Good luck to all the massively staff in their future endeavors, hopefully they all find work somewhere in the industry. It's a big loss for the community as a whole, but much more so for the people who make it their livelihood.
Considering what a sham so-called "Gaming journalism" is I have no sympathy.
Publishers/advertisers conspire with gaming website who offer puffed up reviews of products, to get people to buy the games. The publisher/developers then kick down cash in the form of "advertising dollars" to the sites. And writers get their piece of the pie too for writing the puff pieces, that might as well be written by the publisher's marketing staff.
And who pays for that? The consumer who bought a hyped up POS game after reading an "official review".
So, one less site shoveling the BS.
I hate to agree with most of this, but I do. I try not to be overly negative but this has been my view for a long time as well.
I will glance through the actual staff reviews on this site but it's the comments I am most interested in. Even those you have to know what you are looking for to get a decent idea of what the game will actually be like. The reviews are usually puff pieces though that try to emphasize and sell the positives while downplaying the negatives. Also, the gaming sites give scores that are simply not deserved in most cases. We have MMORPGs that have been given 9+ scores. I love MMORPGs but I don't think I have EVER played a MMORPG that should be considered a 9+, certainly not a week or month after release. That's damn near perfection for scoring. The excuse is "Well, it's a MMORPG and bugs are expected!" or "It's a MMORPG, you're going to have to deal with a month of outages when it's first released and game breaking bugs!" or "Of course the story is not great, it's a MMORPG what do you expect?!?" Why is this acceptable? Better question, why do journalists accept this and even use it to excuse things in games?
Simply put, I shouldn't have to wait over a month, after a game is released, to get a good idea of how it will be by listening to the actual players. I should be able to browse the staff reviews here to get a good idea, and it's simply not possible for me. It's not just this site either. It's pretty much every gaming news site I have browsed. We need a higher standard not just for our games but for our journalists as well.
P.S. I'm truly sorry for all the people at Joystiq that are getting laid off. I know it can't be easy and I wish them the best.
I love how everywhere else people like now if their forums would die MMORPG.com lmao. I come here to see how people react and people are sad and upset by massively shutting down. Shows what kind of community MMORPG.com has become :P
If I wanted over the top opinionated new I would of watched american news!
I love how everywhere else people like now if their forums would die MMORPG.com lmao. I come here to see how people react and people are sad and upset by massively shutting down. Shows what kind of community MMORPG.com has become :P
If I wanted over the top opinionated new I would of watched american news!
edit: deleted after re-reading your post 5 times. I think I got it now.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
All I can say is awesome! I haven't been to that page of sellouts for at least a year (or whenever management changed)
Good riddance.
Real classy...
This site is the only one (so far) where I've seen such strong sorrow. Most places where I've seen it mentioned are glad that Massively is leaving the scene. They wrote clickbait articles that didn't bother investigating actual gameplay, just going with their own negative theorycrafting ("truthiness"). What seems unfortunate is that they're taking out Joystiq with their passing too.
This is sad news. It was one of my top favorites for information. Good luck to the staff and their families!
Edit: Anyone have an alternate they use that is close to it's design?
White layout? Gamebreaker.tv
The black here can tire the eyes with the strong contrast of white.
On the subject of them closing. Big deal. There is less to report these days on MMO games. This site even went into other games because of it. Now, if you could alert the users that every game here isn't an MMO, that would be nice because so many argue that a non-MMO game can be compared in successes to an MMO - see MOBAs that make it into conversations.
One of the reasons is because free games can't be called pay to win during reviews without incurring advertising punishment or being seen as a game detractor unlikely to get exclusive interviews. Since so many games are free and don't differ enough in content... the only thing to talk about is their payment model often times. The games have buried themselves in the debates about their pricing but I believe they have to take the good with the bad. Now people play games because they are cheap or free and bawk when a payment wall comes up. Don't be shocked when the only reason to choose your game is exactly what you offered it as - free. Don't be shocked either when that's the main logic involved in playing those games. And especially don't be shocked when other people with dollar signs in their eyes are doing the same things you are keeping your users bouncing from game to game. Also too since the majority of games come out free there is no barrier to leave your free game in a heartbeat. You can't offer yours for double free to compete and since yours ages and the content runs out, expect them to forever game hop.
Because honest reporting has to decrease (due to payment model) , we need less reporting sites because they are all walking that fine fishing line of outright saying, this game isn't worth it having to stay positive more often than negative. This makes the reporting resemble marketing and advertising instead of an honest review. The players can't even agree on what they consider pay to win unless it's extreme where everything is purchased. Reviewers don't have an imposed standard. Even cosmetic can be important to certain types of players.
You wonder why ppl talk about the forums here as the predominant feature? It's because the players can discuss payment models and if the reviewers haven't noticed that it's top of line or that their hands are sometimes tied when discussing it - don't worry, we know. The soft reporting comes in the articles on sites, the real dirty things happen when users have their say.
Thanks for the tip, I will see how it goes.
Edit: Also, I think I read something a short time ago that this website was to over go some major changes to its look. Just an fyi!
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Really sad to hear. I always check Massivley and MMOrpg.com to get my MMo news, but I liked Massivley better because of the layout. Hopefully the writers will find work in other places soon.
Man this is bullshit. MMORPG can't you guys pick em up? maybe give em a little sister site here, like, mmorpg.com/massively? bah.... This sucks. Fuck aol.
Absolutely horrible, but it's all in the business I suppose. We've been seeing it in the developer and producing of the games we enjoy, now we'll start seeing it in the communities we cherish. I adored the Massively community, it's interactive staff and quality of it's writings. It was the first place I'd go for news and columns about my favorite games.
Let's hope the next incarnation of a high profile MMO community, such as Massively, will exist with only passionate people leading the way!
I love how everywhere else people like now if their forums would die MMORPG.com lmao. I come here to see how people react and people are sad and upset by massively shutting down. Shows what kind of community MMORPG.com has become :P
If I wanted over the top opinionated new I would of watched american news!
edit: deleted after re-reading your post 5 times. I think I got it now.
You're a better linguist than me. I still can't get it to make sense
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
I love how everywhere else people like now if their forums would die MMORPG.com lmao. I come here to see how people react and people are sad and upset by massively shutting down. Shows what kind of community MMORPG.com has become :P
If I wanted over the top opinionated new I would of watched american news!
edit: deleted after re-reading your post 5 times. I think I got it now.
You're a better linguist than me. I still can't get it to make sense
I didn't really say I understood it totally. I had to go take a couple asparin for my head. If I still drank that would have sent me on a weekend binge for sure.
I think in general he is saying that most of overreact to most gaming news if we frequent this site. /shrug
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Over the past few years, I spent a lot of time on WoW Insider and Massively. I daresay I spent almost as much time on those sites as I did on the original Star Wars Galaxies forums, when those were still a thing.
I'm very sad to hear this. I don't know anything about these alleged commercial connections some reviewers supposedly had with companies, but one thing's for sure - a lot of good people just lost their jobs.
I hope they do end up striking out on their own with an independent site. I know how hard it can be to build a site from scratch, but their clout in the community will help, I think.
Now that the Joystiq sites are sunsetting, I wish I'd spent more time on them. I never got involved in their communities. I think this will spur me on to getting more involved in MMORPG.com's community.
I think in general he is saying that most of overreact to most gaming news if we frequent this site. /shrug
Lot of drama llamas are living here full-time. Including several members of the staff.
But that demonstrates nothing except what we already knew--95% of everything you read in blog-space, forum-space, social media space, gaming mag space--is bullshit.
The folks at Massively have been enjoying a living as working "non-fiction" writers. Which means that they accept as given how much Fiction is required to "sell" the products to readers. Insuring their continued paychecks by creating more support and more interest.
But all blog writing, everywhere, that depends on ad revenue for a paycheck operates on exactly the same principles.
There's another job waiting at the next popular site, "around the corner" in web-space.
It doesn't pay to get too comfortable writing a single topic. Also a fact of life in the "non-fiction writer's handbook".
Everyone else knew Massively was going to shutdown except the people at MMORPG.com. I came here to see reactions, it's amazing how out of touch people are. If I wanted BS news articles, I'd watch American TV, not visit gaming sites.
Everyone else knew Massively was going to shutdown except the people at MMORPG.com. I came here to see reactions, it's amazing how out of touch people are. If I wanted BS news articles, I'd watch American TV, not visit gaming sites.
I go to that site every day and I forgot to write down the secret code. I haven't used my Secret Decoder Ring in a while. Thanks for the translation!
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
I was sort of off and on with Massively over the past several years. I have to admit I wasn't their biggest fan during the past year or two, but there's no denying they had tons of regular readers/commenters and I still think their site's layout was one of the very best I've ever seen.
This is a really sad example of greedy upper-tier people, most likely making a money-driven decision without considering the impact it will have on those working under them. Like many have already said here, Massively is overall a good MMO site, and there certainly was no shortage of good coverage to be had from them. It surely wasn't struggling along.
Hopefully all of the folks there will latch on elsewhere soon. Good luck guys!
"Why would I want to loose a religion upon my people? Religions wreck from within - Empires and individuals alike! It's all the same." - God Emperor of Dune
Comments
I hate to agree with most of this, but I do. I try not to be overly negative but this has been my view for a long time as well.
I will glance through the actual staff reviews on this site but it's the comments I am most interested in. Even those you have to know what you are looking for to get a decent idea of what the game will actually be like. The reviews are usually puff pieces though that try to emphasize and sell the positives while downplaying the negatives. Also, the gaming sites give scores that are simply not deserved in most cases. We have MMORPGs that have been given 9+ scores. I love MMORPGs but I don't think I have EVER played a MMORPG that should be considered a 9+, certainly not a week or month after release. That's damn near perfection for scoring. The excuse is "Well, it's a MMORPG and bugs are expected!" or "It's a MMORPG, you're going to have to deal with a month of outages when it's first released and game breaking bugs!" or "Of course the story is not great, it's a MMORPG what do you expect?!?" Why is this acceptable? Better question, why do journalists accept this and even use it to excuse things in games?
Simply put, I shouldn't have to wait over a month, after a game is released, to get a good idea of how it will be by listening to the actual players. I should be able to browse the staff reviews here to get a good idea, and it's simply not possible for me. It's not just this site either. It's pretty much every gaming news site I have browsed. We need a higher standard not just for our games but for our journalists as well.
P.S. I'm truly sorry for all the people at Joystiq that are getting laid off. I know it can't be easy and I wish them the best.
This is sad news. It was one of my top favorites for information. Good luck to the staff and their families!
Edit: Anyone have an alternate they use that is close to it's design?
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
I love how everywhere else people like now if their forums would die MMORPG.com lmao. I come here to see how people react and people are sad and upset by massively shutting down. Shows what kind of community MMORPG.com has become :P
If I wanted over the top opinionated new I would of watched american news!
SNIP
edit: deleted after re-reading your post 5 times. I think I got it now.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
This site is the only one (so far) where I've seen such strong sorrow. Most places where I've seen it mentioned are glad that Massively is leaving the scene. They wrote clickbait articles that didn't bother investigating actual gameplay, just going with their own negative theorycrafting ("truthiness"). What seems unfortunate is that they're taking out Joystiq with their passing too.
Thanks for the tip, I will see how it goes.
Edit: Also, I think I read something a short time ago that this website was to over go some major changes to its look. Just an fyi!
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Really sad to hear. I always check Massivley and MMOrpg.com to get my MMo news, but I liked Massivley better because of the layout. Hopefully the writers will find work in other places soon.
Absolutely horrible, but it's all in the business I suppose. We've been seeing it in the developer and producing of the games we enjoy, now we'll start seeing it in the communities we cherish. I adored the Massively community, it's interactive staff and quality of it's writings. It was the first place I'd go for news and columns about my favorite games.
Let's hope the next incarnation of a high profile MMO community, such as Massively, will exist with only passionate people leading the way!
This sucks. Massively and mmorpg.com are the two sites i browse daily.
It is sad that such a big business like MMO's has so little decent media coverage.
You're a better linguist than me. I still can't get it to make sense
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I didn't really say I understood it totally. I had to go take a couple asparin for my head. If I still drank that would have sent me on a weekend binge for sure.
I think in general he is saying that most of overreact to most gaming news if we frequent this site. /shrug
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Over the past few years, I spent a lot of time on WoW Insider and Massively. I daresay I spent almost as much time on those sites as I did on the original Star Wars Galaxies forums, when those were still a thing.
I'm very sad to hear this. I don't know anything about these alleged commercial connections some reviewers supposedly had with companies, but one thing's for sure - a lot of good people just lost their jobs.
I hope they do end up striking out on their own with an independent site. I know how hard it can be to build a site from scratch, but their clout in the community will help, I think.
Now that the Joystiq sites are sunsetting, I wish I'd spent more time on them. I never got involved in their communities. I think this will spur me on to getting more involved in MMORPG.com's community.
D&D Home Page - What Class Are You? - Build A Character - D&D Compendium
Lot of drama llamas are living here full-time. Including several members of the staff.
But that demonstrates nothing except what we already knew--95% of everything you read in blog-space, forum-space, social media space, gaming mag space--is bullshit.
The folks at Massively have been enjoying a living as working "non-fiction" writers. Which means that they accept as given how much Fiction is required to "sell" the products to readers. Insuring their continued paychecks by creating more support and more interest.
But all blog writing, everywhere, that depends on ad revenue for a paycheck operates on exactly the same principles.
There's another job waiting at the next popular site, "around the corner" in web-space.
It doesn't pay to get too comfortable writing a single topic. Also a fact of life in the "non-fiction writer's handbook".
That's actually not what he's saying.
He says:
Everyone else knew Massively was going to shutdown except the people at MMORPG.com. I came here to see reactions, it's amazing how out of touch people are. If I wanted BS news articles, I'd watch American TV, not visit gaming sites.
I go to that site every day and I forgot to write down the secret code. I haven't used my Secret Decoder Ring in a while. Thanks for the translation!
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
That was pretty sudden.
Massively was one of my go to sites for gaming news - Sad Panda.
I hope the massively folks find new opportunities or ressurect in some other form.
"I am my connectome" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HA7GwKXfJB0
Nope, every site has the potential for individuals to whine. Some folks whine about whining. /shrug
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
I was sort of off and on with Massively over the past several years. I have to admit I wasn't their biggest fan during the past year or two, but there's no denying they had tons of regular readers/commenters and I still think their site's layout was one of the very best I've ever seen.
This is a really sad example of greedy upper-tier people, most likely making a money-driven decision without considering the impact it will have on those working under them. Like many have already said here, Massively is overall a good MMO site, and there certainly was no shortage of good coverage to be had from them. It surely wasn't struggling along.
Hopefully all of the folks there will latch on elsewhere soon. Good luck guys!
"Why would I want to loose a religion upon my people? Religions wreck from within - Empires and individuals alike! It's all the same." - God Emperor of Dune