MMO blog Altar of Gaming has a fascinating series going on in which Rimuru is evaluating whether or not it’s worth picking up a subscription package to games like Old School RuneScape and Elder Scrolls Online. Since all subs are not created equal, I think this is a valuable service for players.
“Is the ESO Plus subscription worth your money? The short answer is ‘yes,'” Rimuru writes. “For a bit less than 15 dollars per month, you get to access everything the game has to offer. You also get free Crowns, which you can of course use to buy the DLC if you think you won’t be able to afford always having the subscription active. We don’t really recommend it though as most DLC can be completed quite fast, and chances are you won’t have any use for them after some time.”
Read on for a beginner’s guide to FFXIV, first impressions of Albion Online, turning points of MMO history, and more!
Common Sense Gamer: Final Fantasy XIV beginner’s guide
“FFXIV Gil is a precious resource that you will use in the game to buy most items, be it better weapons or crafting materials. The best way to earn this FFXIV currency early on is through mining or harvesting items in the world. While doing so, you will be required to slowly level up your mining and botanist classes. Sure, it might be a tedious grind to do this, but early game mining is the easiest way to earn easy cash!”
Endgame Viable: Albion Online impressions
“Anyway, it’s not the greatest game I’ve ever seen, but it’s cute. It’s not an ‘I’m going to make my home here for the next 10 years’ kind of game though, at least not for me (then again, I’ve never started playing an MMO with that goal in mind). It’s one of those games that’s good to have in front of you to click on while listening to an audiobook or a podcast or whatever. It occupies your hands and vision in a way that makes you feel like you’re doing something useful, when you might otherwise be sitting in a catatonic stupor.”
MMO Bro: Five turning points of MMO history
“For a long time, if you wanted to play an MMORPG, you had to pay a monthly subscription. That’s just how it worked. Oh, sure, there were a few exceptions. Anarchy Online began offering a free-to-play option back in 2004, and the original Guild Wars was buy-to-play from its launch in 2005. But those were mostly considered oddball outliers. Things began to change in a big way when Dungeons and Dragons Online relaunched as a free-to-play title in 2009. Previously struggling, it saw a huge uptick in both players and revenues, and the world began to take notice.”
Nerdy Bookahs: Goodbye, Atlas Reactor
“I absolutely loved playing on my own, with an NPC team against NPCs. Also, in these PvE games, you did not have to choose your next move within 20 seconds, but you had as much time as you needed. I took that mode to try out strategies and see what works, and I got to know the different classes you could choose from.”
Dragonchasers: Return to SWTOR
“What is really saving me and keeping me in SWTOR is the story and characters. I’ve played through all of this before but it was such a long time ago that it feels fresh. (I’m also playing a female character which changes things a little, based on some of the interactions.) I may also be paying more attention to the story since I’m not looking over my shoulder to see if some NPC is going to kill me, or feeling like I’m falling behind my friends as they level quickly. There’s something to be said for the pure solo-ist lifestyle in a game with this much story/dialog.”
I’m Not Squishy: How’s Trove holding up?
“I’ve been away from Trove for over a year. I have a love-hate relationship with the game. On the one hand, it hits the right buttons in my brain that makes me want to play it for hours. On the other, there’s been some shady cash shop practices and bad development choices through the years.”
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.
