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[Gods & Heroes looking for a few good volunteers]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/11/gods-and-heroes-looking-for-a-few-good-volunteers/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/11/gods-and-heroes-looking-for-a-few-good-volunteers/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/11/gods-and-heroes-looking-for-a-few-good-volunteers/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Heatwave Interactive has released an internal Q&A session focused on the Praetorian Guards program surrounding its new Gods & Heroes MMORPG. What, pray tell, is a Praetorian Guard? Well aside from the poor bloke that Russell Crowe's General Maximus unhorsed during the first reel of Ridley Scott's Gladiator, a Praetorian is also an elite Gods & Heroes community member "who volunteers [his] time to role-play, [run] events, and coordinate dungeon runs and quests." Guard members also maintain the game's wiki and collect player feedback pertaining to their assigned roles.

Sound interesting? Head to the official Gods & Heroes dev blog for a full listing of the positions available as well as the perks and membership guidelines.

MassivelyGods & Heroes looking for a few good volunteers originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dev-blogdev-diaryevent-staffeventsfantasygods-and-heroesheatwaveheatwave-interactivemaximuspraetorianpraetorian-guardvolunteersFri, 11 Feb 2011 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Linden Lab to disband moribund mentor group]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/19/linden-lab-to-disband-moribund-mentor-group/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/19/linden-lab-to-disband-moribund-mentor-group/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/11/19/linden-lab-to-disband-moribund-mentor-group/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Yesterday at the morning Second Life mentors' meeting, Linden Lab staff announced that Linden Lab's sponsored mentor group, which had been functionally closed (in all but name) for approximately a year now, would finally be disbanded in practice. The move doesn't really come as much of a surprise to observers of the Lab's sponsored volunteer programs over the last eighteen months.

Almost immediately more ex-mentor Second Life social groups than we could comfortably count sprang up, as people prepared to maintain their network of contacts without the overarching group umbrella. While there was surprisingly little actual yelling, some members of the organization feel the blame lies squarely at the feet of Linden Lab's CEO Mark Kingdon, though there's not a lot of apparent evidence to justify that.

Continue reading Linden Lab to disband moribund mentor group

MassivelyLinden Lab to disband moribund mentor group originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP Games, makers of EVE Online, announced that they've discovered wrongdoing on the part of an individual or individuals within [correction: in relation to] their volunteer program, and are investigating the matter. The Volunteer Manager for EVE Online, CCP Ginger, explained the situation earlier today: "Last weekend external resources related to the Interstellar Services Department (ISD), EVE's volunteer program, were compromised which led to the theft of some volunteer program related data but also information about specific volunteers. As a result, we are being extra careful here, as this first and foremost pertains to the volunteer program and has no effect on our EVE Online operations or any customer data whatsoever."

CCP Ginger stressed that information stolen came from "areas operated outside of CCP's infrastructure and is therefore not related to anyone's EVE player account data. Player billing information, personal information, and character/game information all remain completely secure and unaffected, as well as CCP corporate pathways and e-mail, Tranquility, databases, etc."

Continue reading EVE Online's volunteer program compromised

MassivelyEVE Online's volunteer program compromised originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>breakingccp-gamesccp-gingereve-onlineinternal-affairsinterstellar-services-departmentinvestigationisdprivacyvolunteersWed, 23 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Massively speaks with Crovan about EVE Alliance PvP Tournament VI Part 2]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/31/massively-speaks-with-crovan-about-eve-alliance-pvp-tournament-v/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/31/massively-speaks-with-crovan-about-eve-alliance-pvp-tournament-v/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/31/massively-speaks-with-crovan-about-eve-alliance-pvp-tournament-v/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Beyond being competitors in the tournament, what are some of the ways that players watching the event can get involved with Alliance Tournament VI?

Down the road in a future tournament, you could try to become a commentator the way that we have. There's other things as well -- the volunteer program that CCP runs, ISD. They've got people on the field watching the matches and doing coverage live to post on the forums for people who missed the matches. If you want to actually be part of helping produce the alliance tournament, that's an option that's available to you.

Also EVE Radio and the EVE-related radio stations do quite a bit. EVE Network News were liveblogging the entire tournament. If you can't listen to the live audio stream you can still read up on it and contribute to the conversation as it's happening. There's also IRC on the Coldfront server which is the semi-official EVE IRC server where all the people hang out. I'm in there a lot of the time, some of the other experts are in there sometimes. You can get a lot of conversation both during, between, and after matches about what's going on. There are a lot of different ways you can get involved, even if you're not flying.

Obviously there's no live video feed until the last weekend. But there is live audio, and the videos tend to go up on YouTube pretty quick. I was very impressed with the turnaround.

Continue reading Massively speaks with Crovan about EVE Alliance PvP Tournament VI Part 2

MassivelyMassively speaks with Crovan about EVE Alliance PvP Tournament VI Part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>crovaneveeve-alliance-tournamenteve-network-newseve-onlineeve-radioguildsisdnew-eden-radiopvp-tournamentsci-fisplit-infinity-radiovolunteersyoutubeSat, 31 Jan 2009 16:45:00 EST<![CDATA[Celebrating 10 years of EverQuest customer service volunteers]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/celebrating-10-years-of-everquest-customer-service-volunteers/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/celebrating-10-years-of-everquest-customer-service-volunteers/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/celebrating-10-years-of-everquest-customer-service-volunteers/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

SOE and the EverQuest II community are celebrating the ten year anniversary of EverQuest's Guide program. Guides are folks who volunteer to provide customer support to players, as well as host in-game events. Rremember back in the day when Qeynos Hills was invaded by skeletons, and all the newbies died before higher levels came in from the Karanas to save the day? That event was the work of Guides!

An article over at EverQuest II Players heralds the celebration with memories from both a former and a current Guide Liaison, as well as a story by well-known Elder Guide Ozymandias honoring all the folks who have served the community over the years. The story is written like an historical lore entry. It contains a few references to legendary names that should be familiar to EverQuest veterans.

Volunteer guides are a very old tradition in MMOs. Of course there were the Wizards of the MUD era. But after that, both Meridian 59 and Ultima Online made use of volunteer customer service and event folks too.

MassivelyCelebrating 10 years of EverQuest customer service volunteers originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cscustomer-serviceeqeq2eqiieventseverquesteverquest-2everquest-iiguideguide-programguidessoevolunteervolunteersTue, 12 Aug 2008 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[CCP Games outlines GM hierarchy in EVE Online]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/20/ccp-games-outlines-gm-hierarchy-in-eve-online/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/20/ccp-games-outlines-gm-hierarchy-in-eve-online/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/20/ccp-games-outlines-gm-hierarchy-in-eve-online/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


The latest EVE Online dev blog comes from GM Zhainius, who writes about customer support at CCP Games. Over the 5 years EVE Online has been running, the GM staff has answered millions of petitions in addition to writing articles and guides. But their work is typically in the background; it's the devs that really get the attention. GM Zhainius felt like writing to clarify the inner workings of CCP Games in terms of customer support, and to give players a clearer picture of what happens when they file a petition.

GM Zhainius dispels rumors that Game Masters at CCP are volunteers. They're all paid employees, some of whom have been doing their job for years. He also cites a low turnover among CCP's GM staff; in fact, a number of them have been with EVE before the game even launched. The GMs work from four locations worldwide: Reykjavik, Atlanta, Düsseldorf, and Shanghai. He lays out the company's entire customer support structure and the groups or 'cells' the support team is divided into. The EVE dev blog is an interesting look behind-the-scenes into how CCP customer support is handled, and whether or not you're a satisfied customer, it's always good to know that at least someone is reading those ship reimbursement petitions.

MassivelyCCP Games outlines GM hierarchy in EVE Online originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>atlantaccpccp-gamescustomer-supportdevdev-blogdusseldorfeveeve-onlinegmgm-zhainiuspetitionreykjaviksci-fishanghaisupportvolunteersFri, 20 Jun 2008 19:30:00 EST<![CDATA[The purpose of beta testing]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/07/the-purpose-of-beta-testing/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/07/the-purpose-of-beta-testing/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/07/the-purpose-of-beta-testing/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

Anyway Games has some good thoughts up (I especially like that continuum in the title between "testing" and "fun") about what beta tests are really for these days. It seems you can't publish an MMO without having a beta test-- the world is so big and meant to support so many players that you not only need volunteer help for QA, but you have to have enough people to stress the servers, just in case.

But is it OK to invite players into a game that's not actually done yet? Richard Garriott blames TR's slow start on a poor beta reception, and I was one of those players who wasn't impressed with the early beta (although I don't know if the game has actually improved since then). I also have been playing the Pirates beta since a few weeks ago, and after playing it again yesterday afternoon, I was pretty astounded at how far the game has come just within a week or two of development. There is no question that the game I was playing a while ago was definitely unfinished compared to the game as it is now, and even though it's in open beta, there will undoubtedly be improvements before the game goes live.

So what's the purpose of a beta? Is it marketing for the game, or a massively multiplayer quality assurance session? Every developer has to decide for themselves, obviously-- there's no golden point at which the game is good enough to be played, but buggy enough to still be tested by the unwashed volunteers. The best you can ask for, at this point, is a development schedule that gives you a game strong enough to give a great experience while buggy, and a beta testing crowd interested enough to stick around and help you fix the bugs that are left.

MassivelyThe purpose of beta testing originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>betabeta-testbugsclosed-betamarketingopen-betapirates-of-the-burning-seaqatabula-rasatesttestersvolunteersFri, 07 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[CoH's City Scoop drops player written news]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/03/extra-extra-read-all-about-it/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/03/extra-extra-read-all-about-it/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/03/extra-extra-read-all-about-it/#commentsFiled under:

One of Paragon City's best-kept open secrets is that its heroes - everyday people who put on their spandex and weapon harnesses just the same as you and me -- are pretty incredible folks, and nowhere is this more obvious than in the pages of the City of Heroes player-written City Scoop.

What do we like most about the Scoop? It's not just the consistently high quality of the writing, the in-depth retrospectives of the individuals Behind the Mask, or the artwork, but it's all of those elements combined with the passion put into it by the people behind the project. The pages show that real thought is put into layout and leading, that each person cares about the final product, and that everyone wants to make -- and succeeds in making -- the Scoop fun to read.

Continue reading CoH's City Scoop drops player written news

MassivelyCoH's City Scoop drops player written news originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 03 Nov 2007 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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