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]

Life hack: Become a deity.

Choose My Adventure: Following a god in Guild Wars 2

9
To my absolute lack of a surprise, the fact that your abilities are so aggressively limited once you pick an Elite Specialization in Guild Wars...
BEAST

The Daily Grind: Do veteran gamers help or hurt MMOs?

77
You may recall that just yesterday, Justin was asking whether dinosaurs help or hurt MMOs. When I first saw the topic, though, my assumption...

Hyperspace Beacon: The pros and cons of SWTOR’s United Forces server merges

35
First, if you're hoping this is going to be an article hating on server merges and declaring them the ruination of an MMO community,...

Perfect Ten: The 10 live MMORPGs everybody should try

77
If you have ever visited the MMORPG subreddit, you probably know that one of the most frequent posts that pop up are ones asking...

Global Chat: The MMO community’s Guild Wars 2 Path of Fire impressions

11
It is kind of impossible to stroll around the MMO blogging community as of late and not trip and fall into a pool of...

Flameseeker Chronicles: One week into Guild Wars 2’s Path of Fire

20
I've had my hands on Guild Wars 2's second expansion for a week and some change now and have built up a more solid picture...
Now fight for something!

Wisdom of Nym: The last batch of revelations for Final Fantasy XIV 4.1

11
Well, time to get my running shoes on, Final Fantasy XIV's next patch is coming out on October 10th and I'm aiming for a...

EVE Evolved: What to expect from EVE Vegas 2017

2
CCP Games' annual EVE Vegas event kicks off in less than a week on October 6th, and once again MassivelyOP will be on the...

Global Chat: What’s going on with Daybreak?

35
Do you ever give MMOs a questioning stare and find yourself asking to no one in particular, "What is up with Daybreak these days,...

One Shots: Starlight, starbright

43
As someone very much on the outside of this whole Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire thing, my observations is that this is some...
We all live in a potentially messy world.

The Daily Grind: How much do aesthetics impact your playstyle choices in an MMO?

42
How your character looks affects your enjoyment of an MMO. This is almost a tautology; you spent time in the character creator, obviously, so...

The Game Archaeologist: The Chronicles of Spellborn

21
Hey! Hey you! Yeah, you the I'm-so-bored-with-all-of-these-MMOs gamer! You've been grousing about for years how MMOs never take risks, never innovate, and are merely...
Yes, this is ready.

Betawatch: Final alpha is go for Legends of Aria (September 29, 2017)

4
Well, Legends of Aria fans, it's the final... alpha? That doesn't sound like a 1980s power ballad line at all, someone should get on...

Working As Intended: The best and worst of Guild Wars 2 Path of Fire (so far)

56
I've spent a chunk of the last week moving through the first part of Guild Wars 2's Path of Fire, finishing up the Crystal...

The Survivalist: How procedurally generated maps stretch the life of survival MMOs

15
It's no secret that I love to explore. And exploring the dangerous new worlds of survival games has been something I have really been...
Flowering.

Choose My Adventure: Into the desert of Guild Wars 2

19
My first week of playing Guild Wars 2 again was interesting, in no small part because it's rare for my playtime to be so...
Oh dear.

The Daily Grind: What would an old MMO have to do to win you back?

106
Something odd hit me recently. As I was sitting and planning my MMO play schedules, I realized that whatever announcements about expansions we get...

Hyperspace Beacon: Outside-the-box features to look for in a SWTOR guild (or any MMO guild)

2
On my server in Star Wars: The Old Republic, there are more guild advertisements than chatter in the general channel on the starter planets...
WHY IS STUFF SO HARD?!

Perfect Ten: How MMORPGs become so darn complicated

48
MMOs are complicated. This seems like a fairly non-controversial statement; there are more or less complicated games, but they all tend to be complex...
Now the story can be told...

Wisdom of Nym: Deep-diving Final Fantasy XIV’s leveling structure

8
I do a lot of leveling in Final Fantasy XIV. This is, in part, because I am stupid; for several dumb reasons I have...