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 Road to Mordor: Out of game on party business]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/14/the-road-to-mordor-out-of-game-on-party-business/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/14/the-road-to-mordor-out-of-game-on-party-business/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/14/the-road-to-mordor-out-of-game-on-party-business/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Road to Mordor
Here's an odd confession for a Lord of the Rings Online columnist to make: I haven't been playing the game much in the past month. I've been, for all intents and purposes, on a gaming sabbatical from Middle-earth.

It's not as bad as it looks at first glance because I do this all the time with any MMO I play. I found out the hard way years ago that nonstop gaming in a singular dedicated title was a terrific recipe for spectacular, many-onlookers-injured flaming burnouts. No matter how good that pixelated pizza is, we've been told, if you have it for every meal, sooner or later it will taste like moldy routine in our mouth. And that's not good for anyone.

The good news is that my sabbatical is at an end after only flitting into LotRO on occasion over the holidays, and I'm rested up and recharged for another great year of slaughtering wildlife in Tolkien's honor. Before I do that, however, I'd like to take this opportunity to share why I feel that it's OK to "go on sabbatical" from LotRO... and why it even benefits the game as a whole for its fans not to play once in a while.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Out of game on party business

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Out of game on party business originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>f2pfeaturedfree-to-playlord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroparty-businessquitquittingragequitroad-to-mordorsabbaticalturbineTurbine-EntertainmentTyrannosaurus-Rexworld-of-warcraftSat, 14 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Perfect Ten: Excuses for ditching a dungeon run (from least to most insane)]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/the-perfect-ten-excuses-for-ditching-a-dungeon-run-from-least/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/the-perfect-ten-excuses-for-ditching-a-dungeon-run-from-least/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/06/the-perfect-ten-excuses-for-ditching-a-dungeon-run-from-least/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

The Perfect Ten
I never knew I suffered from narcolepsy before I started playing MMOs, but it only took a few late-night dungeon-runs before I started to experience extremely rapid transitions between being an active member of my team and snoring somewhere in the vicinity of the WASD keys.

I'm not saying that all dungeons are boring or anything, but rather that when you start one, you've kind of committed to seeing it through (unless you're the jerk who always teams up with me through the LFG tool). Unfortunately, that means you're locked into an unknowable span of time during which narcolepsy, hunger, and brilliant flashes of insight about how to cure Chronic Giggling Syndrome (CGS) can strike. What can you do? Usually, nothing other than to suffer through the slow plodding of your four other ball-and-chains and start burning small sacrifices to your deity of choice in hopes that this run will end soon.

Or you can pull out an excuse and get out of Dodge. I'm not saying you should use these every night -- you will build up a very negative reputation, quickly, if you do so -- but sometimes you just need an escape hatch so you can go sleep, eat or call the CGS laboratories in Albuquerque. That's what I'm here to help you with today by providing 10 tested excuses to ditching that disastrous dungeon run and getting on with your life.

Continue reading The Perfect Ten: Excuses for ditching a dungeon run (from least to most insane)

MassivelyThe Perfect Ten: Excuses for ditching a dungeon run (from least to most insane) originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>act-of-godback-to-the-futuredie-in-a-firedungeon-runexcuseexcusesfeaturedfiregodzillalaborperfect-10perfect-tenpower-outageragequitstormtroopersthe-perfect-10the-perfect-tentime-traveltop-10-listtop-ten-listThu, 06 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Perfect Ten: Most controversial MMO stories of 2010]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/the-perfect-ten-most-controversial-mmo-stories-of-2010/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/the-perfect-ten-most-controversial-mmo-stories-of-2010/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/the-perfect-ten-most-controversial-mmo-stories-of-2010/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Well, this is it, folks. The end of the year. A time of reflection, of massive weight gain and of lists. Man, we like our lists, do we not? Fortunately, at Perfect Ten Industries, we've been excelling in lists for months now. Frankly, we're just getting warmed up!

While 2010 may not have been much to write home about in terms of newly launched MMOs, there was more than enough controversy to keep the discussion brewing for months. MMOs are big business, and when every move you make is closely scrutinized by millions of gamers, there's no room to slip up unless you like forum hyenas pouncing all over you, snapping and snarling at your faulty flesh.

So let's take a jaunt down our top 10 list of the most controversial stories of 2010 on Massively, keeping in mind that it was devilishly hard just to keep this list to 10 at all. What's a week without being riled up about pixels and polygons, after all?

Continue reading The Perfect Ten: Most controversial MMO stories of 2010

MassivelyThe Perfect Ten: Most controversial MMO stories of 2010 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>advisory-councilalganonallodsallods-onlineapocryphaAtaribethesdaBethesda-Softworksc-storeccpCCP-GamescodemasterscontroversyCraig-Zinkievichcrypticcryptic-studiosdavid-allenddoddo-offer-walldelayderek-smartdungeons-and-dragons-onlineeaea-lousElectronic-Artsend-of-the-year-2010europeeuropean-games-awardseveeve-onlinefeaturedfinal-fantasy-14final-fantasy-xivgpotatointerplaylaglawsuitlegallord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromythicMythic-Entertainmentoffer-wallragequitsquare-enixstar-trek-onlinestar-wars-the-old-republicstostockstockholderswtorthe-old-republictorturbinewarWarhammer-OnlineThu, 16 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Rumor: Final Fantasy XIV draws a $26 million ragequit]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/13/rumor-final-fantasy-xiv-draws-a-26-million-ragequit/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/13/rumor-final-fantasy-xiv-draws-a-26-million-ragequit/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/13/rumor-final-fantasy-xiv-draws-a-26-million-ragequit/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

You may or may not be one of the people unhappy with Final Fantasy XIV in its current state. Certainly the game has both drawn its fair share of ire and praise, and it's hard to picture a launch with more strongly divided opinions. But even if you hate everything the game turned out to be, you have to admit that you can't make quite the spectacle that one unnamed Japanese player did -- a rage-fueled quit that involved selling off $26 million worth of Square-Enix stock as a parting gesture.

Square-Enix experienced a definite dip in stock value on the 7th, dropping from 1800 yen a share to 1735 a share before recovering later in the day. According to Japanese sources, this was preceded by a rather angry dispatch from a shareholder explaining that he was so disgusted by Final Fantasy XIV he no longer wanted any of the stock. While there is some debate as to the chain of events and their veracity, it would certainly make this event the ultimate response to the question of "can I have your stuff?"

[Thanks to Stormwaltz for the tip!]

MassivelyRumor: Final Fantasy XIV draws a $26 million ragequit originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For all the hubbub that people like to make about MMORPGs being stale, predictable affairs where little changes from day to day, history tends to judge that as a lie. The truth is that the growing nature of the game worlds, coupled with our varying perspectives and our developing online social relationships means that our experiences in MMOs change with time. We have good days and bad, highs and lows, excitement and drudgery -- much like real life, as a matter of fact.

Today we're all about balance -- we want to hear what was your greatest MMO experience as well as the worst. What MMO accomplishment, session or even first impressions made you hug your computer with glee? On the flip side, what caused you to throw your keyboard across the room in frustration, scream into Vent or /ragequit? What was your thrill of victory and your agony of defeat?

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: What are the highs and lows of your MMO history? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>accomplishmentsbesthighslowsopinionragequittdgthe-daily-grindworstTue, 27 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Final Fantasy XI's character reactivation service lets you bring deleted characters back to life]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/30/final-fantasy-xis-character-reactivation-service-lets-you-bring/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/30/final-fantasy-xis-character-reactivation-service-lets-you-bring/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/30/final-fantasy-xis-character-reactivation-service-lets-you-bring/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


Do you miss the home you use to call Vana'diel? Do you wish you never punched that "delete" key when you were signing off of PlayOnline for the last time? And, lastly, are you too impatient to wait for another "Return Home to Vana'diel" campaign to begin?

Good news for you then! The guys and gals over at Square-Enix have finally decided to drop their timed campaign and bring in a new permanent solution for those of you who have deleted your characters from the system but would like to get them back -- character reactivation.

The new service allows people who have canceled and deleted their Content IDs, people who have deleted characters and canceled their accounts, or people who have canceled their accounts and let the account sit for too long to go back in and restore old data to the account. This means when you now /ragequit Final Fantasy XI and press that delete key too hastily, you can now undo that mistake you made.

Sadly, this method won't offer anniversary rings like the "Return Home" campaign did, but hey, you can get your character back anytime you want now! What's not to love?

MassivelyFinal Fantasy XI's character reactivation service lets you bring deleted characters back to life originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 30 May 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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