November has been a month of expansions and major DLC updates for many a MMORPG. From World of Warcraft's Dragonflight later this month to The Lord of the Rings Online's Before the Shadow mini-expansion, there has been a lot of new content for players to sink their teeth into.
I tend to get pretty giddy when a new expansion drops, especially for the MMO's in my normal rotation. Seeing major content for both The Lord of the Rings Online and EVE Online debut within about a week of each other has been quite the experience, seeing me try to rush to get into some of Uprising's faction warfare content before switching gears and exploring Swanfleet and Cardolan in Before the Shadow.
This isn't even counting The Elder Scrolls Online's Firesong DLC that hit earlier this month, or the latest module for Neverwinter, Northdark Reaches, which debuted the same day as EVE Online's Uprising. EVE did something right too, as the MMO ha seen the highest concurrent player counts in over a year since its launch. November will also see Albion Online release its major update, Beyond the Veil, on November 21st.
However, without a doubt, the biggest content drop this month has to be World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, which unlocks on November 28th. While part of it went live yesterday, such as the new Dracthyr Evoker hero class as part of the prepatch for the MMO, the wealth of content doesn't unlock until later in the month.
With so much for MMO fans to enjoy this month that is new, it got me thinking: how giddy are MMO fans right now? Is there anything that is hitting the digital shelves that has excited players to the lengths that MMO launches, or even expansion launches, used to?
I imagine players taking time off work just to log in day one for one of these major content drops (and I'm sure we'll hear of plenty of people furiously queueing up to hop in Azeroth on the 28th). I remember when I was working retail here in Vegas and when a new Lord of the Rings Online expansion would drop, I would "fake sick" to be among the first to enter the new areas on my server (RIP Nimrodel). In fact, one of those days it was a good thing I faked an illness to stay home and play - my mother fell and broke her leg and I was the only one there to help.
It's been a while since I've felt that giddy about an MMO launch, though. It's probably because now so much of my MMORPG gametime is built around work (which, not a complaint, I could be roofing in the Las Vegas summer instead) that it takes a bit for me to truly get as excited as I once did. I remember when The Lord of the Rings Online: Fate of Gundabad dropped last year. I was excited as I've always wanted to explore the Mountain-home of the Dwarves, but was I as excited as I was when Mines of Moria released, or even Rise of Isengard? Probably not.
The same could be said with EVE Online's Uprising expansion earlier this month. I was stoked to finally see the culmination of a year of promises by CCP Games when it launched on November 8th with all its new faction warfare goodness. But was I as excited as I likely would have been when I was a bit younger and first starting out as a Capsuleer? I don't think so.
That's not to say that there isn't any excitement for me, it's definitely there. The minute I was able to do so I was in Before the Shadow yesterday, debating whether I was going to immediately make a new character to explore the new zones, or try my hand at the Delving system in as an end-game player. For Neverwinter, I'm eager to jump in this week and start experiencing the story that one of my favorite authors, R.A. Salvatore, helped to craft.
And judging by my Twitter feed, plenty of my friends and follows are reliving the excitement that can only come around when World of Warcraft is making major moves. My feed was full of new Dracthyr Evokers, people trying to come up with new names since all the Targaryen ones were taken.
With MMO launches usually being server-issue slogs now, I'm sure that impacts my day-one excitement. Am I actually going to be able to log in and play today? I'm sure this is a question many fans are asking themselves when determining whether to take a day off of work come launch day, or a few days after once that initial server hit levels out a bit.
I'm curious as to what you all think. Are these expansion drops enough to get you giddy with excitement, or is a more standard affair now where it's just another day in the MMO world? Are you planning, or have you already, taken work off just to play the content drop of your go-to MMO on day one recently? And what are you looking most forward to when looking at the future of your favorite game? Let us know in the comments below.
