Posted on 05/03/2015 3:28:20 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
As MMOs Continue to Grow Leaving Old Areas Behind, Gaming Archaeology has Risen Up to Explore and Remember their Past.
MMOs such as World of Warcraft and Guild Wars have been going strong for years now continually growing their player base and the areas open to them. They’ve become so large that the games have taken on the same traits as real world cultures. As they continue to grow the community moves to new areas, new hub cities, leaving the old ones behind. Just as real world cities are abandoned and forgotten old hub cities in MMOs are quickly forgotten. Yet those old cities and areas don’t completely disappear.
Players have discovered that those old areas are still holding on waiting for someone to come back to them. That’s inspired a whole new in game hobby of gaming archaeology, where players hunt down forgotten places to see what’s still there. Players who have jumped into this new hobby are quickly discovering how much old content in games like World of Warcraft is still there. Unlike ancient cities in the real world, those old digital spaces are perfectly preserved. They don’t suffer the same decay which means all those old AI characters are also still buzzing about.
Gaming archaeology is a way for players to see how far the game has come along, experience a bit of nostalgia, or explore places that died out before they started playing. In games like WoW those abandoned cities also offer players the chance to trade wares with old merchants and pick up skills from trainers. All while wandering through cities like Silvermoon and The Exodar that are completely barren of other players. That emptiness is proving to be a big draw for gaming archaeology; because it breaks away from the MMO status quo.
Normally cities are filled with dozens of other players all wandering around on different quests or on their way to a trader. Abandoned areas offer a totally alien experience to that; despite the growing popularity of gaming archaeology you will still usually be alone. You may run into another player or two on occasion but that is nothing compared to the norm of hub cities. Its an experience unlike anything else that MMOs like Wow or Guild Wars can offer. Suddenly being totally alone in a city is almost unsettling, making your skin itch with anticipation of other players suddenly appearing.
As these games continue to expand creating new hub cities then so will gaming archaeology. Offering all new places for players to return to hoping to find a forgotten gem or find something unique to an area long forgotten.
Interesting!
I’ve heard stories. Old gaming buddies with level 100 toons in EverQuest, going back to solo Nagafen the Dragon, which back in the day was a 50-50 proposition with a full raid. . .
Something happened to the World of Warcraft server, the whole thing went down. It made the news. There was darn-near panic in the streets.
It was as if millions of virtual people suddenly cried out and were silenced.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2941683/posts
I thought “gaming archaeology” meant firing up the old Commodore 64 and playing Temple of Apshai or Blue Max.
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