Let’s be honest: We all are so egotistical and opinionated that we totally think we could design a better MMO than World of Warcraft. Back-seat developing is what we do, baby! But MMO blogger Kaylriene went one step further by actually trying to do that (on paper, at least), and discovering that game design is a hellishly complex enterprise.
“The idea here is to share why I don’t always buy fully into my own ideas or suggestions for WoW — while I think I have something to offer, I don’t pretend to know all the nuance of game design, and this post will illustrate that all too well,” he said.
Read on for more MMO essays, including tips for making gold in WoW Classic, the best April Fools holiday that exists in-game, exploring Black Desert’s oceans, and more!
The Lazy Goldmaker: Gold making in WoW Classic
“My main plan will be to focus on raw gold in the beginning. Then I will spend my gold on leveling tailoring and enchanting so I can shuffle enchanting materials which is likely to be very profitable. I already have some shuffle ideas, and I will look for more. Then I’ll work on obtaining the rare enchanting and tailoring recipes to craft those for gold.”
Mailvatar: Yo ho, this ain’t no work for landlubbers
“I engaged in more of Black Desert Online’s oceanic content during the past week, because of course I did. After all I was eager to take out my new frigate and explore the open sea, brave its dangers and hopefully make some profit in the process.”
“Over in EverQuest II we have a much more appealing prospect in Bristlebane Day. There really is a ‘day,’ too. The whole festival runs for a couple of weeks but there’s a bunch of stuff that only happens on the First of April, including rabbit-catching, special harvests and the Sphinx questline.”
Through Wolfy’s Eyes: Send the clowns away
“What makes me think that The Division 2 will stay in my gaming rotation when Anthem fell away? There are a number of ideas, but chief among them is that even though I really do enjoy Anthem’s gameplay, I also really can’t bring myself to fire up a game when the developers are making clownshoe decisions.”
Bring Your Own Games: Google Stadia, is it the future?
“The Stadia is a very risky bet from Google, if it succeeds and does what players hope, it could very well revolutionize the entire industry and make Google one of the top names in gaming. If it fails though, it will go down as another big name to flop in entering the industry along with the likes of Steam Box and Ouya.”
Contains Moderate Peril: Why am I doing this?
“Regardless of whether such mechanics are right or wrong, lazy or ‘classic,’ grinding is an inherent aspect of most video games, especially the MMO genre. Players burn through narrative driven quest content far too quickly, therefore there has to be systems to slow player progress down and make then repeat content. However, the point of the original post isn’t to debate whether grinding is right or wrong. It’s about what you as a player do next when finally ask yourself this question.”
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.
