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MMO Family: Games of chance vs. MMOs

Karen Bryan — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, MMO Family, Family, Miscellaneous

From childhood on, I've always been a gamer. But I grew up when computers were just emerging as something that didn't just belong in the bowels of the Defense Department. My games were primarily of the board game variety, with a smattering of classic card games, and my exposure to video games didn't begin until later on.

Today, I see kids being raised on video games, and I see it as a good thing. "But board games are the good games," you might protest, and while they're still relevant today and I'm glad to see the recent revival in family board game night, a good portion of board games do not compare to what video games offer to children. This edition of MMO Family explains why!

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MMO Family: Games of chance vs. MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's Code of Conduct reminder

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Massively Meta

Hello faithful readers! As any Massively.com veteran may remember, this site established a code of conduct a few years ago for our commenters. This code is located under our Community link at the top of the page, and outlines common sense rules for commenting on the site, including the fact that we won't tolerate attacks on other readers or our writers.

But since the site has grown so drastically in the last year, we feel it's time to send out a friendly reminder for any new readers who may not be aware that there even is a code of conduct.

So we invite you all to take a moment to read over the rules, and note that our goal is to provide a place for readers to comment without fear of personal attacks or unnecessary trolling. We want you to be able to express your opinions in the comments (yes, even negative ones) without fear of being called names or cursed at, so we've been actively banning commenters who can't seem to understand the basics of grown-up human interaction. Plus, we expect that you would want us to concentrate our own time and energy into making this site the best it can be, instead of continuously giving warnings to people who troll the site and its readers.

And most importantly, if you see a comment that breaks a rule in our code of conduct, please report it so that we can take necessary measures from there. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at shawn@massively.com.

Massively's Code of Conduct reminder originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What are the unwritten rules of MMO etiquette?

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST

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

When my wife first started playing MMOs, I realized that she had absolutely zero comprehension of how to interact in a multiplayer environment. After all, she had only experienced single-player games up to this point in her life, so all of her habits from those games were simply carried over into the new one. She'd attack mobs that other players were fighting, she thought players were stalking her if they sent her tells, and no mining node was safe if she was in the vicinity.

As her quote-unquote teacher, I knew that it was my responsibility to teach her basic MMO etiquette -- the unwritten rules of how most players behave and interact in these worlds. Most of my instruction was helping her to see that these other computer characters were actually piloted by people (something we take for granted, but trust me, it's a weird concept to outsiders) and they should be treated as such.

So if you were teaching a complete newbie in the ways of MMOs, what unwritten rules of etiquette would you stress? I'll get you started with one: CAPS LOCK HURTS OUR MINDS. DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU ARE LITERALLY ON FIRE AND NEED ASSISTANCE.

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 the unwritten rules of MMO etiquette? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online player creates incredible multi-box setup

Brendan Drain — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture

From irritating spam-bots to automated farming macros hogging the best spots, macros and bots are almost universally despised in every MMO. Multi-boxing, on the other hand, is a much more ambiguous idea that has been common since as far back as the early days of EverQuest. Although there's nothing in the rules of most games against one player controlling multiple characters, there are usually rules against automating gameplay. This includes sending keystrokes and mouse commands from one computer to several clients, the preferred method for multi-boxers to control multiple game clients simultaneously.

After a hit from the banhammer for "macro use", EVE Online player Zhek Kromtor engineered a low-tech solution to his rule-breaking problem. With a setup that looks like something out of The Matrix or Minority Report, Zhek has set up eight monitors and eight computers to run a total of fourteen EVE clients simultaneously. To control them all at the same time without rule-breaking macro software, Zhek has tied together six computer mice with packing tape and wooden skewers. Six separate keypads have been taped together, with yet more wooden rods letting him activate the modules on six ships at a time. According to the EVE EULA, using software to send keystrokes isn't allowed but there's nothing about taping together keyboards and mice. Whether you think this kind of setup is awesome or a blatant flaunting of the rules, putting together this kind of setup is definitely a bizarre achievement.

[via Kotaku]

EVE Online player creates incredible multi-box setup originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New legislation in China outlaws gold farming

James Egan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, MMO industry, News items, Legal

Gold farmers. We know you hate them... We know. And we've mentioned the associated gold spam as being the bane of many MMO players' existence a number of times in the past. But is the situation ever going to change?

Perhaps, given the new legislation coming out of China this week. Of course while all gold farmers certainly aren't based in China, a substantial percentage of gold farming operations are in fact run from the country. Such operations may now find themselves under greater scrutiny by the Chinese authorities; the government has now established its first official rule on the use of virtual currency in China.

Essentially, it states that virtual currency cannot leave the sphere of influence of its issuer. (Exact wording: "The virtual currency, which is converted into real money at a certain exchange rate, will only be allowed to trade in virtual goods and services provided by its issuer, not real goods and services.") If the law is actually obeyed and enforced, it would curb all manner of black market activities in China connected with the virtual.

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New legislation in China outlaws gold farming originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Fanfest 2008 PvP Tournament details announced in video

James Egan — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Guilds, MMO industry, PvP, News items

We've mentioned that EVE Online's next PvP tournament will be unusual, featuring a mix of ship combat (as expected) and mining (completely unexpected). The end result promises to be wonderfully chaotic and offers something interesting for players of all types, whether hardcore PvP-er or carebear. In fact, this also creates the new possibility of having industry-focused players giving tournament commentary alongside the PvP veterans, but there's been no word on this to date.

While EVE's PvP tournament viewers at Fanfest 2008 can look forward to the pandemonium of coordinating mining lasers with missile fire, it's a safe assumption that the tournament participants themselves would like to know how this is expected to go down. CCP Games now has a video explaining how the tournament will work, and has posted two charts showing the brackets of the EVE Fanfest 2008 PvP Tournament schedule. In fact, devs CCP Mindstar and CCP Claw were filmed randomly drawing teams from a 'hat' and matching them up, which was later solidified into the schedule.

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EVE Fanfest 2008 PvP Tournament details announced in video originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Fanfest PvP Tournament rules announced with video demo

James Egan — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Guilds, PvP, News items

We've known for a little while that the EVE Online 2008 PvP Tournament will be a departure from how it's been run in previous years. Perhaps better reflecting the interests of the wider player base, the 2008 PvP tournament will feature mining that takes place amidst the chaos of combat. The implementation of these new objectives was briefly outlined by CCP Games in July, but they've now clarified the rules and systems to be used; a video they've put up on the official EVE site does a good job of explaining how it's all going to work.

Basically, all tournament participants will receive 'super characters' with all skills maxed at level 5. Both sides will have a Rorqual capital mining ship -- the space between those is considered to be the arena, where combat can occur. Both sides attempt to collect as much ore as possible within 15 minutes, as the video explains: "Any methods within the rules can be used to accomplish this and stop your opponents from doing the same. Mining ore yourself, killing enemy miners and looting their wrecks, stealing from enemy jetcans or just outright destroying the opposing team are all within the rules."

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EVE Fanfest PvP Tournament rules announced with video demo originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom taking hard line on roleplaying rules

Chris Chester — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Culture, Forums, Game mechanics, New titles, Roleplaying

Roleplayers historically don't get a terribly large amount of respect. Despite the fact that the very roots of the MMO genre go back to dice-wielding dungeon crawlers, they're generally treated as abstract curiosities and legacies of a bygone era. Even within the servers designated specifically for their use, it's really rare to see players roleplay their hearts out.

Perhaps mindful of this trend, Funcom is laying out some ground rules for Age of Conan. They're pretty standard fare; no cross-IP characters (sorry Sephiroth!), no ham-handed knock-offs from within the IP (sorry Kohnan!), a strict policy on out of character talk, and a reminder that the game is M-rated for a reason, and others. This is not so strange in itself, but it's nice to see them taking a hard line before the game even hits store shelves. For those interested, they're also soliciting feedback on these rules in the official forums. So if you've got any more brilliant ideas, now is the time!

Funcom taking hard line on roleplaying rules originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 May 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scott Jennings on how to make PvP not suck

Louis McLaughlin — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fury, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP

Just in case any of us design a PvP ruleset for a massively multiplayer online game, Scott Jennings has helpfully posted a 13-step guide to "PvP done right" on his personal blog, BrokenToys.org.

It's a potent mixture of common sense, personal opinion, and thousands upon thousands disagreeing that classes are needed. It's a great primer, aphorisms or not, and written wonderfully. Put simply, PvP in a game needs to work -- if it's an impossible concept or impossible to implement, nothing else matters. Personally, I'd go as far as to say the simpler the concept, the better the execution -- of course, that's a huge sweeping statement, but be it Team Fortress 2 or World of Warcraft or Chess, the depth doesn't come from the rules, it comes from the implementation. Except Cricket.

All decisions will upset someone. It's just about having a realistic, well-defined goal for PvP in your game and going from there -- and accepting that there will always be an awful lot of criticism, rage, and Fury.

Scott Jennings on how to make PvP not suck originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guild Wars: got $100,000?

Jonathan Northwood — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Guild Wars, Contests, PvP

NCsoft would like to remind you that the ArenaNet-sponsored Guild Wars $100,000 Tournament Series is still going strong. The October rankings are in, the November cycle is swiftly wrapping to a close, and the December season rules are now available for review. You'll be able to check out the schedule, the map rotation, and the upcoming prize list which includes in-game prizes such as cape trim for your guild and reward points, and physical prizes like a Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer sound card and a 160Gb iPod. So what are you waiting for? Let's get those slay bells ringing this holiday season.

Guild Wars: got $100,000? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 25 Nov 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The EVE Challenge

Mike Schramm — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:40:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, EverQuest, Culture, Economy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP, PvE, Opinion

Hardcore Casual has thrown down the gauntlet, and challenged all comers to prove something interesting: that EVE Online hasn't yet solved our MMO problems. That's a strange thing to prove, but we here at Massively love nothing more than a challenge, so here goes.

HC's point is that in EVE, you can pretty much do anything the way you want to, anywhere at any time. EVE is limitless in terms of both progression and size-- skills can be leveled for months and years, and even if all the skills are maxed out (they won't be, because CCP keeps adding new ones), there's always more ISK to be made. And because the game is so big and mostly empty space, everyone can play on one world, and there's no need for the sharding that other games must do to keep their servers up.

However, as much as I love EVE, it is not a perfect MMO.

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The EVE Challenge originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The concept of MMOrality, and how players pass it around

Mike Schramm — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, PvP, Grouping, PvE, Opinion

Ryan Shwayder has a look up at what he calls "MMOrality"-- the idea of a calling within any given game that determines how we as our avatars act. When newbie players first sign on to a new game, they are innocent in every meaning of the word-- they have no idea how to act, and even though they may do things that are against the ingame code (killstealing, ninja looting, grabbing quests without grouping, and so on), they are innocent, because they don't know yet what's right and wrong. Only after they're introduced to the "MMOrality" within the game can they figure out whether they want to be immoral, and go against the codes put in place by the game, or moral, and follow the etiquette and standards laid out by the other players.

It's an interesting thought, and not a new one-- just as we have morality in the real world, our virtual worlds also have their own codes that can be upheld or broken. Shwayder speculates, however, that this morality requires PvP-- players can only uphold the morality they've put in place if they have the option to control other players by ganking them. But I'm not so sure that's true.

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The concept of MMOrality, and how players pass it around originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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