Massively

One Shots: Accursed hellfire droid

Krystalle Voecks — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Star Wars Galaxies, One Shots

While I've recently been enjoying my time in Star Wars Galaxies as part of our ongoing Choose My Adventure series, I'm not the only one who has been inexorably drawn further and further into the game -- and its factional warfare! Today we have this great shot from Anger, who managed to get himself in a bit of trouble while facing off against members of the Rebellion not too long ago. He writes in:

"I just recently decided to re-sub to Star Wars Galaxies and this little moment is one I will never forget. I was checking out the new (to me) city battles in Dearic on Talus. While slashing my way though a few Rebel scumbags, I swung my camera around just in time to see a missile with my name on it. Needless to say, I wasn't able to force run faster than a missile."

If you're playing an MMO, we want to see your screens! From big to small, all of them are welcome. Just drop them in an email to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick note explaining what's going on in the picture. We'll post the image out here on Massively and give you the credit!

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

One Shots: Accursed hellfire droid originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Star Trek Online Advisory Council formed, wailing and gnashing of teeth ensues

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Events, real-world, News items, Opinion, Star Trek Online

Fan input can be a touchy thing. You get it whether you ask for it or not, especially if you have official forums, and it's usually fairly divided. The fanbase frequently can't agree on what they want as an aggregate, so it's understandable that companies might want to filter some of the input through other sources. It's understandable that Cryptic would want to create the Star Trek Online Advisory Council, consisting of vocal fans that they can use as a barometer of current opinion and compressing the most urgent issues. Especially given the philosophy of player-driven development, it all makes sense.

The problems come when they announce this to other players.

First response in the official thread is an incredulous statement that one group of fans is getting more input in the game's direction than anyone else for what they consider no logical reason. At 51 pages as of this writing and still going, the thread's response is overwhelmingly negative, ranging from anger to baffled confusion at the program. How Star Trek Online's producers will react is unsure, but it's certain that the announcement hasn't gone over well... a true shame after riding high from the first large content patch.

Star Trek Online Advisory Council formed, wailing and gnashing of teeth ensues originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 03 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Players miffed over Champions Online's "kitchen sink patch" and Vibora Bay

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Bugs, Business models, Expansions, MMO industry, Patches, Champions Online

It's an awkward time for Champions Online. After the last State of the Game post by Chronomancer, things were looking up. The latest patch was slated to fix Lemuria (colloquially known as Lagmuria, due to the extreme system hiccups), add more power to various power frameworks, nemesis changes, the addition of team looting, and changes to the crafting system. Furthermore, the same State of the Game post announced that Champions would be getting its first expansion -- Vibora Bay.

However, with the deployment of the "kitchen sink" patch, most gamers have experienced more lag in all zones, some characters are locked in Lemuria, unable to log in, and there are issues with the crafting systems. If all of that wasn't bad enough, Cryptic Daeke has confirmed that Vibora Bay will be a "paid expansion" which will add more content for levels 37 to 40 -- a move which has sent many members of the community into what can only be described as "a frothing rage."

Continue reading Players miffed over Champions Online's "kitchen sink patch" and Vibora Bay

Players miffed over Champions Online's "kitchen sink patch" and Vibora Bay originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Do you mend fences or burn bridges?

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

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

It happens no matter what you do: you get into a bad group of players, or you and your guild leader (or shell leader, or supergroup leader, or whatever) have a falling-out, or you just tagged something that another person needs. Whatever the reasons, feelings can flare when playing an MMO, and we tend to invest a lot of ourselves in our virtual avatars.

Some people, when confronted with rising tempers, try to get everyone to calm down and even things out. It's not that big of a deal, after all -- it's just a video game, and it's better to make friends than enemies. On the other hand, some people would rather take the chance to hold the moral high ground and lash out where it's appropriate. After all, if you don't tell people what they do wrong, they'll never learn -- and it's just a video game, how could they be so upset when you give them what they have coming?

So which do you generally try to be? When everyone gets touchy, do you try and be the person calming people down, or the one stirring them up? Do you try to convince people to stick with a bad group, or do you let the dead weight know what they're doing wrong and then get the heck out of Dodge?

The Daily Grind: Do you mend fences or burn bridges? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What little bug is a big problem?

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Bugs, Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Academic

You know the one. It's a tiny bug, a problem that only comes up once in a blue moon -- if it's even a problem and not just a slight problem like a model clipping issue. You really shouldn't care one way or the other, it's so irrelevant... but you care. You can't help but care. The very thought of it bothers you. And even though it's something so obscure that you're not sure if anyone has even bothered reporting it other than you, or so rare or so unnecessary, you still get angry when all sorts of other minor bugs get fixed and this one persists.

We're not talking about bugs that people can legitimately point to as impacting quality of play today, like the infamous Vanish bug in World of Warcraft. We're talking about those minor issues that you can't let go of, sometimes even long after you've stopped playing the game. What small and ultimately irrelevant bug just can't help but get your goat every time it comes up? How do you try to work around it? Have you reported it once, multiple times, or not at all with the expectation that the developers must know about it already?

The Daily Grind: What little bug is a big problem? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What game has generated the strongest feelings for you?

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Reviews, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Roleplaying, Academic

There are some games that you just sort of play. You pick them up, you enjoy them, and then you walk away without any real feelings about them one way or the other. And then there are the games that you launch into a screaming two-hour argument with one of your closest friends about on your birthday, because they happened to say that they didn't like it. Or maybe you finished an intense, epic play session on the game, working your way through an emotional questline and roleplaying all the way, and you find out afterwards that you need to lie down for a little while. Or maybe they're just the games that inspire you to post long forum diatribes wherever you can about why this is the greatest game in history.

Whether it be in the game or out of it, what games have generated the strongest feelings in you? Whether it's an intense emotional reaction to a character's death that you would nominate as an exhibit in the ongoing "are games art" debate, or just some impassioned soapboxing off-the-cuff, we're sure you have some moments and games that just resonate with you. Tell us about them. We're all ears.

The Daily Grind: What game has generated the strongest feelings for you? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Anti-Aliased: A few reasons to cage the nerdrage pt. 2

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Forums, MMO industry, Opinion, Anti-Aliased

3. Because almost every game has a silver lining

This is a sentence that I abide by in almost everything I do. Even in games I don't like, I can usually find something that really wows me and makes me appreciate the developer's work.

I know Darkfall is one of those games that many people just really don't like. I'm the same way -- I don't care for the way the game handles itself. But where it failed in game design, it didn't fail on unique vistas and sharp combat. Sure, the graphics aren't top notch, but there are still areas in the game where you just have to go, "Wow, that's an incredible sight." Plus, it's real time combat in a MMO. That's really, really hard to do and kudos to an independent developer for pulling it off.

"You've heard that everyone's a critic, yes? Well everyone's also apparently a game designer."

Even when you completely hate a game, I urge you to look back at it and consider your experiences. You wouldn't have played it for a while unless there was something that made you enjoy the experience even a little bit. Then again, maybe you hate it all. But if you do, see the piece of advice above before you begin nerd vomiting all over forum threads.

Although... there certainly are gaming exceptions to this rule...

2. Because it doesn't help anybody

This is the part where people seem to totally and completely miss the boat. And when I say miss the boat I mean that the boat as totally pulled away from the dock, is 500 feet away, and people still run off the dock and jump into the sea holding their suitcases.

Nobody benefits from aimless criticism that amounts of nothing more than the screaming of biased opinions. You get to look like an inconsiderate idiot, the community gets irritated at your groundless claims, and the developers learn nothing about how to improve their game.

Bad criticism isn't bad as long as it's appropriately constructive. It's actually some of the best stuff you can possibly get in regards to your product. Positive feedback means you're going the right way, but constructive feedback shows exactly what's going wrong with your current design and where you can improve.

"If you think making any game is easy, then I challenge you to sit down and start making your own pen and paper roleplaying game, or a board game, or a card game."

My favorite comment in this regard was made by a Bungie developer during the Halo 3 multiplayer beta. A journalist asked him, "What did you learn from this beta test?" and I recall the developer responding that all he got from the bug reports was that the level sucked. He didn't know why the levels sucked because everyone just wrote that they sucked.

1. Because you may not know what it's like to make a game

You've heard that everyone's a critic, yes? Well everyone's also apparently a game designer. Everyone knows what's best for a game, how to balance the design, and how to make it so "X class doesn't suck."

I think that many people think it's super easy to make a game. Slap some abilities in, render a few areas, get a server, and you have an MMO, right? Heck no! You have programming bugs, design bugs, art asset bugs, pathing to worry about, scripts to run, a whole set of connections between servers to worry about, and much, much more.

So here's my challenge. If you think making any game is easy, then I challenge you to sit down and start making your own pen and paper roleplaying game, or a board game, or a card game. Share it with your friends and see what they say. But, above all, see how long it takes you to make a "simple" game. Include with that the testing you do with your friends, the fine tuning you may make to the rules. You'll find it's more work than you probably through it was. Believe me, I know, I'm doing it.

So next time before you rocket fire your hate mail out onto the intarwebz, think about a couple of these things before you trash someone's game. You might just find yourself holding back, just because you understand a little bit more about gaming and a little bit more about how frivolous it is to hold such pointless grudges.

Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who hates aimless hate. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's rambling on his personal blog, The Experience Curve. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com. You can also follow him on Twitter through Massively, or through his personal feed.

Anti-Aliased: A few reasons to cage the nerdrage pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 20 May 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Anti-Aliased: A few reasons to cage the nerdrage

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Forums, MMO industry, Opinion, Anti-Aliased

There's so much anger in the consumer market these days. It seems like when a new product comes up, there has to be this bandwagon of people who roll in and start nerdraging over the product. Oh, APB isn't up your alley? Better nerdrage about that! You don't like Warhammer Online? Rev that nerdrage engine nice and loud so your neighbors can hear it.

Everyone's a critic and gaming consumers are far from an exception. Some of the comments around these parts are some of the most spiteful sentences that could be constructed. You have console hate, game hate, genre hate, even particular MMO genre hate. But, honestly, why? It obviously doesn't help anyone except maybe the person doing it. A catharsis, perhaps?

So what's this Anti-Aliased about? Honestly, I need rant article that's all about ranting. A hate article on game hate. Do two hates make a happy? I dunno, but I'm interested enough to try it out. So here's a few reasons why you should cage the hate and think twice before you open your trap on the forums you love so much.

Continue reading Anti-Aliased: A few reasons to cage the nerdrage

Anti-Aliased: A few reasons to cage the nerdrage originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 20 May 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Study finds game violence soothes the savage breast

Akela Talamasca — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, At a glance, Fantasy, Culture, Events, real-world, News items, Academic

Middlesex University has released their finding on a study conducted to explore the effects of game violence on players. At the British Psychological Society's Annual Conference in Dublin, the study claims that playing WoW actually helps players relax, rather than fuels anger or violent tendencies.

"There were actually higher levels of relaxation before and after playing the game as opposed to experiencing anger but this did very much depend on personality type," said researcher Jane Barnett, though the referring article does not elucidate what those types might be. However, with a sample size of 292 World of Warcraft players between the ages of 12 and 83, out of the millions of subscribers the game can boast, this would hardly seem to be a properly-evaluated submission. But it's little steps like these that help abolish long-held assumptions and biases, so we're all for it. Science, FTW!

Study finds game violence soothes the savage breast originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments