How is World of Warcraft like the wild west of American history and legend? Something about Barrens chat might come to mind, but blog Coffee Cakes and Crits has another view on the connection between the two.
“One of the ‘codes’ of the Old West was that you did not have to tell where you came from or why you were in the West,” he writes. “This code is exactly the same in the World of Warcraft. You don’t have to say what you do for a living or your military background or level of education. You don’t even have to claim a gender. It is what you do in the game that matters and you can go as far as you dare to try and, hopefully, try again. This is a very good thing.”
Continuing on with our tour of the MMO blogosphere this week, we’ll see a gut reaction to  the Secret World TV series announcement, impressions from the Path of Fire preview weekend, and more!
Superior Realities: TSW TV series?
“Now, I’m not going to get too excited. Lots of ideas get optioned for movies or TV and then never make it out of development hell. I don’t think the odds of this series actually making it to air are very good. That said, if it does, obviously I’ll watch the hell out of it. It’d be worth watching just to see Jeffrey Combs reprise his role as Hayden Montag. Maybe this could even be a more worthy end to the story than Legends.”
GamingSF: Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire trial weekend
“The mounts are so beautifully animated, they look to be a potential highlight of the gameplay in this expansion. Not that I really mastered the jumping but it reminded me of a re-skinned version of the movement abilities in the old Bazaar of the Four Winds. Adding to the exploration and movement gameplay in the game is a pretty good idea since this game does it so well already.”
Why I Game: Help me, I’m new or returning
“Sometimes the only way a player learns something is when another player loses their patience and snaps a sentence that helps them make the connection. Once upon a time, I got yelled at for leaving my warrior banners on top of the dungeon group because that’s where Elementalists pick up their conjured weapons. I don’t play Eles. I would not have known or learned that what I was doing was a right nuisance without that player snapping.”
Contains Moderate Peril: Is co-op gaming king?
“The risk of toxic team mates is far less and you aren’t faced with complex barriers to entry. There’s no need to wait for players to change their gear or empty their bags. Where the MMO player is still martialing his team mates, fifteen minutes after the raid was due to begin, the co-op player is knee deep in action, making the most of their precious game time.”
Stabbed Up: First fortnight in Albion Online
“Albion Online launched about a month ago, the latest in a long line of games aiming to be a ‘fantasy EVE.” In Albion’s case they seem to have struck closer to the mark than some of the previous attempts. There’s a single shard server with a very interesting economy. There’s a relationship between PvP, PvE, and crafting/gathering that’s dynamic and engaging. We even have a Goon blob guild that is offending the elite PvPers.”
Endgame Viable: Path of Fire demo, the rage-quittening
“I logged out again. I noted on Twitter that no other MMORPG makes me as angry as GW2 when I play it. The way the game kills you again and again, knocking you around like a pinball, just feels so bleepity-bleeping unfair.”
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.
