Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: When do you consider a game to be 'dying'?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/09/the-daily-grind-when-do-you-consider-a-game-to-be-dying/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/09/the-daily-grind-when-do-you-consider-a-game-to-be-dying/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/09/the-daily-grind-when-do-you-consider-a-game-to-be-dying/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

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If you listen to internet negativity, every game is dying. World of Warcraft is dying, some folks say, because it's lost a fraction of its population after seven years. RIFT is "obviously" pushing out tons of content only because it's desperate and dying. Two million players and queues in Star Wars: The Old Republic also mean the game is dying. A game goes free-to-play? Dying. Keeps a subscription? Dying. Box on sale? Dying. Moves to Steam? Dying. Merges servers? Dying. Doesn't merge servers? Dying!

It's true that some games have gone under, but many more are hanging in there after a decade, even if they aren't blockbusters that impress people used to seeing populations in the millions. If World of Warcraft dwindled to as few players as, say, Asheron's Call, I still wouldn't call that dying. It might be small, but it's still alive and still getting updates, and that's more than I can say for some games.

What about you -- when, exactly, in a game's timeline do you consider that game to be dying?

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!

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: When do you consider a game to be 'dying'? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>acasherons-callbrianna-royce-tdgdaily-grinddyingf2pfree-to-playmergemergesnegativityopinionpopulationqueueriftserver-mergestar-wars-the-old-republicsubsubscriptionswtortdgthe-daily-grindtorWorld-of-WarcraftwowMon, 09 Apr 2012 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Pathfinder Online takes a look at death]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/18/pathfinder-online-takes-a-look-at-death/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/18/pathfinder-online-takes-a-look-at-death/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/18/pathfinder-online-takes-a-look-at-death/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Death is frequently preceded by sneering disdain at the concept of dying to lizardmen.
No matter what happens, sooner or later you're going to die in an MMO. It's pretty much a given. So it's probably for the best that the fourth developer blog on Pathfinder Online is all about death -- what happens when you die, what happens when another player kills you, and what you can do about it.

The death system is reminiscent in some ways of what would happen on death in EverQuest. You respawn at a predetermined location, and while you keep any equipment you were wearing, the rest of your inventory is on your soulless husk of a body. Retrieve it first and you get everything back. If someone else loots your body first, though, he or she gest a random assortment of items from your inventory and the rest are destroyed.

The blog entry also covers the issue of bounties, player-killing, and attempting to dissuade others from killing players in lawful regions. Players can set bounties on their killers, potentially refreshing the bounty each time said killer is successfully killed in retaliation, making a bounty hunter or group of same very rich indeed. Those interested in Pathfinder Online should check out all the details and keep watching as the game moves through development.

MassivelyPathfinder Online takes a look at death originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>deathdeath-penaltydeath-systemdevelopmentdyinggame-mechanicsgoblinworkspaizopaizo-publishingpathfinderpathfinder-onlineWed, 18 Jan 2012 19:30:00 EST<![CDATA[The Soapbox: Be here now]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/09/the-soapbox-be-here-now/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/09/the-soapbox-be-here-now/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/09/the-soapbox-be-here-now/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Fond, sepia-toned memories of SWG.
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column.

Games die. It's an unpleasant reality but a reality just the same, with the highest-profile death on the horizon being Star Wars Galaxies. Business decisions get made, and unfortunately, sometimes those decisions boil down to "this game is no longer worth the money to keep it running." If you're lucky, the announcement comes with a great deal of time for you to wrap up what you've always wanted to do in the game; if you're unlucky, you might have a couple of weeks before the servers go dark.

So what do you do as a player? How do you cope with the fact that the game is shutting down? There are a lot of approaches, but I think it's unfortunate that most of the reactions seem to center around some last-ditch effort to save the game from oblivion. It's entirely missing the point to try and pull the game back from the brink of death, and it does a disservice to both the game and the players when you spend your last days desperately fighting a foregone conclusion.

Continue reading The Soapbox: Be here now

MassivelyThe Soapbox: Be here now originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>closingclosing-eventsclosuredyingdying-gamefeaturedgame-closergame-shutdownopinionserver-shutdownshutdownsoapboxstar-wars-galaxiesswgtabula-rasathe-matrix-onlinetmotrTue, 09 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: Which character death did you find the most memorable?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/30/the-daily-grind-which-character-death-did-you-find-the-most-mem/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/30/the-daily-grind-which-character-death-did-you-find-the-most-mem/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/30/the-daily-grind-which-character-death-did-you-find-the-most-mem/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Your character will die. You know this going in. Death penalties in some games are harsher than others, but every single MMO assumes that your character will at some point drop to zero hit points. By the time you hit max level, you'll usually have several deaths under your belt. Some of them fall into the category of doing something you knew was stupid at the time, some of them were just mistakes, and some of them... well, they were the sort of deaths that you remember.

Maybe you died because you were raising a teammate in City of Heroes and didn't think about where you were standing. Maybe you died from a knockback effect in Warhammer Online that threw you right off a ledge. Whatever the case, today we want to hear about your legendary death stories, the times when your character met his or her end in the most spectacular fashion possible. Which of the many deaths you've experienced still sticks in your head?

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!

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: Which character death did you find the most memorable? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-deathanecdotescharacter-deathdeathdramatic-deathsdyingfunny-deathsopiniontdgthe-daily-grindThu, 30 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Perfect Ten: MMO forum terms beaten to death]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/21/the-perfect-ten-mmo-forum-terms-beaten-to-death/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/21/the-perfect-ten-mmo-forum-terms-beaten-to-death/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/21/the-perfect-ten-mmo-forum-terms-beaten-to-death/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

If there's one aspect of MMO culture that I have difficulty saying anything positive about, it would have to be the official forum. No matter how well-moderated and well-intentioned studio forums may be, they're essentially giant signs broadcasting "COME WHINE HERE!" When you witness a 500-page thread that's responding to a badly spelled rant about a nerf we'll all forget about in a month's time, it's hard not to break down and weep at the time and energy lost to such trivial stupidity.

And with the forums -- and to a lesser extent, comments on blogs, Twitter, and telegraphs -- comes a shocking array of linguistic conformity. You see, when people are upset or eager to prove a point, they have no time to sit down and calmly think of a way to fully communicate their perspectives. No time! Instead, they reach deep into the well of the same overused words and phrases, give them a hearty kick in the direction of their post, and feel as though they've conjured up a masterful work of literature.

So today I'm going to exorcise 10 of the most overused, abused, and tired forum terms seen daily in your local MMO forum. Then I will move on with my life and suggest you do the same.

Continue reading The Perfect Ten: MMO forum terms beaten to death

MassivelyThe Perfect Ten: MMO forum terms beaten to death originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>balancedcan-i-have-your-stuffcarebearscharlie-sheendirectx11dyingfailfanboisfeaturedfirstforum-termsforumshatersmmo-forumsmmo-termsofficial-forumsperfect-10perfect-tenridiculous-clamsirslap-in-the-facethe-perfect-tentldrtoo-long-didnt-readtwitterunbalanacedwinningworld-of-warcraftwow-killerThu, 21 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: Do you rage quit?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/the-daily-grind-do-you-rage-quit/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/the-daily-grind-do-you-rage-quit/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/the-daily-grind-do-you-rage-quit/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Our favorite games provoke a range of emotions, and whether it's love, hate, fear, amusement, or simple relaxation, we usually keep coming back for more. Anger is an emotional response that is pretty common for some folks, so common in fact that the catch phrase "rage quit" is circulated several times daily on many message boards and in-game chat channels. While most emotions make us want to play more, anger often leads to a quick disconnect, and depending on your personality, either a string of expletives or a weary sigh.

Whether it's due to failure in the team-based combat scenarios common to Global Agenda, losing your loot (and everything else) in FFA corpse-defiling contests like Lineage II and Darkfall, or dying at the hands of AI in one of the thousands of PvE-focused titles littering the landscape, we're constantly confronted with digital mortality and its emotional effects. The question of the day, Massively folk, is have you, do you, or did you used to rage quit? Why and in what game(s)?

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: Do you rage quit? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>darkfalldeathdyinggame-discussiongamer-discussionglobal-agendalineage-2lineage-iimmo-discussionmmo-hot-topicsmmo-issuesmmo-topicsmmorpg-discussionmmorpg-hot-topicsmmorpg-topicspvepvpragerage-quitTue, 16 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Storyboard: The unshuffled mortal coil]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/29/storyboard-the-unshuffled-mortal-coil/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/29/storyboard-the-unshuffled-mortal-coil/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/29/storyboard-the-unshuffled-mortal-coil/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Welcome to this week's Storyboard, which originally was going to be very different than normal until I started writing my first idea. I discovered an important fact halfway through the writing -- the idea was really stupid. So I killed it, and that segues nicely into what I want to talk about: Death. Sooner or later every group of roleplayers in an MMO has to deal with it, and considering how many worlds have certain monsters roaming about whose only purpose is delivering untold harm to player characters, it's probably going to be sooner.

Of course, death poses all sorts of problems in game design anyway -- what are the penalties, what are the lingering effects, is it a major inconvenience or a small hiccup, et cetera. But it poses a unique problem for roleplaying, because as it stands, you don't stay dead for long no matter what. So how do you deal with the implications of a world where death is less of a great beyond and, at most, a lost potential character title?

Continue reading Storyboard: The unshuffled mortal coil

MassivelyStoryboard: The unshuffled mortal coil originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>backstorycashing-inchecking-outcolumndeathdyingend-of-lifefeaturedgetting-snuffedjoining-the-choir-invisiblelorelosing-lifeopinionpining-for-the-fjordsroleplayingrpsettingstorystoryboardFri, 29 Oct 2010 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: What do you do when things turn south?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/06/the-daily-grind-what-do-you-when-things-turn-south/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/06/the-daily-grind-what-do-you-when-things-turn-south/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/06/the-daily-grind-what-do-you-when-things-turn-south/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

There's a crucial tipping point in any sort of party scenario when it becomes obvious that the situation is going badly. More to the point, there's a moment when you realize that every single person in the party is likely to die in short order. In some games such as Final Fantasy XI, death is a fairly major penalty; in other games, such as World of Warcraft, death is not much more than a slight inconvenience.

But even if death results in nothing more than respawning a few seconds later in Star Trek Online, when the group is together, people can act differently. So what do you do? Do you try to take enemy attention so that your fellow party members can get away? Do you make a run for it, figuring that whatever's coming for you will eat someone else first? Or do you try to go down with guns blazing and make as much of a dent as you can?

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: What do you do when things turn south? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>deathdeath-penaltydyingff11ffxifinal-fantasy-11final-fantasy-xigroupingopinionpartyparty-mechanicspenaltiesrespawnsstar-trek-onlinestotdgthe-daily-grindworld-of-warcraftwowMon, 06 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: To die, to sleep no more...]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/13/the-daily-grind-to-die-to-sleep-no-more/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/13/the-daily-grind-to-die-to-sleep-no-more/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/13/the-daily-grind-to-die-to-sleep-no-more/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

There's one way in which MMOs universally mirror life -- in the words of William Shatner, you are going to die. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but sooner or later your character is going to expire. Unwanted aggro, environmental damage, unmatched PvP, misuse of skills, healer AFK... there are a lot of ways you can bite the dust time and again.

Of course, death in real life is a lot more permanent than that of an MMO -- but dying still carries consequences, ranging from losing your hard-won equipment to a slightly longer delay before your next level. On the one hand, harsher penalties make cheating death that much more satisfying, and they help encourage teamwork and community in hopes of avoiding that fate. On the other hand, you are going to get hit by those harsh penalties sooner or later, and it makes experimentation much less feasible when you're constantly on guard for death.

Where do you prefer a game's death penalty? Do you want to cautiously avoid falling, or would you rather get hit with a slap on the wrist so you can get back in the game quickly?

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: To die, to sleep no more... originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>deathdeath-penaltydyingequipment-damageequipment-lossexperience-lossopinionpenaltytdgthe-daily-grindSat, 13 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[How can you tell your online friends that you've passed away?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/17/how-can-you-tell-your-online-friends-that-youve-passed-away/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/17/how-can-you-tell-your-online-friends-that-youve-passed-away/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/17/how-can-you-tell-your-online-friends-that-youve-passed-away/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Gamers know that online friends are important. We spend untold hours raiding together, questing together, leveling together, and laughing together. Part of the reason we even play MMOs is because we want to play a game with thousands of other players and meet new people while we do something we all can enjoy together.

But what if the unthinkable should happen? What if you should die unexpectedly?

The Associated Press recently ran the story of Jerald Spangenberg, a man who passed away while playing World of Warcraft, and his daughter's quest to inform his guild of his passing. Unfortunately, she didn't have his password, leaving her to ask around on the forums to speak with members of his guild.

Methods are being set up to deal with this sort of thing -- including everything from websites sending out e-mails from beyond the grave to just giving a really trusted friend access to your e-mail account so he can tell your contacts that you've passed away. Whatever the method though, it seems like this problem will only be increasing as more people begin spending their time online and finding relationships where they never could before.

MassivelyHow can you tell your online friends that you've passed away? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blizzardblizzard-entertainmentdeathdyingfriendsguildsjerald-spangenbergpost-deathrelationshipsworld-of-warcraftwowTue, 17 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Animations to die for]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/01/18/animations-to-die-for/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/01/18/animations-to-die-for/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/01/18/animations-to-die-for/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

I was chatting with a friend the other day (shut up! I do too have friends!) and we were playing reference poker -- you know, someone makes a comment referring to some aspect of pop culture, and the other person replies in kind. She said ' ... you are eaten by a grue.' I made the obligatory Zork return reference and we moved on, but the bit about being eaten stayed with me for some reason. That night, I was running around in WoW and realized that nobody in Azeroth is eaten by anything.

Why can't we have encounter-specific death animations? I, for one, would love a chance to be messily devoured by a Sludge Beast! I can imagine the horrific wounds as it slid over me, eating away at my flesh until only bones remained. A much more affecting experience than merely swooning and dropping dead, as though nothing more mortal than narcolepsy had occurred.

Or how about a set of pre-built death animations, available at the touch of a key? Everything from 'clutching at your heart: myocardial infarction', to 'going white as a sheet and dropping dead from fright', to 'Scanners cranial explosion'. In fact, wouldn't this make pulling off the ol' 'Feign Death' trick a lot more fun? I'm telling you, it's the little things in life that make existence bearable. Let's see more creativity with our dying moments, developers! Believe me, you stand to ... make a killing. Hahaha! Oh, I slay me.

MassivelyAnimations to die for originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>animationsdeathdyingfeign-deathgruenarcolepsyscannerssludge-beastworld-of-warcraftzorkFri, 18 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST