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

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It was back in 1986 that Toei Animation, a Japanese company, brought a new series called Dragon Ball into the world. The initial run...
We remember so you don't have to.

Betawatch: Survival sandboxes aplenty with Enshrouded, Palworld, and Fractured Veil

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Today, we celebrate Enshrouded entering into early access this week. Not because this is a game I am deeply invested in or anything like...

Fight or Kite: Warhaven’s pre-season 2 is super fun but perilously unbalanced

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Update: This column was written before we knew that Nexon has decided to sunset the game in April, unfortunately. Consider this our eulogy and...
KITTY!

Tamriel Infinium: The history of Elder Scrolls games (before and after Elder Scrolls Online)

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There's nothing quite like that feeling when you first dip your toes into a particular game only to discover that it's part of a...
I did a thing!

Into the Super-Verse: Gearing up as a newcomer to City of Heroes Homecoming

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I was originally going to spend this week opining on why the Incarnate system in City of Heroes didn't really work and why it...
Acceptable!

The Daily Grind: How often should characters miss in combat in MMORPGs?

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The other day, we were talking about City of Heroes at the Massively OP offices because at this point that's like 50% of our...

Massively Overthinking: Open world difficulty and puzzles in MMOs

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During last week's press event ahead of the Gold Road announcement, Elder Scrolls Online's Rich Lambert said something I thought would turn out to...

Working As Intended: How to mod City of Heroes Homecoming the easy way

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If you played City of Heroes a long time ago - or even back in 2019, when its secret server blossomed into a public...
hot hot hot hot hot hot

Vague Patch Notes: Early access is just game development as performance art

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I was reminded recently about Valheim. I do not own the game and thus have not played it; I cannot tell you if it...
I tricked you!

The Daily Grind: What’s some weird or forgotten terminology or concept from an MMO of yore?

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Way, way back in the day - and for only a relatively brief run - Ultima Online had a system that came to be...
SIR

Perfect Ten: The 10 most utterly bizarre Final Fantasy XIV NPC names

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A lot of times when I write these columns, I have either a point to make or a higher concept that I am touching...

Choose My Adventure: Genshin Impact is slowly working its charms on me

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Perhaps this is just time away from the game or the full mental and literal reset talking, but I have to say that right...

The Daily Grind: Which MMORPGs have a permanent place on your desktop?

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On the MOP Podcast a while back, I mentioned that Project Gorgon had made its way into a permanent home on my PC, which...
Looks nice enough, I guess.

Wisdom of Nym: Impressions of Final Fantasy XIV’s petite patch 6.55

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There's an odd thing that keeps going back and forth in my head when I look at last week's patch 6.55 for Final Fantasy...

The Daily Grind: How much do you think the whales of your top MMO spend in a year?

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A few weeks back, following Korea's Fair Trade Commission ordering Nexon to pay nearly $9M in fines over its deceptive gamble-upgrade mechanics, players went...

One Shots: A heated meeting

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What are two words that delight you to hear as a child in school but terrify you as an adult? "Field trip!" Rose can attest...
Get started!

The Daily Grind: Which MMORPG that you love is terrible for new players?

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All MMORPGs are kind of garbage at onboarding new players. There are a lot of reasons for that, and a lot of games are...

LOTRO Legendarium: Digging into LOTRO’s 2024 roadmap, from U39 to the Baharbêl expansion

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Oh boy -- it's roadmap time for Lord of the Rings Online! As we've been seeing over the past few years, Standing Stone Games...
Fracking! Yes? No.

Betawatch: Fractured Online is rolling with its latest round of rollbacks

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It's just hard out here for Fractured Online, sadly. We all know about the struggles that the game had when it was being published...
SHIP IT

Vague Patch Notes: What City of Heroes Homecoming means for the wider MMORPG industry

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As you have probably noticed from the fact that I have been writing about City of Heroes nonstop since the Homecoming server got its...