The Daily Grind

We've seen a number of big-name game gurus make headlines in recent months with various MMOish development projects. Whether we're talking Chris Roberts, Mark Jacobs, or Richard Garriott, there's plenty of star power on display in both the MMO and crowdfunding arenas these days.

Are there any other well-known devs you'd like see turning (or returning) to the MMO ranks?

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!

One of the aspects that I like about MMOs is the sense of accomplishment when it comes to achieving specific goals. Maybe they're my goals or maybe they're goals set by the game, but checking things off a list and knowing that I've made progress is satisfying. That's why I often look at real world chores like an MMO quest log these days, filling my to do list up before knocking them out. I'm only slightly disappointed when victory music doesn't play when I turn in a quest to my wife.

Mental note: Must buy wife a kazoo.

Anyway, do you ever experience moments where your passion for MMOs bleed over into your real life? Do you grind reputation with your boss at work? Have you found yourself opening up a fridge and wondering what kind of epic consumables are inside? Did you strip to your skivvies and dance on top of your mailbox until the neighbors complained? Is all of this a cry for help?

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!

WildStar's announcement this week that closed beta players have already started modding the game's UI to their personal preferences got me wondering once again about whether MMO gamers have been influenced by games like World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic when it comes to acceptance of modding.

As recently as last November, when SOE outlawed all mods in PlanetSide 2 -- including benign mods that enhanced graphics and FPS -- our commenters seemed split over whether mods were a good thing. One, who specifically singled out Diablo III and Guild Wars 2 as key offenders, argued that developers' "play it how we made it because we know best" attitude stifles player freedom. Another wrote that on the contrary, Guild Wars 2's anti-mod approach was the right one; he liked that everyone is made to play with the same interface because "the fact [that] you almost need different UIs and addons for endgame in WoW" is a turn off.

So let's take this topic's current temperature: Do you like moddable MMORPGs? Why or why not?

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!

I hadn't really been trying to hit the level cap in Star Wars: The Old Republic after the expansion launched. I wanted to, certainly, but I figured it would happen when it happened. Turns out that it happened very shortly after the expansion launched, thanks to a combination of early access and a whole lot of play for first impressions. As it stands, I'm pretty sure it's the fastest turnaround I've had for hitting the cap after it's been raised.

Everyone's racing to the cap when a game first launches, but when the cap is raised it's a different ball game. You know how to play the game, you've got resources on your character, and you are often in pretty good equipment to start off. So what's the fastest you've ever hit the level cap after it's been raised? A week? Four days? A few hours after the patch has gone live?

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!

So Rise of the Hutt Cartel descended on Star Wars: The Old Republic last week, bringing with it some new content and five additional levels.

BioWare hosted a series of double XP weekends leading up to the expansion's early release, presumably to aid players in getting a few of their avatars to the level cap. I partook as much as I could, but I didn't quite make it as I'm still sitting at 48 on my Gunslinger. I'm not usually a grinder, but for some reason I found myself disappointed that I didn't hit the cap before it was raised.

What about you, Massively readers? Do you grind for max level when you know a cap increase is on the way, or do you just go about your normal business and enjoy the experience?

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!

WildStar's recent dev diary explaining its gear modding system made me realize how we're seeing more and more of this sort of thing recently. Defiance allows you to trick out its guns, RIFT introduced a new type of moddable gear in Storm Legion, SWTOR has custom gear that does the trick, Allods Online just added a similar system, and so on.

I generally like gear modding as long as it doesn't stray too far into the realm of the obtuse and complex. It's fun to tweak that sword or pulse rifle to become the weapon you've always wanted, and there's a thrifty aspect to keeping that good-looking piece of armor up-to-date instead of just pitching it for the latest and greatest.

How do you feel about gear modding? Should it be a staple of all MMOs? How can it be done wrong and how can it be done oh-so-right?

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!

In theory, a lot of us are perpetually online. In practice, connections go down, routers get fried, network cards go kaput. Not even broadband is faultlessly reliable. So we deal with games that can be played without any connection required, and life continues. But are there MMOs that you wouldn't mind playing in an offline mode?

Speaking personally, I know I would be happy to tool around in Star Trek Online as an offline playground. It has its faults, but it's a nice little dose of thematic space adventure, certainly something fun for whiling away a disconnected afternoon. Some elements would have to be tweaked for an offline mode to work, but that's not the point.

So what about you? Are there MMOs you would play offline if you had the opportunity? Or are you more interested in the social aspects and not interested in just playing the game itself as a stopgap?

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!

A few weeks ago, our sister site Joystiq posted a story about Incredipede, an indie game whose slow sales over a four-month period were eclipsed by a single day's worth of sales on Steam. And when I looked back through our coverage of MMOs on Steam, I realized that the platform has quietly become a big deal for our genre, too; MMO publishers clearly believe Steam is a place they need to be. Final Fantasy XI's expansion landed there in recent memory, as did The War Z, Age of Conan, APB Reloaded, and dozens more. My own Steam account shows EVE Online, Champions Online, Lord of the Rings Online, and Spiral Knights, just to name a few.

The convenience of Steam and the fact that my friends congregate there is the key draw for me, in spite of my lingering distrust for such services, so today, I'm wondering whether I'm alone. Are you guys more likely to download and try an MMO, F2P or otherwise, if it's on Steam?

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!

Recently Massively authored a Think Tank column that asked whether studio drama affects our perception of games and gamemakers. For today's Daily Grind, I'd like to turn a similar lens toward game blogging.

While most game journos are content to write about products and companies they love (or hate), there is a growing subset of politically motivated types who stir the pot by mentioning sexism, gun control, and any number of other hot button topics at every opportunity.

Whether this is good or bad depends entirely on your perspective, and naturally that's what we'd like to hear. Do you like political and/or social change subtext in your gaming coverage, or do you prefer to separate your entertainment news from real-world issues?

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!

The other day I had a terrible realization: I'm a complete and utter packrat in MMOs. Easily half of my bag space in Lord of the Rings Online is constantly filled with stuff that I deem absolutely essential. But that's not really true. I have an unhealthy supply of boosters, buffs, pills, and sports energy drinks in there for when I really, really need them.

I never know when I might need their artificial aid in overcoming a tough moment, after all. Unfortunately, even when I do face tough situations, I keep thinking that there will probably be tougher in the future and that I still should not use my boosters. So they continue to accumulate and my bags pay the price for my folly.

Are you the same? Do you hang on to boosters too long instead of just, y'know, using them? Do they make you feel more secure, just knowing that they are there?

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!

Kids these days have no idea. Back in the day, death wasn't a slap on the wrist. I remember one night in Final Fantasy XI I had been pushing to level on my White Mage all week. I stayed up far later than I should have, eked out the last bit of experience I needed to level, waved goodbye to the party I had kept awake far too long to earn that last level... and then I got something trained onto me and died. Causing me to lose that level.

I didn't quit the game. But I strongly considered it.

Death penalties in more recent games are usually far more lenient, but there are still games that treat death as a real throat-punch to the player. Has a death penalty ever made you quit a game, either because you got killed at one point and just lost too much, or because you just didn't want to deal with that sort of irritation any longer?

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!

Ahem, take two on today's Daily Grind.

IP-based MMOs are something of a rarity these days, but the major ones seem to come in pairs more often than not. Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV were running concurrently and will be again when the latter finishes its Realm Reborn reboot. EverQuest and EverQuest II have also been playable simultaneously for over eight years now, leading to a dilemma for franchise fans who are long on nostalgia but short on time.

So, how about it Massively readers? Can you play two MMOs based on the same IP simultaneously, or do you stick with one or the other?

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!

Humor is in the funnybone of the owner, so today's topic will most likely lead to a wide range of responses. That's cool. Some of us like slapstick, some like horrible puns, some get a kick out of corny pop culture references, and some enjoy a smattering of witty dialogue. In the end, it comes down to what lightens our hearts and makes us laugh, doesn't it?

So what's the funniest MMO out there? I'm going to cast my vote for, oddly enough, Fallen Earth. There's a bizarre streak of black humor that you only seem to get with a post-apocalyptic setting. The massively ugly mutated prairie chickens always make me smile, as does the weird-as-crap quotes that the wasteland inhabitants spout.

But my opinion doesn't stand alone; I want to hear yours! What MMO makes with the funny the best?

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!

If you've got one last alt in Star Wars: The Old Republic that you want at 50 before the expansion goes live, this weekend is the time to make it happen. You've got doubled experience gains, after all. For someone like me who has reached the level cap multiple times over, the fact that I could suddenly jump in and scream up in levels has been a very pleasant departure from the norm over the last few weekends.

However, that came with a downside. Sure, during the weekends I could blast through leveling, but during the rest of the week I found I didn't want to touch any characters that were still leveling. Why push hard when I could just wait and get another experience rush?

A lot of games like to turn on increased experience gains at various points, usually during weekends. Do you like these experience boost events? Or do you feel they cheapen the leveling experience as a whole?

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!

Apart from Star Wars: The Old Republic, which has tailored half of the game to be such, class quests seems to be a concept on the way out of design popularity. These are quests that are specifically tailored to a class' abilities and story, while not being accessible by folks in other professions.

I rather like class quests when I encountered them. They made me feel a little special, like I was part of an "exclusive" club that the rest of the game's classes wouldn't be able to see. What's better is that these missions helped me get into the spirit of the class and identify more strongly with it.

What about you? Do you like class quests when you encounter them? Do you think there should be more class-specific activities or should they be eliminated altogether?

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!