Aug 1
Massive Online Gamer – Utter Crap
I’ve mentioned once or twice Beckett’s entry into the sphere of ‘reporting’ on Massive games – Massive Online Gamer. I received my first issue of the quarterly magazine just before we left for San Francisco, so I haven’t had the chance to really sit down and take a look at it yet.
Tonight I did, and I regret it. Reading it, picking it up, paying money for it … perhaps even getting interested in Massive games, so terrible is this ‘magazine’. My only consolation is that this thing will probably only ever see one or two more issues before they fold it like an ugly sweater.
Read on for my impressions of this tabloid excuse of a gaming magazine.
The most obvious flaw with the magazine is its super-cheap construction. I know that I’m spoiled by magazines like Edge and EGM, but the tissue-thin paper and flimsy feel to the print is a distraction while reading. I’m aware that Beckett, as a sports-mag company, tends to print lots of cheap little books like this. This is a departure for them, though, and I was kind of hoping they’d put a little more effort into it.
The second thing I noticed while paging through the issue was the 7th grade level use of fonts and images to make content out of nothing. If I make my words REALLY BIG it will still look good on the page, right? My favorite non-page was a large screenshot of a sailing ship, taking up about 60% of the paper. The other 40% was dedicated mostly to the words ‘Extra Character Anyone?’ Underneath that was some smaller font explaining that Guild Wars is now allowing players to purchase an extra character slot for a fee. The magazine purports to cover ‘the MMO Lifestyle.’ Apparently MMOG players have ruined their eyes reading all that on-screen text and now need size 42 fonts in order to read.
As for what little content there actually is, it’s pretty much all WoW all the time. Looking at the table of contents, there are no fewer than 12 ‘articles’ about Blizzard’s massive game. In their defense, it may be that their plan is to devote the majority of every issue to a specific game. If this is the case, I think they might eventually have some interesting content. My gut reaction, though, is that this is always what the rag is going to look like and they’re cashing in on WoW’s popularity.
The pages of the issue are filled with such tantalizing info as ‘How to level a Horde character to 20.’ There’s one for the Alliance too, so the gnomeys don’t feel left out. Another has a map of MC, a pair of articles deal with a couple of quests … because we know no one reads the quest text anymore. The ‘cover story’ is info on the Burning Crusade, but it is nothing you haven’t read a hundred times over on any website before. As inane as these stories are, they pale next to the original content: ‘Keeping the battles out of the bedroom and inside the game’ – a guide to how to play WoW as a couple. A PvP guide that reads like someone scrubbed the name off of a GameFaqs.com entry, and the in-depth ‘Do Rogues Really Do It From Behind?’ class analysis. My favorite piece is two pages listing ‘price ranges to [sic] the most popular Armor, Components, Weapons, and more.’ Most of these entries are so broad as to be useless (Stormshroud Armor apparently goes for anywhere from 60 to 120 G), and who knows how they got this data. There is no information anywhere in the magazine on how they compiled these prices; they may have made them up, or just looked at a single server’s AH to compose the list.
They do spend time talking about Blue Oyster Cult’s Eric Bloom playing the game; celebrities playing MMOGs may be the least interesting thing I’ve ever heard of, but at least it’s actual new content.
The rest of the magazine is nothing but ads. They look like ’stories’, but they’re ads. Want to know what’s in the latest FFXI expansion? They’ve got the hard-hitting info, straight from the two month old press releases. DDO is apparently based on this ‘table-top’ thing … and gosh did you know that Vin Diesel plays D&D? There’s a review of Auto Assault in there by Crecente; he does an okay job but cops out with an 8/10. Gamerankings puts it at a 7 on average, and I think they’re being overly generous. They do have fun facts, though. Did you know that AA required 240,000 work hours to make, from a 44 person team? Gaah.
Overall, this magazine says nothing to me as a gamer or a MMOG enthusiast. It seems hastily produced, is made with poor quality paper, and hides the fact that it has no real content by throwing pretty pictures at you. EON covers just one game in the genre, and is a beautiful sight to behold; this one has the entire length and breadth of the industry to cherry pick from, and all it can come up with is … this.
Here’s to your maiden voyage, Massive Online Gamer. I hope you sink swiftly and leave very little wreckage.
5 comments5 Comments so far
I agree 100% with your assessment of the magazine. I wish I hadn’t wasted my money on the trash.
I know you have been a little hasty in your criticism. I say this not because what you say is incorrect but because you express it the wrong way.
Who, honestly who, cares about the material the magazine is printed on. Do you work in the paper industry? Is there some way you honed your elite paper material recognition skills that you could teach me? You speak measures about yourself when you rant on the material of the paper of a magazine you read distracting you.
The font is certainly applied by an amateur. Without hesitation one could say that without any prior knowledge or marketing or magazines the font is not the only rookie move making it to print. Atleast you weren’t distracted by the oxygen around you when you spat that witty remark about MMOG players eyesight.
Returning to your wit, i was pleased to see you also noticed the hog time WoW recieved. I knew that some of the writers were end game clan member/leaders in WoW and expected to see some advanced MOB coverage and what not but I was dismayed at the volume of WoW writing in contrast to all other MMOs. Given the title of the magazine I hope they do make more of an effort to cover the multitude of other games already or soon to be released.
It seems that you particularly enjoy Eon for its specialization and focussed method. I am sure you are intelligent enough to realize that is probably not going to be the mission statement for B’s MOG.
As a fellow MMO enthusiast I believe you arent so daft you cannot see that WoW is a Juggernaut compared to everything else in the industry. Blizzard has rightfully earned this following and I appreciate B’s MOG for picking up hardcore end game players to cover WoW. If you stuck around and read some of the recent high level encounters they broke down play by play, you would understand the unique perception they have compared to say, someone like you.
That couples PvP lovey dovey crap was ridiculous, another amateur mistake. honestly i was very glad you called them out on this. that is the worst article title ever made. simply speaking.
Now, mike. i do not know if you consider yourself a veteran gamer or a veteran baby but I do know something i would like to depart upon your shallow vision and thin compassion for a fledgling magazine. Becketts may be old. Becketts MMO is new, brand new. You are the kid who just beat on the new kid his first week at school. You must feel tough.
I agree with you WOW is the largest content but seeing the breakdown of players in the mmo world I think that’s justifiable.
Perhaps it’s because there have been some issues since its debut, but I must say I enjoyed the magazine what I’ve read so far. It has had several interviews with the makers of the upcoming WARhammer mmo as well as details on a handful of others. I, unlike you, enjoy the WOW coverage and information and think it’s cool they interview a specific guild. I ran across your page because I was just getting ready to subscribe and was looking to find the best deal online. After reading your opinion and the few others I felt I had to comment positively. However if you hate WOW then I’d say look elsewhere but again how can a MMO magazine not cover a lot of WOW…
I don’t know what you people are talking about. Have you actually picked up a copy of the magazine lately? It’s amazingly good. I subscribed a few months ago and just got three of my guild buddies to subscribe. Massive Online Gamer is probably the best mag to ever cover the MMORPG games. I would recommend this magazine to all MMO gamers out there!!! A
I agree with just about everything posted above, to different degrees on different topics. Ok cheep material, less than spectacular text and layout, maybe a little too much fluff not enough “meat and potatoes”, and focuses more on WoW than anything else.
So what, they have room for improvement, they are just getting off the ground with this and it may take a little while before they get feedback on what readers want and deliver it. It has the possibility to become a great read, if they can take criticisms like these, learn from them, adapt and change as needed they’ll do it. Rome wasn’t built in a day, most encounters take a few attempts to learn, etc., I wouldn’t write these guys off just yet. Best of Luck Beckett MOG