editorial
Massively on the Go: An open letter to Pokemon Go’s Niantic and The Pokemon Company
Dear Niantic and The Pokemon Company,
Thank you for Pokemon Go. Despite my criticism, this is probably the longest I've ever played a Pokemon game. Ever. I've...
Massively on the Go: Here’s how Niantic is trying to fix Pokemon Go’s Mega Evolutions
A bit before Niantic's wellness week kicks in for employees, Pokemon Go players got an update on the Mega Evolution problem/solution. We've previously covered...
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...
The Soapbox: Feeling the loss of an MMO community
Back in 2012, I was almost a year deep into Lord of the Rings Online and enjoying my time both in the game and...
Massively on the Go: Everything we know about Pokemon Go’s new mega evolutions
In another new twist, Pokemon Go has just released Generation 6's big feature, Mega Evolutions, before Generation 6 pokemon themselves. While we've had mega...
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...
The Soapbox: Stubborn MMO players are sleeping on autoplay mechanics
Autoplay, huh. What is it good for? Absolutely something! I'll say it again: There is value in autoplay. It's got such a bad reputation...
GDC Summer 2020: Better living, climate awareness, and citizen science through games
Way back during GDC 2018, I covered several panels relating to gaming for good. Things like citizen science projects, games as medicine or for...
GDC Summer 2020: Creating kinder digital communities outside of online games
I don't know about the rest of you, but I've found that being familiar with online communities and tech has really helped me survive...
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...
GDC Summer 2020: Accessibility shouldn’t be a dirty word in online gaming
I don't know about you readers, but one of the first things I always do when starting a game with voice acting (or movie)...
GDC Summer 2020: How Astroneer’s crafting balances cognitive load for the player
Long time followers of Astroneer may recall that the game's early development crafting felt cute but incomplete. Despite the game already being in the wild,...
GDC Summer 2020: Roblox, player-generated content, and the ‘metaverse’
Roblox VP of Product Deepak Chandrasekaran held a skill-building talk at GDC Summer 2020 this week titled Building the Metaverse through User Generated Content...
GDC Summer 2020: Gachapon reward models in (mostly) free-to-play games
Let's be real: Some of the panel titles at GDC Summer 2020 are unintentionally misleading. For example, the "Evolution of Gacha Systems in Mobile...
GDC Summer 2020: Pokemon Go’s Niantic offers augmented reality design advice
I was really looking forward to Niantic's AR Game Design 101 panel at GDC Summer 2020 this week because for all my criticisms of...
GDC Summer 2020: What online gaming can (and should) learn from social media’s trainwrecks
The circle is now complete: Social media has mastered skills MMOs and online games haven't, not that social media was paying much attention to...
GDC Summer 2020: Immersive multiplayer storytelling with Disney’s Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge
Prior to this whole virus thing, one thing that I was enjoying about MMOs was how they (along with ideas taken from social media)...
GDC Summer 2020: How Niantic adapted Pokemon Go gameplay in the time of COVID-19
GDC Summer 2020 is running all this week, and I'm, well, at home. But much like Pokemon Go, the convention adapted, and while I've...
The Soapbox: Powercreep in MMOs sucks – so how do we solve it?
We all love multiplayer, persistent world online games, don’t we? Players stay for the familiarity, nostalgia, and potential for years of enjoyment. Studios love...
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...
