Andrew Ross
Reporter
Andrew Ross usually covers E3, MOBAs, MMO-ish multiplayer games, and game related studies for Massively OP. He's a hardcore PvPer who delivered pizzas to shard defender supply runners in Asheron's Call's Shard of the Herald event, fried fish during Darkfall's World War 1 and 2, and killed many alliance members in World of Warcraft for picking "his" flowers. He is a terrible jungler, but he can usually stay on the road in Mario Kart.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons brings pumpkin patches and more customization for Halloween
While we still don't have my beloved gyroids with a release date, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is bringing a September 30 update with features we haven't seen in...
Pokemon Go continues Mega Events, celebrates fashion week with pokemon in top hats
Pokemon Go is embarking on the final part of the Mega September events we've previously covered, once again promoting its controversial Mega Evolution feature. Fortunately...
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go’s new event includes problematic features and stat bloat
Yes, more not-great-news in Pokemon Go, and yes, it's once again mostly about Mega Evolution. While it's been nice that the official Pokemon Go...
Massively on the Go: An open letter to Pokemon Go’s Niantic and The Pokemon Company
Dear Niantic and The Pokemon Company,
Thank you for Pokemon Go. Despite my criticism, this is probably the longest I've ever played a Pokemon game. Ever. I've...
Massively on the Go: Here’s how Niantic is trying to fix Pokemon Go’s Mega Evolutions
A bit before Niantic's wellness week kicks in for employees, Pokemon Go players got an update on the Mega Evolution problem/solution. We've previously covered...
Pokemon Go studio Niantic is asking for player feedback to fix the Mega problem, adds curious Mega September events
For those who might not play Pokemon Go, our own coverage of the Mega Evolution release day probably was a small hint that the...
Massively on the Go: Everything we know about Pokemon Go’s new mega evolutions
In another new twist, Pokemon Go has just released Generation 6's big feature, Mega Evolutions, before Generation 6 pokemon themselves. While we've had mega...
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...
GDC Summer 2020: Creating kinder digital communities outside of online games
I don't know about the rest of you, but I've found that being familiar with online communities and tech has really helped me survive...
GDC Summer 2020: Accessibility shouldn’t be a dirty word in online gaming
I don't know about you readers, but one of the first things I always do when starting a game with voice acting (or movie)...
GDC Summer 2020: How Astroneer’s crafting balances cognitive load for the player
Long time followers of Astroneer may recall that the game's early development crafting felt cute but incomplete. Despite the game already being in the wild,...
GDC Summer 2020: Roblox, player-generated content, and the ‘metaverse’
Roblox VP of Product Deepak Chandrasekaran held a skill-building talk at GDC Summer 2020 this week titled Building the Metaverse through User Generated Content...
GDC Summer 2020: Gachapon reward models in (mostly) free-to-play games
Let's be real: Some of the panel titles at GDC Summer 2020 are unintentionally misleading. For example, the "Evolution of Gacha Systems in Mobile...
GDC Summer 2020: Pokemon Go’s Niantic offers augmented reality design advice
I was really looking forward to Niantic's AR Game Design 101 panel at GDC Summer 2020 this week because for all my criticisms of...
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...
GDC Summer 2020: Unionizing the video games industry
Just in time for Blizzard's latest labor crisis, Game Workers Unite UK treasurer Kevin Agwaze held an Ask Me Anything at GDC Summer 2020...
GDC Summer 2020: Quantic’s 400K-gamer motivation model
Quantic Foundry's Nick Yee gave a lecture at GDC Summer 2020 yesterday showing how the analytics firm's massive amount of data can be used...
GDC Summer 2020: Immersive multiplayer storytelling with Disney’s Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge
Prior to this whole virus thing, one thing that I was enjoying about MMOs was how they (along with ideas taken from social media)...
GDC Summer 2020: How Niantic adapted Pokemon Go gameplay in the time of COVID-19
GDC Summer 2020 is running all this week, and I'm, well, at home. But much like Pokemon Go, the convention adapted, and while I've...
Massively on the Go: Fun ideas for online play in Animal Crossing New Horizons
I love sandbox gameplay. I'm pretty sure a lot of you readers do too, which is probably why a good deal of us have...
