Following the announcement of LOTRO and DDO’s new studio and the subsequent cancellation of the Asheron’s Call games, you can better believe that the MMO blogosphere was alight with conversations and opinions on the subject.
Aywren said that the move is a “win-win” for the two MMOs, while Contains Moderate Peril thought that it “raises a lot of questions.” GamingSF is “optimistic,” Endgame Viable thinks that updates will slow down going forward, The Ancient Gaming Noob considers it “momentous news,” and Ravalation doesn’t see the point in “doom-and-glooming.”
Battle Priestess has some advice for Standing Stone: “Stay true to the Lord of the Rings source and lore and write amazing storylines and engaging quests. Keep developing beautiful landscapes. For the love of all that is holy, please update the character models and hairstyles. Be more transparent with your players and listen to the community.”
The Errant Penman: The increasingly troubling monetization of Elder Scrolls Online part 2
“The Elder Scrolls Online also holds the dubious distinction of being the only MMO I’m aware of where lockbox items aren’t tradeable, so there’s no gameplay created for people that would like to earn these unique items through success in the in-game economy. In my book, that’s synonymous with being the worst lockbox system, though at least there’s no game-wide announcement every time someone receives a rare item from one.”
“I am, at this point, pretty much completely cured of my cooldown anxiety. The intriguing question is ‘why?’ While the more straight-forward answer might be simply because I started to have to use them more, I think it might be more because the expected encounter/play-session length has shortened or at least fragmented.”
Lvl-42.com: Why EQ2 is still worth playing even under Daybreak
“EQ2 has a ridiculously involved housing system–probably my favorite, except for maybe WildStar.  I have so much more buy-in to a game when I can create my own space and make it my own. It makes a game stickier. While I’ll never create those amazing player housing instances, housing is one of my favorite features. It’s one of those things that keeps me coming back.”
MMO Bro: Why MMO holidays suck and how to fix them
“Unfortunately, there’s one common thread that runs through nearly every holiday event in nearly every MMO: They’re pretty lame. What should be joyous times for the players to come together and celebrate often end up feeling more like half-hearted formalities at best, obnoxious chores at worst.”
Overly Positive: RNGesus is a harsh deity
“Thing is, RNG has been around for a very long time, and its sheer ability to infuriate and excite in the same moment is probably why it’s received the colloquial term of being called RNGesus, because it certainly might seem like sometimes that a deity is at play when it happens to you.”
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.
