turpstervision posts

Redefining MMOs: Breaking the Mould

by Lesley Smith Aug 6th 2009 at 9:30AM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Aion, EVE Online, EverQuest II, Business models, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP, Leveling, PvE, Opinion, Browser, Virtual worlds, All Points Bulletin, Crime, Final Fantasy XIV, Cities XL, Redefining MMOs

Just think about that title for a second. Of all the games genres you've played, isn't it MMOs that feel most like carbon copies of one another? Level systems, the character creation process and class archetypes are nearly universal, with hundreds of games sharing the same characteristics. Don't you sometimes wish that MMO developers would step back and reassess the genre they have collectively created? This week, as part of Massively's "Redefining MMOs" series, it's my turn to muse on a topic and I've chosen to look as whether it's time the MMO mould (or mold, as my American editors would say) should be broken and re-examined.

Many aspects of MMOs, such as classes, levelling, raids and bosses, endure simply because they work. After all, if it ain't broke why fix it? But sometimes it feels like you need a breath of fresh air, to step back and smell the roses. This is especially the case when carbon copy MMOs start being rolled out. In the last few months I've tried MMO after MMO and can literally play each one blindfolded. Mages are mages, warriors are warriors and clerics by any other name are still priests. While the archetypes of these classes -- the healer, the tank, the caster, the melee damage-dealer and the pet-toting badass -- differ slightly between genres and titles, they are part of a formula that seems to define the MMO genre.

Skip past the cut to read the rest of the article

Tags: addons, aion, aion-classes, aion-the-tower-of-eternity, aion-tower-of-eternity, all-points-bulletin, apb, cities-xl, classes, eq2, eqii, eve, eve-online, everquest-2, everquest-ii, experience, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-xiv, game-mechanics, leveling, Redefining-mmos, turpster, turpstervision, ui, user-interface, world-of-warcraft, wow

TurpsterVision - Weapon of Choice

by Mark Turpin Dec 19th 2008 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Video, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Reviews, Opinion, Hands-on, Humor, TurpsterVision

TurpsterVision is back with vengeance now with four episodes every month focusing on one MMO at a time. This month, along with the rest of the Massively team, we are venturing deep into Middle Earth and exploring the depths of the Mines of Moria.

Hey folks, it's good to be back; MMOs just wouldn't be the same without TurpsterVision! Today we are taking a look at Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria's new Legendary Weapons. I've often wanted to have a sword glow blue and warn me when danger is near. To be honest I'd settle for an iPhone app that would do the same thing. But fortunately for me I don't have to settle for anything less than the real deal, albeit a virtual-real deal.

Moria not only granted us two new classes, which I'll be exploring one at a time over the next two weeks, but it also granted players the ability to gain Legendary weapons of old which they can level up alongside their character. But enough reading about it, this is TurpsterVision! Watch on after the break...

Tags: featured, joystiqfeatures, legendary-weapons, lord of the rings, lord-of-the-rings, lord-of-the-rings-online, LordOfTheRings, lordoftheringsonline, lotro, mines-of-moria, moria, turpster, turpster-vision, turpstervision, tv

Meet The Team - Mark Turpin (The T)

by Mark Turpin Dec 16th 2008 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Massively meta, Meet the Team

Gnomish made crotch-mounted parachutes - They've saved my ass from a beating more than once!

Once a week our writers will give you a glimpse into their lives, to let you get to know them and the characters they play a little better. Click here to read more Meet the Team. Above is Turpster, my main character in World of Warcraft, and his crotch-mounted parachute (What? Where do you keep yours?)

What do you do for Massively.com?
I am the host of Massively's number one rated video podcast 'TurpsterVision' I am proud to have won many prestigious awards such as 'Massively's #1 Video Podcast MMO Review Show' and 'Most improved odor'.

What's your favorite MMO?
Without a doubt it's World of Warcraft but that is a terrible answer; I feel like such a sell out saying it. It's the MMO equivalent of someone asking what your favorite band is and you giving the answer 'The Beatles' - everyone loves the Beatles, it doesn't say much about you. So in an extremely long winded way of saying it, I guess I really liked Lord of the Rings Online and Warhammer Online, but gosh darn it! I love the Beatles.

Gallery: Meet the Team

Tags: featured, mark-turpin, meet-the-team, turpster, turpstervision

Understanding Aurora Feint: The Arena

by Mark Turpin Nov 26th 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Screenshots, Interviews, Launches, MMO industry, New titles, Reviews, Mobile, Hands-on, Casual, Massively Interviews

I am no stranger to the iPhone and the addictive game that dominates said iPhone, Aurora Feint. When we had an email come along letting us know that a follow up was being released, I put my iPhone down and picked up a normal phone (it had buttons on it - it freaked me out!) and spoke with Danielle, Peter and Jason, the people behind the smash hit iPhone app Aurora Feint: The Arena, follow up to Aurora Feint: The Beginning, and asked a few questions about this platform defining MMO experience.

They hadn't slept in 36 hours but some how still managed to get through 30 minuets talking with me about their game and still remain incredibly passionate and excited about it's release. Their first title got twenty-four hundred reviews, four and a half stars on the Apple App Store and one million downloads. Their latest title has a lot to live up to.

Aurora Feint: The Arena is the iPhone/iPod Touch's first 'Asynchronous' Massively Multi-Player RPG. It's a bit of a mouthful, so lets break it down (Ed. Drop that beat T!). Being 'Asynchronous means that when dueling another player in Aurora Feint: The Arena they aren't playing you directly. Instead you compete through taking a trip down on to the summoning circle and rustling up yourself a Ghost.

Gallery: Aurora Feint 2 - The Arena

Aurora Feint: The Arena - Where you spent most of your time

Check out the gallery above for some in-game action from the hit smash and join me below the break where you can read a little more on my thoughts of this new venture for MMOs.

Tags: arena, asynchronous, aurora-feint, casual, featured, iphone, ipod, mmo, turpster, turpster-vision, turpstervision, tv

TurpsterVision: WAR, What is it good for?

by Mark Turpin Oct 14th 2008 at 2:30PM

Filed under: Video, Reviews, Warhammer Online, Vendetta Online, Hands-on, Humor, TurpsterVision

I wont bore you all with words and phrases strung together to create some form of coherence, instead I will jump right back in! I am extremely proud to invite you once more to join in with the fun right here at Massively that is TurpsterVision! "Oi Git face! Wot'z dis? Da same game twice? Dis is an outrage! WAAGHH"

It is true folks, we are having a look at Warhammer Online once again here at TurpsterVision, but this time we are looking at the game as a whole and trying to answer that age old question of; is it actually fun to play?

Well if I told you here that would ruin all the fun, 'ow about you join me afta da break an' we'll see wot I make of a life at WAR...sorry, been playing Greenskins just a little bit too much recently.

Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Tags: greenskins, lol, turpster, turpster-vision, turpstervision, tv, war, warhammer-online, warhammeronline

TurpsterVision : Warhammer proves you don't need a hoe to grow

by Mark Turpin Sep 24th 2008 at 10:30AM

Filed under: Video, Guides, Crafting, Reviews, Warhammer Online, War, Hands-on, Humor, TurpsterVision

Turpster shows that he is far more than just a Chauvinist!

I wont bore you all with words and phrases strung together to create some form of coherence, instead I will jump right back in! I am extremely proud to invite you once more to join in with the fun right here at Massively that is TurpsterVision!

As you are undoubtedly aware, Warhammer Online hit the shelves last week; and with it brought a whole new level of awesome to the MMO playing field. Right here on the site we have spoken of the joys of Public Quests, Realm Vs. Realm and a whole host of other goodies.

I have chosen to just focus on a couple of elements that caught my eye this week and I guess we'll have a more in-depth look at the game in the near future. But for now, grab your Spade or Garden Fork and join me in what could quite possibly be the most bloody battle yet...Cultivating!

Tags: crafting, crafting-system, cultivating, featured, joystiqfeatures, potions, rvr, turpster, turpster-vision, turpstervision, warhammer-online

TurpsterVision : A Class Act

by Mark Turpin Sep 4th 2008 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Video, Club Penguin, Opinion, Browser, Casual, Humor, TurpsterVision, Kids

I wont bore you all with words and phrases strung together to create some form of coherence, instead I will jump right back in! I am extremely proud to invite you once more to join in with the fun right here at Massively that is TurpsterVision!

After last time trying to sell you all on a new form of entertainment media, I thought I'd return to something a little more traditional. Something that all the MMO fans out there, all the World of Warcraft fans, could really get behind. A game that's on everyone's lips and dancing right into their hearts. That's right: Club Penguin.

Join me below the cut for a special deluxe edition (complete with tuxedo) of TurpsterVision!

Tags: club-penguin, cp, featured, featuredvideo, joystiq-features, tuperster-vision, turpstervision

TurpsterVision : Bricking It

by Mark Turpin Aug 12th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Video, Opinion, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Consoles, Mac, Humor, TurpsterVision

First up, great to be back! I wont bore you all with words and phrases strung together to create some form of coherence, instead I will jump right back in! I am extremely proud to invite you once more to join in with the fun right here at Massively that is TurpsterVision!

Howdy Folks! I have returned! When we last left our hero I was battling off legions of lowbies on my quest to become a raid boss of Epic proportions. I have so much to tell you all, as I recently discovered the existence of 'T-chlorians' in all living things (They continually speak to us, telling us the will of the T. When you learn to quiet your mind, you'll hear them speaking to you). I have also proven once and for all that 'Jaffa Cakes' are indeed cakes - so everyone's a winner!

To mark my return I have chosen a controversial game; Aurora Feint The Beginning. An MMO in the making? Or just the reason that I now have RSI and haven't showered in four weeks? There is only one way to find out ... click through below the cut.

Tags: apple, appstore, aurora-feint, bejeweled, development, featured, featuredvideo, iphone, ipod, IpodTouch, mmo, mmo-industry, mmorpg, puzzle-quest, tetris, the-t, turpster, turpster-vision, turpstervision

The week in Massively features

by Michael Zenke Jun 29th 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: At a glance, Massively meta

	Peering Inside: The Second Life year in review Today marks the fifth anniversary of Second Life, and we thought we'd take advantage of the day to round up some of the significant happenings in this most well-known of current-generation virtual worlds over the last twelve months.
	TurpsterVision : Oh and one more Ding! Today is a special post, its a game close to my heart, and it isn't a review. It's World of Warcraft folks; there is no need to review it, what do you want me to say? Honestly, it's THE World of Warcraft, there aren't any imitations that even come close, well, maybe one. So I won't bore you with a 5 minute long video reviewing what we already know, instead I have made a 9 minute long video showing off my mad PvP/PvE skills in my recent DINGSTRAVAGANZA!
	First Impressions: Dreamlords the Reawakening Lockpick Entertainment has been hard at work on the relaunch of their fantasy MMORTS Dreamlords the Reawakening, and their efforts have not been in vain. This title is just as rich and complex a game as you'd hope for. If you're the type of gamer who likes getting your hands dirty, the level of micromanagement alone will please you.
	Behind the Curtain: Hacked account - opportunity or deathknell? Well, it seems I may have been too hasty in jumping on the 'omgblizzardgmsaretehsuckzorz" bandwagon last week. Merely a handful of hours after logging back on to my World of Warcraft account and submitting a GM ticket after reformatting my PC, not only had my deleted characters been restored, but all of their gold and items had been recovered.
	EVE Evolved: Stellar council - one month on Yesterday marked the one month anniversary of EVE Online's democratically elected Council of Stellar Management. The council was created as a way for the players to democratically decide which game issues are important enough to bring to CCP's attention. Since CCP are unable to sift through the forum for important topics, this gives a way for players to put forward their problems in a constructive manner.

Tags: dreamlords, eve-online, featured, second-life, turpstervision, week-in-mv-features, world-of-warcraft

TurpsterVision : Oh and one more Ding!

by Mark Turpin Jun 24th 2008 at 5:30PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Video, Raiding, Machinima, Roleplaying, Humor, TurpsterVision

Every Tuesday TurpsterVision is LIVE (kind of) right here on Massively! Take the 'T' from 'Tuesday' and the 'V' from 'LIVE', smash them together like its going out of fashion and you got yourself TV for TurpsterVision - the best video podcast LIVE right here on Massively!

Welcome back, it's been two weeks too long - though I blame that on the fact that its been time to party! Forgetting that, today is a special post, its a game close to my heart, and it isn't a review. It's World of Warcraft folks; there is no need to review it, what do you want me to say? Honestly, it's THE World of Warcraft, there aren't any imitations that even come close, well, maybe one. So I won't bore you with a 5 minute long video reviewing what we already know, instead I have made a 9 minute long video showing off my mad PvP/PvE skills in my recent DINGSTRAVAGANZA! (An event which saw my Shadow Priest finally tip the scales and join the big boys at level 70)

It is also a friendly plug/invitation letting you all know that I will be at the World Wide Invitational this weekend in Paris and if any of you guys are out there then I urge you to come seek me and my camera out and share the love!

Tags: arguably-funny, ding, dingstravaganza, dwarves, featured, funny, gnomes, level-6, level-70, paris, pew-pew, player-raid, pve, pvp, q-q, qq, raiding, turpster, turpster-vision, turpsters-dingstrava..., turpstervision, tv, warcraft, well-i-think-that-its-funny, world-of-warcraft, wow, wwi, wwi-08

Cinemassively: Turpster's Dingstravaganza

by Moo Money Jun 16th 2008 at 12:30PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Video, Cinemassively, Machinima, Humor

Every Saturday, our sister site, WoW Insider, holds a podcast on WoW Radio. Last Saturday was special, though, as their station co-host, Turpster, also of Turpstervision, was about to hit level 70. He invited everyone to join him on the Sporeggar EU server as he challenged newbie gnomes and dwarves to take him down in their starting area.

According to one attendee, Regis of Sunstrider, about 200 "newbs" showed up to take Turpster down. He kindly provided a video of the event, as well as a play-by-play of the action. Unfortunately, he was walking back from the graveyard when Turpster was defeated, so there are no screenshots or footage of that moment. Was anyone there that managed to capture the final battle?

[Thanks, Regis of Sunstrider!]

If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.

Tags: blizzard, cinemassively, machinima, regis-of-sunstrider, sporeggar, turpster, turpsters-dingstravaganza, turpstervision, world-of-warcraft, wow, wow-insider, wow-radio

TurpsterVision: Saturday Night Fever

by Mark Turpin Jun 11th 2008 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Video, PlanetSide, PvP, Reviews, Opinion, TurpsterVision

Every Wednesday think, "That's a day late again, I hope he isn't making a habit of this" and take the "T" for Turpster and take the "a" in "day", capitalise it, remove the little bit in the middle, turn it upside down and you get a "V". Put the two together and you'll have TV for TurpsterVision -- the best Internet video podcast on Massively! (Never mind that business about it being the only video podcast on Massively...)

It might be a day or so late but at least it's here! Thanks for stopping by once again to the internet's favourite almost-every-weekly MMO review show. This week gives you a little taster where you can see the game that you WILL be playing this Saturday (14th June – 6pm EST) and a slight indication of how much you are going to get owned in the face by my mad team killing skills!

If that little teaser doesn't tempt you to join us after the break then lets just pretend that there are some leaked spoilers and exclusive news – there isn't, but I wont tell if you don't.

Tags: black-ops, featured, fps, massively-pwns-you, mmo, planetside, soe, sony, station, t-bag, team-killing, turpster, turpster-vision, turpstervision, tv, war, warfare

TurpsterVision: An MM-No?

by Mark Turpin Jun 3rd 2008 at 7:30PM

Filed under: Video, Reviews, Opinion, Exteel, Free-to-play, TurpsterVision

I've made my name here at Massively reviewing MMOs; it's what I do. This week brought to my attention that not all the games here at Massively are as massive as you might believe – no I haven't gone and reviewed a game where you play as a tiny ant fighting other tiny ants...on a grain of sand. Though I must admit that it sounds like a totally awesome idea! It would rock, so consider it copyrighted. Instead, using my patented Random Augmented Nuclear Dart Yaw machine, or the R.A.N.D.Y Machine for short, I have managed to select a game that I don't think quite belongs here.

Tags: 3rd-person, exteel, featured, mmo, rpg, shooter, slasher, third-person, third-person-shooter, turpster, turpster-vision, turpstervision, tv

TurpsterVision: I am a real Barbarian

by Mark Turpin May 20th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Video, Age of Conan, Launches, Reviews, Opinion, Hands-on, Humor, TurpsterVision

Every Tuesday think "T" for Turpster and take the "a" in "day", capitalise it, remove the little bit in the middle, turn it upside down and you get a "V". Put the two together and you'll have TV for TurpsterVision -- the best Internet video podcast on Massively! (Never mind that business about it being the only video podcast on Massively...)

It is a well known fact that Turpamania is running wild, but before Turpamania there was Hulkamania; arguably not as widespread and with as many Turpamaniacs, but our lesson has to begin somewhere. You see, Age of Conan was released today, and with that it conjures up images of the greatest barbarian of all time, Hulk Hogan – don't pretend like you don't remember all the words to his song, "I am a real Barbarian".

Anyway, I digress: AoC has been billed as one of the four horsemen to herald the end of Blizzard's evil tyranny over the MMO market, but can any game, or any group of games, really topple the giant that is World of Warcraft? No, of course not, but that doesn't mean that they aren't great fun!

Tags: age-of-conan, aoc, barbarian, boobs, featured, funny, hulk-hogan, hulkamania, hulkhogan, humour, lol, mature, titties, turpamania, turpster, turpster-vision, turpstervision, tv, wow, wrath

The week in Massively features

by Michael Zenke May 18th 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: At a glance, Massively meta

	Player vs. Everything: Putting raiding on your resume Ten years ago, the idea of putting something like being an officer in a hardcore raiding guild on your resume would have been laughable.
	Anti-Aliased: How to pick the MMO for you Let's be honest for a moment - there are a ton of MMOs out there.
	ION 08: State of online games keynote Globalization is one of the session tracks here at ION 08, as befitting an industry seeking the holy grail of a truly global marketplace for online games.
	TurpsterVision: Did I mention there is a war going on? Another average week, another fantastic TV Episode. This time around I've decided to have a look at Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa.
	Making/Money: Flawed by Design Today we are looking at another game and how it deals with value chains to ensure that they do not work when crafting by NPC purchases/sales alone.

If you like these, make sure to check out our full coverage of ION 2008 from earlier this week. You can also read on to see the rest of Massively's features from the past week.

Tags: featured, ion08, tabula-rasa, turpstervision