Now that World of Warcraft Classic has been out for a few months and established itself, what’s the verdict? Telwyn over at GamingSF said that the legacy MMO is a bag of mixed blessings, especially when one dives into “nostalgic gaming” in 2019.
“The biggest downer of Classic is the amount of busywork, the five minute blessing buffs for instance,” Telwyn said. “Having to renew buffs on each individual character every five minutes of the much longer dungeon run times in the game isn’t something I’m as keen on.”
What’s the rest of the MMO community chatting about this week? We’ve got a diverse array of essays for you to read, including tips for Old School RuneScape players, a review of Battle for Azeroth’s lore, returning to EverQuest II, and more!
Common Sense Gamer: 5 key tips for new OSRS players
“Any new player to a game is bound to make the odd mistake here and there. While the said mistakes are completely innocent, when it comes to OSRS, there are a few things that you can avoid. You will have probably heard a lot of terms you may not understand, such as the difference between free and member accounts.”
The Friendly Necromancer: That sweet smell of industry in Project Gorgon
“I remember the first time I ran past all the vendor stalls in Serbule and laughed out loud at all the people standing in a row selling stuff. At the time I thought it worked just like EverQuest where you step up to a platform and type a slash command to set yourself as a vendor. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t work that way at all.”
Gnomecore: Battle for Azeroth expansion lore review — where Blizzard failed
“The expansion launch has put forward two major problems: Sargeras’ final act has put the planet on the verge of dying, and at the same time launched an arms race between factions like we’ve never seen before.”
Everwake’s Internet Adventures: Day one in EverQuest II
“This time around my character is going to be a necromancer. Mostly because I’ve never played a Necromancer typed character in any video game other than Diablo 3 (and that one doesn’t really count). I also choose to be a Dark Elf. There really are two reasons. I don’t know much about fantasy tropes, but I’m to understand Elves are generally dicks. I figure I might as well be the dickiest of the bunch.”
24 Hours In: You find yourself on a shore…
“The first word that comes to mind when I delve back into DDO is charming. The dungeon master style narration that accompanies key moments in adventures is a nod to the pen and paper game that’s simultaneously silly and endearing. It’s an unusual design choice that I can’t imagine would have been made if the game was a new release in 2019, and it’s actually very good at evoking that authentic D&D feeling. It’s also an effective way to add detail to scenes which might otherwise require cutscenes or other expensive cinematic flourishes.”
Tales of the Aggronaut: Games of the decade — 2012
“Every so often there are games that mean an extreme amount to you on a personal level… but that you also just don’t really play anymore. The Secret World is definitely in that camp and I cherish all of the moments we experienced during the launch of this game.”
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.
