editorial
Vague Patch Notes: When World of Warcraft breaks off your friendship
I spent a bunch of time post-BlizzCon thinking about why World of Warcraft personally bothered me. Not why its design pitfalls bothered me; that's...
Vague Patch Notes: The meaning of ‘meaningful’ in MMORPGs
Ironically, the term "meaningful" has a long history of not meaning much of anything with MMOs.
Back in 2015 I did a Perfect Ten about...
Working As Intended: The gamification of the workification of games
Last weekend, my husband made the bold choice to let our young son play The Stanley Parable. I am not entirely sure the kid...
Vague Patch Notes: There’s more to Skinner boxes in MMOs than mere repetition
As I started watching the latest World of Warcraft video to whip people into a furor, I very nearly turned the thing off as...
Massively on the Go: The key MMO features in The Walking Dead Our World
As a franchise, The Walking Dead is probably past its prime, but I'm admittedly still a bit of a fan. In fact, I was playing...
Vague Patch Notes: How do you play MMOs when you know humans suffered to make them?
The original Star Wars film was a passion project for a then-young George Lucas, and it was a project that nearly killed Lucas from...
Vague Patch Notes: World of Warcraft, math, and making choices ‘interesting’ in MMOs
So if you somehow managed to miss it, let me recap:Â World of Warcraft's community manager Lore recently gave some feedback on the many complaints...
Ask Mo: The real value of MMO interviews
MOP reader Avaera recently sent in a question that I thought would be fun to address here in my poor neglected Ask Mo column....
Vague Patch Notes: Trickle-down metagames in MMORPGs
A while back, there was an interesting set of data coming out of a discussion about Overwatch. The discussion was about the concept of...
Vague Patch Notes: WildStar deserves its shutdown, even though we loved it
Last week, when we heard that WildStar was being shut down, I penned a truthful, heartfelt eulogy for the game as it could've been....
Massively on the Go: Our guide to legendary and EX raiding in Pokemon Go
It's a bit odd to say this about a Pokemon game, but raiding in Pokemon Go is kind of a big deal. Multiplayer has always been...
A eulogy for WildStar – a marvelous MMORPG and avoidable tragedy
Friends, readers, genre fans, lend me your eyes; I come to bury WildStar, not to praise it. But just like Marc Antony, I'm going...
The Soapbox: I have a bad feeling about Anthem
As I watched Nick Tarabay stand on stage hype up the audience in the Main Theater for PAX West 2018, I thought it was...
PAX West 2018: Getting my feet wet in Elder Scrolls Online’s Murkmire
I should preface this article with two things: I got to spend maybe 15 minutes in Murkmire while in a crowded, loud room at...
Vague Patch Notes: Casual no longer means anything in MMOs
Every time I see someone write something about casual players - including me because heavens know I've done it too - I feel a...
Working As Intended: Returning to Star Wars Galaxies – in 2018
If you've followed the Massively OP Podcast this summer or read any of my ramblings in Daily Grinds and WRUPs, you probably know that...
Massively on the Go: Guide to Pokemon Go’s battle system basics
As much as I love some of the game's systems that encourage social play, Pokemon Go's obtuse battle system from the start was problematic. It's...
Vague Patch Notes: On scaling and meaningful advancement in WoW and other MMORPGs
It seems like pretty much nobody is happy with how scaling is working in World of Warcraft at the moment. The game's scaling means...
Massively on the Go: Our guide to which Pokemon you should keep (or send away)
There's so much involved with Pokemon Go for new (or returning) players to adjust to that even knowing what's "good" can be hard to figure out....
Massively on the Go: Our basic guide to Pokemon Go gameplay and questing
Pokemon Go has come a long way since its early days of just catching and gym battling. Those are still core gameplay elements, but there's...
