We all have gaming habits and these are often fashioned by the games we play. From the days of Ultima Online and onwards I would always have some kind of persistent online world on the back burner. Yes, I would break off to play single player games or more contained online titles: but then return to whatever digital landscape I was currently squatting in.
Looking back I would say I have played the majority of well know MMOs from WoW, Age of Conan, Guild Wars 2 and so on. Some of my best friends have been made while navigating these digital worlds in the search for... well I actually couldn't tell you right now. Maybe somewhere to put my mark or could it be the sheer act of achieving something together? I think as humans we do have this need within our roots and short of the internet being turned off I will always have at least one finger in the MMO pie.
As we prepared for Wildstar the feeling that this was the MMO to succeed WoW was strong: it has every box checked. Yet for some reason, Wildstar did not cut the cheese and while not shut down the game now resides in MMO limbo. So what next I asked? While never unveiled officially the now infamous project Titan was a beacon of hope for 'MMO 2.0' and it was a huge blow to the genre when it was canned by Blizzard. Everquest Next was the only other light on the horizon which looked to be changing the MMO formula and unfortunately, this project was scuttled by Daybreak Game Company: a move that really pissed off a lot of gamers including myself. In actual fact, the Landmark servers were shut down last week which is very sad considering the amazing creations players had fashioned from its Voxel landscape. It really does seem like the old school MMO scene is ending and simultaneously being replaced by a swathe of free to play efforts that are ten a penny. While sad I also find this shift interesting and will be taking a look at the history of MMOs and how they have affected our gaming lives.
It is surprising then that the MMO I was searching for was sitting right under my nose. More on from that I had actually tried it nearly a year back but got pulled away due to some other commitments. For the last month a friend of mine has been playing one of the most complicated games I have ever seen: every day her status would read 'Black Desert Online' and this rarely changed. She eventually persuaded me to re-install BDO and give it another whirl. What is this game I've been missing out on? I mean really, Black Desert Online is the game that puts 'massively' in MMO. I am currently getting to grips with the finer points of tomato farming and beer brewing: watch this space for a full retro review and gallery.
So this weekend just gone I was able to make it down to the big smoke and attend the PC Gamer Weekender event. It included stage shows with the PC Gamer writers talking to developers as well as all the usual gaming event tomfoolery. Plenty of VR stands were in place this year as well as workshops for people to learn the tricks to building their own PC gaming Rig. I was impressed that some of the US staff had flown over to take part: that's a long flight for two days. I also got the chance to sight see in in London which is always a treat: there are few cities in the world this good for people watching. One game I did try that has me excited was Dawn of War 3, as you might expect the game has evolved a little from its last iteration (but not too far). It was also good to meet some of the Star Citizen developers and hear how progress is going.
Last but certainly not least you can now check out my review for Sniper Elite 4 here. This week a game called Oxygen not Included arrived for early access purchase on Steam and so I will be taking a look as soon as possible. If you don't already you can follow me on Twitter @riggedforepic for all my updates, ramblings and reviews. If you do get a chance please tell you friends about my site, the best place for honest PC content and not a single advert in sight.
Thanks for reading and wherever you are: I hope your gaming is epic!