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]

Shocking!

The Daily Grind: Would you be interested in a Guild Wars 3?

54
Have you ever noticed how every MMO franchise seems to get to exactly two numbered installments and then stops, at most? Guild Wars 2...
I need to start taking my own shots here.

Into the Super-Verse: Early SOs pose a perplexing problem in City of Heroes Homecoming

35
Last week, I talked a bit about how to gear yourself up in City of Heroes. Just yesterday, Bree gave an example for how...

First Impressions: Palworld copied all the right homework to graduate as its own enjoyable game

7
You know how the back of a box of Hamburger Helper or other boxed dinner mixes encourage you to toss in extra ingredients to...

The Daily Grind: Do you even want an MMO with transmedia synergy?

31
We've been talking about transmedia synergy again thanks to Dune Awakening, so I want to go at it from a new angle. The term...

Massively Overthinking: Do you care more about MMO stats or looks?

27
This week's Massively Overthinking is fully inspired by the unicorn backpack meme, which Black Desert studio Pearl Abyss tweeted out last week with the caption "stats over looks any day." You know we have to talk about this.

Massively on the Go: Preparing for Pokemon Go’s Los Angeles Sinnoh Tour

4
Pokemon GO's Sinnoh Tour is coming to Los Angeles February 16th-18th, but despite its already being sold out, Niantic is still dangling some key...

Casually Classic: When will WoW Classic stop adding expansions?

24
This spring, the era of Wrath Classic will officially come to an end when the Cataclysm Classic pre-patch hits ahead of the summer launch....

Vague Patch Notes: Why we drift away from MMORPGs we still love

42
Why did I stop playing Star Trek Online? Was it because there was some change made to the game that made it no longer...

Working As Intended: Yes, you can make money as a newbie in City of Heroes

34
Something I've heard over and over from commenters and even newbies in City of Heroes Homecoming ever since the official license was announced is...
Not dwarves.

The Daily Grind: What gets you to start a new character in an MMO?

18
I like making alts. It's just a thing I do. But before I'm going to make a new alt, I have to have something...
Come on, my dudes.

Perfect Ten: Why MMOs should never ditch text chat

26
If you ever want to feel what an MMO is like without any sort of text chat, then spend a stretch of time in...

Massively on the Go: Pokemon GO shows little love for February

0
Pokemon Go's roadmap for February is out, but once again leakers have deflated some of that potential hype Niantic tends to squander anyway. While...

Choose My Adventure: Genshin Impact is a perfectly lovely single-player RPG

13
Before I begin, I want to point out that I promise I didn't write that headline just to get anger clicks. I don't want...

The Soapbox: Casuals and soloers need challenging MMO content too

28
In a recent press Q&A around the announcement of Elder Scrolls Online's Gold Road chapter, Zenimax creative director Rich Lambert appeared to dismiss the...

The Daily Grind: What do you think the next viral MMO will look like?

11
I am the first to admit that I didn't see Palworld coming. Oh, I knew about Palworld; we'd covered Palworld. We'd also been covering...
Voyage onward.

Wisdom of Nym: The franchise references for jobs in Final Fantasy XIV

7
There is not a single game in the history of the franchise that has not been referenced in some capacity by Final Fantasy XIV....
Earrings go here.

The Daily Grind: Which MMORPG have you played the longest without reaching the level cap?

25
For someone who spent a whole lot of time playing Final Fantasy XI back in the day, I sure as heck didn't reach the...

One Shot: Surveying my domain

14
Good day, captain! Now that you've been beamed down by your mutinous crew and marooned on an ice planet, you might as well enjoy...

The Daily Grind: Which MMO offers the best book and paper features?

8
A while back, I casually mentioned that I make paper journals for fun. I am an extremely online person, mind you. I work online....

The Game Archaeologist: Dragon Ball Online, the MMO that never made it to the west

3
It was back in 1986 that Toei Animation, a Japanese company, brought a new series called Dragon Ball into the world. The initial run...