TheRetroArcade
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Posts: 4,672
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Home is where the hearthstone is.
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This is Terminally Online: PC Gamer's very own MMO column. Every other week, I'll be sharing my thoughts on the genre, interviewing fellow MMO-heads like me, taking a deep-dive into mechanics we've all taken for granted, and, occasionally, bringing in guest writers to talk about their MMO of choice.
World of Warcraft: Midnight (and, indeed, The Last Titan) are doing some interesting things. Rather than the usual MMO shtick of a new and exciting continent to explore, they're revamping old zones. By all means, they're still "new"—the rebuilt Silvermoon is completely different, as are the questing zones outside, but Blizzard's really digging into its old world in a way it hasn't done since the old world overhaul in Cataclysm.
And you know what? It's great. This might just be me donning my rose-tinted goggles for a second, given I played quite a bit of The Burning Crusade as a lad, but Blizzard's art department and world design developers have both done a bang-up job here. The new Silvermoon is gorgeous.
Murder Row, previously just a street, is now a sprawling district filled with hidden bars and noble dens of degeneracy. The Sunwell is placed at the end of a long, ocean-stretching bridge that looks like it was peeled straight out of the concept art. There are these little floating terraces with blood elves drinking wine.
It's one of the best-looking cities Blizzard's ever put together—but it's not just Silvermoon I'm impressed by. The surrounding Ghostlands are equally lovely, especially now there's not a great bloomin' scar running through it. Zul'aman has been fleshed out from a raid into its own fully-fledged zone.
It's so good, in fact, that I'm in a bit of an existential crisis. See, conventional wisdom suggests that an MMO's lifespan should include expansions, and that those expansions should take you to new exciting locales. If your expansion doesn't have a new continent (or planet, or alternate reality, whatever) to explore—are you really trying?
But MMOs are also meant to be these living, breathing things, and no game knows the price of abandoned zones more than World of Warcraft. As of 2026, there are now nine major continents on Azeroth alone, each split up into their own zones. There are two versions of Draenor. You can pop along to the realm of death.
Part of me wonders if Shadowlands was a sympt...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
This is Terminally Online: PC Gamer's very own MMO column. Every other week, I'll be sharing my thoughts on the genre, interviewing fellow MMO-heads like me, taking a deep-dive into mechanics we've all taken for granted, and, occasionally, bringing in guest writers to talk about their MMO of choice.
World of Warcraft: Midnight (and, indeed, The Last Titan) are doing some interesting things. Rather than the usual MMO shtick of a new and exciting continent to explore, they're revamping old zones. By all means, they're still "new"—the rebuilt Silvermoon is completely different, as are the questing zones outside, but Blizzard's really digging into its old world in a way it hasn't done since the old world overhaul in Cataclysm.
And you know what? It's great. This might just be me donning my rose-tinted goggles for a second, given I played quite a bit of The Burning Crusade as a lad, but Blizzard's art department and world design developers have both done a bang-up job here. The new Silvermoon is gorgeous.
Murder Row, previously just a street, is now a sprawling district filled with hidden bars and noble dens of degeneracy. The Sunwell is placed at the end of a long, ocean-stretching bridge that looks like it was peeled straight out of the concept art. There are these little floating terraces with blood elves drinking wine.
It's one of the best-looking cities Blizzard's ever put together—but it's not just Silvermoon I'm impressed by. The surrounding Ghostlands are equally lovely, especially now there's not a great bloomin' scar running through it. Zul'aman has been fleshed out from a raid into its own fully-fledged zone.
It's so good, in fact, that I'm in a bit of an existential crisis. See, conventional wisdom suggests that an MMO's lifespan should include expansions, and that those expansions should take you to new exciting locales. If your expansion doesn't have a new continent (or planet, or alternate reality, whatever) to explore—are you really trying?
But MMOs are also meant to be these living, breathing things, and no game knows the price of abandoned zones more than World of Warcraft. As of 2026, there are now nine major continents on Azeroth alone, each split up into their own zones. There are two versions of Draenor. You can pop along to the realm of death.
Part of me wonders if Shadowlands was a sympt...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?