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]

Fight or Kite: Small changes (and one big one) to improve Spellbreak’s balance

4
An inordinate amount of my time has been spent playing Spellbreak recently. I’m honestly not a gigantic fan of battle royale as a primary...

Jukebox Heroes: The best of SWTOR’s launch soundtrack

5
I got so excited when Star Wars: The Old Republic included its soundtrack in the collector's edition back at launch. However, we all discovered...

One Shots: Watch where you’re waving that thing!

11
Several Christmases ago, my mother actually bought me a giant pirate sword that was very metal and very, very sharp. I instantly became terrified...
So here's the deal.

The Daily Grind: Do you think MMO rogue servers could help with MMO identity issues?

35
Here's what got me thinking about this. At first, I was going to say that I would eagerly play on a WildStar rogue server because...

LOTRO Legendarium: Speculating on the Brawler class

9
You have to imagine that there's some frustration over at Standing Stone Games this past week. The studio wants us all to be focused...
ahhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Betawatch: Torchlight III leaves early access to release on October 13

1
At long last, we know when Torchlight III (nee Frontiers) is launching. It's October 13th! Isn't that exciting? There are also outlined plans for how the...
Get back.

WoW Factor: Shadowlands’ delay is a genuinely good thing – for everyone

26
Well, this was a big old shocker for a Thursday night that's going to screw with a bunch of data! Also, it's a majorly...
Bring out your something.

Massively Overthinking: Are isometric MMOs more or less immersive than 3-D?

29
I was chit-chatting with MOP reader (and prolific tipster!) Panagiotis the other day about Ultima Online's big news when he hit on a topic...

Desert Oasis: The worst week I’ve ever had in Black Desert Online

9
This week, I was planning a third entry on my adventures in Black Desert Mobile, but a few very exasperating incidents happened to me...
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Vague Patch Notes: What we mean when we talk about MMO success – and failure

12
Yesterday, aside from love being such an easy game to play, MOP's Justin graced us with a Daily Grind asking about why it was RIFT...
Is contempt the word I'm looking for here?

The Daily Grind: What makes you most likely to spend money on a free-to-play MMO?

35
There are two basic approaches that strike me when it comes to free-to-play monetization, as I see it. The first is a sense of...

Perfect Ten: 10 tools MMOs use to tell stories

5
While some players like to rebel against the notion that MMORPGs are storytelling experiencies, that narrative is exactly why I show up to these...

Global Chat: Why is LOTRO charging for its fall update?

8
Roger over at Contains Moderate Peril recently ducked into the upcoming DLC for Lord of the Rings Online to see what it contained and...
FAREWELL!

Wisdom of Nym: What awaits Final Fantasy XIV’s Norvrandt in the future?

5
I don't want to spoil Final Fantasy XIV's most recent patch here before the cut, but it is not exactly a spoiler to say that...

Not So Massively: The dos and don’ts of stealing from single-player games

13
In my last Not So Massively column, I looked at the right and wrong ways for other genres to steal from MMOs. But in...

Global Chat: Would it be easier than assumed for World of Warcraft to do housing?

26
Piggy-backing on our column on World of Warcraft's lack of housing, MMO blog GamingSF argued that the game actually has a lot of the...

One Shots: Amnesia and shipwrecks at level one

14
Utakata's shot of a "quiet earth" in Blade and Soul here is not from the starting area (I'm assuming!), but it definitely makes me...
This wasn't it, Chief.

The Daily Grind: What has your biggest MMO Kickstarter disappointment been to date?

59
The complete non-starter of Pathfinder Online did not surprise me. It was about what I expected, and it always struck me as one of those...

Jukebox Heroes: The best of Granado Espada’s soundtrack

2
So here's an impossible task that lies before me right now: picking one musical genre that defines Granado Espada's score. I can't. It simply...

The Game Archaeologist: The short ride of Auto Assault

6
When you think of post-apocalyptic video games, what comes to mind? Most likely it's a crawl through a bombed-out or zombiefied landscape as you...

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