design

Thanks. Really.

Vague Patch Notes: Examples of predatory monetization in the MMO industry

59
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...
Oh dear.

Vague Patch Notes: Mobile MMOs, free-to-play MMOs, and the path of microtransactions

15
When I first started playing Magic: the Gathering, Revised was the new hotness and I got used to the idea that Serra Angel was...
NO NOT THIS EMOTE

Vague Patch Notes: The specter of MMO persistence in single-player games

31
Recently, we got a great letter from a listener asking about an issue that he'd been having with single-player games compared to MMOs. Essentially,...
The stuff that you have, does someone have a claim on it?

Vague Patch Notes: A look back at my start in Final Fantasy XI, many years later

2
It is the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy XI this week. Not the 20th anniversary of the game being in the US, and thus...
Not pictured.

Vague Patch Notes: The negatives of MMORPG rogue servers

10
Last week, we began a discussion about the ups and downs of rogue servers in the MMO space, by which I actually mean we...
waugh? okay

Vague Patch Notes: The positives of MMORPG rogue servers

8
Here at MassivelyOP, we have a complicated relationship with rogue servers for MMOs. We have some pretty firm rules about when covering them is...
Space tourist. SPACE TOURIST.

Vague Patch Notes: Stop giving rich people money to make failed MMOs

87
Richard Garriott has been to space. I'm going to repeat that a lot for emphasis, just because I feel like it's important. Richard Garriott...
Faces and offs.

Vague Patch Notes: When MMOs pit their playerbase against itself

34
Today's Vague Patch Notes is about something weird that I feel like someone should definitely done something about a long time before now. It's...
dang

Vague Patch Notes: Community workarounds don’t excuse broken pieces of MMOs

7
It's many years in the rear view now because these days it's someone else's show, but there was a time when Choose My Adventure...
Ahoyhoy?

Vague Patch Notes: When you like the idea of an MMO more than the game itself

11
So I was reading Chris' recent CMA entry on The Secret World, and I found myself in a curious state. I definitely agree with his initial...
Scrolls!

The Elder Scrolls Online walks players through the process of designing boss encounters

0
It's not about the boss arena, and it's not about the boss; in The Elder Scrolls Online, it's about both. A new article on...
NOW PUNCH! YOUR FRIEND! PUNCH, PUNCH YOUR FRIEND! GET OUT ON THE FLOOR AND PUNCH YOUR BEST FRIEND!

Vague Patch Notes: Pretty is boring in MMOs

13
So NCsoft unveiled Throne and Liberty and it looks... pretty? I guess? But it looks pretty in the worst way. It looks pretty in the...
This is not that story.

Vague Patch Notes: Bro, do you even play your MMO?

20
So Guild Wars 2 had some problems with the process to unlock its siege turtle mount. As launched, it required players to take part in...
Lock'd

Vague Patch Notes: So why do MMO developers gender lock?

47
Last week's Vague Patch Notes on MMO lore and its impact on design decisions produced a lot of good comments along with a smattering...
Long long gun

Vague Patch Notes: Lore is not an excuse for bad MMO design decisions

43
In a previous column, I wrote about how gender-locking classes is bad. This is because it is bad. It is bad in all conceivable...
Boring, boring, boring.

Vague Patch Notes: The metaverse doesn’t exist and isn’t a good idea either

52
You can't swing your arms at this point without hearing about "the metaverse" in some capacity, which is supposedly the reason why Facebook changed...
Back when it all began.

Vague Patch Notes: Looking back on the MassivelyOP magic, seven years in

21
As of tomorrow, we're seven years out from the launch of this site. This means that we're actually into the point when I've been...
Bunglade.

Vague Patch Notes: MMOs taking inspiration from one another is not a bad thing

13
Back when Guild Wars 2 announced the Bladesworn elite spec for Warriors, I had a little fun with the idea because... well, let's not...
Garbagia.

Vague Patch Notes: Why play-to-earn is a garbage idea

32
Good afternoon, readers. Do you remember not so long ago when I talked about the fact that MMOs are perfectly fine as just games...
I hate everything about you.

Vague Patch Notes: Unpacking the Riot MMO’s group-centric philosophy

35
Well! It has been a week, that's for darn sure. And amidst everything else going on this particular week, it would've been easy to...

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