Over at Priest with a Cause, MMO blogger Shintar came up with a great question for those looking to play World of Warcraft’s upcoming special ruleset: Is it possible to play WoW Classic casually? How can you do just that? Considering how many modern gamers are in for a rude awakening when they return to the 2004-era of MMO play, I think it’s a question worth posing.
“The other thing to keep in mind is that everything takes more time,” Shintar writes, “One major example of this are dungeons. What with having to manually put a group together, getting everyone to the instance and the much slower pace of combat, I wouldn’t recommend logging into the game with the intent to do a dungeon if you’ve got less than two hours of free time at your disposal.”
We’ve got a huge assortment of MMO essays for you to digest today, including a look at RIFT, a discussion about progression servers, and the “new hotness” of MMO seasonal passes. Check it out below!
Going Commando: Onslaught expansion announced
“The announcement didn’t include a big CGI trailer — in fact there was no trailer at all, but I assume that at least a basic one is still to come. Either way, substance is more important than style in this case, and there was plenty of the former! We got confirmation that we’ll be getting pretty much all the big ticket items that people have been asking for in recent months, so yay us!”
Inventory Full: Right now and not later in RIFT
“Once again, RIFT proved to be the most generous of all MMORPGs. Half an hour in that ‘raid’ netted me not only a full level and a big chunk of cash but also several pets, three or four pieces of cosmetic gear and a load of useful consumables. I could play GW2Â for a month and not get a haul like that. Possibly a year.”
Contains Moderate Peril: When LOTRO gets it right
“LOTRO is a twelve-year-old MMO that was designed and created around the technology and prevailing trends of the time. It has been revamped and retooled several times over the years and now exists as a curious online Chimera. Driven by a much loved and lore rich IP, the game is often arbitrary in its mechanics but every now and then, there are flashes of inspiration that do much to redress the balance.”
Dragonchasers: Maybe legacy/progression servers aren’t for me
“In a couple of cases (LOTRO and EQ2) I’ve decided to roll on the progression servers (or as LOTRO calls them, Legendary Servers). My thinking was ‘Hey, it’s a nostalgia trip, might as well go all-in.’ Further thinking was that the games ought to be simpler to get back into on these older builds that don’t have years of expansions layered onto the foundations.”
Misdirections: Forget flying in WoW, when’s the next expansion?
“BFA was old and tired almost as soon as it launched, it seems like. Personally, I am not even very excited by the — still distant — prospect of flying, because I know Blizz will cheapen it by making it available only in current zones, not in whatever new ones they introduce. No, those will be Argus all over again — no flying, thick with mobs you have to fight through just to get to quest areas. (Whatever happened to being able to stick to roads and be relatively safe? I guess we probably misunderstood that, too…) No matter how much Mr. Game Director Hazzikostas protests, it’s all about the MAU, baby.”
Hardcore Casual: Season passes are the new hotness and I’m OK with that
“A season pass is somewhat like a return to subscriptions, only that if you don’t pay, you don’t loss total access to the game, you just don’t get the additional content on offer. It’s a better solution for players, so long as enough people buy the pass, and the pass doesn’t have to include Pay4Power items in order to sell. So far I’m not away of a game selling a pass that is P4P, but maybe I missed something, and I’m sure at some point someone will do exactly that with a game that is struggling.”
Altar of Gaming: A beginner’s guide to Old School RuneScape
“Playing OSRS can get complicated, especially for new and inexperienced players. Things such as UI, combat system and skills are so confusing and kinda old, that might get someone to quit pretty quick. So in this guide, I’m willing to make things simple and not very detailed for beginners to avoid confusion and enjoy the deep gameplay.”
Tales of the Aggronaut: Exploring Grim Dawn
“In spite of liking the game quite a bit I have never really made it terribly far because I have never played it as a primary game for any length of time. This has been my ‘go to’ for moments when I feel like playing something LIKE Diablo but not Diablo. The game does not do much hand holding or explaining of anything… which is to its detriment given that some of the systems are less than clear.”
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.
