game design
Final Fantasy XIV’s Naoki Yoshida on Stormblood’s release, AI issues, and MMO history
After all this time, I'm sure some of you forgot that my original E3 2017 interview with Final Fantasy XIV's Naoki Yoshida was supposed to...
Massively Overthinking: Alone together vs. forced grouping in MMORPGs
I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that everyone has at some point seen the xkcd called Isolation, but if not, there...
Global Chat: What Asian MMOs can learn from the west
Usually when it comes to discussing world hemispheres of MMO game design, comments and observations are made about what western studios can learn from their...
The Soapbox: Getting to the heart of toxicity in MMOs
So we've gotten another post from a developer saying that they're going to really 100% be better about rooting out toxic players from their...
EVE Evolved: The Agency could become a great daily reward system in EVE Online
A new event named The Agency kicked off this week in EVE Online, and it looks a bit like the daily quest systems you...
Osiris New Dawn CEO to community grumping: ‘I will take these lashings and learn from them’
Fenix Fire CEO Brian McRae is "not having fun either," according to his latest dev blog on the Osiris: New Dawn Steam page. His...
Valiance Online says its alpha is coming soon
Hearing that something is coming "soon" is the bane of every MMO player; it technically qualifies as a time frame, but it's vague and...
EVE Evolved: Does EVE Online need more conflict-drivers?
Of all the terminology associated with EVE Online, the one thing that's always made me a bit uncomfortable is to hear players describe PvP as "generating...
The Daily Grind: If you could reboot any currently operating MMO, which one would you pick?
It probably won't surprise you to know that we spend a lot of time in work chat behind the scenes of Massively Overpowered discussing...
Overwatch reveals design mysteries, sends out League surveys, and struggles with e-sports
A world as intricate and fanatically followed as Overwatch is bound to spark a question or two about its mysteries and secrets. In a...
Watch a documentary on the creation and destruction of Final Fantasy XIV
The end of Final Fantasy XIV came quite some time ago, but the game is still going. That's because the launch of the game's...
EVE Evolved: How much trust is too much in EVE Online?
Of all the headlines to come out of EVE Online over the years, the biggest and most far-reaching have been the stories of massive thefts...
World of Warcraft’s class design AMA examines the how and why of tuning changes
No matter what class you play in World of Warcraft, you're probably certain that the developers hate your class in particular and love some...
E3 2017: Monster Hunter World demo, difficulty, global appeal, and leaks
Monster Hunter World's reveal caught me completely off guard during its E3 2017 reveal. We'd already had a title announced for the Nintendo Switch, and...
Wurm Online discusses upcoming changes to creature behavior
The animals in Wurm Online aren't just there to be captured and/or killed by players. They're meant to act in a plausible manner, avoiding...
Global Chat: Why FFXIV is the most newbie-friendly MMO
What's the most newbie-friendly MMO? According to Pete at Dragonchasers, it's Final Fantasy XIV. He's been pretty impressed by the support structure that the...
EVE Evolved: The controversy over EVE Online’s capital ship nerfs
EVE Online players have been up in arms this week over sweeping nerfs that are about to hit to high-end farming gameplay styles in the...
The Game Archaeologist: Phantasy Star Online
The Dreamcast was a brief but shining aberration in the gaming world. Coming along years after Sega had fallen out of its position as...
Wisdom of Nym: Words of caution about speculating on Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood’s balance
Whew. All right. Last week had a big old release of news about Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood, and now I'm far more relaxed because...
MMO Mechanics: Making healing interesting in MMORPGs
I was reading a recent Daily Grind article on the topic of unique healing classes and it prompted me to think about the variety...
