fan of a single MMO?
The Daily Grind: What makes a good MMO?
There are so many MMOs out there with different genres, different mechanics, different approaches to play, play-style, classes, missions and more. Sometimes we're asked to assemble short lists of the 'best' MMOs out there. There isn't of course, really a notion of a 'best' one, as the criteria we all use to grade them on are very subjective. Everyone's got their likes and dislikes from camera controls and inventory management, to raids and PvP/PvE, even mission-styles, setting and story. We've also each got different priorities that make those aspects more or less important to us. We all have some ideas in common, however. So, tell us - what do you think makes a good MMO? What particular things stand out or really grab you in a game? What do you really miss when it isn't there?
The Daily Grind: On leveling guides
With as busy as life can get, some consider leveling guides to be a nice way to be able to catch up to friends on very limited time. After all, you are still seeing content; you're just just following an optimized course and saving yourself from aimlessly wandering, looking for things. Of course, many people feel that this is basically cheating, because you're not exploring, or bothering to read the quest log seriously. (Of course, with item database sites like WoWdigger or mods like the above-pictured Lightheaded/Cartographer combo for World of Warcraft that point the way to the quest completion for you, the argument about "not reading the quest log seriously" kind of flies out the window.) This morning we'd like to ask you where you come down in this debate? Are you one of the people who feel that playing through using a leveling guide is cheating, because you're basically following in someone else's footsteps and not experiencing the game on your own? Do you think it's OK to use a leveling guide once you've been through the game "the hard way" and you're just leveling alts? Would you ever pay, or have you ever paid for a leveling guide? Do you think that paying for them adds to the stigma, or are they just worth it versus the general quality of many free guides available?
The Daily Grind: Do you dig MMO merchandise?
With the success of Blizzard's World of Warcraft, we've seen MMO merchandise not only on the web, but actually making it to malls. (For example, the J!nx WoW gear at Hot Topic.) Of course, one could argue that this is really a blessing in disguise as many parents and grandparents may not be willing to buy items online, but will spend time in a mall without fuss -- thus ensuring you actually get some gifts you're going to enjoy. (Or at least making it slightly more likely, anyway.)As an MMOer, do you like the concept of people running around in their MMO gear (like t-shirts, ball-caps and the like) or is that a shade too geeky to you? Did you ever spot someone sporting MMO gear and compliment them on their choice? Alternately, have you ever purchased any kind of MMO tie-in merchandise, like comics, figurines, or coffee-table art books instead of wearables because wearing game stuff was too much? If you haven't picked up any game goodies, what kinds of things would make you more inclined to pick something up?
The Daily Grind: Paying to play... in beta?
While Richard Garriott only recently figured out that open betas were more for marketing, and less for testing, it is a strategy that's been in use for some time. The Matrix Online was also one of the titles that did the "put $5 down for a pre-order and get a beta key" deal -- and while theirs felt more "finished" from a bug standpoint -- it came back to haunt them as well. Several people we know won't even try it again due to that experience, even with large changes to the game including a complete overhaul of the combat system. More recently, the folks at Flying Lab finished their beta and then entered a "pre-launch" phase (wisely avoiding calling it "beta" at all) and allowing people to level to 20 before today's launch of Pirates of the Burning Sea. (We can't speak for you, but several of us have had a blast in the pre-order.) So this morning we ask you -- have you ever "paid to play" in a MMO beta by going the pre-order to get in route? What was your experience like? Do you think that the idea of paying even a nominal fee to get into a beta makes you evaluate a game more harshly? Are you also unlikely to give a game a chance later after a bad beta experience? For that matter have you ever bailed on a game pre-reservation after a bad beta?
