See: Pay-to-win
p2w
Massively Overthinking: Who’s really paying for MMOs?
Two years ago, we did a piece on dark patterns in MMO design, and in the comments, a reader named Shadex De'Marr penned a...
Guild Wars 2 celebrates a decade online with 16M players, Steam launch, and birthday gifts
Guild Wars 2's anniversary hoopla and Steam rollout are underway today as planned, and it's got plenty of gifts in store.
We checked out the...
Grimdark MMO Mad World confirms 2022 launch as ‘permanent open beta,’ aims for a primary male audience
Jandisoft's Mad World is looking more and more like a candidate for a 2022 release: Not only did we spot a new "winter 2022"...
Legends of Aria’s new blockchain owners are trying to sell $70 random P2W characters
The hits keep coming for Legends of Aria, and we don't mean the greatest hits compilation kind.
We regret to remind you that Aria, which...
Fight or Kite: King of Crabs is just what you need to start your summer right
It’s summertime, and being the king ain’t easy… the king of crabs, that is! King of Crabs is an easy-breezy PvP MMO that apparently...
Lost Ark explains the June patch’s delay, removes P2W statted cosmetics from update
Though Amazon has delayed Lost Ark's summer patch - to the very last day of June - that hasn't put a damper on the...
Vague Patch Notes: You are not immune to predatory monetization in MMOs
This week, I want to expand on something I mentioned in last week's Vague Patch Notes as an offhand thing that bears further examination....
Not So Massively: First impressions of Diablo Immortal on PC
There was a time when the release of a new Diablo game might have been a big deal for me. But I've never been...
The Daily Grind: What level of pay-to-win are you willing to tolerate in MMORPGs?
Friend-of-MOP Clowd over at RIFT blog The Ghar Station penned a provocative piece this week proposing for the MMORPG genre a five-tiered system for...
Players of Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds decry a crypto-powered cash shop filled with pay-to-win PvP items
Players of the recently released mobile RPG Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds have some thoughts on the game's monetization, particularly its engrained pay-to-earn crypto...
Massively on the GO: Talking MMOARGs with Orna’s lead dev
We've talked a bit about Orna: The GPS RPG a few times here in the Massively on the Go column, as this indie game helps...
Desert Oasis: Black Desert Mobile has a little something for every playstyle
It's amazing how fast two years flies by. It didn't seem that long ago that I was doing my first impressions piece of Black...
Massively Overthinking: Is free-to-play as bad as we thought it’d be a decade ago?
It's 2022 and we're about to talk about free-to-play like it's 2012! Back then, the conversation was all about which MMORPG would fall to free-to-play...
Fractured Online’s CEO addresses Gamigo publishing deal, promising unchanged design and monetization
Yesterday, when we covered the news that Gamigo was taking over the publishing of Kickstarted MMORPG sandbox Fractured, we noted that the Fractured team...
Turn-based 2.5-D MMORPG Broken Ranks eyes a release window of January 2022, promises to avoid P2W
Back in May of this year we reported on Broken Ranks, a remake of Polish developer Whitemoon's long-running MMORPG The Pride of Taern with...
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Unite mobile is a good port but better update
So Pokemon Unite is now mobile and cross-platform. Who'd have thought a traditionally Nintendo-only IP would do this? The update and dev team letter we mentioned is...
Nightmare is a new F2P pixelart MMORPG that’s launched on Steam today
Happy Tuesday, and welcome to the launch of a new MMORPG! We're talking about Nightmare, a new open-world retro pixelart MMO from the indie...
Indie MMO TitanReach has apparently suspended development as ‘funds have dried up’
I have some bad news for fans of indie MMORPG TitanReach: The game has apparently suspended development thanks to a lack of funding. Australian studio...
The Soapbox: Pokemon Unite’s monetization is gross and threatens a competent game
By now, you've probably seen several articles about the poor monetization in Pokemon Unite, often based on Reddit posts or streamer hot takes. Most talk...
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Unite is genuinely fun – for new and casual MOBA players
When Pokemon Unite was first announced, I had severe doubts I'd even give it a shot. I know I'm the local Pokemon guy, but there are many games in the...
