Eliot Lefebvre
- http://
Having grown up with a passion for writing, playing video games, and getting paid for bad comedy, Eliot Lefebvre has found the perfect position as a contributing editor to Massively. He writes the column on City of Heroes (A Mild-Mannered Reporter), Final Fantasy XI and XIV (The Mog Log), roleplaying (Storyboard), and our weekly question-and-answer session (Ask Massively). He is not a werewolf.
by Eliot Lefebvre 
May 20th 2012 (18 hours ago)
For some players, MMOs are all about discovery. The game is at its most fun when you're just exploring the world, figuring out what you need to do as best you can. But to other players, wandering around without a clue isn't as fun as knowing what to do and enjoying that actual accomplishment.
Of course, surprises come in both big and small varieties. No matter how well you might know
Star Wars: The Old Republic's quests, for example, you might avoid looking up all of the datacrons and thus get a pleasant surprise when you find one. Or maybe you don't like knowing about the bosses you'll fight in a dungeon until you get into the fight.
We all like discovering things, but what we like to discover varies. So what about you? How important is having surprises in a game for you? Do you like to walk in with as little foreknowledge as possible, or do you like to have a pretty good map in your head before you start playing?
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!by Eliot Lefebvre May 19th 2012 (1 day ago)
Generally speaking, when I celebrate anniversaries, I celebrate the point when the game actually came out in a language that I could play it. This is relevant in the case of
Final Fantasy XI, since the game took a year and a half to reach the shores of America (also known as "the place I live"). I learned my lesson about trying to learn a language just to muddle through a game back with
Final Fantasy III.
However, when one of our eagle-eyed readers pointed out to me the milestone that the game had hit, that made an impact because even if I couldn't understand any of the game's text back when it launched, a decade is a long time for continuous operation of
anything. So rather than talking about the Legacy campaign as I'd planned, I think I'd rather talk about the legacy of
Final Fantasy XI this week, including where the game has gone from its state at launch. You know, when a Black Mage could make the entire world bow and you still got attacked when riding a chocobo.
by Eliot Lefebvre May 19th 2012 (1 day ago)
For various terrible reasons, I only just found out about
Panzer Pets (and yes, we did cover the announcement on Massively, but I still occasionally miss news we cover). Like many ambitious projects,
it's on Kickstarter, but as of right now it's not even 10% funded, which raises the question of
why we live in a world where a game that offers to let you build your own little robots and send them into battle was not funded about eight minutes after the page went live.
I think this should be rectified. My only regret is not having the full sum to just fill up the funding by my lonesome.
What's that? Oh, right,
WRUP, in which the Massively staff members discuss what they'll be playing over the next two days. We also discuss our thoughts on open vs. instanced housing. Jump on past the break to see our weekend plans, and let us know what you're going to be doing in the comments!
by Eliot Lefebvre May 18th 2012 (2 days ago)
In the wake of
the Rhode Island governor's release announcement, all eyes are on
38 Studios and
Project Copernicus. Up until now the title has been talked about only in hushed tones, but today we've gotten a little something more: a flythrough of some areas of the game, showing off what we can expect from the environments. And suddenly that announced release date seems just a touch more plausible because the environments certainly look gorgeous.
Players of
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will no doubt recognize some of the environmental looks if not the exact locations, but everyone can appreciate the design that's gone into each region. Of course, it's a long road between showing a pretty place and making a playable game, and 38 Studios is still struggling to keep its head above water. But the MMO the studio has promised seems a bit more plausible now, and hopefully there's a light at the end of this particular tunnel.
[Thanks to all the tipsters who sent this in!]
by Eliot Lefebvre May 18th 2012 (2 days ago)
Last year, I had planned to change up the focus of
Storyboard a little. The "high and wide" format had been working, but I was worried that the column just wouldn't have legs if I didn't start going for more focused and narrow applications. So I spent several months working on just the right way to do more game-specific columns in here.
You don't remember them, of course, because none of them was ever posted. Those several months of work did not produce a single viable column.
At the capstone of the second year of Storyboard, I'm forced to basically eat crow about one of my major plans for the last year because it turns out that not only did it not work but it didn't need to work in the first place. I managed to fill up another year of columns just fine without going into great detail about one game over another, and as it turns out, I'm a lot happier with this year as a whole anyway.
by Eliot Lefebvre May 17th 2012 (3 days ago)
DC Universe Online
SOE
Shields generally aren't thought of as a weapon; they're usually seen as the exact
opposite of a weapon. But in the superheroic milieu, all that changes. A shield is something to be used offensively, and in
DC Universe Online's next major update, players will begin wielding the shield for their own superheroic (or villainous) capers.
A recent interview with creative director
Jens Andersen discusses the intended role of the shield in combat.
Andersen explains that while the new weapon comes along in a very PvP-centered update, it's not meant to be used specifically for PvP; the team just wants to have something new for players to enjoy no matter what. In play, shields are similar to a staff weapon, but unlike most other weapons, the shield can continue to build a combo after a heavy strike by moving back to light strikes. That should make the shield a very aggressive option -- perhaps odd for something that's
not generally thought of as a weapon.
by Eliot Lefebvre May 17th 2012 (3 days ago)
I have to be honest, the Caitian Carrier for
Star Trek Online kind of makes me want to give the game a shot again. I liked it when I played it before, but I just had no time to play it on top of everything else. But then I think about all the work I'd need to do just to get caught up to normal, and... yeah, that's about the point when my gumption evaporates. Still, though. Carrier.
In other and far more relevant news, it's time for this week's installment of
Ask Massively, which talks about the cycle of game announcement and subsequent disappointment. (Apropos of the recent beta weekends for
The Secret World, naturally.) If you've got a question you would like to see answered in a future installment of the column, send it to
ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
by Eliot Lefebvre May 17th 2012 (3 days ago)
If you're familiar with the phrase "robbing Peter to pay Paul," you'll understand the latest episode in the ongoing
38 Studios financial crisis. Except replace "Paul" with "the state of Rhode Island" and "Peter" with "
the company's employees." Yes, in order to make the most recent payment to the state that sparked this whole crisis, the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation has been informed that
Curt Schilling's company is paying the state but not paying any of the company's employees. According to anonymous sources, all temporary employees and contractors have also been terminated.
While
this measure might help forestall immediate action, the company is still on the hook for a $75 million loan, and Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee has made it clear that the company is looking for more assistance from the state in order to remain viable. 38 Studios continues to make no public statements at this time. We'll no doubt have more on this story in the coming days as it continues to develop.
by Eliot Lefebvre May 17th 2012 (3 days ago)
It's really hard to imagine anything in the saccharine world of
Spirit Tales being properly termed a crisis, but the game's newest update is aiming in that direction.
The Crisis of Jade Forest goes live on May 23rd, giving players a chance to tackle an extra-difficult version of the normal Jade Forest area with extra boss-enriched goodness. Successful players have plenty of motivation, however, as the reward for completion involves a chest that could contain items normally reserved for the game's item mall.
Groups of up to five players can enter the battle once per day, which fills the area with deadly monsters and 10 special bosses. Successfully defeating all of these bosses will grant the chance to earn both rewards that would normally cost real money as well as other little trinkets. it's also meant to be a great way to level up, so if you're already in the open beta, you may want to consider
a look at the dungeon.
by Eliot Lefebvre May 17th 2012 (3 days ago)
Spiral Knights seems to be doing pretty well for itself.
The latest official dispatch proudly states that the game currently has three million registered accounts in total, which is certainly a sign of good health. To celebrate, the development team is running a small promotion: all Elevators will cost no energy to use from now until Saturday at 5 p.m. EDT. Players under the effects of an Elevator Pass will see the two free days added on, so all players who want to take advantage of this will be able to.
The dispatch also reveals that the team is hard at work on developing new features for the next year, including new missions, more accessible DLC, and improvements to both combat and guild systems. All in all, if you're
one of the three million account holders, it sounds like the game is going to provide you with more fun stuff to do in the future... and if not, well, you can always start the road toward four.
