Have you ever thought about what it would be like to play an MMO while affected by colorblindness? A guest writer over at Epic Slant penned an interesting piece about what it’s like to attempt to play games that don’t make allowances for those who can’t discern between sometimes-crucial colors and shades.
Fortunately, he says that studios are making progress: “Another example of a similar solution on the PC can be found in both League of Legends and World of Warcraft. Both of these titles have had graphical filters for years and, in the latest update, even more progress has been made in WoW to really help out players who need it. In fact, WoW took the idea of graphical filters and added text to help players further.”
Continue on to see what MMO bloggers have to say about Skyforge, The Secret World, and more!
Party Business: The Secret World: It had to be done
Upset over the recent 1.11 changes to The Secret World’s combat difficulty? Kunzay sympathises to an extent but ultimately says that this move had to be done in order to get more players in (and back) and to help the title succeed.
“I think the main problem was the time-to-kill,” Kunzay writes. “Everytime I tried to get back into the game, mainly for story and atmosphere, I rolled my eyes every time I pulled one of the more sophisticated mobs. It wasn’t dangerous; it was tedious.”
Harbinger Zero: A few words on exploration
For Star Trek fans, exploration is one of the tentpoles of the franchise. For Star Trek Online players, exploration is one of the most hotly debating topics in the community. Harbinger Zero laments the decision for the dev team to axe the procedurally generated exploration content, as he claims it’s hurt the sense of exploration.
In his words: “I have to confess I do not agree with this stance. I loved the exploration system in STO and spent most of my time doing just that. It felt like the most Trekky part of the game.”
Mama Needs Mana: Gaming culture and the pressure to play
This post really resonated with me, as Neri shared how much she felt pressured to pay for and play games she wouldn’t otherwise just to keep up with friends. Haven’t we all been in this situation?
Her main example came from WildStar’s launch: “Release day came and excitement in my gaming circle hit fever pitch as the launch hour drew closer. It was then that the doubt started to creep in. What if I’m wrong? What if it’s actually the new World of Warcraft and I miss out on all the epic adventures my buddies will have?! And like that, in a matter of a few hours I went from being a vocal detractor of the game to working out how I could somehow squeeze an extra $120 out of the budget so that we could play.”
Clean Casuals: MMO gaming contentment: Learning to be still
Are you hopping around or juggling MMOs like mad? Or have you set roots down in a game and learned to be content with it for the long haul? I enjoy flitting through multiple MMO worlds, but it’s equally neat to hear Aywren’s take on settling down with Final Fantasy XIV.
“While I feel a little scattered on what I should focus on within the game, I’ve felt much more content overall to make FFXIV my home,” she writes. “I’ve got so much to work on with the Heavensward expansion on the horizon. So much, in fact, that I’ve hardly even paid attention to other ripples in the MMO pond lately.”
The Wulf Den: My first impressions of Skyforge
Skyforge is a title that I’ve been watching closely from afar, if that makes any sense. I’m certainly interesting in hearing what others have to say about their early experiences in the beta program, which is why this article drew my attention.
Arawulf breaks down his impressions into good, bad, ugly, and unknown, although he seems to like what he sees so far: “Skyforge is hands down one of the prettiest new MMOs out there. The game has so many small touches that show that this is a quality title that is aiming to make a big splash.”
Ravalation: The great hunt for a decent outfit
I really love blog posts where a writer gives a fresh perspective of an older title because you end up learning what new players see and do that veterans do not. In this case, Ravalation finally picked up a copy of Guild Wars 2, only to find herself embroiled in a struggle to wear a non-revealing outfit.
“At this point, I was really getting annoyed with the game because I didn’t like my characters,” she said. “I know it doesn’t make all that much sense, but if I don’t enjoy what my characters look like it greatly influences my gaming experience in a negative way. After all, when running around on your characters you look at their butt all the time, and mine was showing way too well.”
This tale has a happy ending, fortunately, as Rav makes the switch to decaf! Er, medium armor-wearing classes!
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.
