| One Shots: Gnometizers Posted: 02 Feb 2014 07:00 AM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Screenshots, Culture, Guild Wars 2, One Shots, The Secret World, Humor, Champions Online, Miscellaneous As a former, fully recovered World of Warcraft player, I always welcome the colorful yet chunky images from Azeroth in my inbox. But reader Jon crossed a line when he decided to serve up, and I quote, "a delicious side of Gnome" in this particular picture. I, and many like me, have been lifelong Gnomes and choose such avatars in-game to show solidarity and to deliver the comeuppance that "tallies" deserve. This screenshot is just a sad reminder that we are often portrayed as the butt of jokes and thoughtlessly killed every single day just to amuse those who had a stronger growth spurt than we. Oh, how I do hope that Troll choked on his first bite of Gnome pie and suffered through explosive intestinal distress shortly thereafter. That's the only way they'll learn. Continue reading One Shots: Gnometizers  One Shots: Gnometizers originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 Feb 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: What MMO systems are too complicated for you? Posted: 02 Feb 2014 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous In my experience, game designers are sometimes prone to creating systems in RPGs and MMOs that are, well, antagonistic to the extreme. Maybe they made sense to the dev who had it all mapped out in his or her head, but to the average player it's only a little more understandable than reading War and Peace in sanskrit. The customization systems of Final Fantasy VII and VIII always come to mind when I think about this. VII's materia was easy to grok, allowing me to clearly understand what effects I wanted to equip and giving me a path to leveling them up. Then came VIII's junction system, which allowed scads more customization but was just a jumbled mess of incoherent ideas and a generally bad approach. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a Fisher-Price MMO; I feel the more complex the system, the clearer the instruction and design needs to be for us to navigate it. So what MMO systems are too complicated for you? How would you make them better?  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 MMO systems are too complicated for you? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 Feb 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| SOE lifts EQN Landmark alpha NDA Posted: 01 Feb 2014 05:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next If you want to know what's happening in EverQuest Landmark's alpha, just ask. SOE has just lifted what is quite possibly the shortest NDA ever -- it lasted less than 24 hours. Here's the official statement from SOE: "Technically the alpha is holding up very very well, better even than expected. So, based on the requests of our alpha players, (and in spirit of transparency) we've decided to lift the nda immediately." That means testers are free to talk about their adventures, share screenshots, and even stream the new sandbox even in this alpha state. So for all you Founders out there, tell us: What do you think of the game right now? And what is your favorite thing about Landmark? SOE lifts EQN Landmark alpha NDA originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 01 Feb 2014 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Norrathian Notebook: Look out Landmark, here I come! Posted: 01 Feb 2014 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New Titles, Opinion, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next, Sandbox, Player-Generated Content, Norrathian Notebook Hello, fellow EverQuest Next Landmark fans! This is likely the last time you will get to see me say boo about Landmark's alpha now that it has been announced and is starting up. Once I get my email, I will be officially and totally gagged. Many of you know that I was gifted a Trailblazer Founder's Pack for Christmas by someone who knows and loves me (or conversely, just wants to get me out of the way... which says what exactly if I gifted a pack right back?), so this period of time before I receive and open my invite is my last opportunity to speak about the game before the NDA descends upon me. As such, I am taking full advantage of these hours to speculate to my heart's content, squeal in excitement about the upcoming adventures, and ruminate on all I know about and all I hope for in this sandbox! And then by the time you read my thought, I will be [redacted] and possibly [redacted], with a little [redacted] thrown in. Continue reading Norrathian Notebook: Look out Landmark, here I come! Norrathian Notebook: Look out Landmark, here I come! originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 01 Feb 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Mog Log: No one likes FFXIV's Pharos Sirius Posted: 01 Feb 2014 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Endgame, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log, Dungeons, Subscription Every night, I sit down at my computer and I play the high-level roulette game in Final Fantasy XIV. There are five possible results. Amdapor Keep and Wanderer's Palace are the "win" results, the super-easy runs that can't even scrape dents into my armor. Copperbell Mines and Haukke Manor take a little more doing and a bit more attention on my part, and my shiny white Paladin armor is looking a bit scuffed up by the end. But they're still not bad. They're certainly doable. But there's always that 20% shot that I'm getting thrown straight into horror. The camera pans in to show a ruined lighthouse filled with crystals and a couple birds, and as soon as the cinematic ends, people are already asking "can we vote to abandon?" This seems to be the consensus: that it's not even worth trying to do Pharos Sirius start to finish. And when you look at the dungeon as a whole, it's not hard to see why no one likes it. Continue reading The Mog Log: No one likes FFXIV's Pharos Sirius The Mog Log: No one likes FFXIV's Pharos Sirius originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 01 Feb 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Stream Team: Exiled in WildStar Posted: 01 Feb 2014 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Video, New Titles, Previews, Livestream, WildStar, The Stream Team With a literal spring in her step, Massively's MJ returns for more Exile exploits in WildStar. Can her next adventures possibly top the parade of live veggies from last time? It's definitely worth finding out! She's working to get off the Arkship and out in into the vast unknown of the open worlds. Join us live at 1:00 p.m. for a look at beta life with the Exiles. MJ Guthrie Date: Saturday, February 1st, 2014 Time: 1:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Exiled in WildStar The Stream Team: Exiled in WildStar originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 01 Feb 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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"I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite mod on the Citadel."
Ding! Time for another round
After much fanfare, Mantle is finally available
