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The Think Tank: Do you believe in MMO reincarnation?
As living worlds, MMOs lend themselves to much more than just a simple shelf life. When they succeed, they can thrive; when they lose, they can lose it all. But some MMOs are returning from the dead lately, whether through a new publisher, as with APB: Reloaded, or through a complete redesign, as with Final Fantasy XIV. Further still, some games are enjoying renewed interest levels from players as game-changing expansions are being announced. So what does the Massively staff think of MMO reincarnation? Follow along after the jump to see!
The Think Tank: How long does it take you to judge an MMO?
About 3 years ago, I did a Soapbox article called "You have an hour to grab my attention." It was basically a little something for me to express how frustrated I was with the way MMOs were designed to push you through to the end and how players were falling for that whole "the fun starts at level 50" rigmarole. I still stand by that, and I believe a game should offer something enticing right away to keep potential customers going. Jef also wrote a Daily Grind about this topic last month where we got to hear your opinions on the matter, and I thought that it would be interesting to hear what the rest of the team thinks. It might be especially interesting considering the fact that we usually devote a bit more time to games as potential news or opinion articles rather than simply for gaming pleasure. Read on past the cut for our thoughts on time limits for MMO interest.
The Think Tank: Let's play armchair developers
Sometimes it's fun to imagine what we might do if given the chance to take over an MMO's development or community management teams for a month. Sure, a month might not be long in the scope of a game's development, but it might be long enough to get the ball rolling on some new and innovative ideas -- especially with a limitless budget. Hey, we're dreaming here, folks! So I asked the Massively team what they would do to their favorite MMO(s) if given the keys for a month.
The Think Tank: How do you feel about quick-leveling promotions?
With TERA's new level-58 boost for brand new characters, Guild Wars 2's automatic level 20 for new characters last month, and EverQuest II's upcoming free level-85 heroic characters, it seems that studios are finding new ways to push players through the early content and into the end game. Games like World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online have streamlined the starting zones, but these new promotional events are much more straightforward and obvious. So how does the Massively crew feel about this? Should this type of advancement be available only during special events? Should level boosters be rewards for veteran loyalty only? Do you consider double- and triple-XP weekends the same thing? Or is it all nonsense as we should all play these games as originally intended?
The Think Tank: How do you feel about community involvement with an MMO's development process?
A game's community has become more important to the development of modern MMOs as studios are paying more and more attention to what the players actually want versus what publishers want. This is evident in games like EVE Online with its player council, and Kickstarter has opened up a whole new avenue for the players to influence that dev process. But sometimes, that player influence isn't always for the best. In the famous words of poet John Lydgate, "You can't please all of the people all of the time." Yet many developers still try. So I threw the question out to the Massively staff to get some fresh opinions. Should we all be able to play the part of an armchair developer, or should we leave the design up to the paid designers?
The Think Tank: How do you define 'massive'?
I was passing out Massively t-shirts at a fan event a few year back when an arguably large man told the crowd that he probably shouldn't be wearing a shirt with the word "massive" on it. We all got a chuckle, but I don't think I would have defined him as massive before he made that comment. We asked for your opinions on the definition of the word "massive" as it pertains to massively multiplayer games, and the answers were both interesting and varied. So I thought it'd be a good idea to see what the Massively staff thinks of that debatable word. Follow along after the jump to see what we call massive.
The Think Tank: What motivates your MMO advancement?
We all have our motivations in life, whether they be ways to get better grades in school, make more money at our job, or finally catch up on last season's Breaking Bad on Netflix. Our favorite MMOs are no different, as motivation is a big part of succeeding, depending on your playstyle. So do you go for a higher spot on the leaderboards? Do you go for a higher achievement score than your friend? Will you keep killing that boss until he drops his pants for you? Er, leg armor drop, that is. What motivates the Massively team members to reach their MMO goals? Let's find out!
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
The Think Tank: Does studio drama affect your opinion of a game?
Drama is a human condition that plagues some more than others, but it's generally unavoidable. When drama comes from a game developer, we, as players, usually respond with our own drama in the form of forum posts containing lots of all-caps. Whether it's an out-of-context interview faux pas or whatever the War Z devs are up to this week, studio drama makes the news. Some of us love it; some of us hate it. But our reaction to developers behaving badly is what we're most interested in exploring today. I asked the Massively crewmembers how they react to drama from their favorite developers. Does it affect their purchase of the game? How far is too far? Or do we need to keep studio views and the game itself separate?
The Think Tank: The curse of IP-driven MMOs
Whenever a new MMO with a popular IP is announced, there's a palpable sense of dread in the Massively virtual offices. Multiply that dread by a thousand if the IP is being overused in other media or the game is being produced by a studio with a reputation for churning out junk. Whether we're talking Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons, Game of Thrones, or even gaming-centric IPs like The Elder Scrolls or Final Fantasy, that wariness is understandable. We've all been burned before. But even still, not all of the members of the Massively staff allow an IP to unduly influence their opinions about the MMOs themselves. In today's Think Tank, let's discuss just how cautious we are about MMOs saddled or boosted by popular IP-driven settings. Are they a boon or a curse?
