Finding Fun Despite the Doldrums

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actiblizz, activision-blizzard, blizzard, community, ffxiv, final fantasy, final fantasy xiv, mmo community, mmorpg community, square enix, warcraft, world of warcraft, WoW

Honestly, I was kind of hoping to avoid any topic related to the hellscape that is Activision-Blizzard’s treatment of its employees. Mostly because far smarter and better people have written about the matter than I have and I don’t have anything of worth to really say on the subject without just standing on the shoulders of those giants. However, a recent event today spurred this post. Specifically, a tweet from someone I follow which read that, despite their best efforts, they couldn’t really get invested into Final Fantasy XIV and decided to return to WoW.

This is in spite of some best efforts and some found delight by this person, I should point out. I’ll not go into detail but this player really did try to dig in. Of course, this attempt was spurred on by the aforementioned issues, and I suspect that this particular WoW player wrestled mightily with their long-standing love of the game and the unveiled misery many of its developers have had to suffer through — something that I’ve written about before on this blog. And despite my feelings about Blizzard and its games, I get it.

Nice Things About Disliked MMOs

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bad games, champions online, eve online, good games, lord of the rings online, lotro, MMO, mmorpg, multiplayer, overwatch, world of warcraft, WoW

Over a week ago, Massively Overpowered posed a question on its regular Daily Grind column asking readers a nice thing that could be said about an MMO game they didn’t like. I definitely chimed in on this once, since my useless mutant superpower is finding something to like in games I hate, but the more I pondered the question the more I came up with multiple answers.

So, why not take that bit of random inspiration and run with it? Here’s a small list of MMO and multiplayer titles I’m no fan of yet can admit that they do something really well.

The Power of Love (and Anger)

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battle for azeroth, bfa, community, games, gaming, gaming community, haters, MMO, mmorpg, rage, warcraft, world of warcraft, WoW

I’ve written before about how you should just ignore the haters and like the games you like, and by and large I still absolutely stand by that statement. That said, being someone who’s new to World of Warcraft, I’m continually reminded that I probably am not wanted and that I should stick to people I have vetted outside of the game itself.

How did I reach this conclusion? By the needless upset of those who were enraged by the whole War of Thorns thing in WoW.

Burning a world tree and bridges at the same time. Well done, Sylvanas.

World of Warcraft: the Wrong Game for the Right Reasons

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battle for azeroth, community, friends, gaming, MMO, mmorpg, warcraft, world of warcraft, WoW

I don’t like World of Warcraft very much.

Yeah, yeah, yeah…

Believe me, I’ve tried, but at the same time I’ve always bounced off of it. I have no idea what the characters are doing or what the story is about, and I don’t have any nostalgic feelings tied to the game and so can’t bring myself to care.

Yet here I sit, subscribed to the game and with Battle for Azeroth pre-ordered. All that’s missing is a hat that reads “I’m a big fat hypocrite.” So what gives? It’s because of friends.

A Noble Purpose

Tags

bad guys, factions, final fantasy xiv, good guys, groups, narrative, the secret world, tribes, warring, wildstar, world of warcraft

Today’s Daily Grind question on Massively Overpowered got me considering factions in MMO’ing.  More specifically, how multifaceted factions are the more interesting than the flat black-versus-white sort that you see in some games.  Even World of Warcraft had pretty much foregone its Orcs vs. Humans narrative on…well, pretty much every open opportunity, near as I can tell.

“World of OccasionallyWarCraft” just doesn’t sound as snappy.

One of my favorite aspects of a multifaceted faction is the belief in their noble purpose.  The concept that they are truly right in their cause.  Even those who would be painted with the Evil Brush can have sides that are actually something to look up to.