design
Vague Patch Notes: Datamining, leaks, unforced errors, and messaging
So now that Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers has been released, basically everyone playing the game has completely forgotten that the expansion actually prompted some...
Vague Patch Notes: Why live MMOs struggle to onboard new players
There are, at the time I write this, two basic approaches for getting new players up to speed in existing MMOs. Both of them...
Vague Patch Notes: The curious case of the esports bubble
I've been thinking a lot about esports lately. This is not actually something IÂ like to think about, mind you; my general attitude toward esports...
Vague Patch Notes: Don’t take it personal, it just ain’t your (MMO) story
Here's an interesting fact of trivia for you for today: I am pretty much clocked out when it comes to news about H1Z1. The game...
Vague Patch Notes: On fans and fanboys in MMORPGs
When you play Final Fantasy XIV, you are going to be stuck playing one of an assortment of jobs, with no actual customization to distinguish...
Vague Patch Notes: MMOs are not the same as your single-player games with servers
Recently, I've been trying to get into Bloodborne. This isn't a result of my disliking the Souls franchise as a whole, just that it's never...
Vague Patch Notes: It’s all right for MMO studios to stop trying
Let me tell you about last year's NaNoWriMo project. If you've never taken part in National Novel Writing Month, it's a great reason to...
Vague Patch Notes: The community is and is not the MMO
The community is not the MMO. That should be obvious. There is a game to League of Legends that exists without any of the toxic...
Vague Patch Notes: The occupant’s dilemma in MMORPGs
This is the story of Stanley.
Stanley had a hobby, and that hobby was playing MMOs. Every day, he logged in to Final Fantasy XI, where...
Vague Patch Notes: Finding motivation within MMOs
Here's a fun question to ask yourself when you're doing basically anything in an MMO: Why am I doing this? It's usually at once...
Vague Patch Notes: The philosophy of challenge in MMOs
Today, I want to start thing off by talking about Final Fantasy. This is not entirely surprising. What may be surprising is that I'm talking about Final...
Vague Patch Notes: It’s not the MMO endgame – it’s the sudden stop at the end
When I first pitched the Vague Patch Notes that ran a couple weeks back, it prompted a big long discussion with MOP's editor Bree...
Vague Patch Notes: Online games are a marathon, but they still need to start running
One of those phrases we like to use a fair amount here is the fact that running an MMO is a marathon, not a...
Vague Patch Notes: On play conditioning and the lecture of experience in MMOs
Yes, it's another week in which we talk about abstract concepts that underpin the way we play video games, this time inspired by a...
Vague Patch Notes: Why the social penalty for open PvP in MMOs never works
One of the most important things to have when you're thinking about games and their design is reference material. It's one of the things...
Vague Patch Notes: How to recognize MMO lies from quite a long way away
One of the most consistently weird elements of covering MMOs is that there's a very simple and yet incredibly odd metric of knowing if...
Vague Patch Notes: ‘Gamer’ is not an identity
Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'm 36 years old. I've been a professional writer for about a decade now, and...
Vague Patch Notes: Representation in games matters when you don’t see why it matters
This is a story about a boy named Michael. Follow along with me for a little bit, if you'd be so kind.
Michael was born...
Vague Patch Notes: The fads and the curious (and why Overwatch’s star is fading)
So it's beginning to look a lot like the Overwatch fad has faded. It was a crazy couple of years there, but the fact that...
Vague Patch Notes: How to make your points and exit gracefully from online debates
It's 2019, people. Let's do this. And by do this I of course mean learn to actually debate things in a way that might wind up changing...
