Massively Overpowered

Club Penguin may not be one of the first games you think about when it comes to virtual worlds, but that's kind of a blind spot; the title has been operating now in the family-friendly market for a decade. Unfortunately, the developers behind the title have taken a bit of a blow now, with Disney reportedly laying off as many...

Former Star Wars Galaxies Creative Director and current Crowfall consultant Raph Koster returned to his blog last night to pen the fourth in his series of SWG retrospectives, this one on the sandbox's living society. To build that society and the diverse people who would populate it, Koster says his team set out to make SWG "care" about player activities by...

This morning's Daily Grind comes to us from an anonymous Kickstarter donor with a deceptively simple question: Which MMO zone is the most relaxing? A lot of people consider dungeons and combat relaxing compared to their real-world daily grinds, but I love my peace and quiet, and sometimes I like to go to places in games that are anything but messy...

The debut of World of Warcraft Tokens into the game's economy has caused quite a stir, particularly after the prices plunged during the first few days. Alt:ernative Chat discussed the economics 101 aspect of the event but ultimately posed a few soul-searching questions for buyers. "Was it worth it?" she asks. "All that time it took to 'make' that money...

CCP is ramping up the focus on its cash shop thanks to a new dev blog examining EVE Online's ship SKIN system. Ship skins are purchased in CCP's item mall and may be bought or sold for ISK on the in-game market prior to activation. SKINs are used by activating them on a character, which then grants that character permanent access...

Destiny's House of Wolves expansion is set to be examined on an upcoming Bungie Twitch reveal. A new social space, new characters, and new gear upgrades are on the discussion docket. The stream will feature creative director Christopher Barrett, so tune in tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. EDT if you're curious about Destiny's Reef and upgrade paths. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqvwtE7O6kY

If you had any doubts about how much money Riot is making thanks to League of Legends, one look at the firm's new Los Angeles office will put them to rest. "Inspired by the PC bangs where Korean players log into League, each Riot office holds a dedicated space for play," the company says on its website. The new campus...

Bad news, Wizard101 players. It looks as if your gear has insufficient swag. It looks downright pedestrian. A homeless wizard could be wearing your amulet. But don't worry; the most recent patch adds in the ability to socket gems into your rings, amulets, decks, and athames, thus ensuring that you will look appropriately fly no matter the situation. Also it'll...

Twenty-five companies accounted for 65 percent of the $83.6 billion games market in 2014, according to a report at Newzoo. Leading the pack was Tencent, the megalithic Chinese publisher, followed by Sony, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, and Activision-Blizzard. Tencent experienced 37 percent growth last year, while additional firms with MMO ties including Nexon, Square-Enix, and NCsoft placed in Newzoo's top 25.

There are going to be no shops in Life is Feudal when the MMO portion of the game goes live. This is even true of player-run shops; players are expected instead to designate certain areas as trading posts, with all items created and sold by players rather than NPCs. It's one of the many nuggets from the newest video...