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]

The Daily Grind: Which MMO is worth playing because of its lore?

29
A few weeks ago in a Massively Overthinking, Tyler landed one hell of a double-dunk on SWTOR and EVE Online almost in passing, suggesting...

First impressions of ASKA, Sand Sailor’s brand-new colony-building survival sandbox

9
Thanks to the press preview hosted by Thunderful and Sand Sailor, I recently had the opportunity to play around with survival sandbox ASKA a...
It's a fooler.

Perfect Ten: The MMORPG terms we use but never define, from murderhobo to sandpark

27
Over in Vague Patch Notes, I have an ongoing series of columns that I describe as being primarily about having useful notes for us...

SGF 2024: Hands-on with The First Descendant, plus a chat with the Nexon devs

7
You thought our Summer Game Fest coverage was over, didn't you? Well, in all fairness, Nexon not only brought The First Descendant to SGF but provided...

Fight or Kite: Battle Crush is a snack-sized take on the mythological battle royale scene

2
Imagine taking a bit of the theme from SMITE (really the only good part about SMITE in my estimation), the common battle royale grab-and-go...
Great job

The Daily Grind: How much of your MMO time is spent on ‘chores’?

20
A few months ago, I read a thread on Reddit about chores in MMORPGs, and I remember nodding vigorously because I use the word...
Level up, loser.

Wisdom of Nym: MOP’s last-minute prep checklist for Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail

5
You have two days left to get your prep work done for Final Fantasy XIV's next expansion, and in case there's some stuff you...

First Impressions: Tarisland’s interesting gameplay isn’t enough to surmount shoddy temport quality

42
When we issued our 2024 predictions for the MMORPG genre during our annual year-end articles, I said that Tarisland would be a sleeper hit,...

The Daily Grind: What should MMO subscriptions actually pay for?

25
When I first started playing MMORPGs, I didn't know what an expansion was because no MMORPG had ever had one. I paid my subscription...

One Shots: Did someone call for a bird delivery?

9
Face it: There are a lot of bird delivery services in the world today. Not an hour goes by that your doorbell isn't ringing...
You have too much junk.

The Daily Grind: Do you have MMO items in your inventory that are never going to be useful?

10
In the launch version of Final Fantasy XIV, there were a number of currency items that dropped from tribal enemies like the Amalj'aa and...

LOTRO Legendarium: LOTRO announces its next legendary servers, Angmar and Mordor

21
Believe it or not, the last time that Lord of the Rings Online brought out fresh legendary servers, it was the pair of Treebeard...
The gates are closed to me.

WoW Factor: Is The War Within going to be ready for its launch?

3
The surprise announcement of the date for World of Warcraft: The War Within prompted what I'm sure is a lovely reader with a large...

The Daily Grind: What are the MMO hills you’re willing to die on, metaphorically?

48
MOP reader IronSalamander inspired today's Daily Grind with his comment on game preservation, which he declared a hill he'd be willing to die on. "All...

Massively Overthinking: Unfair stigmas that follow MMORPGs

26
A few weeks back, our team was discussing the intersection of survival sandboxes, MMORPG virtual worlds, and gankboxes - and how hard it is...

SGF 2024: Previewing Funcom’s Dune Awakening, from PvP philosophy to the survival MMO label

9
I must admit I went into Summer Game Fest with pretty low expectations. I was MOP's "E3 guy" back when E3 was a concern,...
Pretty sure seeing this attack coming for you means nothing but good things.

Vague Patch Notes: Have a seat for your MMO

3
I could play Final Fantasy XIV on my PlayStation 5, but I don't want to. And as weird as it might sound, the reason...
Marching off to nowhere.

The Daily Grind: What inspired your longest-played MMO character?

29
Something inspired your MMO characters. You might be quick to argue that you don't roleplay, and that may be true, but it does not...

Perfect Ten: Lessons I’ve learned doing the MOP Podcast

5
It's been well over a decade since I began to operate a podcast covering MMO news and opinions -- originally the Massively Speaking podcast...

LOTRO Legendarium: Am I excited at all for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO?

36
With all of the recent hullabaloo around New World, I've noticed several mentions of what this may portend for Amazon's Lord of the Rings...