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Wisdom of Nym: What does Final Fantasy XIV’s patch 5.3 delay mean for the schedule?
Gosh, remember when it seemed like we... like, actually knew what 2020 was going to look like, or at least in the broad strokes?...
The Game Archaeologist: When World of Warcraft opened Ahn’Qiraj’s gates
This past month, Blizzard has been testing what might well be the milestone moment for World of Warcraft Classic: The Ahn'Qiraj gates event. In...
Vague Patch Notes: MOBAs, battle royales, and shallow genre pools in the online gaming space
This past week, Nintendo announced Pokemon Unite, and then I had to go to see a doctor because I rolled my eyes so far...
Desert Oasis: Putting Black Desert’s music system in context with other MMOs
Back in the day, I used to really be into the ukulele. I used to play in open mics and sold them as my...
MMO Cartographer: A stroll through Eternal Magic, the Candy Crush of MMOs
I didn't catch the first release of Eternal Magic, so the Steam release this past spring seemed like a good time to get into...
WoW Factor: How do we make a good Warcraft movie?
Sometimes, dear readers, things simply do not line up. I really have a long piece I'm looking forward to doing, and then Blizzard does...
Massively on the Go: Exploring Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor expansion
I knew from the website shown at the initial announcement that Pokemon Sword and Shield's first expansion, The Isle of Armor, would be more of...
Perfect Ten: What makes me feel welcome when trying out your MMO
While it's not "standing in front of your high school in your underpants and reciting a difficult Shakespeare passage" level of anxiety, there is...
Chaos Theory: Secret World Legend’s third anniversary and the 2020 MEGAversary event
Another year has come and gone. (Though we might be glad this one's over.) Secret World Legends, the reboot of the beloved Secret World,...
Choose My Adventure: EVE Online’s combat coalesces into something nearing enjoyment
All right, EVE Online. I'm starting to get you.
The mission was to continue with the career path NPCs, and after some more time in...
The Soapbox: No, forced grouping in MMOs isn’t ‘social’
Thinking back to high school, I'm awash in memories of the many deep, meaningful relationships that spawned as a result of being forced to...
Wisdom of Nym: Job extension ideas for the next Final Fantasy XIV expansion
One of the interesting things about each given expansion for Final Fantasy XIV is that we always get new tricks along the way... sometimes...
Not So Massively: My top 10 favorite ARPG classes
I love me some ARPGs, but in any RPG your enjoyment will depend so much on finding the right class. A game that felt...
The Game Archaeologist: The virtual worlds of the 1990s
With the increased speeds of modems and the move into 3-D space in the 1990s, some game designers thought it was a logical conclusion...
WoW Factor: The time-skip Shadowlands theory and the longing for World of Warcraft 2
All right, here we go. Normally this is the sort of thing that I wouldn't actually spend a whole week on because believe it...
Vague Patch Notes: Have we ever really had an MMO sequel?
In the wake of Justin's recent column on whether or not MMO sequels are a good idea, MOP reader Bobfish had an interesting question...
Choose My Adventure: The slow slog to familiarity in EVE Online
Once more, we begin this adventure in EVE Online with some self-owning. For an embarrassingly long amount of time, I was incapable of working...
Perfect Ten: The big book of MMO death mechanic rationales
In the ancient Before Times (so, you know, two years ago), I wrote a column all about the different mechanics that hit you when...
Fight or Kite: Space MMORTS Starborne’s latest time-limited campaign draws to a close
I’ve had Starborne open nearly every waking minute over the last ten weeks – and even during many of the sleeping ones. It is...
Wisdom of Nym: The highs and lows of Final Fantasy XIV’s role quests
You might be thinking that we're a little early to be doing this sort of thing, and you wouldn't be entirely wrong; normally I...