evergreen
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...
WoW Factor: The mulligan problem in World of Warcraft’s narrative
In World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, Illidan Stormrage gets killed. This isn't actually a surprising end for the character. Illidan as a person...
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...
Perfect Ten: Why World of Warcraft’s Legion was a top-tier expansion
While a lot of long-time World of Warcraft players will point to Wrath of the Lich King as the high point of the MMO,...
WoW Factor: Blizzard started listening to World of Warcraft players for a reason its leadership doesn’t want to say
I have a few different conflicting thoughts when it comes to the most recent interview with World of Warcraft game director Ion Hazzikostas, or...
Vague Patch Notes: Yes, tutorials are a good thing in MMORPGs
For those of you who haven't been reading the site for a while or just don't keep this in your head, I'm going to...
Perfect Ten: 10 MMORPGs with weirdly defensive fanbases
I do not have nice things to say about RuneScape. I have never had nice things to say about RuneScape. I also do not...
The Soapbox: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail, mortality, remembrance, and last chances
Earlier this week, at least at the time of this op ed's writing, I completed the main story for Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail, and...
LOTRO Legendarium: Six ideas LOTRO totally should steal from other MMOs
It's only natural for people who play multiple MMOs or are aware of what's happening in other titles to foster a sense of envy....
Perfect Ten: 10 more MMOs you’ve already forgotten ever existed, from Elyon to Defiance
Last year, I assembled a list of 10 former MMOs that not only have ceased to exist but have ceased to be remembered (for...
The Game Archaeologist: World of Warcraft in the 1990s
MMORPGs don't pop out of nowhere, ex nihilo, to suddenly be enjoyed by players across the globe. Good ones take several years, dozens of...
WoW Factor: MMORPG raiding is not special
You all remember The Incredibles, right? I know that these days the hot take is to try to spin the film as some sort...
Vague Patch Notes: Many kinds of challenge and many kinds of fun in MMOs
Earlier this week, MOP's Bree and I were discussing my plans in Final Fantasy XIV as part of the Dawntrail early access launch. Now,...
Perfect Ten: The MMORPG terms we use but never define, from murderhobo to sandpark
Over in Vague Patch Notes, I have an ongoing series of columns that I describe as being primarily about having useful notes for us...
Vague Patch Notes: Have a seat for your MMO
I could play Final Fantasy XIV on my PlayStation 5, but I don't want to. And as weird as it might sound, the reason...
LOTRO Legendarium: What will happen when Lord of the Rings Online dies?
You know that old hypothetical of "Would you want to know when you die or would you rather be ignorant of it?" A slightly...
Vague Patch Notes: Housing is really back in MMORPGs
I haven't really had anything to say about Guild Wars 2's upcoming Janthir Wilds expansion thus far because... well, I'm not our GW2 columnist,...
Perfect Ten: MMOs where you travel back in time for some reason
We're all time travelers! We travel to the future at the rate of one second per second. Every single machine you will ever operate...
Vague Patch Notes: Chasing the metagame in MMOs isn’t the metagame at all
So a few weeks back, I did a column on what the metagame actually is in MMORPG, and then I discussed how noob traps...
