What’s the biggest gaming unknown for you going into 2019? For MMO blogger Cary at Virtual Bastion, it’s whether or not BioWare is going to stick the landing with Anthem. I think that’s a question a lot of us have right now.
“I think I’m in the ‘just cautious’ boat,” Cary writes. “Its latest trailers have revealed more about the people in the game, and this is what really has me rethinking my stance. Despite gameplay (and larger) missteps of the past, BioWare knows storytelling.”
We’ve got plenty of thought-provoking MMO essays to share with you this week, including picking your first online RPG, out-leveling content in LOTRO, impressions of FFXIV’s latest patch, and more!
Magen Tales: Choosing a first-time MMO
“One day, as I was browsing some blogs, her eye caught a Final Fantasy XIV screenshot and asked about the game. I did my best to explain about the FF lore without spoilers and she said that would be cool to try. The only negative I find in FFXIV is the mandatory dungeons to progress with the main story.”
Superior Realities: ESO — Buy this car to drive to work to pay for this car
“This is a strange experience. Questing is generally my focus in any MMO. Exploring worlds and stories is the entire reason I play video games. And yet in ESO I find I enjoy it most when I play it as a sandbox game — wandering, gathering, crafting, thieving, decorating, and generally doing anything but the story.”
Contains Moderate Peril: Out-leveling content in LOTRO
“In the original version of the game, the structured progression from zone to zone meant that slayer, exploration and race deeds would slowly be completed as you cleared all local quest related content. The XP increase that has ensued in the intervening decade now means that a player will move on to a new region before completing these secondary activities.”
GamingSF: A variety of landscapes in SWTOR
“As I’ve stated before Ossus has some beautiful landscape surrounding the action, I love some mountain-views. But, beyond that I was struck by just how varied the zones in the game are.”
Aywren Sojourner: First impressions of FFXIV Patch 4.5
“As you can see above, the highlight of the patch is that the little unicorn mount you get as a level 30 Conjurer can now fly… and they’ve added sparkles to it! Well… okay… it’s not really the highlight. But a lot of folks were excited about the primal ponies finally being able to fly. Seeing that I don’t own any, but I do own the unicorn, I dusted it off, and it’s now become one of my favorite flying mounts.”
JVT Workshop: Neverwinter’s Heart of Fire
“In short, this module is utterly garbage and the next one better have the quality of Ravenloft x 100 if Cryptic wants to keep Neverwinter Online alive. At least, alive for me. One of the worst modules EVER.”
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.
