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Apple donates iPads for Oregon pilot program to help the disabled vote
Apple has donated some iPads to Oregon for use in a pilot program to deliver votes with Apple's magical tablet. A new movement to reach disabled and home-bound voters will head out to nursing homes and other places, armed with iPads, and then use those devices to record and register votes in advance of a special election. Not only does a touchscreen allow voters to record their preferences with simply a finger, but it also allows for zooming in to bigger text and otherwise reading ballots and other documents. The current initiative is just a test, but it's set to be used in the next general election as well. If things go as planned, Oregon will likely deploy the program all across the state. Apple reportedly donated five iPads to begin with (and the state spent $75,000 on the custom software), but officials only estimate they'd need about 72 iPads to carry the plan out across the entire state. There is one issue, however: Apparently this system still relies on a paper ballot, which is printed out after the actual choices are made on the iPad. Many of these users don't have the ability to read their choices back, so the iPad plan may still not work even for this limited solution. But if that problem gets fixed, some Oregonians will be able to register their votes with the iPad. [photo credit: AP]
Choose My Adventure: What is this I don't even
Where am I? What's going on? How did I get here? I'm so confused! Oh, uh, hi there. I'm Matt, or as most of you probably know me, the new guy. It looks like I'm next on the chopping block for Choose My Adventure, and I am contractually obligated to say that I was in no way coerced, blackmailed, or threatened into doing this column. Now that that's out of the way, let's get on with it. A bit about my MMO history: I've played everything. All right, super. That being said, I don't always play everything a whole lot, and right now I'm what you call "between games." That's where y'all come in. Help me out of my MMO slump by forcing me at gunpoint to play a game of your choosing. It's that simple! My playstyles vary wildly, and I can easily go from carebear PvE to hardcore PvP to melodramatic RP depending on which game I'm unceremoniously thrust into. So do your worst, Massively readers. If you're interested in knowing the logic behind the games I chose for the poll, read on past the cut. Otherwise, skip straight to the voting bit and be sure to get your votes in by 11:59 p.m. EDT on October 14th. I'll see y'all again next week!
Allods Online gives players a chance to choose their luck
Luck is fickle. One moment you seem to be hitting a 20% chance for a critical hit every other swing, the next you're lucky if you can avoid missing. But Allods Online is giving the playerbase a chance to change its collective luck through pure will. Well, pure will and a helpful dose of popularity. The Choose Your Lucky Moment event has begun, offering everyone a shot at something bigger and better next week. Currently, there's a poll available with a long list of lucky bonuses, such as increased experience gained from quests and better loot from the Astral. The voting runs until Friday, September 9th. Once the votes have all been tallied, the three bonuses with the highest number of votes will be turned on for the next week on both servers, running from September 10th until September 16th. It might not help you with that string of critical hits, but it's the best chance Allods Online players will have to turn their luck around by choice.
EVE is Real contests open for voting
EVE is Real has been online for a few weeks now, and CCP is ramping up the publicity machine in order to highlight what it's billing as a "memory museum" for its 8-year old sci-fi sandbox. Yep, EVE Online really has been around since 2003, and that's plenty of time to accumulate tons of images and video footage, some 4,000 examples of which are now viewable on the EVE is Real website. Aside from ogling all the internet spaceships, visitors to the site can also get in on the voting to determine the best of the best when it comes to capturing stills and making movies in New Eden. Users may vote for one image and one video prize each day, and winners will receive one of 20 video cards (for the image category) and one high-end Dell PC (for the video category). Voting runs through September 1st, so lay in a course for the EVE is Real website today!
Choose My Adventure: Marching off to WAR
The readers have spoken! More specifically, the fans of Warhammer Online have spoken, and so the game is my destination for the next several weeks. And what a surprising speech it was, especially given that I, my editor, and my co-workers all assumed that with RIFT on the ballot we might as well just close up the voting after half a day. But the forum thread on the official boards kept people coming over and voting, and thus I'm heading over into the world of Order and Chaos. I'm glad to see Warhammer Online as the selection, as it's long been a game and setting that I've found interesting even though it's never quite made it on my list of things to play next. The game has certainly seen its fair share of hardship over the past several years, so it's going to be interesting to take a look at the game as it exists now. So click on past the break to start me down the path that leads me into the game and check out my usual disconnected ramblings.
Aeria Games announces Golden Age
A new contender in the field of MMO real-time strategy titles has appeared: Golden Age. If you're all about constructing castles, building up armies, and clashing in epic battles, Aeria Games is hoping that this title will sate your bloodlust. As players commit warfare against each other and computer-controlled enemies, Golden Age allows bystanders to participate as well. Players can vote for their favorite army when a battle convenes, and the army with the most votes gets bonus soldiers for the fight. When not fighting, players will build up their fortresses using over 20 types of structures and also talk to inhabitants of the town to see whether any of them has a quest for you to do. Aeria Games promises that the browser-based Golden Age will be free-to-play and will be released with both English and Spanish translations. You can check out the teaser site and register for the beta now. We give you permission -- just finish your vegetables first.
Webby Awards nominate iOS games and apps
The Webby Awards are being voted on this week, and along with the usual website and advertising divisions, there's now a "Mobile and Apps" category. As you might expect, there are plenty of iOS games and apps represented on the ballots. iPhone favorites Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja are nominated for Handheld Games, and lots of our other favorite apps show up as well, including MLB At Bat 2011 and the Marvel Comics App under Tablet Entertainment apps, Flipboard under Tablet News, and Dropbox under Services. In short, if you're an iPhone user, there's lots of good choices for you to make over there right now. Voting runs through April 28, and then the award winners will be announced on June 13. We'll keep an eye out for them and let you know who walks away with the Webbys.
Officers' Quarters: How to replace an absentee guild leader
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available now from No Starch Press. A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about the high rate of burnout among officers and guild leaders in particular. Lately I've been hearing about a lot of situations where guild leaders have stepped down or outright vanished. Not all such decisions are the result of burnout, of course. Sometimes, real-life obligations get in the way. Regardless of the reason, losing a guild leader can be absolutely devastating to a guild. If the community was already on the rocks, the disappearance of a guild leader can be the last straw. How can the remaining officers make the transition to new leadership with their guild intact?
Smithsonian extends voting on Art of Video Games exhibit through April 17
We know -- you were going to vote for the Smithsonian's Art of Video Games exhibit, but then your cat got lost, you had extra homework to do and your collection of various Mario figurines needed organizing. But just in case you hadn't made plans to get your vote in by Thursday, you're in luck: the voting deadline has been extended to April 17, through the third Sunday of this month. The vote is trying to narrow down the list to just 80 games set to be featured in an exhibition at the famed museum right around this time next year, so you'll be helping to make history with your choices. Joining in to vote also sets you up to get advance notification about the winning games, as well as behind-the-scenes information about the exhibit as it's shown off at the Smithsonian and then toured around the country. So go, vote now -- Chrono Trigger isn't going to pick itself!
EVE Online's sixth CSM election results are in
The elections for EVE Online's sixth Council of Stellar Management have come to a close, and earlier today the results were revealed to both excited Fanfest attendees in Iceland and players at home. In previous years, the CSM's role was to collect issues players had with the game and bring them to the attention of developers. This role has morphed over time into a more advisory form, with CCP running ideas by the council and using them to help prioritise the development backlog. This year's elections were heavily influenced by political voting from EVE's nullsec alliances. Organised voting secured spots on the council for several big players in territorial warfare, and a few old faces returned for a further term. Political voting isn't necessarily a bad thing for the CSM, as players who are heavily involved in EVE are still the types of people we want to see on the council. CCP employees can't also be power players in the game, so they miss out on the perspective that alliance leaders and other heavily involved players will have. Participation was huge this year, with a total of 49,069 votes being cast in a two-week period. This represents 14.25% of the total accounts eligible to vote, an increase over last year's 12.67%. Read on for a full rundown of the elected members of EVE's sixth Council of Stellar Management.
Blame the 2010 elections for your parents being on Facebook, Twitter
Most of the so-called "young folks" would argue that Facebook lost its innocence the day that parents were invited to play along, but there's no question that politicians would disagree vehemently. A recent study published by the number crunchers at Pew Internet found that over half (54 percent, if we're being precise) of adults "used the internet for political purposes in the last cycle, far surpassing the 2006 midterm contest." A total of 58 percent hopped online for political news, while one in five (22 percent) used Twitter or a social networking site for "political purposes" in 2010. Taken as a whole, a staggering 73 percent of online adults took part in at least one of these activities in 2010, and judging by the power of these networks in the recent Middle Eastern / African uprisings, we get the impression that figures will only be rising in elections to come. Too bad you can't "Like" a politician to give them your vote -- haven't these polling places realized what century we're in?
Massively's EVE Online CSM 6 candidate roundup
Starting life as a humble indie MMO development studio, CCP Games was always noted for its close relationship to the players of its flagship game EVE Online. That relationship diminished a lot over time as both the size of the playerbase and the scale of EVE's development grew to immense proportions. Today CCP relies on players to guide development more than ever, but it needs a lens through which to focus feedback from such a large community of players into a form that the team can use. The democratically elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM) is that lens. Fifty-seven players submitted their applications to join EVE's elected player council this year, and all this week, players have been voting to decide who will represent them in discussions with CCP. With so many candidates in the running and only four more days to make up your mind, it can be hard to pick one individual from the list. To help you decide, Massively has compiled a full list of every applicant in the running along with a short message about his or her campaign and handy links to available campaign resources. When you're ready to vote, follow this link to the voting page, log in, and click the vote button to the right of your chosen candidate. Remember to get your vote in before March 23rd when polls close! The results will be published on March 30th, and we'll find out who will be representing the EVE playerbase to CCP for the coming year.
EVE Evolved: Your vote counts -- EVE's sixth CSM
Of all the groups involved in EVE Online, the democratically elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM) may be the most significant influence in the game's development. The council was originally created as a way to reassure players that the developer corruption exposed in the T20 scandal would not be repeated. Players voted for a list of representatives from the community, who were then flown over to Iceland to review CCP's newly created internal affairs department. Since then, the CSM has taken on a more advisory role to CCP, presenting itself as a conduit through which players can focus their ideas and any issues they're having with EVE. With the fifth CSM term now coming to a close, voting has begun to choose the members of the sixth council. Players with active EVE accounts over 30 days old have until March 22nd to log in and register their votes. If last year's record 39,433 voter turnout is anything to go by, this year your votes will matter even more than ever. Competition is high for a spot on the council, and it's up to the players to determine who will best represent them in meetings with CCP. If you're having trouble deciding whom to vote for, stay tuned to Massively's EVE Online coverage this week for a breakdown of all the candidates in the running. This week's EVE Evolved is dedicated to convincing you that your vote counts. In this article, I address a few common reasons people are put off voting, explain why the CSM is a force for change in EVE, and hear a few words from ex-CSM Stephan Pirson.
The Anvil of Crom: Is it just a dream (world)?
So the Dreamworld update is finally here, and Funcom has either made a mess of things or kicked a lot of graphical butt, depending on your perspective (as well as how your computer decided to handle the new engine rollout). Yes 2.1.3 went live last week, and it's got the Age of Conan community talking. Rangers and the newbs people who play them also have the AoC community chattering away, but really, when is that ever not the case? In this week's Anvil of Crom, I'll add my two cents to both discussions, and I'll also bribe, cajole, extort, and yes, coerce readers into voting in the latest poll to determine the grisly fate of my upcoming community-driven avatar.
Vote on games for Smithsonian's 'The Art of Video Games' exhibit
The debate over whether games are art will no doubt still be unsettled when the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. puts them on exhibit -- as art! -- on March 16, 2012. The choice of which games will be on display is being left up to the public to decide, with voting open at artofvideogames.org through April 7, 2010. The exhibit will feature 80 games and 20 platforms, "from the Atari VCS to the PlayStation 3," spanning five eras: "Start," "8-bit," "Bit Wars," "Transition" and "Next Generation." It's slated to run through September 20, 2012. 240 games are on the ballot, which was vetted by a panel of industry vets. The exhibit's site also features forums where the especially passionate gamers among us can "campaign for particular games and voice their opinions about the selections." Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some campaigning to do for BotS. [Image credit: Bobak Ha'Eri]
Choose My Adventure: Fizzles aren't fair edition
The votes have all been tallied, and my fellow Wizard101 players have spoken! When I asked which secondary school I should go for, you all told me, "Life!" Some thought this was a silly idea -- a Death wizard with a life secondary school? -- but I like it. After all, what better way to rub my enemy's face in it than by stealing his life, adding it to mine, and healing myself every time he hits me? I think I'll learn an evil laugh just for moments like that. It was also decided that I ought to keep my current zombie pet at my side. This was great news, since I've already grown pretty attached to the little rotten guy. What does all of this mean? Well, I will save the explanations for secondary schools and pets for next week's installment. In the meanwhile, I need to tell you all about the busy week I just had in game. It was pretty epic, filled with steam golems, awesome new weapons, and discovering the secrets of deck building. (Well, some of the secrets.) If you want, you can give me all sorts of advice in the comments section. Follow me past the cut to read up on my adventures!
RuneScape receives 1.2 million votes in referendum to restore the Wilderness
There's an image in the heads of many players that developers hand down their plans for the game's direction from a metaphorical ivory tower. RuneScape players, however, got the opportunity to determine the future of the game via a vote -- one that's ended with approximately 1.2 million votes cast in total. Mark Gerhard, CEO of Jagex, stated: "It has been fantastic to watch the community mobilize in support of the update and we can now introduce these features certain in the knowledge that they are what our community wants." The referendum, set to determine whether or not the game's former Wilderness and Free Trade implementation should be restored, has ended with an overwhelming majority of 91% in favor of the restoration. As a result of the vote's conclusion, the development team has begun work and plans to have the Wilderness restored on February 1st. The open PvP zone has been gone from the game for nearly four years now, but within only a few weeks it will be back for RuneScape players to enjoy -- albeit with a healthy dose of caution.
Choose My Adventure: Beginning my Wizard101 adventure
Well, it was an epic battle. Little did I know that, in an effort to promote a random assortment of high-quality free-to-play and indie games, I would come up with the formula for the destruction of the entire universe. Over the last few days, readers cast their votes (and their nasty comments) in the hopes that I would take a look at their favorite game for well over a month. After all, it would expose everything that is good (and bad!) about their game and might draw in many more new players. Not to brag, but a lot of eyes are drawn to our lovely little site here. Each game I chose was nestled alongside a mortal enemy. Wizard101 had MapleStory to tackle. Puzzle Pirates had Zentia. My planning only lead to mass chaos as the giant of the bunch, MapleStory, barely opened an eyelid. Then, out of nowhere, Anarchy Online swooped in and punched everyone in the eye. It looked like the 10-year-old masterpiece of sandboxy goodness would win for the oldies in the bunch! (The AO community's passion for the game inspired me to cover it in my other column, Rise and Shiny, for the week of January 16th.) Where was Shadowtale? At the time of this writing, the game boasted literally thousands of players on at one time. Yet they barely pulled in a handful of votes. Pirates of the Burning Sea seemed to give up early, as evidenced by forum posts. (I was following all the games' forums.) In the end, Wizard101 pulled it off. While I knew the game had the numbers, I wasn't sure that it could herd all of the cats together in time. It did teach me one thing, though: Don't mess with the tweens. Join me past the cut for the next vote and for some information about Wizard101.
Behind the Mask: The art of costume contests
Costume contests are just part of the culture of Champions Online. When a game has huge potential for character customization, celebrating that aspect seems like a natural conclusion. Costume contests also provide an interesting method of wealth distribution; rich players tend to hold costume contests that anyone, even low-level heroes, can win. It's truly a level playing field. The real problem: Is it really? I've judged numerous costume contests, and they all end up with the same problems. Hivemind voting and kingmaking are real problems when it comes to fair treatment of potential candidates. Also, friendships between judges or contestants can create a sort of community bias that keeps a deserving hero from winning. I'm definitely not going to talk about costume design, but I can discuss how to create a judging and voting system that lends to fairer selection of winners. In the end, costume judging is subjective, but these methods avoid some of the big pitfalls in costume voting.
Best App Ever awards announce 2010 nominees
Voting for the third annual Best App Ever awards is underway. The best apps of 2010 have been assembled and the sponsor 148Apps is asking for your votes to help choose the winners. Nominations for the Best App Ever awards began a month ago, and the competition received 87,138 nominations for 2,891 different apps. That is a three-fold increase over last year! This year the competition includes the iPad and covers a range of categories, such as Most Innovative App, Best Publication App, Best Reference App and a variety of gaming-specific categories. Each category has ten nominees for the iPhone/iPod touch and ten for the iPad. Voting begins now and lasts until January 25. Votes will be tallied, and the winners will be announced at MacWorld 2011, which will be held in San Francisco starting January 26. So point your browser to Best App Ever website and cast your vote for your favorite apps. While many of the apps, like Angry Birds and Instagram, are familiar, there are several gems you may discover for the first time.
