Are MMOs becoming Anti-Social?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

"The truth is, MMO players have come to accept a different definition of friendship – a definition with different expectations and norms than exist in the real world. Simply put, there was an understanding of a common good in MMOs, and players worked toward achieving that goal with amazing cooperation. As time has gone on, however, the social bonding that took place in MMOs has gone with it, leaving us with a more competitive, individualistic game – one that seems to be forgetting what MM stands for in MMORPG."

Read the full article here. I think you'll enjoy it, even if you disagree.

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Dragonica Online Review

Image via Wikipedia

"Imagine a child's dream of dragons and fantasy, of heroes and danger: that is the world of Dragonica Online. A free to play fantasy MMORPG by THQ*Ice, Dragonica Online features 3D side-scrolling action in a bright, whimisical world. Featuring four basic classes (warrior, magician, archer, and thief) which further specialize into advanced classes, Dragonica offers the draw of an action game in a fun fantasy setting."

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Why I'm not concerned about Cataclysm

Ever since someone caught wind of it, it's been hot news: Blizzard trademarked Cataclysm.

It seems everywhere I turn, people are jumping up and down, citing wowwiki about how this must be the next Blizzard expansion, focused on the Great Sundering. The first speculation was actually about Blizzard's new MMO IP, but as soon as some WoW fanboi caught hold of it, that was forgotten. Especially since "wowcataclysm.com" has shifted to GoDaddy's hands.

... seriously? There wasn't a "wowtheburningcrusade.com" or a "wowwrathofthelichking.com." Blizzard always hosts these sites on official Blizzard domains, not some poorly trademarked website.

I'm not deigning to report on this rumormill any more than I tweet about the deaths of Jackson, Fawcett, McMahon, or Mays.

Why?

First of all, the Cataclysm - which happened long before the World of Warcraft as we know it - would make an absurd basis for an expansion. While we do generally expect an expansion geared toward the Maelstrom - there have already been hints about it - why name the game after the event of WoW ancient history? As the already leaked info stated, it's probably going to go under some name involving Tides or Depths.

If anything WoW related, Cataclysm is a code name, I'm sure.

And if it is the next expansion? woop. We knew the next expansion would be maelstrom, and it's not like Blizzard is going to give us any details anytime soon anyway.

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