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The Road to Mordor: Resolutions, Baggins and Took-style

Justin Olivetti — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor

Mmm... smell that? It's the smell of a fresh new year, that is! Rolled right off the factory floor with no dings, the warranty still intact, and a tank full of gas and dreams. Makes one want to abandon the routine and head out onto the open road, does it not?

I'm one of those old fuddy-duddys who actually does New Year's resolutions, whether or not I'm actually capable of keeping them. I think it's important to try to better oneself and keep reaching for higher goals and standards, and if a new year is a convenient excuse to get my butt in gear, then I'm not complaining.

So right now I'm staring at a field of endless potential for Lord of the Rings Online in 2012. I've actually been giving it a lot of thought -- what do I want out of this year? As LotRO heads toward its fifth anniversary, is there really anything new left that I haven't experienced? And what the heck am I going to write about for 52 more weeks?

Never fear because the more I pondered, the more I realized that there's plenty of content yet to plunder (plus, of course, whatever Turbine has up its sleeves for the year). So for today's column, I sat down and drew up a list of resolutions in two parts: "Bagginsish" resolutions that are all about fluff and creature comforts and "Tookish" resolutions that are more concerned with high adventure.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Resolutions, Baggins and Took-style

The Road to Mordor: Resolutions, Baggins and Took-style originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 07 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What are your 2012 MMO resolutions?

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

Here we are at the end of yet another year and our list of promising MMOs just keeps growing. We try to play them all, but it's just impossible to keep up sometimes. After months of trying to juggle as many as we can, we usually enter some sort of plea bargain with ourselves to cut back or concentrate on only one or two at a time. But this never seems to work out. Curse you, BioWare!

Ahem. So now we're curious about your own resolutions for the new year. Have you promised yourself (or your family) that you'll cut back on MMOs? Are you looking forward to returning to an old favorite to spite the new shinies? Let us know what your MMO plans are for 2012, and as an extra bonus, let us know if you kept 2011's resolutions!

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 Daily Grind: What are your 2012 MMO resolutions? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Resolutions from all across the industry

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion

2009 isn't so far over the horizon that we can't still be looking back and finalizing our resolutions for the new year. In some ways, it's even better to wait this long to make a few resolutions (as the most common one made after New Year's Eve celebrations involves never drinking that much again in one night). Ten Ton Hammer had an interesting take on the practice, though -- they asked a number of developers what their resolutions are for the next 365 days. (Well, okay, slightly less now.)

The resolutions range from the personal to the public, the serious to the silly. Champions Online's Bill Roper resolves to play more games, David Allen of Alganon resolves to fix bugs and improve visibility, Fallen Earth's intern Sombat Southivorarat resolves to not accidentally delete the game's Facebook fan page again. It's not going to give huge insights into the upcoming patches for several games, but it's good to remember that there are people behind our favorite games, and interesting to see what their personal goals are -- both in and out of the game. If you're so inclined, take a look, although you might want to look away before you reach CCP Nathan's resolution. Just a friendly tip.

Resolutions from all across the industry originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What will you change in 2010?

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Events, real-world, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Academic

We can't, sadly, warp time to go back a full year. Once we do something, for better or for worse, we're stuck with it. But we can try and learn from things that happened the last time around, and there have certainly been things to learn from 2009, which we touched on yesterday. That's where the whole tradition of resolutions for the new year comes from. And as we all know, the second-best way to force yourself to do something is to make it public. (The first is to have someone following you around with a shotgun.)

So, today we ask you just before the clock ticks over: what are you going to do differently in the coming year? Was there a single event that you learned from, or were there multiple events that contributed to you wanting to make a change? It could be anything from trying to avoid getting too invested in the pre-launch hype of a game to just trying not to die quite so often when playing a melee character, but we're sure you have at least one thing you'd like to try differently in the new year. (And if you do find a way to rewind time, please, let us know.)

The Daily Grind: What will you change in 2010? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AAA MMO developers offer up their 2009 resolutions

Michael Zenke — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Culture, MMO industry

So far this year we've talked about some resolutions for game developers that touch on World of Warcraft, and some player-offered resolutions for the developers of Warhammer Online. MTV Multiplayer's Tracey John one-upped both by tracking down developers from most of the AAA MMO studios to ask about their upcoming year. She spoke with some big names you've no doubt seen many times on Massively, the likes of Jeffrey Steefel, Josh Drescher, Matt Miller, and Craig Morrison.

Their resolutions are great, on a number of levels. Some, such as Morrison's hopes for Age of Conan, are bold proclamations of their future plans. Others, like Miller's proclamation that City of Heroes will continue to be seen as the best super-hero MMO, reflect the ways the industry will be changing this year. Our favorite is probably Noah Ward's lookahead to EVE's 2009, a massive statement of purpose for the coming few months. He concludes, "I predict that in 2009 we will finally see the day where there are more EVE subscribers than Icelandic citizens. There will be more 'pew pew' than ever before." Read through to the article for the full resolution buffet.

AAA MMO developers offer up their 2009 resolutions originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Happy new year!

Elizabeth Harper — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind

Another twelve months have gone by, the earth has revolved around the sun once more, and a brand new year stretches out before us. And while the rest of the world may be thinking up new year's resolutions of a more practical nature, this is Massively and you can't expect a conversation with us not to involve MMOs. So what are your MMO resolutions for 2009? Planning on playing less? Playing more? Diversifying your MMO portfolio? Leveling an alt of each class? For our part, we plan on playing as much of as many games as possible -- or to the extent we can get away with telling our significant others, friends, family, and household pets that, though it may look like we're killing giant lizards, we're actually working. Have any resolutions for 2009 you'd like to share?

The Daily Grind: Happy new year! originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 01 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What's your CoX toon's New Year's Resolution?

Eli Shayotovich — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Culture, Forums

Ex Libris, the official forums Community Coordinator for City of Heroes & Villains, wants to know what players have planned for their favorite toons in the New Year.

What heroic feats will you attempt? Maybe trying to run all the Task Forces in record time? And what villainous deeds will you try and pull off? Perhaps trying to rob every bank in Paragon City - consecutively - is right up your alley.

But if you're anything like me (and if you are I'm so very sorry), you have as many alts as there are players in WoW. OK, maybe not that many... but you (and I) have a serious problem. Which toon do we actually dedicate playing for long enough to actually carry out those resoultions? Ya, I know! There could be worse problems to address. Whatever the case, the folks at NCsoft want to know. So whether you're a spandex clad do gooder or evil doer, check out the forums and post your character name along with the nefarious plans you have for 2008.

What's your CoX toon's New Year's Resolution? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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