design
Vague Patch Notes: The difficult value of MMOs
If given the option, I would probably get a lifetime subscription to Final Fantasy XIV. But the key word there is probably, and this is a...
Vague Patch Notes: What makes MMO leveling feel good?
A shine of light, a sound effect, a screen graphic. Sometimes you get more fanfare than elsewhere. In Final Fantasy XIV, the game's victory fanfare...
Vague Patch Notes: In defense of easy fun, in MMOs and elsewhere
I don't play video games to be challenged. I play them to have fun.
This isn't to say that these are inherently separate propositions. People...
Vague Patch Notes: Yes, Virginia, that counts as an MMO
There is a particular comment we get on a semi-regular basis, and it is always wrong. It shows up on a wide variety of...
Vague Patch Notes: Don’t be the MMO beta defense squad
Every week, I have to think about betas. I have to think a lot about betas, in fact. More than I ever wanted to...
Vague Patch Notes: The verbs of MMOs
Even if you don't like crafting, you should care if your MMO of choice has meaningful crafting. And you should especially care if it...
Vague Patch Notes: Defining the vague mass that is the MMO community
The community is important when it comes to talking about an MMO. This is an established fact; I wrote an entire column about how...
Vague Patch Notes: You are and are not who you are in MMOs
If you've never been hit in the face, you're not really prepared for when someone does it, much less when it's a fist instead...
Vague Patch Notes: Players aren’t the only people who should prepare for their MMO to die
There are certain realities that developers need to reckon with that start with acknowledging a certain degree of reality, and one of those bits...
Vague Patch Notes: Managing the MMO message, volume two: How to shut up
It wasn't so long ago that we talked about managing the message when it comes to fans and the like, but today I want...
Vague Patch Notes: The wax and wane of MMOs and genres
I started writing for Massively-that-was in October of 2009. That was 11 years ago. Oh... oh my word, no, that was so long ago....
Vague Patch Notes: Kickstarter shouldn’t be your investor demo funding
There are a few things that kind of make me see red about indie game studios. Generally speaking I'm of the philosophy that indie...
Vague Patch Notes: Managing the MMO message – and when to piss off your fans
Remember at the beginning of this year when Mark Jacobs managed to basically enrage everyone with his announcement of another game his company was working...
Vague Patch Notes: What we mean when we talk about MMO success – and failure
Yesterday, aside from love being such an easy game to play, MOP's Justin graced us with a Daily Grind asking about why it was RIFT...
Vague Patch Notes: Why stan an MMO with nothing to show for itself?
We need to talk about Star Citizen, folks. But maybe not in the way you might be thinking. Not about the game's development, which is...
Vague Patch Notes: Apple vs. Epic is not good vs. evil
So Epic has really gone all-in on fighting against Apple here, huh? The company is using Fortnite as a wedge in hopes of bringing down...
Vague Patch Notes: How platform considerations impact MMOs
It wasn't until I had been working in this field for a while - and as a result playing a lot of different MMOs...
Vague Patch Notes: Balance in MMOs is overrated
Earlier this week, we did a post all about balance in Crucible. It was a detailed post explaining all of the ways that the...
Vague Patch Notes: No Man’s Sky is the real reboot success story
Whenever an MMO of any type has a launch that resembles the Nedelin catastrophe, people start talking about what the studio should do to...
Vague Patch Notes: New World delays to add the game into the game
All right. Someone has to ask it, and it doesn't need to be me but it's still going to be me because I feel...
