MMOs in the Spring: Checking in on the Masses

G4tv has published an article titled “MMOs in the Spring: Checking in on the masses” where they give an overview of the recent MMO landscape. World of Warcraft, Rift and DC Universe Online are all mentioned.

World of Warcraft

In April, Blizzard released the first major free content update for WoW since the launch of Cataclysm. Patch 4.1, The Rise of the Zandalari, introduced two new level 85 Heroic 5-man dungeons, a new Guild Finder function and an enhanced Looking For Group tool that gives extra rewards to tanks and healers when there is a shortage. And, let’s face it, when is there NOT a shortage?

Immediately after Patch 4.1 went live, Patch 4.2, hit the WoW public test server. This enormous content update will include a new 10 and 25-man outdoor raid in the Firelands, a new Legendary staff and over 60 new daily quests rewarding new weapons and armor. For the big new raid, players will jump into the elemental plane of fire to face down a foe from early WoW times, Ragnaros the Firelord. In addition to the new gear, new flying mounts and achievements await those on the cutting edge of raiding in the game.

The Legendary staff being introduced is the result of a quest chain that will take an entire raiding guild to complete. It’s not clear yet what steps are necessary to complete the chain, but we do know all current raid content needs to be defeated to even start it. The DPS caster staff has four incarnations and its final form will, among other things, transforms the wielder into a blue dragon. Those in the guild that help with the quest will also receive a non-combat pet for their efforts. I think they would rather be the dragon, too, but you have to take what you can get.