An NCsoft studio known primarily for WildStar.
carbine studios
Perfect Ten: MMOs where you can play as robots and cyborgs
Robots are, let's face it, very important. You might say that's not true, and to that I say: When you get to write the...
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.
Vague Patch Notes: What City of Heroes Homecoming means for the wider MMORPG industry
As you have probably noticed from the fact that I have been writing about City of Heroes nonstop since the Homecoming server got its...
WildStar roleplayers open and develop a socially-minded rogue server called Genesis Prime
For the past few years we've been peeking in with hopeful looks at Nexus Forever, the rogue server project for WildStar that we first...
Massively Overthinking: Hopes and fears for MMOs in 2024
For our first Massively Overthinking of the year, we're drawing a hard line between what we think will happen, what we mean to make...
The best MassivelyOP community Daily Grinds of 2023
This traditional roundup of the best Daily Grinds of the year is actually one of my favorites because it demonstrates just how long we've...
Vague Patch Notes: The ever-changing costs of playing an MMORPG
It was a pretty big deal back when I had first started working at original Massively when the trend started, and I can still...
Why I Play(ed): Remembering WildStar’s sunset, five years later
Time shouldn't zip along as quickly as it often does, especially when it taps us on the shoulder to look back and see how...
Perfect Ten: Classic video games that would make terrible MMORPGs
There was a time when MMORPGs were all based on existing storied single-player RPG franchises, and that time was when Ultima Online launched and...
Hyperspace Beacon: Have Star Wars The Old Republic’s visuals aged well?
Initially I wanted to write a column about how the transition of Star Wars: The Old Republic to Broadsword and how we're seeing its...
Motiga’s MOBA Gigantic has been resurrected… for 33 hours starting this afternoon
So here's a nice surprise for a Thursday morning: If you missed the old Motiga MOBA-shooter Gigantic, you can play it again - briefly.
MMO...
Battle Bards Episode 228: Cheery MMO dungeons
Not every dungeon has to be a drab and dour affair — a fact that sent the Battle Bards searching for the cheeriest tunes...
Massively Overthinking: Massively Overwhelming content in MMORPGs
This past weekend, I picked up my first premium house in Lord of the Rings Online after much hemming and hawing. I didn't expect...
Battle Bards Episode 227: NCsounds
Syl and Syp return to the vast library of NCsoft’s MMO soundtracks, with games like Aion, Lineage, and Blade & Soul to keep our...
First Impressions: I honestly can’t tell whether I like Wayfinder or not
Playing Wayfinder marks the first time in my games writing career that my impression of a game has involved quite so much of my...
Perfect Ten: 10 MMORPGs whose worlds were built from scratch
Maybe I'm the only one to have stopped to think about it, but a great deal of the MMOs that we enjoy are based...
Singularity 6 interview: Palia is the cozy cottagecore sandbox to beat as it begins closed beta
The label "cozy" is in increasing danger of becoming a watered-down label thanks to how much it's being used in culture these days. Yet...
Massively Overthinking: The MMOs that are worth their dreadful early gameplay
I think many of us are primed to roll our eyes at anyone who says "oh man, just keep playing, it gets better later...
The Perfect Ten: 10 MMOs and online worlds with super cozy vibes
In this age of increased anxiety and friction, there's a natural desire to retreat into safe spaces. And yet not all of us have...
Choose My Adventure: Frustrations mount in Warhammer Return of Reckoning
Memory is a funny ol' thing. It can straight-up lie to you and convince you of something that probably wasn't even there. Or it...
