The Daily Grind: Three years of coffee talk

Three years! Three years we've been here at Massively, talking about all manner of things! Speaking as someone who has been here from the start, it's all been like butter. Like butter, I tell you! Along the way, every morning, we've gotten up, grabbed our coffee and enjoyed some coffee talk here on The Daily Grind. From simple questions about things like favorite music in MMOs to more in-depth discussion about systems, lore, character development, and more, we've given you over a thousand different topics so you could talk amongst yourselves -- like now, when we're a little verklempt.

There. OK. It's passed.

This morning, we thought it would be fun to give you the chance to ask us (and of course, the other Massively readers) something in honor of our third birthday as a site. Ever wanted to know what a day in the Massively virtual offices is like? Does Shawn really have a post-apocalyptic costume? Does Eliot randomly say "kupo?" If you've got burning questions, we've got answers. Just leave them in the box below, bubeleh... and you know... we'll talk.

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Reader Comments (33)

Is Krystalle like Crystal or Kry-Stall? or Krysta-lle?

It's pronounced "crystal." Nothing fancy to it beyond the spelling. :D

Where do virtual baby's come from?

Second Life's adult district!

Or, you know, a cash shop. Depends on the game, I suppose. XD

I know where virtual baby unicorns in SL come from...and I wish I didn't.

Talk amongst ya-selves

Well when a virtual mommy and daddy love each other very much.................etc.

^^ That was definitely meant to be a reply to Shasta. Well anyway, what do you guys think about the future of my old favorite mmo daoc? it was great..it could have really continued to be great..and I still hope they will revamp and or re-release it but sadly my logical mind tells me its going to be taken out back and put out of its own misery shortly.

Can I write for you? Maybe I could be the World of Darkness columnist way off in the future when there's an actual point to having one? :|a

Sera wrote a really good column on how to get into writing for games sites some time back:

http://www.massively.com/2010/09/17/anti-aliased-breaking-into-gaming-journalism/

As for WoD, I suspect there may be a cage match between certain members of the staff already for that one as well as The Secret World, etc. I'd just keep an eye out for any hiring postings, or better yet, start your own site and do your own thing. I know Shawn likes to look around the community for talent!

Heh. It was mostly a tongue-in-cheek question. ;) I've got a pretty good idea of what the process is and I actually am planning to start a relevant blog fairly soon.

And I am so not surprised that there's a lot of existing staffers who want the gig. :D

Alright then, let's talk about the real stuff.
What is the website's yearly revenue and profit?
What is the payment model for your columnists? per word ? per article ? fixed?
How much are they getting paid?
Provide financial statements please

Sorry. This is one we can't answer. Otherwise ninjas would drop out and eviscerate everyone, and we're rather fond of our entrails where they're currently at.

Fine.
go on with your virtual babies...

Is playing games literally part of your work day? Or is that just a lot of home research? What puts it above other jobs you've had? (Trying to live vicariously here... my job is lots of desk and paperwork and thats about it... its a nice desk, and a decent job don't get me wrong... but the content and fun leaves a bit to be desired :P )

Also, I know you have your public characters you make for articles and events, but I'm sure you also have characters you keep away from the general public... have you ever encountered an instance in-game that a reader got a little too stalky and you prefer the anonymity? Or do you prefer the openness the public characters have?

Mike, generally writing is always prioritized over play (otherwise we'd never get anything done!). Personally, I put my play time at night and whenever else I can, but sometimes things just need to get done and games get pushed aside.

Even though we never, ever have enough time to do all the play that we want, it's one heck of a fun job -- when you write about something you love, it's not work at all (well, most of the time).

I can't speak for everyone, but I literally do log into Age of Conan at the same time every Mon - Fri for anywhere between two and four hours (9 - 1 eastern most days). I'm usually multitasking by writing/researching while I flit around, but yeah, playing is definitely part of the work schedule for me.

And no one stalks me. I can dream though.

Well, as we telecommute, it is both part of our workday and home research! :D

In my opinion, effective time management skills are really the key to doing this job well. So long as you have them (or are able to cultivate them rapidly) then balancing gaming with writing isn't really that difficult. I love working here, and am happy every day I get to log into our virtual office and see the rest of the team. They're an incredibly fun bunch.

As for stalkers, no, nothing creepy. I tend to use one of about four different character names in MMOs, so I have had people recognize the name and say hello, but that's about it.

A) I play a TON, every day. This is what I do besides writing NaNoWriMo/blogs, cleaning the house and generally being a house husband. For the record, I have always played a ton -- there are just too many good titles out there.

B) All my characters are public, and a good deal of my gaming is tracked on Raptr. Besides very few examples, all my characters are named some version of "Beau." Have readers become stalky? Actually, they did much more before I joined Massively. My blog was doing really well. Now, though, they seem to wait until AFTER I review a game to join me in it, even though I ask them to and tell them what server and character I am on. Twitter even tells them exactly when I am playing.

:)

Beau

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The Daily Grind: Three years of coffee talk

Reader Comments (33)

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 8:22AM Darkmoone said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 8:26AM Krystalle Voecks said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 8:56AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 9:13AM ShawnSchuster said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 9:13AM Krystalle Voecks said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 10:17AM Blacknimbus said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 9:02AM Bartlebe said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 9:03AM Darkshore said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 9:05AM Darkshore said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 9:11AM JuliusSeizure said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 4:20PM Krystalle Voecks said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 11:16PM JuliusSeizure said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 9:15AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 9:17AM Krystalle Voecks said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 9:19AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 9:47AM Ocho said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 10:49AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 10:20AM Jef Reahard said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 10:38AM Krystalle Voecks said

Posted: Nov 2nd 2010 11:49AM Beau Hindman said

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