featured
The Soapbox: I love that MMOs allow me to live in the past
I used to think that the notion of a "mid-life crisis" was somewhat ridiculous... until I found myself deep in one. It kind of...
Vague Patch Notes: Not every MMO mechanic you dislike is a bad one
There is a category of responses to any column about mechanics, and it came up with the recent couple of columns about level scaling,...
Not So Massively: The redonkulous state of The First Descendant’s balance
Recently, The First Descendant pushed out a big hotfix full of massive balance changes. If you don't know the game, these changes might have...
Choose My Adventure: A bit of realmwalking and a whole lot of house building in Nightingale
I have the rather unique challenge this week: I'm trying to make hours' of game time in Nightingale spent building a house interesting to...
Wisdom of Nym: Things I want out of Final Fantasy XIV’s upcoming Occult Crescent
It is a fact almost universally acknowledged that human beings are never happy with where they are currently located; instead, we almost constantly wish...
The Soapbox: I am just about done with MMO epic storylines
I'm not here to flash my MMO credentials at you because (a) you don't care and (b) you probably top me. That's fine. All...
Fight or Kite: I discovered a whole new side to Myth of Empires on custom servers
I told you all in my previous column that I was going to get to the Persian DLC in Myth of Empires or die...
Vague Patch Notes: Level scaling in MMOs with the lateral spread and the temporary shrink
Last week I talked about how MMORPGs use level scaling to accomplish actually useful and important goals. In short, there is an issue with...
WoW Factor: Six things I really don’t like about World of Warcraft’s War Within
With that rager of a negative title hanging over this column today, I want to start by saying that overall I generally like World...
Interview: Star Wars Galaxies Legends reveals the long-awaited second part of the Jedi Themepark
If you've been following the Star Wars Galaxies rogue server community, you probably know that SWG Legends has become one of the most interesting...
Perfect Ten: Early versions of MMOs that were rougher than you remember
Despite our nostalgia goggles and cries for legacy versions of MMORPGs, the real truth is that most 1.0 versions of our online games were...
Choose My Adventure: Nightingale’s Welkin’s Reach offers high intrigue and slight annoyance
Welkin's Reach is going to stick out in my mind after having moved through the zone in Nightingale. This was a realm of odd...
‘Daybreak made Elderwood possible’: Palia announces Elderwood update and console launch for May 13
Cozy mini MMO Palia has just dropped the biggest news it's had since Daybreak bought it out: It's officially coming to console and launching...
Wisdom of Nym: Expert crafting and better crafting challenges in Final Fantasy XIV
Cosmic Exploration arrives in Final Fantasy XIV not this week but next, which means that we've got a little more time before it's present....
MMO Hype Train: Is Equinox Homecoming for real or is it a pony fever dream?
I have long gone on the record saying that I truly appreciate it when a creative work -- especially TV, movies, and video games...
Why I Play: V Rising is an MMO you can win
We've got a couple weeks to go until we can play V Rising's next major update, Invaders of Oakveil, which is hitting on April...
Casually Classic: How Burning Crusade brought us some of WoW’s best starting zones
There's certainly been a rise of chatter among the WoW Classic community these days regarding The Burning Crusade. This is partially because of a...
Vague Patch Notes: The problem with level scaling in MMOs
Last week, as I talked about the problems with horizontal progression, long-time commenter Rick Mills asked if I would write a column about level...
Why I Play: It’s not too late to get into Monster Hunter Wilds
I'm sure I'm not the only one who saw the update for Monster Hunter Wilds and thought, "Man, I'm so behind!" Heck, it's weird for me...
Perfect Ten: The accursed MMORPG dungeons of no return
So it came to be that I did face my Judgment, and I sat between that greatest of all Game-Masters o'er all the online...
