The Daily Grind: Your favorite MMO machinima?

by Krystalle Voecks Dec 4th 2008 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Video, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Humor

It seems like no matter what game you play, there's probably machinima for it out there. One can find funny videos about characters trying not to get deleted; short horror films that creep you out; well-known dance extravaganzas that kind of stretch what's actually in your game; and full-length movies that combine games to achieve their effect. Machinima artists offer us a great deal of freely available entertainment. As we're always on the lookout for something fun to watch during lunch around the virtual Massively offices, this morning we thought we'd ask what some of your favorite MMO machinima are? What makes a good MMO machinima to you? Is it technical ability, story-line, or are you fond of catchy songs that combine great games as we have in the above example from Baron Soosdon?

Tags: clear-skies, dont-delete-me, machinima, tdg, the-daily-grind, the-device-has-been-modified, the-munchies-candy-corn-and-crackheads

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mikejl said on 9:32AM 12-04-2008

Based on WoW; the Rise of the Living Dead series (specifically parts 1, 2 and 3 teaser trailer) were my favorite.
Also the first "The Brothers Tauren" top my list.

Jeromai said on 10:07AM 12-04-2008

Technical excellence, good pacing, presence of storyline, either that or it has to be very humorous or have a really good song. I like stuff that's unique and took serious effort to do, not just cut-and-paste from in-game video captures.

The World of Warcraft ones that I know, probably anyone who has played the game more than I will know as well.

World of Warcraft: Dance Styles - the comparison between each race's dancing, the time to dress them up, and pacing of the real world dance to match. Still a classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=066_q4DIeqk

World of Warcraft: Code Monkey - storyline, neat song, sappy love story, got it all. I took one look at it and was seriously tempted to subscribe to WoW just to attempt to learn how to make videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Wy7gRGgeA

Darkdust said on 10:44AM 12-04-2008

I'm partial to a guild ad I did in SWG a while back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3p1JP-NGkg

Snorii said on 11:41AM 12-04-2008

I like Samuraiko's CoH Videos

http://www.youtube.com/user/samuraiko

Rhaegar said on 12:25PM 12-04-2008

WoW Hardware Store

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwh1MWg1LLA

Zaniac said on 12:42PM 12-04-2008

You know, when the article used the phrase "well-known dance extravaganzas" and even linked that phrase to a YouTube video, I definately expected something a little more than the old GW and WoW dances. - You could at least have given a nod to the ultimate video series of said genre, and even the game that allowed it!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkyllD-ljkg&fmt=18

While on the subject of said game, the thing I personally look for in a really good machinima, is story.

Story, and presentation. And if the soundtrack also fits, you have a hit. This is one such example, and definately one of my favorite machinimas of all time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcIYYB5k6GE&fmt=18

Tasogare said on 5:35PM 12-04-2008

Holy crap Cantina Crawl...I was expecting the exact same thing when he mentioned dance videos. A dude named Balgosa Windspire in SWG used to make the most rediculous videos like that, IMO one of the best things about that game.

UltimateQ said on 2:22PM 12-04-2008

The song was fairly epic. The video was alright.

e.pauley.jr said on 6:27PM 12-04-2008

I wish they all could be Greater Faydark Girls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds0XjxrZmgk

Alcevious said on 11:08PM 12-04-2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30tpMCC_P-8

This was done by some friends of mine. The story is great and the music is original. It's like an epic western with a Warcraft setting.

What makes a machinima for me is the story. Plain and simple. Everything else either adds to it or takes away, and sadly, for many machinimas out there bad music and direction takes away from what would be a pretty nice story.

Jeromai said on 12:55AM 12-05-2008

Hate Blogsmith. It ate my City of Heroes links. Let's try again.

Vertical Studios (Aral and Coffy) - Dies Irae and Night Prayers are my personal favorites because I can actually make out some story, but the rest are technically spectacular.
http://verticalstudio.blogspot.com/

City of Heroes - The Operatives: In the End
Classic. Nice story. Inspiring because it actually looks achievable by ordinary people, not gods like Aral.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGrp_InCVNY

City of Heroes - Boom
Oldie but goodie. Nothing really wow technical effects-wise, but the sweet pacing and choice of animations during the BOOM chorus makes this worth watching at least once.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uetu_9D7yM0

Cadet SF said on 12:23PM 12-05-2008

Clear Skies, hands down. Excellent quality, especially when blending HL2 and EVE together. On top of all that the story is quite good and completely fits within EVE while being accessible as well. Plus the soundtrack meshing EVE music with normal pop songs was interesting to say the least.