game design
EVE Evolved: Huge PvP battles and corp wars in Citadel
Huge PvP battles have always been a core part of EVE Online's territorial warfare gameplay, with fleets of hundreds or even sometimes thousands of...
The Daily Grind: Do you play MMOs contrary to their design?
If you play Final Fantasy XIV, you know that it is not a game that rewards players for playing multiple characters. Quite the opposite, in...
World of Warcraft outlines changes to Paladins and Warlocks
Paladins and Warlocks, together at last! They're like the original odd couple - she's a stalwart defender of the Light, and her roommate is...
New Crowfall site design asks players to consider their legacy
Roads can deteriorate, statues crumble, castles collapse, and books are lost. But legacies persist. A redesign for Crowfall's website plays up the idea that each...
EVE Evolved: Could achievements save EVE’s new player experience?
EVE Online has always been a very long-term game, with players setting goals that often take months to achieve and forming friendships over the...
EVE Vegas 2015: The future of PvE in EVE Online
While the focus of EVE Vegas 2015 was definitely on the new Citadel structures and the capital ship overhaul coming next spring, the topic...
Chronicles of Elyria dev blog: Immersion, heroism, and realism
Announced earlier this year, Chronicles of Elyria is a startup sandbox in a sea of such sandboxes, but some of its features are rare even...
EVE Evolved: Does skillpoint trading make EVE pay-to-win?
EVE Online's realtime skill training system has been a major point of contention throughout the game's lifetime, being a boon for those with little...
Chronicles of Elyria dev blog: Offline player characters
Announced earlier this year, Chronicles of Elyria is a startup sandbox in a sea of such sandboxes, but some of its features are rare even...
MMO Mechanics: Three ways non-MMO IPs could create great mechanics
I really enjoy being a guest on Larry Everett's video series Massively Opinionated, a series in which MMO enthusiasts answer some tough questions and...
Chronicles of Elyria dev blog: Permadeath in MMORPGs
Announced earlier this year, Chronicles of Elyria is a startup sandbox in a sea of such sandboxes, but some of its features are rare even...
John Smedley’s company moves into an office, is working on a new game
While ex-Daybreak CEO John Smedley isn't quite ready to reveal what his new game company is all about, he did post a couple of...
EVE Evolved: Bring on the big expansions again!
When EVE Online's development switched from two major expansions per year to ten smaller releases, the benefits were pretty difficult to argue with. EVE...
Chronicles of Elyria dev blog: Character aging in MMORPGs
Announced earlier this year, Chronicles of Elyria is a startup sandbox in a sea of such sandboxes, but some of its features are rare even...
Project Gorgon on the difference between testing and launch balancing
Can we get a quick show of hands indicating who likes logging into a familiar MMO and finding out that every one of his...
Not So Massively: For the King’s Kickstarter, Hearthstone’s match controversy
Online gaming and e-sports are getting bigger by the day, and there are literally hundreds of popular online games out there that don't really...
EVE Evolved: New roles for capital ships
In the past two editions of EVE Evolved, I looked at the Aegis sovereignty warfare overhaul and how it played out in a recent...
MMO Mechanics: Economic stagnation in MMO economies
MMO economies are notoriously hard to balance, so most MMO players have seen the effects of stagnation and hyperinflation in an MMO economy for...
The Daily Grind: Are there MMOs that you wish you liked more than you do?
My new roommate wants so badly to like Defiance. She bought two of the ultimate collector's editions after they were deeply discounted. Yet for all...
EVE Evolved: The war for Providence
In the previous edition of EVE Evolved, I looked at how the state of PvP in EVE Online has changed since the Aegis Sovereignty...
