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Flameseeker Chronicles: Gaming playstyles, science, and Guild Wars 2
I was curious recently about what specific personality traits or personal qualities lead to my enjoyment of MMOs in general and Guild Wars 2 in particular,...
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in review
Being at the Final Fantasy XIV fan festival was interesting for me on several levels because I wasn't just there to have fun, I...
EVE Evolved: Controversy over gambling bans and charities
It's been a crazy, drama-filled week in EVE Online, starting with a controversial change to the EULA that will ban all gambling sites using in-game currency or assets...
Working As Intended: A tour of 19-year-old Ultima Online
Wanna feel old? Three years ago, I wrote a Second Wind piece for Massively-that-was on Ultima Online, which had recently been turned over to Broadsword...
Perfect Ten: Incompetent leaders in MMORPGs
Leadership is difficult. You have to get a group of people to work together when they may or may not be naturally inclined to...
EverQuesting: Could Daybreak’s new FPS be an EverQuest?
With the constant clamoring from fans for Daybreak (or someone) to create an honest-to-goodness next-gen sequel to the EverQuest franchise, you'd hope that it...
Tamriel Infinium vs Hyperspace Beacon: Three ways to make lockboxes work better in MMORPGs
Last week, I stirred up a hornet’s nest by bringing up the topic of lockboxes and how I really didn’t mind them in general.
Hyperspace...
Exploring real-life PUGs, the Plus, and the antisocial nature of Pokemon Go
Although Pokemon Go isn't advertised as an MMO, both experts and players have noted it does present some interesting similarities: Both have tons of players on servers...
Epic MMO Battles of History: World of Warcraft vs. Final Fantasy XIV
You know what I usually hate? Superhero fight discussions. Any fight discussion, really. Asking "who would win in a fight between Superman and the...
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV patch 3.4 in review, continued
There's never really a good splitting point when discussing Final Fantasy XIV patches. They always cover so much ground with features and additions that...
MMO Mechanics: Enhancing MMORPGs with experiential learning mechanics
Ever since I considered the responses to a Massively Overthinking article in which a developer asked if a prestige system to encourage replaying an...
WoW Factor: A WoW Legion wishlist
Legion is humming along nicely as we near the two-month mark. It's still got that decent balance of having enough to do that you're...
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV Fanfest predictions
There's a mild trend on Twitter as I write this for Final Fantasy XIV predictions. It makes sense; after all, the fan festival is...
Chaos Theory: Hide and Shriek in The Park of The Secret World
October is finally here. That means Halloween is this month! I can't even describe how excited that makes me. I know I'm not alone...
Perfect Ten: MMORPGs with vehicle avatars
When you take a step back and look at the broad MMO genre, you see some common threads that run through most games. One...
Hyperspace Beacon vs. Tamriel Infinium: An unpopular opinion on SWTOR and ESO lockboxes
I expect to come under fire for the opinion I'm expressing today for a couple of reasons.
Hyperspace Beacon and Tamriel Infinium are our biweekly columns...
Flameseeker Chronicles: Fully unpacking Guild Wars 2’s Rising Flames
I've been aching to share more of my thoughts about Guild Wars 2's second Living World instalment for Season 3 and am finally convinced that enough...
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV patch 3.4 in review
We're on the penultimate patch of the expansion (no, that's not official, but let's be real) and Final Fantasy XIV fans have had a...
EVE Evolved: What else is coming to EVE Online in November?
Recently I've been looking at how EVE Online will be affected by the introduction of free-to-play "alpha clone" accounts in its upcoming November expansion, but there's a...
EverQuesting: Landmark brings back PvP and Halloween in its latest patch
Note: While mainly focused on the franchise that started it all, EverQuesting delves into the other Daybreak news and titles as well.
I can't help...