WRUP Gestalt Edition

Gestalt is a psychological term that refers to something higher as a whole than the sum of its parts. This isn't a difficult phenomenon to see in action -- you might have to combine flour, yeast, and cinnamon together to get a scrumptious loaf of cinnamon-swirl bread, in any case. The term can be applied to Transformers, which mix right into a single enormous robot, usually one that is not notably scrumptious. Regardless of this reality, the official time period remains "combiner" as a substitute, presumably as a result of the people who are in charge of naming are worried about what would happen if everybody started using obscure psychology phrases.

Hey, so long as we're already speaking about combining issues, we might as nicely go entire-hog into this week's WRUP. That itself is a gestalt, but that doesn't seem fairly spicy sufficient. Let's all speak about combining games together into a whole greater than the sum of its components. Yeah, that's the ticket. Dein freund Leap on past the break for that and what the staff shall be taking part in this weekend, then let us know within the comments what you'll be getting up to.

Beau Hindman (@Beau_Hindman): I'll be finishing up my time with Minions of Mirth and shifting on to The Realm Online. I have just barely began to play, but already the sport is very charming, and the community is superior. Supposedly it's one of many oldest around! I am going to also be placing much more time constructing up my metropolis in Illyriad and trying to hit the following stage in Ministry of Battle. Then I will proceed to make plans for taking every week to use no PCs at all and to live off solely my telephone (for a future venture).

If I could mix two video games, they would be Ryzom and The Chronicles of Spellborn. Not solely would it be the very best-looking recreation in the complete history of the universe, however it might have all the pieces I needed. Nicely, that is, if I may throw in some Wurm Online as well. And uhm... combine within the epicness of Vanguard. Oh yeah, and could I throw in some Mabinogi crafting and its rebirth system? What about...

Brandon Felczer (@bfelczer): This weekend I'm going away on vacation to my time share in Palm Springs and going to try to not take my laptop -- Okay, I am gonna take it but attempt to not open it. We'll see how that goes. So, WRUP this weekend? LIFE!

If I could mix two sport into one, it will positively be Star Trek On-line and EVE Online -- that would be pure and utter madness!

Brendan Drain (@nyphur): It is come time for me to shut up the Massively Mob company in EVE Online and leave Massively Motivated in the hands of its administrators. It has been niggling at me for the reason that EVE fanfest that running a PvE company is not what I wish to do or what I am good at, and forcing myself to do it has murdered my enthusiasm for playing. I will be getting back into issues I take pleasure in more, like PvP and playing the market in my very own time.

If I might merge any two games, it'd be EVE On-line and Age of Conan -- an odd mixture however one I believe would work. Having performed on a PvP server in Age of Conan, I discovered that sneaking across the zones tracking players down and smashing them to bits was incredibly fun. EVE On-line's single-shard construction, open-world territorial battle, a form of policing and sentry turret system for protected areas, and a disposable gear system may all do wonders for AoC.

Eliot Lefebvre Ms. Lady and that i will probably be persevering with to discover Closing Fantasy XIV collectively, as she's been absolutely in love with the game now that she's got a machine capable of handling it. I've additionally bought The Sims Medieval to occupy my time, and I would like to get again into Guild Wars with whatever spare moments are left.

Combining video games is a little bit of a hobby of mine to start with, and a variety of those video games wind up being MMOs. I would love to see a mash-up between the setting and baroque, distinctive lessons of Closing Fantasy XI with the ability system, armor system, and distinctly quick-paced breakdown of Guild Wars. Failing that, I might like to mash the setting of Sword 2 right into a Star Trek Online-style engine. Mix up Fallen Earth and City of Heroes to provide me a Gamma World MMO!

Jef Reahard: A little bit of EVE and AoC here, and i've also returned to EverQuest II for a while (primarily as a result of it still has the best player housing despite being seven years outdated, /sniff).

My unholy hybrid would be Ultima On-line plus Star Wars Galaxies, and going into details would take this entire column. If you played both, you recognize why. It's hard not to incorporate EVE in there too, but I feel CCP will ultimately flip it into the ultimate sandbox, so there'd actually be no reason to combine it with something at that point.

Jeremy Stratton (@Jeremy_Stratton): I'm continuing my quest to acquire and improve a vahtos accessory-set for my Priest/Rogue in Runes of Magic. Although each accessory has a very totally different stage-requirement and not one of the pieces goes close to the current stage-cap, they are still actually helpful for squishies (especially a pew-pewing Priest). I didn't need to think for a second about which two video games I would combine. I would love to see all the various fun points of Runes of Magic injected into the large and stunning world of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.

Justin Olivetti (@Sypster): As a lot as doable, I'll be playing Lord of the Rings Online to eek out all of that extra bonus XP for the anniversary weekend celebration. So no RIFT until Monday, alas!

Combination-sensible, it might be superior to see RIFT and Metropolis of Heroes combined. The soul system and dynamic events of RIFT would lend themselves well to a superhero setting, and CoH has at all times had some of the coolest combat and powers of any comedian e book recreation.

Karen Bryan (@JayeRnH): It is Easter weekend plus the tail finish of school trip, so my playtime's limited. I will try to sneak in a little bit Pirates of the Burning Sea, though!

As for the bonus question, that is straightforward. I might prefer to see Minecraft combined with RIFT. I want to see a airplane of Minecraft with 16-bit invasions and armies of creeers and zombies running amok throughout Telara.

MJ Guthrie: This weekend will see me cooking up a medley stew -- a sprint Lord of the Rings On-line, a few shakes of STO, a heaping scoop of EverQuest II, and then a sprig of Aion for spice. I feel that can fill me up pretty effectively!

Hmmm, properly the primary one can be straightforward to choose -- pre-CU Star Wars Galaxies! The emotes, the customization, the housing, the social courses, the crafting, the... I might go on and on. I would combine it with... um... Ok, the second choice is harder for me. I'd very properly choose The Sims. I like to build; to be able to design and construct my very own place would keep me entertained endlessly. Can I add in a number of The Matrix On-line features as effectively? Actually, don't get me started as a result of I'd snag features from so many video games to make my good recreation! Then I may never enterprise into RL again...

Patrick Mackey (@mackeypb): Champions Online is doing a free Serpent Lantern weekend, so any player can play it. I'm undoubtedly going to be operating a few of it with mates. Considered one of my pals is coming back from the military on leave, so I will even be doing stuff with him this weekend. We'll most likely be taking part in Hisoutensoku and Artemis. I intend to add some of the exploits to my YouTube channel, so if you are involved, check some of that out.

If I might mix two games into one, it would be EVE and Armored Core. Particularly, I would like a cutthroat financial participant-targeted mecha motion game in a submit-apocalyptic world, the place gamers pilot robots as a substitute of ships and fight is blinding quick and skill-based mostly.

At the beginning of each weekend, we catch up with the Massively staff members and ask them, "What are you enjoying this week?" (Otherwise referred to as: WRUP!) Be part of us to see what we're as much as in and out of recreation -- and catch us within the feedback to tell us what you are taking part in, too!