game design
Massively on the Go: An open letter to Pokemon Go’s Niantic and The Pokemon Company
Dear Niantic and The Pokemon Company,
Thank you for Pokemon Go. Despite my criticism, this is probably the longest I've ever played a Pokemon game. Ever. I've...
Hands-on with the four Vs of Nexon’s mobile MMO V4
One of my friends once said to me, "Carlo, I always see you play those random 6 out of 10 MMOs, and I don't...
GDC Summer 2020: Pokemon Go’s Niantic offers augmented reality design advice
I was really looking forward to Niantic's AR Game Design 101 panel at GDC Summer 2020 this week because for all my criticisms of...
The Soapbox: Powercreep in MMOs sucks – so how do we solve it?
We all love multiplayer, persistent world online games, don’t we? Players stay for the familiarity, nostalgia, and potential for years of enjoyment. Studios love...
More Ubisoft employees recount a culture of sexism that propped up offenders and informed game design decisions
The fact that Ubisoft executives have made the studio an unsafe place to work has already been well chronicled, but a new report from...
Not So Massively: Online ARPGs are the pizza of gaming
I spend a lot of time thinking about online ARPGs these days. It's always been a genre I've enjoyed, and since taking over the...
Desert Oasis: How should Black Desert handle class balance?
Last week, I wrote about how the recent tamer changes in Black Desert resulted in a write-in campaign. Ever since then, I've had game...
EVE Evolved: EVE Online’s asset safety bait and switch was a colossal mistake
Imagine if you logged back into your favourite MMO after a few months away to find that your character's gear was gone or valuable...
EVE Evolved: A live event threatens to reshape EVE Online’s map
While EVE Online has always focused on the real stories created by players through player-vs.-player conflict rather than on its NPC storyline, its universe...
Book of Travels’ beta already boasts over 400 events
The adorably small and painterly Book of Travels has an adorably geeky and personable development team, if this week's Q&A video is any indication....
The Game Archaeologist: The history of play-by-email games
For most all of human history, people who wanted to play a game together usually had to be in physical proximity with each other....
WoW Factor: Examining Shadowlands’ Shaman, Monk, and Druid ability changes
So, here's something you might find funny: My greatest struggle with this particular ongoing World of Warcraft column was deciding the best possible order...
The Daily Grind: Do you want controller support for your PC MMOs?
The fact that it looks like World of Warcraft will get some sort of controller support is a piece of news that fills me...
Perfect Ten: MMOs that were ahead of their time
Timing is, as they say, everything. A good idea presented at the wrong time (and perhaps in the wrong way) might fizzle hard when...
EVE Evolved: EVE Online’s Loyalty to Lowsec update shakes up Faction Warfare
Between the relative safe haven of EVE Online's high-security star systems and the lawless depths of nullsec where alliances play ping-pong with titans, there...
Interview: Saga of Lucimia on funding, development, launch, and business models
Upcoming MMORPG Saga of Lucimia has been somewhat dark over the last year as its developers hunkered down to develop rather than hype. But...
Vague Patch Notes: Why PvP is a cheap way to fill out a game’s content compared to PvE
It feels like about four years ago when I laid down the first in a semi-regular series of columns I see as "useful notes"...
The MOP Up: Red Dead Redemption’s puke rope saves the day
Puke may have ended Elvis Presley's life, but it could save yours -- if you're playing Red Dead Redemption 2, that is. Polygon posted...
Hands-on with Dragon Raja: First impressions of Tecent’s new mobile MMORPG
I enjoy mobile MMOs. It's a hit-or-miss kind of genre: Some are great, others are terrible. I personally love the adventure of finding those good...
Not So Massively: Imagining a true MMORTS
MMOs and RTS are two of the genres of game I play the most. Given that, you'd think I'd be a big fan of...
