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 Soapbox: Eat your tanking or you won't get your ice cream]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/19/the-soapbox-eat-your-tanking-or-you-wont-get-your-ice-cream/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/19/the-soapbox-eat-your-tanking-or-you-wont-get-your-ice-cream/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/19/the-soapbox-eat-your-tanking-or-you-wont-get-your-ice-cream/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

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.

Picture this -- you're a parent of a squalling child. (For some of you, this may be a very easy picture as you sit at the dinner table.) Your child is refusing to eat his or her dinner on the basis that the broccoli doesn't taste like doughnuts covered in Skittles. Being a mature adult and realizing that a lifetime of Skittle-based food toppings is not a viable dietary choice, you are trying to patiently reason with said child despite the fact that the child assumes Kevin at school is evil incarnate because he took the good swing despite your child's having called it.

Eventually, you break down. You tell your child that a special treat awaits if he or she eats all of those vegetables. And so your child queues up for a random heroic in World of Warcraft, and -- wait, we skipped ahead of the metaphor, but that's essentially what the whole Call to Arms feature boils down to. And it brings up interesting questions of bribery, choice, and what makes a fun and functional mechanic.

Continue reading The Soapbox: Eat your tanking or you won't get your ice cream

MassivelyThe Soapbox: Eat your tanking or you won't get your ice cream originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blizzardBlizzard-Entertainmentcall-to-armsclass-rolescommunityfeaturedholy-trinityopinionsocial-engineeringsocial-interactiontankingthe-soapboxworld-of-warcraftwowTue, 19 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[EVE Evolved: Death of an Industrialist, part 2]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/19/eve-evolved-death-of-an-industrialist-part-2/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/19/eve-evolved-death-of-an-industrialist-part-2/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/19/eve-evolved-death-of-an-industrialist-part-2/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

Of all the things that define EVE Online, it's the stories of criminality that stand out the most. The criminal underworld of New Eden is so deeply ingrained in EVE that CCP even made a selling point of it in the latest official trailer. Last week, I began to tell the true tale of one EVE pilot's thirst for revenge and the corporate infiltration techniques he used to get close to his target. In this week's conclusion of the story, Scott's plans for revenge come to fruition. But is Scott really the victim he believes himself to be, or has greed blinded him to what he's doing? If you haven't read part 1 of the story, skip back to read last week's EVE Evolved column before reading on.

Newbies again

Once in Zeeqo's corp, Scott and his crew began the slow task of setting their target up for a colossal fall. Simply destroying Zeeqo's mining barge could be a swift and fitting retribution, but Scott had a much harsher punishment in mind. Zeeqo would be made to pay for his mistake several times over. The plan for retribution hinged on Zeeqo's weekend freighter runs to Jita, a time at which he flew his most expensive and indefensible ship. This gave the three infiltrators only five days to befriend their target and work out how best to capitalise on his weekly haul.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Death of an Industrialist, part 2

MassivelyEVE Evolved: Death of an Industrialist, part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 19 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ccpccp-eveccp-gamesemergenceemergentemergent-gameplayeveeve-ccpeve-evolvedeve-mmorpgeve-onlinefeaturedheistindustrialistindustrialistsindustryinfiltrationnyphursandboxscottsocial-engineeringspyspyingstorystorytellingtheftzeeqoSun, 19 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[EVE Evolved: Death of an industrialist]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/12/eve-evolved-death-of-an-industrialist/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/12/eve-evolved-death-of-an-industrialist/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/12/eve-evolved-death-of-an-industrialist/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

It's often said that the EVE Online universe is a dark and harsh place, the market overflowing with con-artists and the skies filled with pirates looking for some easy prey. The sandbox style of New Eden enables emergent gameplay like market manipulation, corporate infiltration, spying and theft. When faced with the choice, some players choose to be ruthless outlaws who will stop at nothing to further their own goals. Political puppet-masters pull the strings on the alliance war machines from behind the scenes, spies infiltrate corporations to gather intelligence, and thieves plot their way to riches.

The latest official game trailer makes a big point of this side of EVE, telling an incredible story of revenge and theft that closely mirrors the reality of New Eden. As if to highlight the point made by the trailer, this week EVE player Bad Bobby confirmed that he'd stolen a total of 850 billion ISK from players in the investment market. Concluding a plan set in motion years ago, Bobby pulled off the theft last week of his supposedly secured Titans4U company. In keeping with this recent theme of theft and corruption, this week's EVE Evolved is a story of revenge, corporate infiltration, social deception and utter destruction. I've embellished the story in places and names have been changed to protect the privacy of all those involved, but the events described are real.

In this week's article, I begin to tell the very real tale of an EVE player's revenge -- a precision strike against an industrialist who made one fatal mistake.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Death of an industrialist

MassivelyEVE Evolved: Death of an industrialist originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ccpccp-eveccp-gamesemergenceemergentemergent-gameplayeveeve-ccpeve-evolvedeve-mmorpgeve-onlinefeaturedheistindustrialistindustrialistsindustryinfiltrationnyphursandboxscottsocial-engineeringspyspyingstorystorytellingtheftzeeqoSun, 12 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Lame scams still profitable in Guild Wars, over 1000 bans every week]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/lame-scams-still-profitable-in-guild-wars-over-1000-bans-every/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/lame-scams-still-profitable-in-guild-wars-over-1000-bans-every/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/06/lame-scams-still-profitable-in-guild-wars-over-1000-bans-every/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


Would you fall for this? (Please say 'no'...): A complete stranger approaches you on the sidewalk outside of your bank and shows you a rare coin he says is worth twenty thousand dollars. "I want to just give this coin to you," he says, "but I don't want anyone to know we did this... tax issues, you see." The stranger suggests putting it in your safe deposit box, but because he's so concerned about privacy, he wants access to your safe deposit box to be sure the rare coin gets there, with no one the wiser. The problem is that he can only get in there with your express permission...

We're guessing 99.99% of you would never get suckered by something asinine like this, but why then do people fall for the exact same thing in the virtual realm? Specifically, it seems that Guild Wars players regularly turn over their login info to account thieves in hopes of getting something for nothing, as mentioned by Ravious over at Kill Ten Rats. This ultimately leads to a continuous deluge of stolen accounts, tears, and rage.

Continue reading Lame scams still profitable in Guild Wars, over 1000 bans every week

MassivelyLame scams still profitable in Guild Wars, over 1000 bans every week originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>account-theftarenanetbanbanningbanscommon-sensegold-spammerguild-warsgwkill-ten-ratsraviousrmtscamscamssocial-engineeringspamtheftTue, 06 Jan 2009 14:30:00 EST