raph koster
The Game Archaeologist: Furcadia
Let's face it: There isn't really a huge pool of MMORPGs from the 1990s to explore in this column. By now I have done...
Raph Koster would put action combat in Star Wars Galaxies if made today
Recently, one of game designer Raph Koster's fans wrote in to pose him an interesting hypothetical question. If he were to remake Star Wars...
This player is rebuilding Ultima Online in Wurm Online
One of the best parts of Wurm Online's Unlimited version is that players can run wild with their own custom servers, tailoring them to...
Massively Overthinking: It’s the end of The Secret World as we know it
I think I can speak for most of our staff in saying that in November when Funcom first promised a "major upgrade to both retention and...
The Soapbox: Why is Pokemon GO still a tech demo?
I've been a bit frustrated with Niantic lately. I love some of its ideas, but I watched someone else play Ingress prior to Pokemon GO's...
The Game Archaeologist: How DikuMUD shaped modern MMOs
Even though there are hundreds and thousands of MMOs spanning several decades, only a small handful were so incredibly influential that they changed the...
The MOP Up: ARK’s console editions get a hair-do (March 26, 2017)
The MMO industry moves along at the speed of information, and sometimes we’re deluged with so much news here at Massively Overpowered that some...
Raph Koster explains why griefing in virtual reality isn’t going away
Even if you can overlook the expense, the current lack of games, the potential for nausea, and the annoyance of wearing a clamshell on...
Massively OP Podcast Episode 107: Dark Knight rises
Justin and Bree discuss Guild Wars 2, WoW, Torment, Black Desert, Age of Conan and Anarchy Online maintenance mode, WildStar, Darkfall Rise of Agon, Path of Exile, and Revelation Online's soft launch, with mailbag questions on console vs. PC MMO fans and dealing with immersion-breaking mounts.
The Daily Grind: Is an MMO still an MMO if it lacks chat?
In the comments of Andrew's last Soapbox on whether or not Pokemon Go properly constitutes an MMO, veteran MMORPG designer Raph Koster argued provocatively against...
The Soapbox: Pokemon Go Generation 2 still isn’t a real MMO
Pokemon GO Generation 2 is out now, and it feels a lot like an MMO expansion in a lot of ways:Â We have new features,...
Blizzard’s Mike Morhaime ‘troubled’ by latest US immigration policies
On Monday, we covered some of the MMORPG companies speaking out against new immigration policy that opponents of the current US administration have dubbed...
Ten life lessons I learned from the Asheron’s Call series
As Asheron's Call 1 & 2 are going offline shortly, I thought I might give it a final send-off with a list of things I...
MMORPG developers, GDC organizers speak out against US ‘Muslim ban’
You might want to keep politics out of gaming, but politics has a way of forcing itself in the door no matter what.
Multiple MMO developers and...
The MOP Up: Players petition to ‘revive’ Ultima Online (January 29, 2017)
The MMO industry moves along at the speed of information, and sometimes we’re deluged with so much news here at Massively Overpowered that some...
The Game Archaeologist: Wing Commander Online and Privateer Online
In late 2012, former Wing Commander developer-slash-movie director Chris Roberts emerged from a decade of obscurity to ask for help to fund his vision...
Massively Overthinking: The best MMORPG developer quotes of 2016
One of the fun things we implemented on the site this year is a database of quotes from developers (among other entries) that are...
Massively Overthinking: Gratitude for the people of the MMORPG genre
It's Thanksgiving here in the US, and we wish you all a happy one, whether you're celebrating locally or not. For this week's Massively Overthinking...
Massively OP’s 2016 gift guide for the MMORPG bookworm
Hey you! Yeah, the player who actually reads quest text and lore entries when all of the other hooting madmen are furiously clicking past...
Crowfall shows off the ins and outs of crafting
Like peanut butter and chocolate, PvP and crafting seem to be two flavors that go very well together. Crowfall thinks so, at least, which...