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Wednesday, December 06, 2006
MMO print magazines - How fat are you?
I don't remember where I read that, but I've read somebody nitpicking about the correct grammer of the MMORPG acronym. The first letters stand for massively multiplayer, meaning not just a handful like in a multiplayer RTS game, but hundreds or thousands. But often people write it as massive multiplayer, which suggests that the game is played by several people, all of which are overweight. I had to think of that, because *both* print magazines about MMORPGs I know are called something with "massive", not "massively".
I already mentioned in August that I subscribed to Beckett's Massive Online Gamer magazine. Bad choice, but at the time it was the only MMORPG magazine around. I don't think it is utter crap, but I agree that it isn't very good. It seems that the magazine doesn't have any authors actually playing these games, but just patch their articles together from company press releases. On the plus side that keeps you informed about all the games that are to come out. But on the downside even the descriptions of existing games tell you very little about the details, and whether the game is good or bad. And grammatically speaking, a "massive online gamer" is definitely somebody who is fat, which I am not. :)
So the new competition, the Massive Magazine can at least claim grammatical superiority, because in this case it would be the magazine that is massive, not the gamer. At 100 pages for the first issue that isn't that far from the truth. And with articles by Raph Koster, Richard Bartle, Richard Garriott, Brad McQuaid, and Nick Yee, the Massive Magazine is certainly intellectually more massive than the Beckett one. This magazine can be bought in a cheaper digital version, which might be preferable for international customers who don't want to spend a fortune on shipping cost.
But of course lots of websites and online magazines like The Escapist offer pretty much the same information for free. So in the end the most interesting thing about these magazines is that somebody somewhere decided that there are enough MMO players around to make printing and selling such a magazine worthwhile.
- posted by Tobold @ 10:38 AM Permanent Link
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First off, english isn't my native language and I'm certainly no expert on how the english language should be written, but something about this "massive gamer" thingy just seems strange to me.
Isn't massive in the "MMORPG" referencing the G at the end, and therefore it's just describing that it's (in conjunction with the other describing abbreviated words) a massive game? It is after all "Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game" and not "Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Gamer" right? I suppose that the reasoning is that Multiplayer is a substantive, but I would rather call it an adjective since it's describing what kind of game it is, just like all the other letters before the G.
Not exactly the most important thing to discuss in the world I guess, but it just seemed very strange to me. :)
Isn't massive in the "MMORPG" referencing the G at the end, and therefore it's just describing that it's (in conjunction with the other describing abbreviated words) a massive game? It is after all "Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game" and not "Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Gamer" right? I suppose that the reasoning is that Multiplayer is a substantive, but I would rather call it an adjective since it's describing what kind of game it is, just like all the other letters before the G.
Not exactly the most important thing to discuss in the world I guess, but it just seemed very strange to me. :)
# posted by 
: 6/12/06 14:48
: 6/12/06 14:48
In English, when you have multiple adjectives before a noun, each adjective describes the one behind it. If you wish each adjective to describe the noun at the end, you set each off in a series with commas.
So in "Massive Multiplayer Game" the word 'massive' is describing the adjective 'multiplayer'. If you wanted them all to be descriptors of 'game', you would have to write it "Massive, Multiplayer Game".
But while Tobold is using the point in an amusing way (and offering a nice straightline in regards to the physical fitness of the stereotypical gamer), it's a bit of a non-starter argument since the phrase that gives us MMORPG is grammatically incorrect in any case, unless you stick some commas in there.
He is correct (par usual) that the intent of the term Massively Multiplayer is to set it in contrast to the type of game that has 2-6 players. Massive Multiplayer is less clear in that regards.
And, yes, it's a slow morning here. ;-)
- Brock
So in "Massive Multiplayer Game" the word 'massive' is describing the adjective 'multiplayer'. If you wanted them all to be descriptors of 'game', you would have to write it "Massive, Multiplayer Game".
But while Tobold is using the point in an amusing way (and offering a nice straightline in regards to the physical fitness of the stereotypical gamer), it's a bit of a non-starter argument since the phrase that gives us MMORPG is grammatically incorrect in any case, unless you stick some commas in there.
He is correct (par usual) that the intent of the term Massively Multiplayer is to set it in contrast to the type of game that has 2-6 players. Massive Multiplayer is less clear in that regards.
And, yes, it's a slow morning here. ;-)
- Brock
# posted by : 6/12/06 17:09
: 6/12/06 17:09
Wouldn't that be Multi-Massive Player?
How about a Massively Multi-Massive-Player RPG?
I gained some weight over the past year ~20lbs sitting around playing wow which is part of why i really cut back my playing time to twice a week a few hours at a time. (happens when you sit on your butt and stop working out for a year) I still haven't started working out yet with snow outside and my 3 hours a day commute. I guess I need a gym membership.
How about a Massively Multi-Massive-Player RPG?
I gained some weight over the past year ~20lbs sitting around playing wow which is part of why i really cut back my playing time to twice a week a few hours at a time. (happens when you sit on your butt and stop working out for a year) I still haven't started working out yet with snow outside and my 3 hours a day commute. I guess I need a gym membership.
# posted by : 6/12/06 18:02
: 6/12/06 18:02
Well thanks Brock for explaining. At least it's a bit clearer to me now where this "issue" is coming from. :)
# posted by : 6/12/06 19:55
: 6/12/06 19:55
Rampant abuse and careless omission of the comma in English have eroded at its correct use. Though brock's point is technically correct the style is outdated. If you put that comma there you had better hyphenate Multiplayer and place quotation marks around Online and Gamer while you're at it.
I find the name of the magazine funny and I hope they don't change it. Also, if I know the whole story and remember correctly Jeff Peterson coined the term for Subspace and used both wordings.
Finally, neither is correct because a game, not to be confused with a program or the storage medium containing it, is intangible and therefore has no mass. :P
I find the name of the magazine funny and I hope they don't change it. Also, if I know the whole story and remember correctly Jeff Peterson coined the term for Subspace and used both wordings.
Finally, neither is correct because a game, not to be confused with a program or the storage medium containing it, is intangible and therefore has no mass. :P
Ah, Einexile, but the breauty of the English language is our poetic use of words whose meaning does not jive with the original root. Mass is weight, but massive is only huge, and may not relate to physical size. See also, Were-wolf; "Wolf-wolf" if translated.
# posted by : 6/12/06 22:08
: 6/12/06 22:08
Gnome's heads seem to be both overly massive for their bodies, and empty at the same time. Maybe all the mass is in the outer shell (their skulls) which would also account for why they're so hard-headed.
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# posted by : 6/12/06 23:05
: 6/12/06 23:05<< Home
