There are some weeks when I sit down to write this column and it takes me a while to find four or five really great links to share with you all. I have a number of considerations when selecting blogs to highlight, including making sure I don’t repeat the same sites too often and finding posts about “current” issues for MMO and RPG fans. Occasionally finding the perfect links can take longer than actually writing the column!
On the other hand, there’s August.
This August over 80 bloggers are taking part in “Blaugust”, a month-long event that was created by blogger Belghast. To participate, bloggers will attempt to write 31 posts in August, ostensibly one for each day although the timing is flexible for those with strange schedules. Even if I limit my search to MMO blogs, still roughly 600 posts have been written since August 1. 600! That is.. a lot of posts.
As Bhagpuss points out in one of his own Blaugust posts, daily posts are tough on readers as well as bloggers. The only way to cope given a limited amount of time is just to read whatever catches your eye whenever you have a few moments.
To compound the problem, August is also the month of Gamescom, which had lots of juicy news for MMO and RPG fans! During the past week we got more news about the Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns expansion, an announcement about major updates for RIFT and ArcheAge, and a new trailer for SWTOR’s Knights of the Fallen Empire expansion. Oh yes, and a little game known as World of Warcraft gave us a first look at their next expansion, titled “Legion”.
As a result, this week’s column is less about the best of the blogosphere and more about pointing out some new sites (and a few old ones) who have written interesting posts about Gamescom, Legion, and gaming in general. Enjoy all of the links, and good luck to those who are attempting to successfully complete Blaugust!
Posts About Gamescom
Gamescom, for those who have ignored the internet for the past week, is Europe’s largest video game trade show. It’s held annually in Cologne, Germany, and is open to the public as well as media.
There were a number of great first-hand reports from the showroom floor of Gamescom this year. Of particular note is paeroka’s work on Nerdy Bookahs, where she wrote not only a general impressions post, but also shared first-hand summaries of the Guild Wars 2 Community Event and the WildStar Community Event.
Posts About World of Warcraft: Legion
By now anyone who is interested has probably heard all the details about the World of Warcraft: Legion announcement at Gamescom. It seems as though players will be revisiting some of their favorite people and places from The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King expansion, such as Illidan and Dararan. Garrisons seem to be on the out, while the Demon Hunter class and Artifact Weapons are in.
The general blogger response to the announcement seems to be optimistic but reserved. A number of posts expressed interest in some of the new features, while many wrote that the expansion is promising too much nostalgia and not enough new ideas. Is it enough to encourage old players to return to Azeroth?
Blogger Achloryn thinks so! In their post titled “Damn You Blizzard”, Ach writes that just when he thought he was out Blizzard comes along and announces a lot of cool stuff. Artifact weapons and Demon Hunters are exciting enough that while Ach is not 100% convinced that they will be returning to the game, they’re definitely keeping an eye on how Legion develops over the coming months.
Pizzamaid wins the best title pun award with her post, “Don’t Stop Be ‘Legion’”. She’s also excited about the expansion announcement, but wants to stress to Blizzard that they really can’t afford to drop any of the promised content between now and launch or they risk losing even more goodwill from their players.
Over at Aeternus Gaming, blogger Sandrian examines what we know about the lore in Legion so far and what questions lore fans still want answered. Meanwhile, Fickle Fangirl Leala compares her expectations of the expansion announcement to the reality of Legion.
Posts about Other Games
Game Introspection is an excellent blog about the science and psychology behind games and this week they posted a fascinating examination of gaming scripts from your favorite RPGs and other genres. They look at which games have the highest “reading level” expectations and longest sentences, and how wordiness can affect emotional impact. (If you like this post, you should also check out their previous writing on Word Usage and Aggression in scripts.)
Have MMOs lost their way over time? That’s the question that Ysharros from Stylish Corpse attempts to answer on their Blaugust Day 6 post. She writes that the answer is really both “yes” and “no”. Modern MMOs are very different from how they were 10 or 15 years ago, but change isn’t always a bad thing.
In other blog posts, Neri from Mama Needs Mana lists 10 Hearthstone Podcasts to Try Out, Psyche from Psyche Plays writes a guide to Getting Started in Elite Dangerous, and Gracie from Moonshine Mansion writes a post to explain why they love raiding in MMOs.
And those are some of the (many, many) great posts from the blogosphere lately! If you know of a post that you think should be highlighted here, leave a link in the comments or let me know on Twitter at @heyitsliore.
