Vague Patch Notes: MMORPGs and the PC gaming market
I find myself thinking a lot about the MMORPG industry lately and the ways in which the gaming industry as a whole has changed...
Working As Intended: A guide to City of Heroes Homecoming’s best player-crafted portal bases
A few years ago, I was wandering around in City of Heroes when someone advertised a cool base in chat. All I had to...
The Daily Grind: Have you ever lost a house in an MMO?
Last week, fellow MMO blogger Belghast wrote a blog post that sent a shot of panic through my own heart: He tells the tale...
Massively Overthinking: When the original MMO is better than the sequel
A few weeks ago, two lovely gamers I follow on Bluesky were discussing how let down they felt by Diablo IV, less because Diablo...
Into the Super-Verse: What’s wrong with City of Heroes’ Incarnate system?
It hasn't been all that long since I said that what City of Heroes needs to focus on right now is not endgame content,...
Fight or Kite: Ravendawn has a great class system, but gameplay needs polish
As an avid gamer of the '80s and '90s, I’ve got a real soft spot for all things retro-inspired. A lot of my favorites...
The Daily Grind: How difficult should it be to respec in an MMORPG?
It struck me the other day how my two favorite MMORPGs are wildly different in terms of respecs. Final Fantasy XIV offers effectively infinite...
Perfect Ten: The MMO franchises that can’t count past two
Back in the day, there was a running joke about how Capcom had shown with Street Fighter that the company could not count higher...
Not So Massively: Stormgate isn’t delivering a revolution (yet)
Stormgate's marketing is laser-focused on studio Frost Giant's plan to deliver an "RTS revolution." With StarCraft II still popular but slowly waning as it...
The Daily Grind: Which MMO is the worst at balancing its classes?
A few weeks back - and before we realized the game was slated for execution - MOP's Sam wrote a piece about balance in...
Massively OP Podcast Episode 456: The MMO housing show
Justin and Bree tackle a theme proposed by the listeners, as this show is all about MMORPG housing, including why housing matters, post-launch housing patches, placement tools, prefab vs. custom houses, housing as part of the gameplay loop, apartments vs. instanced vs. open-world housing, incentivizing housing use, taxes and monetization, and integrating housing into MMO ecosystems.
The Daily Grind: When was the last time an MMO studio truly impressed you?
Embers Adrift is probably never going to be my MMORPG, but damn I'm proud of Stormhaven Studios. Yes, I have a soft spot for...
Wisdom of Nym: The franchise references in the world of Final Fantasy XIV
There's a fan theory circulating that Final Fantasy XIV is the nexus of the franchise multiverse. Essentially, the idea is that Hydaelyn and Zodiark...
The Daily Grind: How do you cope with losing someone in an MMORPG?
I have been immeasurably lucky in that I have never lost a close online friend to death, only to drifting away. But unfortunately, you...
The Daily Grind: Would you be interested in a Guild Wars 3?
Have you ever noticed how every MMO franchise seems to get to exactly two numbered installments and then stops, at most? Guild Wars 2...
The Daily Grind: How driven or chill are you toward your MMO progress?
I've always been a very goals- and projects-oriented person, even in my gameplay. I figure that if I'm going to spend time in a...
Into the Super-Verse: Early SOs pose a perplexing problem in City of Heroes Homecoming
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
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?
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?
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.
