Late June’s World of Warcraft Classic stress test gave many MMO bloggers plenty to talk about, with pros and cons being lobbied about from every quarter.
MMO Fallout’s Connor praised the game’s helpful community and lively atmosphere, noting that “Classic isn’t so much hardcore as it is slower and more meticulous.” On the flip side, Blessing of Kings’ Coriel has concerns about a lack of help between players: “Classic is a game which requires other people. If there are no other people around, it becomes a very frustrating experience.”
The Last Chapter’s Atheme agrees that the community aspect is vital to an enjoyable experience: “People were super good about grouping in Northshire, but not so much once outside of it. I could have just tossed invites myself, and I think in a live game I’ll try to do that or send a tell to prospects. It is all so much simpler with a group.”
Misdirections: Learning curves and Plan B
“Playing FFXIV has given me a taste of how intimidating WoW must be to brand new players. And when a game is that intimidating, it simply is not going to attract large numbers of new customers.”
I Has PC: Pantheon: The rise of the lore
“Interesting thing is as I am listening and watching the stories – many that are very cryptic and talk about things that maybe I should know more about – I look at it through a video game lens. Oh, that’s a dungeon we will explore someday. That must be a raid boss. Etc, etc. Oh, lost pages, only three have been recovered? I bet there are more to find. It is a story based on a video game (or parts of a video game) so hopefully all the things mentioned end up in the design somewhere, somehow.”
Neverwinter Thoughts: Getting reacquainted
“I didn’t know it was possible to feel this lost in a game that you’ve played for more than five years and have only been away from for six months. Is this Neverwinter’s NGE? I think at this point it doesn’t even matter whether the changes are good or bad, there are just too many of them. With my cleric’s base functionality completely changed and numerous abilities removed or revamped, it feels like I’m playing a completely different game, one in which I just happen to have characters that look like the ones I used to play.”
Me vs. Myself and I: Early impressions of Dauntless
“I can see why comparisons were made between Dauntless and Monster Hunter World, mainly because you play a hunter and you’ll team up with other hunters to go on hunts to kill big bad creatures. Another similarity is that though you don’t have a class per se, you do have different attacks and abilities if depending on the weapons you decide to use.”
Matt Fossen: Confessions of a clicker
“Here’s the deal: We clickers KNOW that we’re clickers. Keybinders have been pointing it out to us for YEARS, as if we were somehow unaware of our ‘condition.’ You can stop pointing it out. Our reasons are our own, and our play style impacts yours in no way whatsoever. Next time a keybinder wants to knock a clicker down a few notches when they do something impressive, they might want to remember: the ‘inferior’ clicker was able to do something that they could not.”
Contains Moderate Peril: Hoard it or spend it?
“The curious paradox that arises from accruing resources that exist to be spent yet hesitating to do so, because you don’t like the idea of using it and being left with significantly less. I’m no psychiatrist but I suspect this reticence may stem from the investment of time it takes to gain in-game currencies and the fact that once spent, the clock is reset.”
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.
