Bel's Blog Bonanza - February 27, 2015 .

Hey folks and welcome to Bel’s Blog Bonanza, a bi-weekly feature here on MMOGames where I attempt to highlight some of the more interesting topics currently cycling through the gaming blogosphere. One of my favorite aspects of writing about games, is the interactions I have with other bloggers. In this column, it is my goal to highlight some of the individuals in this community and present their interesting take on current issues. Let us dispense with the introduction and get to the awesome.

 

Civility and Infamy

Earlier this month Rock, Paper, Shotgun published a rather controversial interview with gaming legend Peter Molyneux in which they attempt to give him both barrels in a round of rather heated questions.  Since that date blogs have been popping up commenting on the course the interview took, and the the line between playing hardball and being outright rude.  I thought I would lead off today with a collection of some of the more thought provoking blog posts discussing it.

 

• MMO Gypsy – On Rock Paper Shotgun and “That” Molyneux Interview
• Clean Casuals – The Sad, Sad Story of Godus
• Murf Versus – Molyneusian Promises
• Bio Break – RPS Shows You How Not To Interview

Crowfall

For the majority of this month a countdown has been underway releasing tidbits of information about the upcoming MMO title Crowfall.  Now that the countdown has finished, ArtCraft Entertainment, Inc. has embarked upon a rather ambitious Kickstarter for their “Throne War MMO”.  There has been as much speculation as to the nature of what that sequence of words means, as there has been to the reaction of the community towards another Kickstarter funded MMO.  The blogosphere has provided amble commentary and discussion about both.

 

• Tobold’s Blog – Saying some nice things about Crowfall
• In An Age – Crestfall
• Blessing of Kings – Crowfall: Kickstarter, More Thoughts
• Kill Ten Rats – Crowfall Inteview on the Business Model
• Scarybooster – Crowfall on Kickstarter
• Casual Aggro – I’m More Confused About What Crowfall is Now That Their Kickstarter Has Launched
• Screaming Monkey – Why I Won’t Be Funding Crowfall
• Herding Cats – Crowfall Kickstarter is Smart Marketing
• The Ancient Gaming Noob – Crowfall Kickstarter Commences

Golden Saucer and Triple Triad

This week has been a rather huge one for established MMOs like Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn, in that it saw the release of the rather significant 2.51 patch and with it the introduction of the Manderville Golden Saucer.  For being a “minor” patch it certainly delivers a major punch in the way of casual friendly content.  Patterned off of a similar destination in Final Fantasy VII the Golden Saucer is full of mini-games and the ever popular Triple Triad card game from Final Fantasy VIII.  This week we had a number of excellent posts from the blogger community relaying their first experiences stepping into this new setting, as well as explaining some of its finer points.

 

• The Land of Odd – Card Games on Chocobos? Triple Triad Arrives!
• Clean Casuals – FFXIV: A Quick Chocobo Racing Guide
• Clean Casuals – FFXIV: Gold Saucer Screenshot Walkthrough
• Clean Casuals – Final Fantasy XIV 2.51 Impressions and some progress
• Herding Cats – Scenes from the Golden Saucer
• Murf Versus – Meet Murfus Murfington and visit the Gold Saucer
• Party Business – Gold Saucer first impressions
• Nomadic Gamers – FFXIV The Manderville Golden Saucer

Heirlooms, Twitter and Selfies Oh My!

Not to be outdone by FFXIV, World of Warcraft also released their first major patch of the Warlords of Draenor expansion on the same day.  6.1 brings with it a number of quality of life features like a rather innovative color shifting system for the color blind, custom twitter integration, a new heirloom collection system and the interesting looking S.E.L.F.I.E. camera toy.  This patch has had some rather mixed reactions in the community as a whole, but I thought I would round up some of the latest commentary from the blogging community.

 

• Alternative Chat – Private Eyes
• The Daily Frostwolf – So, I didn’t know 6.1 was doing THIS to my garrison
• Tome of the Ancient – Blizzard Involved in Secret Research
• Syrco Owl – Patch Day!
• The Grumpy Elf – 6.1 Impressions, Observations, Opinions and Gripes
• WoW Adventurer – Fantastic Profession Changes for 6.1

Remembering Forgotten Lands

Most of the topics I brought up this week are hot discussion points circulating through the community.  For this last post I wanted to bring things down to a much more personal level.  As we play the MMOs we love, we often think about the worlds we have left behind.  In an extremely epic post the Mystical Mesmer weaves a lyrical tale about the worlds that they have left behind.  There is a certain wistful quality to the post, and I think we can all agree that more than likely we all will end up revisiting those old familiar haunts in time.  Hopefully you will enjoy the post as much as I did.

• The Mystical Mesmer – Our Paths Will Cross Again