Advance warning: If you like crafting in MMOs, then you best not read the latest post from Contains Moderate Peril, who is not quite as enamored with this system as are some others.
“The effort to reward ratio is often insufficient and I have yet to find a crafting system that is engaging and fun,” Roger argues. “However, for me the biggest sin that crafting can commit is being deliberately arcane and obtuse ‘with malice of forethought,’ if I may invoke legal analogy […] I frequently find that crafting in MMOs is just like Fizzbin. Except they’re not amusing or ironic, just tedious and irritating.”
Like many of the posts we share here on Global Chat, at the very least it’s a discussion starter! Read on for more essays, including ones about purity in MMOs, EverQuest II, Ultima Online, and more!
Everwake’s Internet Adventures: Ultima Online — The tale of one MMO
“It’s almost impossible to come at UO in a vacuum. At its heart, its a game where one slowly clicks on their screen while watching numbers slowly go up. This inherently describes just about every RPG ever made. But the spice is always in the details of how one surrounds that formula, and Ultima Online (at least from the several hours I’ve now put into it) is as bland as Minnesota cooking.”
Misdirections: Purity is overrated
“Since the day Legion was introduced, I have thought Blizz was making a huge mistake by turning every spec into its own virtual class. From a practical standpoint, managing 36 separate classes is simply not possible. I think that is shown by the wildly oscillating class balance chaos we have endured now since Legion.”
Inventory Full: A monumental success in EverQuest II
“The 15th anniversary event for EverQuest II has turned out to be one of the best I’ve enjoyed in any MMORPG. It didn’t look like much on paper but in the game itself it has been popular, compelling and well-received. Any event that runs 24/7 for a full month and can still draw a crowd just a few days before it ends has to be reckoned a major success. When those crowds are still upbeat and positive even after hundreds of repetitions that’s pretty much a miracle.”
“I haven’t gotten around to doing a post on SWTOR’s new expansion, Onslaught. It is very quick for the story but I enjoyed it. There were changes to lower companion power and it makes it a bit of a slog through some content, not a fan of that so I haven’t played much since finishing the story and hotting the cap, which go hand in hand. Overall it is worth subbing for if you like the story, past that it seems a bit light on content but maybe I just missed some stuff. There are a few returning companions, all of which anyone can add to their roster regardless of class, which is awesome.”
GamingSF: Gaming moments of 2019
“For my last scheduled post in International Picture Posting Month 2019 I’ve decided to highlight a few of my favourite gaming moments from this year. This post has some story spoilers from the get-go so if you’re not playing any MORPGs at the moment you might want to skip this post.”
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.
