evergreen
MMO Mechanics: Creating engaging crafting mechanics
I'm currently bogged down in an over-the-shoulder crafting blur, vicariously depleting gold and recommending several YouTube-approved crazy material gathering runs as I get my...
Massively Overthinking: The best MMORPG trailers of all time
This week's Massively Overthinking should be a fun one -- and hopefully it'll contrast nicely with the Game Archaeologist column we ran last week, which...
Perfect Ten: The most exciting MMO developments yet to come in 2016
In the annals of MMORPG history, 2016 might well go down as a very odd duck of a year. While on the surface it...
Perfect Ten: The 10 components of a ‘fair’ MMO PvP fight
I spend a lot of my time thinking about MMO PvP. You might not realize it, but I'm actually a really big fan of...
MMO Mechanics: Zonation and scaling mechanics in MMORPGs
The recent E3 hubub about The Elder Scrolls Online new level syncing mechanics being extended has got me thinking all about the mechanics behind zones in MMOs,...
Perfect Ten: MMORPGs for mature audiences only
As with mainstream movies, it seems that the MMORPG industry has settled comfortably into the PG-13 zone for its approach and themes. Sure, there's...
The Soapbox: Sharing MMORPGs with my kids
"Dad, can I pilot your ship tonight?"
I turn around to see my seven-year-old son giving me Bambi eyes with his hands clasped because, somewhere...
Perfect Ten: MMORPGs with distinct visual styles
Given the choice, I am always going to pick a game with stylized graphics over realistic ones. This is for many reasons; it's partly...
Perfect Ten: How to enjoy the alt lifestyle in MMORPGs
Not everyone is into creating alternate characters -- alts -- in MMORPGs. This is understandable: Some people don't have time to play more than...
Perfect Ten: What your MMO character type says about you
Every MMO has character classes. Every single one. You might rail against this by pointing out that there are several games out there with...
Massively Overthinking: The sandbox MMORPG disconnect
This week's Massively Overthinking was inspired by a reader who decided to go by Sandboxless in Seattle when he penned this note of frustration to us.
I...
Perfect Ten: The final minutes of beloved MMORPGs
"This is how the world ends," T S Eliot wrote in his famous poem, "not with a bang, but with a whimper."
That might well...
Massively OP’s guide to MMO business models
Not too long ago, there was all but one way that you would pay for an MMO, and that was as a monthly subscription....
Perfect Ten: Ten City of Heroes systems every MMO should have stolen by now
Today, City of Heroes turns 12Â years old. Except it doesn't; the game shut down three years ago, it never lived until it reached twelve,...
Massively OP’s guide to understanding video game research
I noticed two strange things in the comments section of our lengthy Exploring the Video Game Debate series: People were angry at research that...
Working As Intended: Busting up the MMORPG nostalgia party
Last week, a clever Massively OP commenter, SC_Deadline, neatly summed up the ongoing Nostalrius emulator shutdown as Blizzard "bust up someone's nostalgia party," which...
The Game Archaeologist: Guild Wars Utopia
Aztecs. Chronomancers. Mounts. Halberds. Golems. Dual wielding.
These are all but a hint of what a fourth Guild Wars campaign could have been, a campaign...
Perfect Ten: MMORPGs with huge class rosters
After talking with Mark Jacobs the other week about the difficulty of balancing Camelot Unchained's 30 classes, it got my mind thinking of MMOs...
Massively OP’s guide to MMO dungeon run etiquette
Dungeon runs in MMOs can be a socially terrifying situation, especially for those of us who are quite comfortable in our solo-centric playstyle or...
MMO Mechanics: MMORPG expansions vs. sequels
The recent news about EverQuest Next's cancellation has renewed the debate about whether or not MMOs should get sequels, which have given me plenty...
