column
LOTRO Legendarium: Embracing Lord of the Rings Online’s new class/race combos
Lord of the Rings Online's July through September edition of the Producer's Letter appeared this week, hauling along with it some disappointment, some intrigue,...
The Daily Grind: How dark should the night be in MMOs?
If you are to take anything away from Embers Adrift's development manifestos and enthusiastic essays, it's that MMORPGs have done darkness a dirty deed...
WoW Factor: All right, so we’re going to speedrun to Dragonflight after all
Well all right, then. This was unexpected. I honestly did not expect that Blizzard's need for content would overwhelm basic needs of testing and...
The Daily Grind: What do you do about ‘underperforming’ groupmates in MMOs?
A while back, Visionary Realms posed a brutal question to Pantheon players: How do you handle underperforming people in your MMO groups? The question...
Vague Patch Notes: You are not immune to predatory monetization in MMOs
This week, I want to expand on something I mentioned in last week's Vague Patch Notes as an offhand thing that bears further examination....
The Daily Grind: What’s your favorite weird MMO weapon?
Every MMO starts you off with the pretty standard weapon options. There are swords, big swords, axes, hammers, maybe some guns, brass knuckles, staves...
Perfect Ten: The old-school guide to grouping up in Final Fantasy XI back in the day
Recently, our resident Choose My Adventure expert Chris has been taking on Final Fantasy XI, and he's come away with a somewhat... let's say...
The Daily Grind: Are there any major MMORPGs you haven’t tried yet?
If you are anything like the MOP writers, your passion for the MMO genre has encouraged you to at least try out different titles...
Choose My Adventure: What Final Fantasy XI taught me about games preservation and the ‘good old days’
Well. This has been a journey. I wasn't really expecting my return trip to Final Fantasy XI to be all sunshine, rainbows, and easy...
The Daily Grind: How much time do you spend doing non-combat stuff in MMOs?
If you don't watch our streams, you might not have noticed that MOP's Chris and MJ kicked off a series this year in which...
Wisdom of Nym: The status of the Garlean legions in Final Fantasy XIV
The Garlean military, to the best of our knowledge, comprises 14 legions of troops in Final Fantasy XIV. I've pointed out before that technically,...
Not So Massively: Enduring Space Punks’ sensory onslaught
I've been meaning to check out Space Punks, the new isometric shooter from developer Flying Wild Hog and publisher Jagex, since it launched its...
The Daily Grind: Is there any dead MMO you’d play if it were resurrected by blockchain schemers?
Earlier this month, Justin and I jawed on the MassivelyOP podcast about the revival of Kritika Online, which turned out to be an exploitative...
The Daily Grind: What sort of MMO streams do you like?
First of all, yes, obviously your answer to that question is the excellent work that our own Stream Team does on a regular basis...
LOTRO Legendarium: Return to Moria hopes to fill a niche crevasse
As you may have already noticed from this column's previous coverage of the Amazon MMO, LOTRO Legendarium's umbrella is big enough to provide shade...
The Daily Grind: How resistant are you to the allure of MMO microtransactions?
The insane level of predatory monetization in Diablo Immortal certainly sparked a whole lot of discussion --Â not to mention backlash -- this month....
WoW Factor: How greater-scope villains harm World of Warcraft’s storytelling
Sargeras was really trying to stop the Void Lords. The Jailer was really fighting against some anonymous bigger enemy. Sylvanas was really trying to...
The Daily Grind: Should MMO PvP matchmaking focus on challenge or engagement?
MOP's Sam recently stumbled across an MSM article that quotes multiple streamers and esports players essentially complaining about matchmaking systems in competitive games. The...
Vague Patch Notes: Examples of predatory monetization in the MMO industry
So, if you've been paying attention to this column over the past few forevers, you will have no doubt noticed by this point that...
The Daily Grind: What do you consider your biggest MMO mistake?
Everyone screws up in MMOs. I don't mean that in the sense of staring at your shelf wondering why in the world you have...
