Ages ago on the MMORPG subreddit, a player made a bold statement: MMORPGs are designed for low-skill gamers. “I remember being dazzled by EverQuest and Ultima as a child,” he wrote, reminiscing about his memory of high difficulty old-school games. “I recently loaded up [Star Wars: The Old Republic] again, and I’m shocked. Piss easy. Everything. XP falling from the sky. Mobs dead in one GCD. Brainless. The same reason I quite every MMO. I never meet people, I never feel challenged. I just feel bored. ‘Wait till endgame’ isn’t gonna cut it anymore. I’m over it. I’m done. I feel like I’m just hitting the ‘Reward’ button again and again and again, solitary and alone, like a stupid little rat in the cage.” He then basically blames the perceived shift of the genre on people who don’t want games to be “like a job”: “The genre just seems to be fueled by mediocre, anti-social … [Read more...] about Massively Overthinking: Are MMOs designed for ‘low-skill gamers’?
Skills you need to be a vet
Massively OP’s guide to understanding video game research
I noticed two strange things in the comments section of our lengthy Exploring the Video Game Debate series: People were angry at research that supported what they were trying to argue but hadn’t read well enough to see it, and people discredited the research because their personal social circles had vastly differently experiences (but also, often, didn’t read the research). And you know what? That’s normal. While game research isn’t nearly as important as biology, a recent BBC article reminded me the internet has made it quite easy for people to plug into communities that reflect and validate their common opinion, sharing and replicating (mis)information again and again. While most of the core MOP community is between 25-44 and revolves around a shared fandom, it’s still possible to be affected by poor-quality input, as seen with Microsoft’s recent teen AI, Tay, and her venture into Twitter. However, using some semi-recent … [Read more...] about Massively OP’s guide to understanding video game research
Hands-on with mobile Old School Runescape, plus a chat with the Jagex devs
I experienced a couple firsts recently that you may not have expected from me, and they can both be summed up in two words: Old School RuneScape mobile. Why so unexpected? Well for one, you might not have expected me to try OSRS (can I call it that?) because I started playing RuneScape only recently; I had no nostalgic draw to the game back in that iteration. Two, I am not a mobile player. I just don’t play any games on mobile, preferring my gaming time to be at my PC. But hey, doing the unexpected can be fun, and I am all for new experiences! This experience included sitting down with Jagex’s Jon Wilcox and Johnathan Bird, who shared info and answered questions as we worked our way through the tutorial together. Now the question is, how was the experience? Would I continue to play on mobile even though the full cross-platform play allows me to move my game seamlessly back to the PC whenever I want? That’s what we are here to answer. Old School goes high tech Old … [Read more...] about Hands-on with mobile Old School Runescape, plus a chat with the Jagex devs
GDC 2018: Games can help humanity, be profitable, and get support from gamers
Games alone won’t make the world better. They won’t even make gamers better. We publish some articles that certainly seem pretty pro-games, but we’re very upfront about the catches. One big one is on us, the players, and how we game. However, game designers can do a lot to help us. “But that’s hard, expensive, and/or boring!” some of you may be thinking. And yeah, sometimes that’s true. But for both indies and AAA companies, not only are there organizations able to help, but there’s the potential for government aid in unlikely places. Games for good isn’t just a pipe dream, either. Some of the most (deservedly) vilified gaming communities have not only helped with their time but their wallets as well. Even before going to GDC this year we knew this, but a few panels I watched really helped it click. The concept of player power for good I’ve mentioned how despite the fact that we have evidence that play helps … [Read more...] about GDC 2018: Games can help humanity, be profitable, and get support from gamers
Learn How to Drive Traffic to Your Blog with Ileane Smith Interview
In the bloggers interview series so far, we have done interviews with some of popular female bloggers like Ann Smarty and Jane Sheeba. In today’s interview series, we have a lady who has made a big name in the blogging industry in the last few years. We all know her and in fact we are big fan of her. The way she has contributed in the blogging community and how she has been helping other bloggers, is really amazing. Without any delay, let’s welcome Ileane Smith in this week interview series. For few of you, who did not get the chance to know about Ileane Smith, let me share a brief intro about her. Ileane Smith is the founder of popular blog BasicBlogTips.com and she is also running a podcast blog here. She has an active Youtube Chanel here and has been very active on major social media and blogging communities. On many occasions, I feel really surprised how Ilene is able to contribute too much time while helping other bloggers through different web properties. She has … [Read more...] about Learn How to Drive Traffic to Your Blog with Ileane Smith Interview