Friday link love

It’s Friday, w00t! Hardly ever does stating the obvious make me this happy. It’s been a very interesting week for me blogging-wise, so I wanna thank all of you who added their own takes on the alt debate. I feel I gained many insights and once again the confirmation that with WoW being the “genre freak” that it is, with a much wider audience than just the classic MMORPG audience, questions like these become generally more complex. Even on smaller scale, there are already differences between a very raid-centric focus or other just as valid playstyles. I still think alts are a problematic feature; at the end of the day though, I hope you enjoy whatever you do because that’s what really matters.

I haven’t allowed myself to ramble freely in a while, although that is not to say I’m always coherent with my thoughts (I hear coherence is overrated, anyway). So, in the light of the upcoming weekend, I’ll be blissfully incoherent and throw random links at you for no specific purpose.

This week the US decided that violent video games are good for kids, or good enough anyway, and everyone in Europe is talking about it now too – what does it mean for us, what should we do, oh noes we’re all going to die, et cetera. Games don’t create violence. Here’s the proof.

Besides that, my literary God met up with my late-night God this last Sunday, so imagine my excitement. If you have no idea who these two people are, you should really get your act together. Fast. While we’re talking youtube: do you actually recognize Peter Jackson in this video? I had to check twice, scary! And I really can’t wait for the Hobbit.

Ah yeah, WoW launched a new content patch. I almost forgot. Hurry up and do your dailies grind so you can unlock your reward NPCs asap! Hurry hurry, you don’t wanna be left behind now, do you? Harder, better, faster, stronger. And what then? Who knows. Comme on fait son lit on se couche. I hope those hoops come in different colors, at least.

New bloggers on the block

I’d like to mention a few relatively new bloggers that I’ve only recently come across in the blogosphere. A few have been around longer than others which shows that some link love is overdue. In the spirit of oldschool MMO cooperation, remember your first blogging days and weeks and pay them a visit sometime –

• Vudu, the “blog-less blogger”, writes commentaries on other MMO blog articles over at MMO Syndicate. He has fixed his comment box now, so you can start visiting. That’s Final Fantasy’s Zak in the header, by the way.

• Straw Fellow is a relatively new blogger who has joined the circle of general MMO critics and analysts in the blogosphere. I have a weakness for scarecrows, so he’s off to a good start.

• The Game Preacher has set out with an intriguing blog focus. He is “…here to help you develop your team. Whether you call it a clan, guild, or electronic sports team”. True to his name, his articles are comprehensive and substantial, so you want to take your time reading them through.

• Telwyn from Gamingsf is an MMO player of variety who writes about MMOs in general as much as his adventures in Azeroth, the Planes of Telara, Norrath and more. I really like his blog template.

• Max is a frequent commenter on MMO design blogs and has recently set up a place of his own under a most original name. To use his words, a blog about “MMO design snippets from the safety of an armchair”. With that, he joins our ever-increasing corner of critics and also, second language writers which is something to encourage.

/Wave to all of you and happy blogging. And of course, a fantastic weekend to everybody!