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WRUP: Better to have gamed and lost

Krystalle Voecks — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST

Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the Massively team and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" (Otherwise known as: WRUP!) Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game -- and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!

This week has been crazy hectic -- both in the MMO world and in general. We've seen the news that Earth Eternal is likely heading for shutdown, listened to a lot of unhappy people talking about Star Wars: The Old Republic's space being on-rails, seen a handful of the ArenaNet team jump ship to Undead Labs, and more. Of course, all of this was eclipsed by the insane story of the week about an EVE Online player who had loaded 74 PLEX into his Kestrel, and was summarily podded by two pirates in Jita. While the pirate pair didn't get to keep those 74 PLEX, they do get bragging rights for the pod heard 'round the world -- at least until someone does something crazier, anyway.

Inspired by that news story, we decided to ask the team what the biggest thing they've ever lost was in an MMO. Join us behind the break for not only what we're playing, but what we've lost over the course of gaming. Be sure to leave a comment and let us know about your biggest in-game loss too!

Continue reading WRUP: Better to have gamed and lost

WRUP: Better to have gamed and lost originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: It only ends once

Brianna Royce — Mon, 24 May 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind

"It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress."

After six long years, it's finally over. You've reached the end of it all. Most of the characters are dead, you're sick to death of the setting, and the lore retcons make you weep. But you don't even care anymore. You're tired of the whole ordeal. You don't want to think or talk about it. You don't want closure -- you just want an ending, any ending. You just "need it to be over."

Am I talking about LOST or an MMO? Yes. TV shows -- even more than movies -- have a lot more in common with MMOs than you might think. A lot of them get canceled before they even start. Plenty of terrible ones last far longer than they deserve. And the ones that do make it to an "endgame" without being abruptly and unceremoniously canceled are nearly always a disappointment, somehow, even if you loved them along the way. No matter how amazing and revolutionary they are, there's always something you wish they'd done differently to make that experience perfect. And sometimes, you're just happy they're over -- so you can go on to the next big thing and feel that excitement and wonder all over again.

So, as we say aloha to the LOST phenomenon, let's consider how it relates to MMO endings. What do you think were the best and worst MMO endings, inside the game and out? Did you quit the game, or did the game quit you? Did it end in triumph, tragedy, or blessed relief?

[Note: Spoilers are possible in this comment thread.]

The Daily Grind: It only ends once originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 May 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallen Earth loses and promptly recreates fan page

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Fallen Earth, Events (Real-World), News Items

Apparently, it's possible to misplace a fan page. No, really. We were a little dubious about it at first ourselves -- after all, how can you lose part of the worldwide series of tubes -- but if Fallen Earth has managed to do it, then it can be apparently done. The official site has broken word that while attempting to update the game's fan page on Facebook, the page apparently... vanished. Never to be seen again. Which might come as a shock to the many people who are fans of the game on the popular social networking site.

Fortunately, the minor hiccup is being taken with a good sense of humor by the staff, as evidenced by the first official post on the recreated fan page. What exactly happened to the original page? No one is certain, although perhaps it'll show up in a few months with a large beard and a drug problem... but hopefully not. In any case, if you're one of the many who has found something to enjoy about Fallen Earth, point yourself toward the newly recreated fan page to reconnect with the game's official Facebook feed.

Fallen Earth loses and promptly recreates fan page originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Do you like getting lost?

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Maps, The Daily Grind

In everything from fantasy to science fiction, maps are important. Frequently, navigation comes down to a character picking up a compass, or a sextant, or activating the cross-subspace differential beacon scanner, picking a direction and then heading that way with all the certainty of an indecisive ferret. But that isn't usually a problem in most MMOs. Hitting the "m" key is frequently pre-bound to bring up your map, and you usually have a minimap as well, in addition to a dot on your map representing exactly where you are and arrows pointing you out where to go. In games that support modifications, you usually have several of them devoted to making navigation even easier for players.

Every so often, however, you wind up underground or in an area where your map doesn't work for whatever reason. And there's something to be said for that sense of adventure, that lack of a map and a clear picture where you're going, to have to just strike off in what you think is the right direction. Today, we ask: do you like being lost and having to find your own way? Does it make the game more invigorating for you? Or is it an obnoxious gimmick designed to frustrate players and force them to take more time for simple objectives?

The Daily Grind: Do you like getting lost? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Name your MMO dream team

Samuel Axon — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Almost every big MMO these days is a marriage between an established intellectual property -- such as The Lord of the Rings, or Conan -- and a proven development studio like Mythic or Cryptic. It seems like every setting is getting MMO-ized, from Star Trek to the DC Comics universe. But there are lots of worlds left to explore.

That's why we're asking you today what world you want to explore, and who you want to make it. In other words, which franchise and which developer would you like to see come together?Battlestar Galactica and Funcom? Lost and SOE? No idea is too crazy. After all, it's likely none of them will become reality anyway!

Please keep in mind that Hello Kitty Online has already been done! Sorry to steal your thunder, folks!

The Daily Grind: Name your MMO dream team originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Social Gaming Summit: Casual MMOs and Immersive Worlds

Akela Talamasca — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: MapleStory, Business Models, MMO Industry, Club Penguin, Casual, Academic, Virtual Worlds, Events (Massively's Coverage), Kids

Friday the 13th: An inauspicious day for the superstitious crowd, but a great day for attendees of the Social Gaming Summit, held in San Francisco. The day saw a schedule full of great panels, populated by some of the industry's finest movers and shakers, among them representatives from Gaia Online, Nexon, Three Rings, and Gamasutra, among others too numerous to list here.

A particular highlight of the conference for this blogger was the panel entitled "Casual MMOs and Immersive Worlds", which provided a lively discussion on what it means to create a virtual social space, how to monetize free-to-play content, and what exactly is a casual MMO? Trying to divide attention between listening raptly and taking notes is difficult; here is the result, along with the panelists, after the jump.

Continue reading The Social Gaming Summit: Casual MMOs and Immersive Worlds

The Social Gaming Summit: Casual MMOs and Immersive Worlds originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back to the Second Life Lost island

Mike Schramm — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Culture, Fan art, Events (In-Game), Crafting, Second Life, Player Housing, Virtual Worlds

Reader Campetin was nice enough to send along some new movies of the Lost island recreated in Second Life. For some reason, we MMO fans are also big Lost fans -- maybe it has something to do with something that compels us to wander around places we don't understand (those 815ers should just raid the black smoke!), but whatever it is, a few folks in Second Life liked the show enough to completely recreate the island in a sim. This is actually the second iteration of the island, as the first was lost (how ironic), but this second one promises to be even busier: you can watch orientation films, chat with fans, or even push the button. But we need the rest of the island on there, if only so we can find out what the hell is up with that freaky statue.

Back to the Second Life Lost island originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC08: An evening with Will Wright minus friends (video)

Akela Talamasca — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:15:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Culture, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Opinion, Academic, Events (Massively's Coverage)

I applied for, and received an invitation to 'An Evening with Will Wright and Friends', held in Mezzanine, a swanky club in San Francisco's SOMA district on Thursday evening. I didn't know what exactly to expect, but I knew two things: 1) It wasn't going to be about Spore, and 2) It was Will Freaking Wright. How did I know Spore wasn't on the offering? 'Cause we're all kind of Spore'd out, aren't we?

I was right about the lack of Spore, but was pleasantly surprised and gratified to hear Will speak on a variety of topics -- James Bond, cosmonauts, Gilligan's Island as the predecessor of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comics, Godzilla, Care Bears, Lost, Walt Disney, Battlestar Galactica, Spiderman, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -- before finally wrapping it all up with the observation that the stories that resonate with us are deconstructible; we can reduce them to components, and using those components, build our own stories.

Finally, accepting questions from the audience, I asked him what advice he'd give NASA as they create their MMO. His friends never showed up, but man, Will Wright is always worth a listen. He knows his stuff so well and is such a wonderful speaker ... check out the video I shot after the break, and you'll see what I mean.

Continue reading GDC08: An evening with Will Wright minus friends (video)

GDC08: An evening with Will Wright minus friends (video) originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WRUP: Valentine's aftermath edition

Mike Schramm — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Polls, Leveling, Quests, PvE, Opinion, Massively Meta

Do anything fun for V-day yesterday? Living the single bachelor life that I do, I spent most of the evening blogging last night, although WoW got a little playing time, and boy, wasn't that new Lost just completely confusing? Now that we're in the romantic aftermath, it's time once again to ask What aRe yoU Playing this weekend?

Our own Eli Shayotovich is going to be busy-- he's heading into City of Heroes for new epic archetypes, and Tabula Rasa for his new charcoal armor dye (that doesn't sound as fun as the archetypes, if you ask me). Me, I'm continuing to try and get my Hunter to 70 in WoW (these 60-70 levels are harder than I remember), and I'll also be playing Burnout Paradise online on the Xbox 360 (GT toucansamurai if you want to join me)-- it's not actually an MMO, though when you're driving around the same city with a bunch of other people, it sure feels like one.

So what are you up to in the world of MMOs or elsewhere this weekend? Anybody diving into the WoW patch 2.4 PTR? Or checking out the new Book 12 content in LotRO?

Previously on WRUP...

WRUP: Valentine's aftermath edition originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Grimwell gives one reason fantasy pwns sci-fi, we go "Huh?"

Kyle Horner — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, News Items

Watch your head, you don't want it hit by return fire in the ever-present MMO blogosphere discussion of fantasy vs sci-fi. The most recent discussion started up with Massively's own Michael Zenke and his "Five Reasons Sci-Fi Pwns Fantasy" which prompted the return fire in question from Grimwell. Both of the posts are certainly worth reading, especially if you have any kind of lingering interest in the subject matter.

As far as we can see, there's truth to be had on both sides of the fence. However, we do have one point of contention to make with Grimwelll's argument. He states that the reason fantasy "pwns" sci-fi is that it's accessible, which is a constant argument on the matter. While we think he may have a point in that less people are inherently familiar with sci-fi, we very much disagree with his assessment that you need to be a math nerd to enjoy good sci-fi -- his example in this case being Star Trek and its now-infamous technobabble.

Continue reading Grimwell gives one reason fantasy pwns sci-fi, we go "Huh?"

Grimwell gives one reason fantasy pwns sci-fi, we go "Huh?" originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cinemassively: "Lost" island lost in Second Life

Moo Money — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Events (Real-World), Events (In-Game), Second Life, Cinemassively, Machinima

In June 2007, several members of the SL-LOST group decided that they would recreate the island from the hit tv show, Lost. They wanted a place where fans could gather and discuss episodes. At the end of October 2007, with just over half of the project building complete, the owner of the island just disappeared. The land was then reclaimed. Almost a full month later, group members and builders were allowed access to the island for only 24 hours to gather their things. This video was made on that sad day.

I'm going to ignore the fact that this was clearly filmed in mouselook, with black bars put up to hide the UI. This story just moves me for some reason. Filmed in the gorgeous backdrop of Windlight, you can see the loving detail that they put into their creation. They were obviously a tight-knit group, with 277 members strong. At the end of November, they held a meeting to decide whether to rebuild, though it seems that they've found new headquarters since then. If you'd like to help them out or get more details, please visit the SL-LOST website.

Cinemassively: "Lost" island lost in Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 09 Dec 2007 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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24 hours of Tabula Rasa: Hour 17

Mike Schramm — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Contests, Tabula Rasa, Massively Meta

Are you guys still here? Oh right, you are, because it's now our second day here on Massively, and yet our 24 hours of Tabula Rasa contests roll on.

Did you know that Tabula Rasa isn't just a game? Oh no, it's a whole thesis (Latin: Blank Slate), and it means that humans are born with no innate knowledge, and that everything we know and think, we receive from the world we grow up in. Heavy. Also, it's the title of a great Lost episode (the one with the first Kate flashback), and so I took that fact as an excuse to post a picture of Evangeline Lilly. Hi, Kate!

Anyway, contest! This one's good -- we're giving away an NCsoft digital voice recorder (whoah, just like Ben uses to contact Juliet on Lost! It all fits!), a poster, and another one of our ever popular oversized game boxes. To enter, put a comment on this post (and be in the US and 18 or older -- official rules here) and tell us who your favorite Lost character is.

Make sure to comment before 1AM EST, though, because right about then, we'll have another non-Lost related contest. Thanks for visiting Massively!

24 hours of Tabula Rasa: Hour 17 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 03 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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