MMO blog Kaylriene posted a lengthy article recently examining the state of the non-raiding scene in World of Warcraft while comparing it to Blizzard’s seemingly unbreakable fixation on raiding to the exclusion of all other meaningful content. It’s a good read:
“The World of Warcraft we have today offers more choices for total content to non-raiding players than it ever has before. But that content has been stripped of artifice, made obviously compliant to gearing timers and a content cadence that is favorable to Blizzard. It has the illusion of being a choice, but it grounds players to it with no real choice to deviate short of doing more of it (to a defined limit) or not doing it at all.”
Read on for more essays, including ones on Elder Scrolls Online, Tower of Fantasy, and more!
Many Whelps ventured into Elder Scrolls Online after a long absence: “Over the years, I have tried over and over to get in to it but never made it too far. The classes confuse me and the combat is weird. But I love the story telling and the world exploration so every once and a while I will boot it up to see if this time is the time it sticks.”
Nerdy Bookahs shared favorite mounts from across a variety of MMOs: “In RIFT, my character has Vox, a budgie. It was a cross-promotional mount that you got when you reached level 20 in Trove. The moment I had this, I didn’t switch back to my other mounts anymore – like the two-headed tortoise or the riding snail.”
The Friendly Necromancer may be a bit too old for Tower of Fantasy: “About half-way through though, I had this sneaking suspicion that I was the oldest dude on the server, and it felt weird. Reading the general chat kind of filled me with a ton of embarrassment. Probably not true, but I’m being honest about that feeling.”
Inventory Full dipped into the PvP scene in Noah’s Heart: “I was mildly apprehensive about going into a PvP arena, as one is, but it turned out to be fast, simple and fun. Also surprisingly successful, given I have no real idea how to play my character or my phantoms and have made next to no effort to upgrade any of them.”
The Ancient Gaming Noob investigated why players tend to be mad at EVE Online’s CCP: “It is special, which is part of why players get worked up and part of why we don’t just walk away. Amazing events don’t happen to you every day in New Eden. Hell, I’m happy when something really fun happens even once a month. But the potential for something unprecedented and crazy is always there.”
Virtual Bastion bounced off of Star Trek Online’s tutorial: “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.”
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.
