editorial
MassivelyOP’s complete 2019 awards debrief and annual recap
As we did in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018, today I'm going to recap our annual awards and other meta articles from the end of...
Vague Patch Notes: No, MMO lore does not excuse design decisions
There are a lot of problems with how people tend to use lore when it comes to MMOs. I've talked about one side of...
Working As Intended: The MMOs we lost in 2019
The good news is that our sunsetted MMO list from 2019 is shorter than in most years. The bad news, of course, is that...
Vague Patch Notes: How to make your corner of the MMO space more pleasant
It's 2020, people - let's do this. What do I mean by this? Unscrew our MMO living space. That one's a lot more fun...
Why I Play: How NCsoft’s Fafurion update saved Lineage 2 in 2019
I don't know what it is about Asian MMOs, but I'm inexplicably drawn to them. Maybe it has something to do with my background;...
Vague Patch Notes: My wrecked treasure in No Man’s Sky
She was dubbed the Tender Claw C27, and I found her upside-down and half-buried in the ground beside the final beacon of the tutorial...
Vague Patch Notes: Why don’t we have more MMO psionics?
Seized by what I can only describe as an incomprehensible fit of pique, I've spent a decent chunk of my free time over the...
MMO Burnout: Pokemon Sword and Shield is fun but not innovative
I have a vivid memory from when I was younger - about 12 or so - of walking through the local Walmart with my...
Vague Patch Notes: Why do MMOs have randomness?
If there's one concept that is nearly universally reviled among MMO players, it's randomness. Yes, pretty much everywhere. You could make a little fairy...
Massively on the Go: Pseudo-MMOing in Pokemon Sword and Shield
So one of the big draws of the new Pokemon Sword and Shield is the open-world exploration area of the game. It's expansive: It has 4-four-player...
Vague Patch Notes: A look behind the magic at Massively Overpowered
Here we are on another Thanksgiving holiday, and as with every year, one of the big things I'm thankful for is that I've now...
The Soapbox: Cross-play, console exclusivity, and why companies won’t play nice
Let me tell you something: As the columnist who writes about Final Fantasy XIV I am so damn tired of hearing about crossplay. Seriously. Just so...
Vague Patch Notes: Sub-optimal play vs. just plain bad play in MMORPGs
Something we need to start reckoning with when it comes to MMOs is the fact that it really is a problem when you're playing...
Vague Patch Notes: MMO grind is good (except when it isn’t)
Some of my fondest memories of World of Warcraft involve Adam Sandler and the Badlands.
My wife and I had a pretty steady tradition made out...
Vague Patch Notes: Ethics, PR stunts, and the BlizzCon apology
Are you all really tired of talking about ethics and Blizzard in the same sentence? I am too, but a large part of that...
Vague Patch Notes: Does BlizzCon have a future in its current form?
BlizzCon 2018 was a pretty unnecessary disaster for Blizzard. It managed to demolish any hopes people had about Battle for Azeroth rounding the bend and...
Vague Patch Notes: Scammers, grifters, and amateurs in the MMORPG market
There are two apparent truisms about scams in the MMO marketplace. The first is that players are quick to call anything that vaguely stinks...
Ask Mo: Second chances, hate wagons, and the MMORPG grudge game
Today's Ask Mo is not really about comment moderation, but it's where I want to start.
Over the years of trying to cat-herd Massively OP's...
Vague Patch Notes: Copies, blatant copies, and plagiarism in MMOs
So... this was honestly not the story that I had expected to have wound up coming out of Eternal Magic. I'd been expecting that "beauty...
Vague Patch Notes: Crime and punishment and intent in MMOs
Last week, we saw Blizzard explain its philosophy behind why some World of Warcraft bugs in which players got to get more stuff than...
