evergreen
Into the Super-Verse: What made Marvel Heroes so special?
This month we mark a particularly sad anniversary in the MMO space: The 10th anniversary of the launch of Marvel Heroes. By all rights,...
Vague Patch Notes: So why didn’t crowdfunded MMOs save the genre?
The past few weeks we've been following this freakin' thing because... well, obvious reasons. But that has me thinking about crowdfunding in general, because...
Perfect Ten: MMORPGs as Jell-O flavors
During last year's April Fools' Day, I wrote about the important topic of MMO NPCs as muffins. At the time, I felt my work...
Lawful Neutral: How might the so-called AI revolution affect the MMO genre?
This article has been rolling around in my head since ChatGPT rocketed into the public awareness a few months ago, and just in the...
Perfect Ten: MMOs that ghosted us after talking a big game
There's nothing worse as a fan of games to buy into all of the hype and previews of a promising-looking project only to see...
LOTRO Legendarium: Is level boosting in LOTRO worth it?
While I make my way through the new King's Gondor zone in Lord of the Rings Online -- impressions coming next week, hopefully --...
Vague Patch Notes: Why we should evaluate MMO systems based on how they break
Back before Final Fantasy XIV's reboot launched, Naoki Yoshida talked about how the developers had plans to make certain primals be world bosses. Players...
Perfect Ten: Get out of my dreams and get into my (MMO) car
Cars. They go vroom-vroom, and then they go really fast, and how do we live in a country where you basically need a car...
Vague Patch Notes: Why do people remember an MMO past that didn’t exist?
Let's just start with the premise out of the gate. World of Warcraft launched to sales of 240,000 units on its first day. The...
Perfect Ten: 10 old MMO promises that never happened
Developers like to talk a big game. It's expected, it's encouraged by all parties, and it's part of the fun. When a game or...
Vague Patch Notes: The power of perspective in MMOs
So now that Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is out, there is a very funny meme that is going around, but it...
The Soapbox: Raiding isn’t the problem with World of Warcraft
It is by now clear that World of Warcraft's Dragonflight expansion hasn't exactly set the world on fire. This has set off another round...
WoW Factor: Tarisland and the cargo cult of World of Warcraft
We've all made jokes about Tarisland being "we have World of Warcraft at home." That's just a fun thing to make jokes about, and...
LOTRO Legendarium: A look back at Lord of the Rings Online’s Fate of Gundabad
When Lord of the Rings Online released Mines of Moria in November 2008, the expansion became one of the most amusedly divisive in the...
Some Assembly Required: Red Dead roleplay servers succeed where Red Dead Online failed
One of my all-time favorite single-player game experiences was Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2. The underserved Western genre is beautifully realized in this open-world...
Vague Patch Notes: You cannot win on pay-to-win
I want you to put a game in your head that you think is pay-to-win. No, you do not have to say it out...
Perfect Ten: Romantic ideas for an MMO virtual date
While MMOs may not last forever -- or even a few years, in some cases -- the relationships forged in them can endure long...
Vague Patch Notes: MMO players don’t talk about aging
I turned 40 this year. It's not something that I announced with any particular fanfare, due in no small part to the fact that...
WoW Factor: World of Warcraft’s content problems aren’t about quantity
So recently, we asked about what World of Warcraft could do to draw back players that it had lost. To be clear, that's a...
Perfect Ten: What FFA PvP has to offer the MMO space
Before any of you look at the title, the author, and then at your screen again in disbelief, let me disabuse you of any...
