MMOG Nation Citizen Spotlight: Aggro Me
['MMOG Nation' is a weekly column by Michael Zenke about current events in the world of Massively Multiplayer Games. This week's column focuses on the blogging efforts of an EverQuest 2 player.]
World of Warcraft's MMOG-glossary lists the definition of 'Aggro' as "This means the monsters are mad at you and you've 'activated' them to attack you. They are now in the motion of trying to reach and attack you." That fairly accurately sums up the writings on the blog Aggro Me, a now mostly-retired site that focused almost solely on the EverQuest 2 title developed by Sony Online Entertainment.
While for the most part his commentary ran to the esoterica of EQ2 patch notes and a weekly humor column, he was also fairly well known for some inflamatory statements made in the heat of the blogging moment. In particular, his scathing dismissal of the Penny Arcade comic early last year garnered a lot of attention on forums around the Internet. He also vigorously decried the concept of the SOE Station Exchange when it was originally launched, and expended a good deal of effort in examining its flaws and shortcomings.
Aggro was kind enough to answer a few questions for us, and so today we have a look behind the screen at the gent who has (for good or ill) done a fair bit of aggroing of his own in the last two years. We had a chance to talk about his past with Massive games, the reason his blog has been so quiet of late, and I've got a plethora of links to some of the best content the Aggro Me site has to offer. Read on for a look at a focused blogger, who has never been afraid to let you know about that chip on his shoulder.
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Imagine the fun of a Massively Multiplayer world inhabited by adorable penguins, cute fuzzy animals, or some of those incomprehensibly popular Disney television characters. A disturbing, post-apocalyptic vision of future gaming? To hear veteran Massive designer Raph Koster talk at GDC earlier this month, that's not the future: it's the present. At the 
Self-styled as a 'virtual monster hunter', the author behind the site 
At the end of last month, eBay confirmed that they intend to pull every auction for 'virtual artifacts' from their site. From WoW gold to Neopoints, Real Money Transfer (RMT) fans will have to look elsewhere for their goodies. While initially I found this a fascinating move, after having it pointed out to me that 
['MMOG Nation' is a weekly column by Michael Zenke about current events in the world of Massively Multiplayer Games. This week's column looks back and forward via the lens of World of Warcraft's new Burning Crusade expansion. Why aren't you playing right now?]
Despite 2006's expiration date already having past, it's the solemn duty of anyone with a column to reflect on what has come before. It's vitally important that we remember the best and worst moments of the previous year, so that when people screw up this year we can say we saw it coming. This year, of all years, it's even more important that we keep the past in mind. All three 'next-gen' consoles are now on the market, pundits are shouting from the rooftops about the 'revitalization' of PC Gaming, and there are at least two or three AAA Massive titles likely to be launched this year. At the end of this year, we'll be able to look back with 20/20 hindsight on what is sure to be a unique span of time in Massive Gaming. In the meantime, we can take that same look back on a year that ... well, wasn't that unique. Nothing huge launched, nothing big went under, and the only industry-shaking news was the 'death' of E3, something talked about at great length in many corners of the internet already. Just the same, there were some good times and some bad times this year that are worth noting. Read on for a listing of the tin badges I picked up at the corner store: the 2006 MMOG Nation awards.
So far, in the 'Citizen Spotlight' series I've interviewed two highly cogent World of Warcraft players and an astute news blogger. There's something about being a veteran of Massive games, though, that brings out the designer in everyone. Perhaps it's because of the very personal nature that players have with game worlds; it's hard not to have opinions on, say, a combat system after you've been intimately familiar for years at a stretch. 
I'm sure I'm not the only person who was excited by last week's announcement that the tools-maker Multiverse is going to be 
There are bloggers ... and then there are bloggers. Tobold, of 
You may have heard of the game 
['MMOG Nation' is a weekly column by Michael Zenke about current events in the world of Massively Multiplayer Games. This week's column is a look at the site VirginWorlds, and the man behind the keyboard, Brent.]
World of Warcraft has sold a kabillion copies. Something like 1% of America is playing it, and pretty much everyone in South Korea. Great news for the Massive industry, and even better for gaming as a whole ... but why are games still not 'legitimate'? Brian "Psychochild" Green had the chance to debate that very question last weekend at the 
As an alternative to my usual commentary, this week (and again in the future) I'm going to be highlighting worthy blogs that deal with Massively Multiplayer games. While even folks not overly interested in the genre may have heard of the likes of 
Like God of War's Ares, World of Warcraft is an unmistakable figure on the horizon. The rest of the Massive industry seems, for the most part, to be milling about in an unfocused manner at the feet of this genre giant. Last week at X06 we had the first real sign that, while the market is currently disoriented, it won't always be this way. The announcement of the Marvel/Cryptic/Microsoft alliance, and the possibilities of the 
A rose by any other name may not smell as sweet, but most Massively Multiplayer titles available right now are games, whether they like it or not. Spaces like Second Life aside, there are very few 'virtual worlds' out there that can legitimately claim the title. In my mind, that's a good thing; we refer to them as Massively Multiplayer Online Games, MMOGs, or MMORPGs, for a reason. The example I point to most often when discussing this topic is Sony Online's Star Wars Galaxies (SWG). I'm harsh on the game for many reasons, but at the root of the problem is the fundamental question of identity. Galaxies launched trying to be a world, when what all the people logging in were looking for was a game. Today I'm going to talk about how SWG launched differing from more game-oriented and successful MMOGs, how the recent changes to the game illustrate the need for 'gamey-ness' in a Massive space, and why the concept of a 'virtual world' is inherently flawed in the first place.
Not too long ago, my feelings about Sony Online's Everquest (EQ) were mostly frustration and disappointment. Despite its position as a genre-defining title, the release of EverQuest 2 signaled to me that Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) was no longer going to be focusing on the game. My assumption was that, with a shinier and more solo-friendly big brother around that the original would fall by the wayside. After a time I even began to become frustrated by the fact that Sony kept releasing expansions for the game. I felt that they were leading EQ players on, that they were short-changing EQ2, and that they were pouring effort into a no longer relevant title. I can now say categorically that I was wrong. 
Last week, I spent some quality time among my adopted people. While playing videogames may have become an accepted part of American culture in recent years, I've been doing the hard stuff (Hunt the Wumpus, table-top RPGs, even tactical wargames) for a long, long time. Indianapolis, IN was the adopted home of the nerd last week, and along with my hearty band I braved the obstacles of gamer funk and three dollar sodas for the chance to reconnect with my roots. This year, as at the last few Gen Cons, several Massive developers had their wares on display. The Burning Crusade stood cheek-to-jowl with the World of Warcraft CCG in the Upper Deck booth, while Mythic was displaying that title's 
['MMOG Nation' is a new regular bi-weekly column by Michael Zenke about current events in the world of Massively Multiplayer Games. This week's column is about the addition of the Drow race to 
