for science
Star Citizen has 720K total backers and 34K subscribers according to gathered public data
Getting subscriber details for multiplayer and MMO titles out of companies can often be like pulling teeth out of an alligator's mouth with a...
EVE Online players submitted over 41M classifications to fight COVID for CCP’s latest Project Discovery initiative
What's better than a science MMO story or a feel-good MMO story? One that's both. And this one is both, as EVE Online and...
For science: New UK study finds that video games improve the mental health, reading, and writing skills of kids
So this one's fun. The results of a study performed in the UK between November and December of 2019 have just been released. The...
The Daily Grind: What’s the most annoying ‘dark pattern’ in MMO gaming?
I've been kind of obsessed with dark patterns - that is, intentionally deceptive or annoying interface design - for kind of a while now,...
GDC Summer 2020: Better living, climate awareness, and citizen science through games
Way back during GDC 2018, I covered several panels relating to gaming for good. Things like citizen science projects, games as medicine or for...
Social scientists study Minecraft and One Hour One Life communities
You might think scientists would balk at the idea of using online gaming communities as a test bed for study, given those communities'... strong...
GDC Summer 2020: What online gaming can (and should) learn from social media’s trainwrecks
The circle is now complete: Social media has mastered skills MMOs and online games haven't, not that social media was paying much attention to...
For Science: Meta-analysis of aggression studies shows no link between aggression and video games
Do video games make people violent? The dispatch from the APA back in March certainly seems to indicate that it thinks so, which runs...
COVID-19 roundup: How the pandemic has affected game devs, GameStop’s flip-flopping on mask wearing policy
Hey, it's been some time since we've done one of these roundup stories about the novel coronavirus' effect on gaming, and since there are...
SuperData calls expansions the ‘lifeblood’ for World of Warcraft
I have a thing about graphs without labeled axes. Just yesterday, I was literally making fun of the time Nexon turned in this unitless graph in its investor report. Yay squiggly lines!
Quantic Foundry surveys say gamers are seeking more relaxing and less intense gaming experiences during COVID-19
How has the novel coronavirus pandemic altered the types of games people play, if at all? According to some new survey results from Quantic...
What’s the biggest MMO in the world? That’s OK – this video doesn’t know either
Redditor u/SanctuaryZ attracted attention on several gaming subs this week for his visualization video attempting to track the most popular MMORPGs ever from the...
MMO Business Roundup: PAX Online, PAX Aus, games for ADHD, Epic’s $17B valuation
Welcome back to another quick roundup of video games business and industry news that bumps into our little old MMO genre over here.
PAX: PAX...
The Daily Grind: Do you eat while playing MMORPGs?
Back in May, Newzoo came out with a report that asserts something like four in five gamers across the world are also busy stuffing...
EVE Online’s Project Discovery initiative tasks players with helping research COVID-19
The novel coronavirus is still out there and it's still a problem, and EVE Online players are being tapped to help out thanks to...
For Science: Steam just told on itself with its new games performance analysis
Steam has long been regarded as a pit of doom, loaded with asset flips and scams, where where indies go to die and MMO...
Microsoft is using cloud computing to make unbeatable raid bosses
My experience in fighting raid bosses isn't one of overcoming AI so much as learning dance steps; seeing wind-ups for abilities or telegraphs for...
For Science: New paper examines the whos and whys of online trolling
MOP reader Miol recently pointed us to an intriguing academic paper on trolling. Seriously. "Trolls" or "warriors of faith"? Differentiating dysfunctional forms of media...
For Science: Academics blast APA’s updated resolution on games and aggression
My Twitter feed was on fire about three things today: politics, coronavirus, and violence in video games. The last entry there is all because...
UK’s Royal Society for Public Health issues report on lootboxes and their effect on gambling perception
There's a new log on the continually burning fire regarding gaming lootboxes, their association with gambling, and their effect on young people. A new...
