Ask Massively

One of the most persistent misconceptions about what we do here at Massively is this idea that we play games for a living. Allow me to be perfectly clear in this: What you're seeing right now? This article? The one I wrote? Writing this is what I do for a living. I write about games, and I enjoy games, but if I decided to not write any of my columns for a month and just play Star Wars: The Old Republic, I would be fired. That is not my job.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, it's time for another installment of Ask Massively, this time featuring questions about gambling and the latest City of Heroes cash shop offering. If you've got a question you'd like to see in a future installment of the column, mail it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited for brevity and/or clarity.

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One of our readers was kind enough to point us to two sites that, once again, were stealing our posts without crediting our authors or anything like that. (I don't mean "this post looks suspiciously similar"; I mean abusing copy and paste.) Unfortunately, while we're aware of these things, there's not a whole lot we can do other than request that the sites get taken down. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but it's all we can do. I guess it's nice to be good enough that your work is worth stealing without credit? That's something.

This week's installment of Ask Massively isn't going to focus on that, however. Instead, we're going to focus on the recent spate of MMO litigation and the potential for a boxed RIFT expansion. If you have a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of Ask Massively, mail it along to ask@massively.com or leave a comment in the field below. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.

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Well, I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. My stalwart little netbook, River, finally developed a serious problem: Her screen developed a pair of nasty cracks. I've had her for only a couple of years, but she's been a great portable machine and a real help at getting work done. Now if only it weren't such an enormous pain finding someplace where I could get her repaired, as I'd really prefer not to replace her. But it might come to that.

Even with an injured performer, however, the show must go on, and the show in question is Ask Massively. This week, we're fielding questions about ArcheAge and working in the gaming field, something that I'm sure is of interest to many of our readers. If you've got a question you'd like to see in a future installment of the column, mail it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited for brevity and/or clarity.

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If I haven't mentioned it before, looking up cats on Wikipedia is dangerous for me because I love cats. I know that the above is a small group of feral cats, but my first instinct is to try to individually cuddle each and every one of those cats. Really, if I could afford more cat food, I'd basically have a home stuffed to the brim with rescued cats. So let's just all look at cat pictures and possibly get up from the computer to say nice things to your own cat.

Or dog, if you just have a dog. I don't have the same degree of affection toward dogs.

But you're not just here for cute animals, are you? You're here for this week's installment of Ask Massively. This week, we're answering yet another question about Star Wars: The Old Republic and the terminology of expansions. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future column, leave it in the comments below or send it to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for brevity and/or clarity.

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I don't know what's going to happen next in the MMO industry. I have my guesses, sure, but unless I'm fairly certain, I just don't feel right putting them up here. I certainly would not have ever imagined a world where APB: Reloaded was successful, or one where Lineage II goes free-to-play, and until it was announced, I wouldn't dare dream of WildStar. Heck, half the time I'm not sure I understand what's going on at any given moment, much less several months down the line.

This week's Ask Massively received several questions that require me to be more confident about my predictions than I actually am, but it does contain a question about the future of Aion and a question on the past, present, and future of cheating. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of the column, leave it in the comments below or send it along to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.

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Sometimes, I get questions for Ask Massively that I just can't use, and not because they're questions to which the answer is just "I don't know," although I try to steer away from those as frequently as possible because it's such an unsatisfying answer. No, sometimes we get questions for which we're not even the right people to answer, period. You can ask me to put a feature in EverQuest II or to consider developing it, but I don't work on EverQuest II. Heck, I don't even play it.

This week's installment of Ask Massively has been pared down to the questions that I can actually answer, including answers about the potential audience of the upcoming WildStar and the future of Star Wars: The Old Republic as it pertains to allowing user-coded addons. If you've got a question you would like answered in a future installment of the column, just send it along to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited slightly for length and/or clarity.

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Apparently, people like talking about Star Wars: The Old Republic. Or perhaps more accurately, people enjoy arguing about it. According to comments, the game is a huge hit and failure that is in no way an accomplishment but is still unparalleled, and you can tell it will succeed and fail using a variety of metrics. Me, I've just been playing the heck out of it. Also drinking cranberry juice, but you didn't really need to know that part.

As you may have guessed, this week's installment is all about the persistent question of Star Wars: The Old Republic's getting a devoted Joystiq-flavored site. I suspect most of our regular readers are playing the game and not really thinking about asking questions. If you've got a question for next week, you can leave it in the comments below or send it along to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for brevity or clarity.

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After years of railing against the idea that Christmas gets pushed back further every single year, with most major retailers now preparing for it in mid-May, I finally understand why it's necessary to turn the entire month of December into a martyr for one appropriated pagan holiday: It's because sometimes it's really hard to come up with anything else to talk about, so you just look to the next landmark on the calendar and go with it. Coming up next week: Freedom Day Eve edition!

Moving on... this week's installment of Ask Massively is not all about Star Wars: The Old Republic, but as you probably expected around now, it's still poking its nose in. Also, last week's Lineage II questions continue. As always, further questions for future editions can be left in the comments or mailed along to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for grammar and/or clarity.

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I don't dislike Lineage II, but my experiences with it sort of cemented my feelings on non-consensual PvP. Suffice it to say that it involved someone who had set herself up a little sniping-hole from which she would murder any and all low-level characters with an arrow through the neck. As she explained in the area chat, this wasn't for rewards or anything. She was doing it because she found it funny.

Lots of of people do find that fun. But I'm personally not keen on that as a motivational technique. I don't want to level up so I can be one of the bullies instead of the bullied; I'd rather just opt out.

Why did I tell you that story to lead off Ask Massively? As Bill Cosby would put it, I told you that story so I could tell you this one, or at least so I could answer one of this week's questions about Lineage II. Also, thermodynamics. If you've got a question for a future installment, you can leave it in the comment field or mail it along to ask@massively.com.

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I have to be honest here -- the Templars destroy The Secret World for me -- not because they don't look cool (I'm kind of a sucker for this sort of thing) but because they remind me an awful lot of The Grail from Preacher. They've got the same color scheme, the same pseudo-military sense of things, the same trappings. So I look at these guys, and suddenly I stop thinking about The Secret World and want to go read some comics. Maybe if they all wore clown makeup, that would fix it.

This week's installment of Ask Massively actually is fielding a question about TSW, so my desire to see the Templars in clownface is vaguely on-topic. Plus, our readers ask about Skyrim, which I hear is all the rage these days. So click on past the break for this week's questions, and if you've got a question for a future installment, mail it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments.

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Recently, I've become enamored of the Bavarian Fire Drill. For those who don't want to click on that link (it's work-safe in the sense that it contains no cursing and not work-safe in the sense that you'll be clicking for hours), it's the art of infiltrating a building by carrying a clipboard and acting like you're supposed to be there. Sure, you could just wave your hand and tell people that these aren't the droids they're looking for, but wouldn't you rather have the chutzpah to just walk around like it wasn't a thing?

That leads very naturally to this week's installment of Ask Massively, in which we discuss whether or not leveling mechanics have worn our their collective welcomes in MMOs. As always, if you've got an urgent question for a future week, feel free to leave it in the comments or mail it along to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.

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Because of the way Thanksgiving works in the USA, Ask Massively always falls on the holiday. Last year's approach was closer to my usual one, but you know what? This year, I'm just going for the straight dope. We all know what day it is, we all know what holiday we're celebrating, and in all likelihood we're all so stuffed with turkey that we don't want to think about anything other than slowly sloughing to the bathroom. So let's not kid ourselves.

At any rate, the important part isn't the paragraph I devote to ridiculous nonsense; the important part is the questions. And they're just past the cut -- questions about video personalities, loneliness, and last week's forbidden screenshot. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment, leave it in the comments or send a letter to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.

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OK, so this past weekend I was in a beta for... well, I can't tell you that. And I had to heavily censor this screenshot from the game. I also can't tell you what sort of character I was playing, where I was standing, or how the game actually played. Oh, and I definitely can't tell you what the interface looked like. But I hope the edited form of this screenshot still brings you some excitement. I was going to leave in a bit of elbow, but I was told that would be considered a spoiler.

This week of Ask Massively will not discuss this forbidden screenshot or the game that I can't talk about. But it will talk about novel mechanics and schadenfreude, albeit in two separate questions. If you've got a question you would like answered in a future installment of the column, leave a comment in the comment field or just mail it along to ask@massively.com. The screenshot will not be discussed.

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Let's get something straight: Even though I'm late to the party with Metal Gear Solid 4, I'm a fan of the series. It's not perfect by any means, but it's one of my favorite franchises of all time. That having been said, why is it always a sneaking mission? Just once, I'd like to be told that this is a march-in-with-an-automatic-gun-and-shoot-people-in-the-face mission. But no, solo sneaking mission, every single time. I know, it's the series hallmark, but since my second playthrough is already going to be a bloodbath with a stealth unit equipped, part of me wants to do that on the first playthrough. Just once.

Appropriately enough, this week's questions for Ask Massively involve stealth in MMOs. They also involve subscription fees, but that doesn't really segue naturally. If you've got a question you'd like to see in a future installment of the column, feel free to leave it in the comments or mail it along to ask@massively.com.

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I'd like to announce the launch of my brand-new MMO, Ask Massively Online. This game should put to rest any questions of whether or not cash-shop users have an advantage over those who choose to play straight, as the game is using an actual pay-to-win model. If you pay me money, you win. No payment means you lose. We're still in beta testing and only intend to accept payments in the form of two-dollar bills, but so far we're doing quite well with the core systems.

Today's column actually does feature a question on the oft-bandied term used to indicate a dislike for the free-to-play model, but it also features questions about our comment system and the unbearable lameness of not knowing the answer to questions. If you've got a question you would like answered in a future installment of the column, you can leave it in the comments or mail it to ask@massively.com. Winning will be implemented in a later build.

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