Do you play MMOs for the narrative or ignore the story altogether? There’s a sharp line dividing the community on this issue, but MMO Folklorist may be bridging the gap between the ignore-lore and embrace-story camps: “I no longer feel that story-driven MMOs are a taint on the genre, and I no longer feel guilty about enjoying them, because honestly, I’m not sure if I would have stuck with the genre had it not continued to evolve beyond those supposed halcyon years which people are so keen to put on a pedestal.”
Read on for more MMO essays, including ones on Path of Exile, Lord of the Rings Online, and Star Trek Online!
Tales of the Aggronaut recently put a bookmark in Path of Exile and offered some departing thoughts: “Another thing that I really dig is how straightforward the loot filter is, and how they seem to be committed to putting guides in the game, instead of trying to make you rely on third-party sites. The only negative so far is that respecs are nowhere near as free as I would like them to be.”
FibroJedi offered a supremely helpful and detailed guide to the Bilbo Baggins missions in LOTRO: “Beginning in Rivendell and reaching its climax in the Misty Mountains, your task is to figure out where Bilbo is and ensure his safe return to Imladris. Here’s my guide to getting started, how the story progresses and what rewards you can earn.”
Virtual Bastion got frustrated with Star Trek Online’s tutorial and bailed: “Star Trek Online has been around for more than a decade, and some regards, that age definitely shows. At the same time, the game appears be active and popular enough that developers are still throwing content at it, which is impressive and gives good cause for me to stick with it.”
24 Hours In spent some time with the re-launched Requiem: “So far – 16 hours in – I’ve died nine times; a couple of times from running into areas I was underlevelled for, a couple of times when I aggro’d three mobs instead of one, and the rest in a solo dungeon run, which across all the MMOs I’ve played may be my most common cause of death.”
The Ancient Gaming Noob detailed the history of Goon leadership in EVE Online: “The Mittani’s first tenure as leader was short and primarily marked by him calling out CCP for continuing to rig things in favor of Band of Brothers in the wake of the T20 scandal, leading CCP to push back against these allegations. It is alleged that CCP implied they would take legal action if he continued and he stepped down as leader, though I can find no record of this.”
Parallel Context looked back at early MMO player ignorance: “Looking back on my history playing MMOs, I’m surprised I lasted as long as I have. What I meant was truly how ignorant I was for the first several months of playing MMOs, and how that didn’t deter me from playing despite not knowing jack shit about how to play MMOs.”
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.
