Believe it or not, there were actually people who played and enjoyed Landmark — and were saddened to see it taken offline. To kick off this week’s roundup of interesting MMO blog posts, we turn to those who knew and remembered Landmark with their words.
“The game, once just a bullet point on the EverQuest Next announcement at SOE Live, has been shut down,” The Ancient Gaming Noob said. “The web site and forums have been hidden away and the domain resolves to the Daybreak main page. The few remaining fans have had their final look at the lands of… erm… <does Google search>… Lumeria! That was the name of the place.”
Superior Realities took a tour on its last day: “That, really, is what was special about Landmark. You could go to any map, walk in any direction, and in no time flat you’d be sure to find something beautiful, fascinating, or awe-inspiring. The traditional wisdom is that if you give players the tools to make their own content, the vast majority of it will be utter crap, but Landmark was stunning refutation of that notion.”
Continue our roundup as bloggers dissect problems with The Secret World’s combat system, share tips on how to grind LOTRO points, mull over why it’s hard to go back to the “olden days,” deliver an early access review of Revelation Online, and pontificate on why theme park MMOs simply work.
Ravalation: LOTRO housing updates — a review
“As you may have guessed from reading this article, I’m really, really happy with these changes! It’s awesome that LOTRO’s designers have decided to give players absolute freedom, and the range of sliders is huge: as large as the house itself. This allows you to arrange decorations exactly as they want, making your house feel logical and truly a home when moving through it.”
MMO Gypsy: About life, MMOs, and the good old, bad times
“How many times over can you build a virtual life from scratch until it feels like a deja-vu and grind and the fatigue kicks in? How many social bonds can you possibly establish and maintain? I say no more than you could do in real life; there may be one big love for you during your life’s journey, or two or three.”
Healing the Masses: The problem with indie PvP MMOs
“The problem is that, for an indie MMO dev or company the PvP style of gameplay seems like a much easier and quicker thing to develop which is why we get a glut of such barely functioning gankboxes. They need the bare minimum of world building and progression elements and then you have a ‘playable’ early access MMO husk.”
ECTmmo.com: Revelation Online early access
“The visuals are not bad, but may not appeal to someone looking for the newest looking graphics. For me I thought they were charming and pretty, then again I think EQ2 and WoW are still beautiful games in their own aspects, as old as they are. I even still long for the beautiful lands in Vanguard SoH… (I’m actually listening to the VGSOHÂ soundtrack as I write this). But anyway, it has charm, some beautiful areas, tons of little bits of details, from the clothing you wear to the whimsical characters in the game.”
MMO Bro: Why themepark MMOs work
“For me, the biggest appeal of themepark MMOs is that they give me a clear purpose. Some people like to be dropped in the middle of an open field and left to find their own fun, and I respect that, but it’s not for me […] The ideal themepark MMO is one that offers a variety of goals and a variety of methods to achieve them. Those that marry purpose with choice achieve the best of both worlds, giving players direction without babysitting them.”
Virtual World Chronicles: Easy LOTRO LP grinding guide
“If you follow my guide to the letter, you can gain 200+ Turbine points per day, depending on how many times you wish to repeat this process per day. I do it once every two days, 1/2 the deeds one day, and 1/2 the deeds the next day as to not get overwhelmed. The time it takes to complete this process, depends on your play style, class, and gear you choose.”
GRM Adrian: What is really wrong with The Secret World’s combat system?
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.
