Holy Smokes, Tobold is not blogging about mmorpgs Batman!!

Tobold was until recently, the wizard of mmorpg commentary, but it appears our friend is branching out

While doing some research the other night on D&D, I found out the shocking news that Tobold is no longer blogging about mmorpgs exclusively.

Who is Tobold you might say? If you read my blog, or any blog about mmorpgs for that matter, then you don’t have to ask that question, but if you don’t, just go ahead and google the word combo: mmorpg+blog. What is the first entry you see? Tobold’s blog!

Except he is no longer blogging about electronic gaming as much, he’s almost exclusively devoted his blog to other topics, chief among them his experiences with D&D as a GM.

I find that a rather natural extenti0n given the RPG in the mmorpg acronym stands for role playing game, and everyone knows that D&D was the first paper and pen role playing game, well if not the first, the most revolutionary.

Even more surprising are the reasons expounded by Tobold for the change: He may not be completely bored with mmorpgs, I am sure he will still play them occasionally, but in his own words, “a AAA+ MMORPG of 2011/2012 plays pretty much exactly as one 5 years ago, and that most of the changes in the last 5 years have been cosmetic. And thus I am increasingly losing interest.”

I have to say that I know where he is coming from, though the timing seems to be coincidental, you see, I have been gravitating back toward paper and pen D&D myself of late, partly because I am trying to get back into creative writing, and I have some propensity towards the fantasy genre, but also because I love DDO and I want to learn more about the Stormreach setting specifically and D&D campaign settings in general.

Cryptic may take quite some time to reveal their new D&D mmo based on Neverwinter Nights, but there is no doubt that I would play both D&D based mmorpgs.

Just this past weekend, I was discussing with a friend the inherent advantages and joys of a face to face campaign over the more limiting grouping and PUG runs common in wow and other mmos. Though some family obligations prevented me from attending my last group session in Pasadena, I plan to be there early next month and I look forward to supplementing my DDO online time with some over the board, pen and paper gaming.

Lately I have been playing a lot of wow myself, but apart from leveling my undead mage to level 30, queuing for random Dungeon PUG runs and exploring new zones, wow feels like a solo RPG to me and I am not sure i will put the effort to max level, unless I start having more fun in the game.

So Tobold, good for you for following your passion. From what I have read, you are putting a lot of time and effort into crafting your campaign settings and adapting 4E mechanics into your own campaigns. I give you kudos for doing what you love and having fun while doing so. Isn’t that what gaming is all about anyhow???

Azeroth exodus has been greatly exaggerated

The title of this post refers to the fact a big deal has been made in the blogosphere about wow’s subscription numbers being down, especially with the documented early success of newer mmorpgs like SWTOR.

I have not really had much time to venture into Azeroth, save the occasional weeknight and weekend dungeon runs with the PUGs. GRE and grad school preparations have really robbed me from my free time away from work, but I have managed to get Gannisper the fire mage to level 24, mostly through queuing into dungeons and doing the occasional quest.

My original plan was to join a guild in the Sisters of Elune server, primarily a role playing server and not my usual PvP, because it sounded like a fun endeavor, but alas, that has not come to pass.

Those who write that wow is dead, or dying have not visited Ogrimmar or any capital city lately, where I see most of the players. Yet, since I don’t have as much time to quest, running through dungeons has been most of my interaction with other folks in Azeroth, and I get a bit bored of it often, so I do it very sporadically.

Once in a while it is fun, because coordinating the groups takes communication, otherwise players risk getting kicked for capricious reasons.

Earlier today, I also logged back into EQ2. EQ2 was a very frustrating experience, given the fact it is hard to group in that game without a level capped toon, but I found some levity out of traveling to various parts of Norrath via the “world bell” network and staying within zones that are appropriate for my level. I made the mistake of venturing out to unknown territory and kept getting killed by mobs for my troubles.

I have DDO on reserve as my third mmo of choice, but that game is so entrenched in its own idiosyncrasies and unique elements, it is less of a grind than EQ2, but it means I have to be in the D&D mind frame and mood to play it.  What’s next?

Running through a random dungeon and taking down the big boss.

I plan to be playing Stark Trek Online come early March, by that time I should have sent off all my paperwork and made all my grad school preparation, so the summer may be one full of mmo goodness for me. What are the rest of you all up to???