Columns

Enjoy a run-down of our recent long-form pieces, both game-specific and more general. You might also be interested in our list of all of our columns and recurring articles. [Follow this category’s RSS feed]

One Shots: Save the teddy bear, save the world

15
In any other MMO, a child's teddy bear is usually nothing more than a sign of innocence or an environmental storytelling cue. In The...
Please label your images.

The Daily Grind: Which MMO has the most satisfying idle gameplay?

9
Sometimes it's nice to go fishing. It's nice to just be around a large body of water without really worrying whether or not you'll...

LOTRO Legendarium: Why haven’t I burned out on LOTRO yet?

10
None of what I'm about to write is to meant to be self-promotion - just observation. It really hit me the other day how...

Massively on the Go: Pokemon GO’s Max Out season brings a little hype back

1
The Pokemon Go fall seasonal update, coming September 3rd, is called Max Out, and if you haven't kept up with the main series of...
So this is my life.

Into the Super-Verse: Looking back on Champions Online, 15 years later

13
I hadn't even really thought about the fact that Champions Online has been out for 15 years now until I saw the anniversary post...

Flameseeker Chronicles: How to gear up in Guild Wars 2 in 2024 – without breaking the bank

4
Gearing in Guild Wars 2 is simultaneously really nice and also very frustrating. It's nice because there is no uber tier of stats locked...
BURNS

The Daily Grind: Are you an MMO player who never does crafting?

22
This one goes out to all the non-crafters in the house. No, not you oddballs who opt out of the player economy on some...

Massively Overthinking: The MMOs without player housing in 2024

12
Last week, Guild Wars 2 became the latest western MMORPG to finally add proper housing, with pages lifted straight out of Wildstar and RIFT....
Still here!

Perfect Ten: Underrated MMOs that deserve a second look in 2024

24
We've all been there at one time or another. We've been playing the same-old favorite MMO for a long time and then suddenly feel...
Riders

Vague Patch Notes: When did Blue Protocol really die?

9
It was the middle of the night, for us, when we heard the news: Blue Protocol is dead. It will never be receiving a...
Shield

The Daily Grind: Is there a class in an MMORPG with mechanics you love and a look you hate?

25
One of the really cool things about City of Heroes is that it offers you a lot of cosmetic options for every single powerset....

The Soapbox: Paid MMO headstarts foster segregation and resentment in exchange for a revenue boost

55
The weekend before World of Warcraft: The War Within's global launch was not the same as past launches. In the lead up to the...

Flameseeker Chronicles: 10 easy Guild Wars 2 builds for solo play in 2024’s Janthir Wilds

16
While most MMORPGs offer a variety of ways to play a character, Guild Wars 2 offers a huge variety of builds for each of...

Choose My Adventure: Leaving the tutorial island and gaining knowledge in Fractured

3
So that didn't take me too long, but then I suppose I had done most of the work beforehand anyway: My time in Fractured...

Vitae Aeternum: Ranking New World’s zones by their player housing

5
As the interminable wait until October stretches on, New World players and New World bloggers alike search for ways to fill the time. One...

The Daily Grind: Do you expect MMORPGs to maintain full regional and platform parity?

11
Earlier this year, the team behind the western/global version of MapleStory announced that it was planning to fork away from the Korean version, basically...
It burns, burns, burns.

Wisdom of Nym: Speculating on Final Fantasy XIV’s Beastmaster

7
We currently know very little about Final Fantasy XIV's Beastmaster. We know that it's going to be coming at some point during the Dawntrail...

The Daily Grind: Do you have ‘gear acquisition syndrome’ in MMOs?

21
So if you know me, you know I have a mild obsession with bags in real life. No, not expensive purses, but specifically everyday-carry...

Global Chat: Recapping World of Warcraft’s Pandaria Remix

2
With Pandaria Remix now officially over and done in World of Warcraft, it's time to move on... right after some post-mortem analysis, of course....

One Shots: Cue techno chocobo theme

14
When I drive around and look at the sea of boring cars with mostly the same shapes in the same four colors, I can...