I've decided to add a thread here to highlight the epic threads that appear in Loading... each weekday. The thread will be closed, so please follow the links to each individual epic thread and post your epic response there.
Enjoy!
__________________
Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg
Public Relations & Resident Forum Goddess (All your posts are belong to me!)
"I fell asleep watching Jeopardy, and I snored in the form of a question "
~ Christoper Moore
Stormbrjnger hit our World of Warcraft forum and created a thoughtful and well-written post about a topic I'm pretty passionate about: the rush to end game. I'll admit, I used to have little patience for anything but progress--I wanted it all, and I wanted it now. I wanted the end game at the expense of lore and exploration. I wanted to be one of the leaders in my laid-back guild--the one who could raid and enjoy content that others who lagged behind exploring weren't getting to see. Once upon a time, that was definitely me. But I outgrew that phase when I realized that as a working adult I didn't have the kind of time that end game pursuits require. I became a casual gamer through necessity, if not by design.
But once I slowed down and actually started reading quest dialog and enjoying quest lines and exploring areas in games, I learned what I'd been missing. Stormbrjnger's post explains it all quite eloquently:
Quote:
"New or newer players are looking for guidance and are being told a thousand times how to level just a bit faster. But while they're doing it, few will ever understand that the dragons they kill play such an integral part of the background to the entire story. [They consider them] just another trash mob to kill and skin."
Stormbrjnger also goes on to talk about the imbalance that results when everyone specs for end game potential instead of for their own enjoyment. His comments pertain directly to World of Warcraft, but could stand for most any MMOG:
Quote:
"With so many obsessed with their DPS and fast leveling we have a major shortage of tanks and healers, or, if you want to put it another way, a major glut of DPSers. Nothing against DPS--I have a toon or two speced for it myself--but if you ever want to torture people, just type "LFM DPS for heroic" just before logging off and watch the flood of desperate whispers."
Are you all about the end game? Or do you take time to explore and learn the lore as you go? Does rushing to the end game result in burning out faster? Or does slow leveling lead to frustration? Share your comments in our WoW forum.
================================= Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread:
"I felt so disillusioned by the race to 80 that everyone seemed to be engaged in that I did a complete 180 and pretty much gave up leveling entirely in favor of doing other things. I always wanted to explore everything even before Achievements came out, and while that's a nice bonus, it's all too easy to get the Explorer achievement while still missing lots of great sights in the game.
I agree that more interesting hidden spots would be nice, but I'm easily amused and get a kick just from seeing things from a different perspective. Plus there's something really neat about going to places that you know very few people have ever been before, even if it's just a grove along the base of Teldrassil or the hills along the northern coast of Azshara."
Coyote's latest humor feature, It's All Geek to Me, asks the (not so) mysterious and age-old geek question: invisibility or flight? "Your answer," Coyote says, "is supposed to have some soul-exposing ramification and show you your true self."
I suspect my affinity for invisibility has something to do with my introversion. (I know you guys so don't believe me, but I actually only play a sassy extrovert online.) You see, Coyote's question gave me cause to ponder, and ponder I did, until I realized what my need for invisibility implied about me. But to Coyote, there's really only one answer to this question, and it has nothing to do with soul-exposing ramifications or anything remotely intellectual. (This is Coyote we're talking about, after all.)
I'll let you read the feature and discover what Coyote considers a no-brainer for yourself. Then, once you've uncovered the mystery, you can head over to our forum and tell us which power appeals to you. (I'm still wondering why mind control wasn't an option.)
Bonus (Apropos of Absolutely Nothing): If you don't know about Neds and Chavs, this thread may enlighten you.
================================= Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread:
"I'm all confused now after reading Kitsunegirl's reply. So, you're saying you want to be invisible in the girls locker room with a scuba tank? And this is a bad thing? But not in a good way? Or is it a good thing in a bad way?
Seems like it's been a while since we talked about Star Wars: The Old Republic. After the initial hype surrounding the announcement that BioWare was working on a Star Wars MMOG (the worst-kept MMO gaming secret ever) died down, it seems most of us settled in, waiting for the developers to work their magic, content in the knowledge that when they were ready to tell us more about the game they would.
But there's been some new activity on our SW:TOR forum, so what better time than now to revive the discussion of this much-anticipated game? In this thread, our member skodan felt the need to point out that BioWare (who were responsible for the first Knights of the Old Republic RPG) are developing this MMOG, not Obsidian (makers of KotOR II).
"So all those saying that KotOR II was a failure for BioWare, well you are wrong; they had nothing to do with it," skodan proclaims.
But was KotOR II a failure? What set the first game and its sequel apart? And what does any of this mean for Star Wars: The Old Republic? Head over to the wretched hive of scum and villainy (no, not really) that is our SW:TOR forum and have your say.
================================= Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread:
"I enjoyed both games a lot and really don't understand why people complain so much about Obsidian. Of course they aren't as good as BioWare, no one is in my opinion, but they still produce AAA titles."
"I love MMORPGS but I just can't stick with one," says Ten Ton Hammer member btraill. "I've tried almost every game under the sun. I play it for a few days and then stop. Anyone else like this? ...How do you stop?"
How indeed. I'll admit, it's been quite a while since I played a MMOG that inspired me to keep on playing for months on end. What's the key to staying in a MMOG for the long haul? Has player mentality changed, or have MMOGs changed? Perhaps it's a little of both.
Step into the Tavern of the Ten Ton Hammer to share your tips to help commitment-phobic game hoppers stick with a game, and discuss what MMOG developers can do to make games with staying power.
============================== Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread
"I been completely the same lately. It seems whatever MMO I try feels like a new skin on the same game.
I've been trying some non-MMO games and Fallout 3 has had me hooked for the last month. The only problem is it lacks the social interaction (for better or for worse) you get with MMOs.
Here's hoping this years MMO's will get off this cloning business."
- kageyfna
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Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!
__________________
Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg
Public Relations & Resident Forum Goddess (All your posts are belong to me!)
"I fell asleep watching Jeopardy, and I snored in the form of a question "
~ Christoper Moore
It's not quite a rage quit (which, I'll admit, are fun to watch), but Beerkeg, formerly one of our community's staunchest defenders of Warhammer Online, has nixed his subscription.
"I have tried to defend this game from the haters and the negatives, have tried to point out anything that could be used to counteract the faults of the game," he says, "but after seeing a BW do 400k damage at rank 27 with 0 deaths and 34 killing blows in a Tor Anroc scenario, I have come to the conclusion that RvR in WAR is just plain pathetic."
Are things horribly unbalanced? Are scenarios borked? Not everyone agrees in this epic thread. Head over to share your thoughts on the current state of Warhammer Online.
============================== Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread
"All technical issues aside for a moment, I think it must be said that the game is only going to be as good or as bad as the players behind the toons. Remember, everything is relative to who you are sharing server time with. If you see someone kicking ass it is because the guy is grouped with people who understand what is going on and how to play WAR properly in whatever setting they are playing. WAR is not a solo player game, after all."
- CHEWNIE01
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Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!
__________________
Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg
Public Relations & Resident Forum Goddess (All your posts are belong to me!)
"I fell asleep watching Jeopardy, and I snored in the form of a question "
~ Christoper Moore
Time for a little Wednesday WTF moment, compliments of WoW patch 3.1.
"I got a really rude welcome from my character selection sheet last night after downloading the new patch," reports community member Raknor. "I sign on to find that Blizz has added an ugly ass moustache to the draenei goatee option. It sucks. I had two different toons with that goatee, and now they look like gay-Zorro."
Did Blizzard really intend to give draenei that classic 70s Ron Jeremy look? Or was it all just a big mistake? Are you cheesed off about your cheesy porn-stache? The denizens of our WoW forum have not only compassion for the newly style challenged, but answers about this buggy situation. Head on over!
============================== Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread
"I say go all the way and have some cheesy porn soundtrack music play every time you join a group."
- Stormbrjnger
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Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!
__________________
Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg
Public Relations & Resident Forum Goddess (All your posts are belong to me!)
"I fell asleep watching Jeopardy, and I snored in the form of a question "
~ Christoper Moore
President Obama may be kicking Somali pirate ass, but when it comes to software piracy the ass whoopin's are few and far between. Ten Ton Hammer's resident humorist, Coyote, asserts that it's really just too easy these days for assiduous and assertive pirates to assemble vast assortments of illegally amassed goodies such as software and movies. (And yes, I really was trying to see how many times I could work "ass" into a single paragraph. I count 8. Coyote would be so proud.)
Coyote claims that the ease of piracy is cutting into our geek mystique."It used to be that your average geek had access to the digital underground and could find things that most mortals never knew existed," he writes in Wednesday's It's All Geek to Me column. "And now just about anyone can simply turn on their computer, go to a file sharing site, and without any skill or ability download the latest movie, song or copy of a popular video game already cracked and ready to go."
And not only is piracy ruining what was once geek domain, Coyote believes it's causing movie and development studios to make throw-away movies and games, knowing that their stuff's going to be jacked soon after it releases, anyhow.
Do you steal software and movies? Do you believe studios have cut back on quality because piracy cuts into their profits? If you've never taken part in a Coyote comments thread, there's no better time to start. Share your thoughts and have a little fun!
============================== Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread
"It's not piracy that's causing craptastic games and movies; we had craptastic games and movies aplenty long long before piracy became an issue. Ya, there's more nowadays, but if you want to blame something, blame the easy money there is in DVD sales, and the generation that's predominantly playing games now having the attention spans of gnats."
- Vaebn
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Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!
__________________
Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg
Public Relations & Resident Forum Goddess (All your posts are belong to me!)
"I fell asleep watching Jeopardy, and I snored in the form of a question "
~ Christoper Moore
Spare, one of my favorite Ten Ton Hammer forum crazies, has a dream. It involves unlikely Scottish songbird and pop culture icon of the moment Susan Boyle. I won't go into any further detail except to explain that this epic thread isn't entirely safe for work and...well, much like Spare himself, it's in somewhat poor taste. But it's got a hirsute Rosie O'Donnell, Michael Jackson (sort of), and even Al Gore.
Be warned, this is a Monday thread from our Ten Ton Torched forum. If you're expecting something useful, insightful, or worthy of discussion you're probably better off following another link. But if you want to welcome the week with a little off-color fun...here you go.
============================== Awesome Quote from the Epic Thread
"This thread is all sorts of wrong."
- kitsunegirl
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!
__________________
Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg
Public Relations & Resident Forum Goddess (All your posts are belong to me!)
"I fell asleep watching Jeopardy, and I snored in the form of a question "
~ Christoper Moore
Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day
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