game archaeologist
The Game Archaeologist’s ultimate MMO archives v5.0
It has been another thrilling year of exploring the relatively unknown or forgotten lands of MMORPG history here in The Game Archaeologist. From projects...
The Game Archaeologist: Hero101, the lost KingsIsle superhero MMO
You do get the sense that KingsIsle once had very grand plans for what is called its "101 Universe." After Wizard101 came out to...
The Game Archaeologist: The Wonderful World of Eamon
As we've long since established, 1980's MUD1 was the official kick-off of the MMORPG genre, bringing online players together to adventure through persistent worlds...
The Game Archaeologist: SEGA’s Dragon’s Dream, the first console and cross-platform MMO
When most people are asked to think back upon the first console to attempt an online RPG experience, the name that most likely pops...
The Game Archaeologist: Kingdom of Loathing
It is, in so many ways, the antithesis of a modern MMORPG. It has crude stick figure drawings instead of lush 3-D graphics. It...
The Game Archaeologist: Tanarus, Sony Online Entertainment’s first online game
While EverQuest is perhaps thought of as Sony Online Entertainment's first online game, the truth of history tells us differently. Just as how Mythic...
The Game Archaeologist: SOE’s many MMO spin-off digital card games
One thing that I deeply admired about old Sony Online Entertainment was that it strove to experiment, innovate, and take risks. Sometimes those special...
The Game Archaeologist: Jeff Butler on EverQuest, EverQuest Next, and Vanguard
As an MMO historian, I have to applaud the work of former SOE developer Shawn Lord in his huge interview series with the people...
The Game Archaeologist: Defining the eras of MMORPG history
With MMO history stretching back to the early 1980s (and even before), this genre has accumulated a whole lot of history over the years....
The Game Archaeologist: Why 2008 was one of the wildest years for MMORPGs
In the relatively short history of MMORPGs so far, there have been a few years that I would say were watershed moments for the...
The Game Archaeologist: Anarchy Online, from launch to now
July 27th 2001. On this date, Funcom pulled the trigger on Anarchy Online, launching it in North America with a planned release in Europe a...
The Game Archaeologist: Anarchy Online, from development to beta
We all have stories of our very first MMORPG experiences, and the one that I often share is that my initial dip into this...
The Game Archaeologist: Jumpgate and Jumpgate Evolution
Historically, space-bound MMORPGs have not had as easy of a go as their fantasy counterparts. For one thing, there are proportionally fewer of them...
The Game Archaeologist: Lifestorm, Japan’s first MMORPG
In comparison to how widely that China and Korea's game development studios embraced MMORPGs right from the beginning, Japan's been curiously low-key in creating...
The Game Archaeologist: The ballad of Fansy, EverQuest’s famous bard
It was summer, 2001. EverQuest had just rolled out Sullon Zek, a no-rules "penal colony" server where the realm was as lawless as the...
The Game Archaeologist: The online world of Diablo II
Most of us probably weren't expecting to see Diablo II once again propelled into the spotlight in the year 2021, but the BlizzCon announcement...
The Game Archaeologist: EA’s Motor City Online
When we use the shorthand "MMO" for online games, it's always assumed that we're talking about swords-and-sorcery or sci-fi RPGs. However, the massively multiplayer...
The Game Archaeologist: Lost Continents, the Jules Verne MMO we never got
If you're looking for an alternate vision of futuristic science fiction, you would do well to dive back into the worlds of 19th century...
The Game Archaeologist: Free Realms
Its very name was a declaration of rebellion against the status quo. In an era that had yet to shift from a subscription-only model...
The Game Archaeologist: Seven ways EverQuest reshaped MMO history
To many veteran MMO players, the opening horns of EverQuest's score are enough to trigger vivid memories, violent hallucinations, and an unstoppable desire to...
