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]

One Shots: Impossible architecture

19
When you construct your buildings out of pixels and polygons, you don't necessarily have to worry about what's physically possible and what isn't, just...

The Game Archaeologist: The 4th Coming

13
Over the years that I've been writing The Game Archaeologist, I've received more than a few requests to cover a game that was completely...
Some people just won't let go.

Betawatch: July 3rd, 2015

5
I freely admit that I never actually played Glitch, but I was glad it existed and sad at the people who never even had...

The state of MassivelyOP’s ARK server

128
Well, the MassivelyOP ARK: Survival Evolved server is still a thing. It's been running for just over 10 days now, and it's been publicly available for...

Massively Overthinking: On the doom of server-wide MMO communities

109
This week's Massively Overthinking question comes from KS donor Morreion, who asks, Do you think that MMO server-wide communities will ever make a comeback? I suppose...
Still proud of this shot.

Perfect Ten: The 10 dev stages of every new MMO class

24
Any game with classes adds new classes over time. It's almost axiomatic. I don't know why absolutely every game cannot be designed with the...

Massively Opinionated: What’s the next big MMO buzzword?

83
In this episode, Larry, Brendan, and Tina debate next-gen MMOs, unfinished games, and MMO buzzwords.
Oh, wait, this is a different LA.

Flameseeker Chronicles: Exploring Guild Wars 2’s new Lion’s Arch

54
Good morn-noon-ning (hell, I don't know what timezone you're in!) readers, and welcome along to another instalment of Flameseeker Chronicles! Be warned: This edition will...

Global Chat: Are fellowship maneuvers due for a comeback?

33
Lord of the Rings Online hasn't been en vogue in MMO circles recently, but that doesn't mean that the game and its systems are...

E3 2015: Holly Longdale on the EverQuest franchise’s progression servers

71
Progression servers are definitely a hot topic in the EverQuest franchise right now. EverQuest recently opened up a new one for those nostalgic for...

Hyperspace Beacon: The SWTOR community divide over Knights of the Fallen Empire

119
The past couple of weeks have been kind of strange for me. For five years, I've written about Star Wars :The Old Republic. I've...

Sword and Bored: Troll bridge

12
Mo's favorite antagonists, the underwear ninjas, demonstrate how to properly guard the exit from the PvP zone.

Chaos Theory: ‘Never say never’ for The Secret World housing

85
I have to admit, so many dreams were shot down this past week when the news came out suggesting that personal housing would never make...
Earth below us, drifting, falling, floating weightless, coming home.

Wisdom of Nym: The 60 climb in Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward

50
As of this writing, I'm not quite 60 yet in Final Fantasy XIV. Thanks to real life, I'm a bit behind the curve, to...

EVE Evolved: Is EVE becoming less emergent?

40
I've often heard it said that EVE Online is more fun to read about than to actually play, and for the vast majority of...

One Shots: Gazing at potential

53
Major props to reader John, who somehow managed to finagle screenshots from his PlayStation 4 to bring us this stunning Destiny vista. Back when...

Nexus Telegraph: Why I play WildStar

146
Back on the old Massively-That-Was, we used to feature a sporadic series called "Why I Play." The idea was for each of the writers...
Everyone was wearing matching towels.

WRUP: Someone was really hungry edition

91
I don't know how we got to the point of eating lobster, exactly, but someone must have been really hungry. Like, insanely hungry. Someone...
Open the door, get on the floor, fly on a pterodactyl, you are doing this wrong.

Betawatch: June 26th, 2015

11
Is there anything as marvelous as finding out that your game got so heavily exploited that the whole game needs to be wiped? If...

Massively Overthinking: Random encounters in MMORPGs

42
This week's Massively Overthinking question comes to us from Kickstarter donor TheChiHawk, and it's coming from an unusually not-so-massive corner of gamesdom for us: Are...