game mechanics
Eternal Crusade updates players on design goals and founder packs
The melee combat in Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade has gone through several revisions, and it's going to go through several more. The latest State...
How Daybreak thwarts H1Z1 cheaters
Getting screwed over by other players cheating in H1Z1 isn't a fun feeling, even though the game is still in early testing and has...
World of Warcraft adds retro ‘timewalking’ dungeons
There's no reason for you to go back to older dungeons in World of Warcraft unless you particularly like the look of something that...
A first look at Ghost in the Shell Online in action
Now that we know that Ghost in the Shell Online will definitely be coming to Western shores, there's all the reason in the world...
Black Desert adjusts for ‘casual lite’ Korean market
Every game changes during testing, but Black Desert seems to have changed even more significantly compared to its original vision from the fan standpoint. One...
World of Warcraft 6.2 adds new dungeon difficulty, zone
If you thought the first major patch of Warlords of Draenor seemed a bit thin on content, you'll be happier with World of Warcraft's...
MMO Mechanics: How strong communities are barriers-to-exit
MMOs occupy a unique position in our game libraries because they include a wide range of clever mechanics that keep us logging in day...
The Daily Grind: What sort of characters do you have a tendency to play?
As a roleplayer, I have a lot of different character types that I've played, lots of different archetypes and the like. However, taking any...
Diablo III’s Patch 2.2.0 adds and improves items
Health potions are one of the core elements of Diablo III, but they're not actually interesting to stock up on. The game has thus...
Skyforge’s beta is surprisingly satisfying
I can safely say that what I got when I first fired up Skyforge was not, in fact, what I had been hoping I...
Crowfall video shows off siege concepts
Crowfall's siege mechanics are on display today in a new video highlighting the Artcraft Entertainment's current plans for taking on player-controlled cities. The video...
RIFT chronicles the remaking of the Hammerknell raid
If you came into RIFT late in its life cycle, you missed Hammerknell. If you weren't raiding when Hammerknell was super relevant to the...
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s Steps of Faith
It happened, just as expected. A day after I posted a lengthy column discussing Final Fantasy XIV's last big pre-expansion patch, that patch dropped, and...
WoW Factor: Flying ruined everything and shouldn’t be removed
Allowing flying mounts in World of Warcraft was a terrible mistake that should never have been corrected.
For those not up on their history, here's...
EverQuest II is testing class balance updates
EverQuest II's latest producer's letter is a bit lower key than previous entries, perhaps, but no less vital for it. The letter outlines new...
Five players clear most of WoW’s current high-end raid
How many players does it take to clear a high-end raid in World of Warcraft? If you said "20," you would be correct for...
Pathfinder Online launches head start access on April 1st
Early Enrollment players are now playing Pathfinder Online. Explorer Enrollment players, too. Starting on April 1st, Head Start players from the game's second Kickstarter...
Skyforge developers respond to beta feedback
The Skyforge development team has been listening to player feedback during the second closed beta test for the game. A new post on the...
Skyforge unveils its 13 launch day classes
A given character in Skyforge can explore all of the game's classes, and advancing in one class helps bolster progress in other classes as...
Star Trek Online lines up a new feature episode, improved Pilot spec
The entirety of Star Trek Online's run to date has featured an obvious villain waiting in the wings: the Iconians. Everyone knows they're out...
