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]

goop

The Daily Grind: Which live MMORPG has suffered the most from poor management?

23
I remember for a long time that there was a sentiment in the City of Heroes fandom that the game was horribly languishing and...

LOTRO Legendarium: The quiet failure of LOTRO’s birding hobby

13
The past month of Lord of the Rings Online's operation has been one of the busier summer months in this game's history. Update 41...
SUUUUUUUUURGE

WoW Factor: Leaving World of Warcraft’s Dragon Isles for good

4
Vallin didn't like boats. Lots of Dwarves did, he knew he was the outlier in that regard, but he had never cared for them....

The Daily Grind: What’s the most memorable line of dialogue in an MMO?

30
A while back on Twitter, during a discussion about ways in which AI can and can't be useful in games writing, MMO dev Damion...

Massively Overthinking: Frames of reference in MMORPGs

11
Last week on the MMORPG subreddit, there was a heated discussion about terminology in MMORPGs (terminology we'll probably talk about in a separate thread...
fine

Vague Patch Notes: The problem with numbers in MMORPGs

10
I recently saw a post on the official World of Warcraft forums noting that if not for the game's almost infamous level squish, players...
ASSEMBLE

The Daily Grind: How many genuine friends would you say you have in MMORPGs?

26
I have friends in MMORPGs. This should probably not surprise anyone! Not just because this is tied directly into my job, although that helps,...
Into the unknown.

Perfect Ten: The best MMOs from the years before we started counting

13
You know what bothers me? Our annual awards recap. We always list all of the games that we've given awards to in the past,...

Fight or Kite: Necesse is a cute retro survival game for Minecraft and Terraria fans

2
I’ve never been one to make very good use of Steam wishlists – or any wishlists, for that matter. I’m weird in that way,...

Choose My Adventure: Fractured Online starts off unremarkably but comfortably

4
I always start off with a lot of concern whenever I enter a sandbox MMORPG for Choose My Adventure. Mostly because these games are...

The Daily Grind: How long are you willing to wait for an MMORPG from announcement to launch?

22
Back in July, Kotaku penned a piece on Kien, a game originally announced for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance... in 2002. Apparently, the game...
Zeeeeero

Wisdom of Nym: Speculating on Final Fantasy XIV’s Allied Societies for Dawntrail

8
We've gone through a lot of different names for what are now being called Allied Societies in Final Fantasy XIV, but I think this...

The Daily Grind: Do you purposely play bad MMOs?

29
A while back, MOP reader Hebby joked on Mastodon that she intentionally plays bad MMOs, but even she was surprised to see a certain...

One Shots: Remembering in peace

13
When a beloved player falls, a studio may honor that memory by including him or her as part of the game world. While our...
sippy

The Daily Grind: What’s a minor omission in your main MMO that just bugs you?

20
Final Fantasy XIV does not let me just have a normal horse mount. You can get elemental ponies from the old Extreme trials, there...
Hey-nonny-nonny

LOTRO Legendarium: Yondershire is one of the most fun zones in LOTRO

3
Thanks to the encouragement provided by Lord of the Rings Online's new legendary servers, I've been enjoying a couple weeks of blissful low-level adventuring...
Did you know there was an IP here?

Betawatch: Throne & Liberty’s latest delay, New World’s crossplay beta

0
Players who were super hype about Throne & Liberty releasing very soon are going to need to wait a little longer, as the game...
Yes, we're all very impressed.

Storyboard: Roleplaying in MMORPGs is much more common than you think

11
Back around the time when the game's first expansion was a going concern, there was a post on the World of Warcraft forums about...

The Daily Grind: Which MMO could use a currency crunch – or better yet, a currency do-over?

15
Earlier this year, an MOP commenter replying to us on social media suggested that Guild Wars 2 was a "mess" - and part of...

Massively Overthinking: Do the little things make or break an MMORPG?

13
Earlier this year, I did a video showcasing Star Wars Galaxies Legends player city overhaul, and in it, I admitted to something silly: A...