With the rollout of Patch 4.3, Final Fantasy XIV is offering its players a nice big slice of content to enjoy as we head into the summer. It certainly seems to be a time in which many players are making their way back to the game — or through it.
For example, Harbinger Zero booted back up his subscription to give the game a second chance. Sounds like things are going well: “How can I not compliment the job system? It keeps the game fresh to know I can log in and with a button click change my playstyle while keeping my character and progress.”
Aywren Sojourner recently wrapped up Stormblood’s main storyline and has a few thoughts on the journey (with lots of spoilers, of course). “I hate to say it because there were some pleasant parts to Stormblood, especially in Doma,” she wrote, “but I’m actually just glad to get beyond this story arc.”
We’ve got more MMO blog essays, including ones on making alt-friendly MMOs, State of Decay 2 impressions, and the best and worst of Dungeons and Dragons Online!
GamingSF: Alt-friendly MMOs and longer-term engagement
“EverQuest II has a lot of untapped replayability for me as I’ve not leveled any characters through the 50-90 range content (thanks to insta-dings) and have only played three of the starter zones thus far. I have a character parked in Qeynos waiting to actually play through Antonica for the first time, in seven years of casual play I’ve never actually done that zone!”
MMO Bro: Six ways MMOs can make leveling more appealing
“Often, MMOs tune quests as the optimal leveling path, and other options are left by the wayside. Even as an avid quester myself, this doesn’t sit right with me. If someone has joined your MMO hoping to get into competitive PvP at endgame, they should be able to compete against their fellow players as a method of leveling, too, and not have to worry about missing out on XP or gear upgrades.”
Tales from the Aggronaut: State of Decay 2 impressions
“Ultimately Undead Labs has made a really worthy sequel to the first game. It essentially fine tunes and improves upon so many of the things from the original, and provides enough new game play to make it enjoyable for me to roam around and experience everything again. I’ve not really touched the multiplayer yet so I can’t really speak to it.”
Endgame Variable: DDO likes and dislikes
“Overall I like DDO, but for some reason I rarely ever think about playing it, which is kind of a shame because there is a lot to enjoy. It’s particularly great if you enjoy playing MMORPGs as if they were single-player games.”
Alunaria’s Avenue: Your first dungeon
“Throughout the entire dungeon, I really had to learn how to play. I was there as a Healer, my very first time doing so. I can still recall the exact spot, I used Tranquility and Rebirth and saved the day.”
Nerdy Bookahs: Pet classes and MMOs
“At some point, the convenience of having your own tank with you all of the time is outweighed by the amount of additional mobs it keeps aggroing. But once in a while, it’s fun and it can feel a little bit less lonely when you’re travelling through the big open MMO world of lower level zones when everybody else is doing endgame content.”
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.
