editorial
Vague Patch Notes: Leveling in MMORPGs is cool because it’s finite
No matter what you do, leveling in an MMORPG is going to be too fast. It's also going to be slow. It is the...
Stick and Rudder: Elite Dangerous’ Type-8 Update engineering revamp saved the game
While the latest content update to Elite: Dangerous was called the Type-8 Update, what it really should have been called is the Engineering Reborn...
First Impressions: The War Within breathes new life into World of Warcraft
After being mostly disappointed with Dragonflight, I was wondering if my decision to return to World of Warcraft for the Worldsoul Saga was a...
Casually Classic: The five World of Warcraft mods I use as a non-modder playing The War Within
Generally, I don't use mods for MMORPGs. Or most video games. It's not that I take some high-minded principled stand against them; I have...
Massively on the Go: Pokemon GO’s Max Out season brings a little hype back
The Pokemon Go fall seasonal update, coming September 3rd, is called Max Out, and if you haven't kept up with the main series of...
Vague Patch Notes: When did Blue Protocol really die?
It was the middle of the night, for us, when we heard the news: Blue Protocol is dead. It will never be receiving a...
The Soapbox: Paid MMO headstarts foster segregation and resentment in exchange for a revenue boost
The weekend before World of Warcraft: The War Within's global launch was not the same as past launches. In the lead up to the...
The Soapbox: Feeling the FOMO effect of positive MMO news
It was the other week that I saw the very unexpected headline right here on MOP: "Daybreak bought Palia studio Singularity 6 and aims...
Vague Patch Notes: The great content consumption problem in MMORPGs
A friend and I were talking about an MMORPG's content recently (it doesn't matter which one) and I was pointing out how that particular...
The Soapbox: If MMO classes aren’t broken, please leave ’em alone
Last week was a pretty big one for Lord of the Rings Online. The 17-year-old MMO opened up a pair of new progression servers,...
Vague Patch Notes: Is it time for MMORPGs to start embracing romance?
The other day, I was writing about Baldur's Gate 3 celebrating its anniversary with statistics about all the companions that people have smooched over...
Design Mockument: How to make housing work in World of Warcraft
Since the launch of World of Warcraft, players have been waiting for and longing to have housing. It still has not happened. The reasons...
Hands-on with Arc Games’ Fellowship, a new game trying to distill the MMORPG dungeon experience
For many folks, one of the more entertaining aspects of playing an MMORPG is running through its dungeons (though of course that varies from...
Vague Patch Notes: The player-provided guidance problem in MMORPGs
Final Fantasy XIV has a player-based mentor program and an automatic guidance network for new players. The idea is that certain players can volunteer...
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go’s August is leaning into Adventure
I must admit that Pokemon Go's traditional Adventure Week events have historically been a minor hit with me as they feature the fossil 'mon...
Working As Intended: The Fridge Poetry game is the latest distillation of MMORPG PvP
This morning, MOP's Sam busted into MOP's work chat with a link to the Fridge Poetry game.
"It's more like an art project than a...
Vague Patch Notes: Everything in an MMORPG is time-limited
Today, I want to talk to you about an event that you can no longer participate in within Final Fantasy XIV. It's an event...
The Soapbox: Why MMOs are the ultimate creature comforts
As long as I can remember, I've been an avid fan of re-consuming my favorite forms of media. I used to read the same...
Vague Patch Notes: How widespread free-to-play impacted MMORPGs
In 2009, Dungeons & Dragons Online went free-to-play, which was a pretty big deal at the time. It was especially important to me, since...
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go Fest 2024 aimed straight at the wallet
If functional is the bar for Pokemon Go players, Niantic almost cleared it for Go Fest 2024, but damn if that isn't a depressing...
