We’ll begin today’s tour of community articles by touching on a rather somber (yet uplifting) note. Pixelkin wrote a great piece on how her mother used World of Warcraft as a way to cope with the death of her husband.
“When she talked about gaming, my uncle condescendingly said, ‘You know that’s not real, right?’ She knew that all too well. But she also knew what was real. Connecting with her daughter was real. Reality hadn’t done my mother any favors, but fantasy did — it helped her celebrate small accomplishments, connect with sympathetic friends, and spend time with me. It helped her put aside the grief until its edges had dulled to something a little less traumatic.”
We’ve got guides, impressions, progression servers, and more after the jump!
The Ancient Gaming Noob: Progression servers and post-cataclysm Norrath
Wilhelm struggles with the concept of EverQuest II progression servers by looking at both what EverQuest did and what EverQuest II looked like a decade ago. However, he finds any such effort somewhat defeating considering how greatly the title has evolved.
“Given all of the changes that have rolled back over the original game over the years, I am not sure that much of 2004 can be really recreated given the limitations that the EverQuest II team will face. They are not going to be allowed to roll a special client or a special version of the server software, which leaves us with what?” he asks.
Tales of the Aggronaut: SkySaga is pretty great
I love reading first impression pieces, particularly of titles that I’m too time-crunched or otherwise only fringe interested in playing. Belghast gets his mitts on the new sandvox SkySaga… and ends up sort of liking it, despite a few flaws.
“The game that is here however is extremely enjoyable and it makes me way to play more of it,” he wrote. “I just feel like somehow I am missing something when it comes to how to get the resources I need to complete quests.”
Null Signifier: Make way for the heavyweight champion of MMOs
Using a very interesting and evocative analogy to the Muhammad Ali/George Foreman match-up, Duke of O goes back though 2014 and sees how all of these upstart MMOs tried — and failed — to dislodge World of Warcraft from the throne without success.
“WoW simply doesn’t care. It just steamrolls past bloggers, opinion pieces, and academics, swatting them aside like flies,” Duke of O said. “I claim no prescience with regards to WoW’s astonishing return to form. I am flabbergasted just like everyone else, and my initial reactions are best reflected by pieces which express their disbelief and astonishment at the number of returning subscribers.”
“The biggest problem with Defiance is a more fundamental one: the game is only fun with a fun weapon.”
Therein lies the frustration of Azuriel, who admits to liking Defiance quite a lot but is often stymied by weapons that are either under-leveled or simply not enjoyable to use. “In the meantime, I am at the mercy of RNG dropping a higher-level version of the guns I enjoy, or really any weapon that is serviceable,” he bemoans.
Waiting for Rez: Crafting in ESO: Writ certification part 1
Let’s end with a pair of helpful guides, shall we? If you’re looking for a step-by-step walkthrough of The Elder Scrolls Online’s crafting system, then Ironweakness has you covered. He begins his series of crafting posts by explaining how to get a start with writ certification.
“Crafting in ESO is very different from the system in World of Warcraft and similar games. Here you have several ways of tweaking an item before you create it,” he notes.
Clean Casuals: FFXIV: Triple Traid tips for dummies (like me)
Having a tough time mastering Final Fantasy XIV’s newest card craze, Triple Triad? Aywren’s been muddling her way through it and has several useful suggestions how to win at the game.
One such tip: “I know the temptation is there to challenge the Gold Saucer NPCs over and over again, but once you earn the cards from the opponents you can beat, it’s time to expand your collection by challenging NPCs outside of the Saucer.”
Every day there are tons of terrific, insightful, and unusual articles posted across the MMO gaming blogosphere — and every day, Justin reads as many as he can. Global Chat is a sampling of noteworthy essays, rants, and guides from the past few weeks of MMO discourse.
