Contains Moderate Peril recently tackled a subject that is very near to my heart, which is the tools, difficulty, and art of navigating around in MMORPGs. In short, what can studios do to help us get around their games better without making it too simplistic?
“As maps can prove so unhelpful, I find the most practical thing a game can do to help me with navigation is to provide a highly visible landmark which can be used to orientate players. Weathertop is a prime example of this in the Loneland region of LOTRO. The crumbling fortress on the highest hill in the region dominates the map. Having line of sight helps you make quick decisions when travelling and find the direction you need.”
Read on for more MMO essays about Wrath Classic, Destiny 2, SWTOR, and more!
Kurn’s Corner weighs the return to either Wrath Classic or Dragonflight: “The thing I realized during Cataclysm, when I reformed Apotheosis, is that you can’t go home again. You just can’t. Those times, even those people, no longer exist. Apart from anything else, we’re all older (and hopefully wiser). Demands on time are different now.
Battle Stance showed off some spiffy transmogs: “The Trial of Style is one of the most important ingame festivals in retail WoW because while it’s live you can transmog for free. This is really important if you have too many alts.”
Going Commando expressed some frustrations with SWTOR’s endgame:Â “And here we are, stuck with nowhere to go in terms of progression, basically because BioWare has decided that after ten years of raiding some of us are not good enough for their game anymore. This stinks!”
Virtual Bastion ranked six free-to-play console games: “On the surface, Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis, looked very promising. Once I got into it, however, the game’s slick, shiny facade began to crumble. I was met with decent combat and an interesting setting, but the reasoning for my character’s very existence was flimsy, and the story was lackluster, at best.”
Dragonchasers shared a few reasons why he quit Destiny 2: “There was also another reason why I quit. Bungie kept raising the level cap, which is common with games-as-a-service titles. I don’t mind that. But they also raised the level floor.”
Parallel Context pushed back against the go-go-go mentality of modern MMO crowds: “I guess I’m getting old, because I play MMOs for the journey rather than the destination. And that seems to be very much the exception these days. The destination will still be there, whether I get there tomorrow, the next day, or even the next month.”
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.
