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]

Choose My Adventure: Gleeful space truckin’ through Elite Dangerous

6
This is, for all intents and purposes, going to be a very simple, laid back, and perhaps obnoxiously serene edition of Choose My Adventure....

The Daily Grind: Which MMORPG has the best night experience?

26
One of the things that sets MMOs apart in my book is whether they have a diurnal cycle - and more importantly, whether that...
Pure.

Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s Arcadion brings the noise

4
There has been a question that has kind of been bubbling in the background of the entire premise behind Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, and...

The Daily Grind: Which MMORPGs are low-key pay-to-win but somehow avoid criticism?

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A thread on the MMORPG subreddit caught my eye a few weeks ago as the post author suggested that Albion Online was not only...

One Shots: Hey World of Warcraft has housing after all…

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This just in, World of Warcraft beat Guild Wars 2 to the punch by instituting the most robust, flexible, and creative housing system ever...
Catte

The Daily Grind: What’s your biggest self-inflicted annoyance in new MMORPG content?

22
I have a bad habit of judging myself based on my performance in brand-new content. This is, honestly, exceptionally silly and pointless. I'm not...

LOTRO Legendarium: Is LOTRO’s early game too big and unwieldy?

10
As I was making some personal plans for my future adventures on Lord of the Rings Online's new legendary servers, I was really struck...
This plan sure worked!

WoW Factor: The mulligan problem in World of Warcraft’s narrative

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In World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, Illidan Stormrage gets killed. This isn't actually a surprising end for the character. Illidan as a person...

The Daily Grind: What do you think about floating combat text in MMOs?

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When Trove launched its Rising Tide update back in June, Gamigo's PR included a ton of screenshots, including several of a character with massive...
It's a thing.

Massively Overthinking: When I’m president of video games…

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This week's Massively Overthinking is inspired directly by a positively delightful tweet that could totally happen. "When I'm President Of Video Games, all games will...

Vague Patch Notes: How widespread free-to-play impacted MMORPGs

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In 2009, Dungeons & Dragons Online went free-to-play, which was a pretty big deal at the time. It was especially important to me, since...
I did a thing!

The Daily Grind: Which MMORPGs have you played with little hope for future content?

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One of the neat things about City of Heroes Homecoming is that it is not a game bereft of updates or approaching content. No,...

Perfect Ten: Why World of Warcraft’s Legion was a top-tier expansion

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While a lot of long-time World of Warcraft players will point to Wrath of the Lich King as the high point of the MMO,...

Choose My Adventure: Slipping back in to the simple pleasures of Elite Dangerous

5
Last week's original Choose My Adventure plans took a backseat to my Soapbox on Dawntrail, so thank you for bearing with me on that,...

Not So Massively: The problem with The First Descendant’s character unlock mechanics

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The First Descendant has made quite a splash since it launched earlier this month. Nexon's looter shooter, dubbed "Warframe with waifus" by the greater...

The Daily Grind: What’s the oldest game still sitting on your Steam wishlist?

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Earlier this summer, I realized it's possible to sort your Steam wishlist by date added, and oh, the shame. I apparently had kept a...

Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go Fest 2024 aimed straight at the wallet

0
If functional is the bar for Pokemon Go players, Niantic almost cleared it for Go Fest 2024, but damn if that isn't a depressing...
Hey folks.

Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail’s delightfully light role quests

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Something that happens sometimes with Final Fantasy XIV is that it takes the team a couple of tries to get a new idea right....

The Daily Grind: What conventional MMO wisdom provokes a contrary response in you?

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Back in May, I did a smol piece on Echoes of Elysium that talked about the game's philosophy: "No more punching trees and building...

One Shots: FFXIV gets a glow-up

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Substance over style should be the priority in video games -- but that doesn't mean that style doesn't deserve consideration! It's always nice when...