science
Crowfall’s Raph Koster goes into insane depth on the cost of creating video games
If you have an exceptional memory, you might recall that a couple of months ago, Crowfall and Star Wars Galaxies designer Raph Koster wrote...
Game Theory explores the psychological exploitation at work in lockboxes
"It's as easy as one, two, insert your credit card number here!" So begins the parody at the beginning of the first of two...
WHO attempts to defend its proposed ‘gaming disorder’ classification
At the tail end of last year, we caught wind that the World Health Organization is planning on classifying gaming addiction as a "gaming...
Here’s how one high school teacher uses Lord of the Rings Online in her English class
What do you say that we all go and enroll at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics?
Hear me out here: It's at this...
HEVGA argues WHO’s proposed ‘gaming disorder’ classification scapegoats and stigmatizes games
Is gaming addiction a thing worthy of its own classification? The World Health Organization is thinking about saying yes in its update of the...
Raph Koster on MMO ecosystems, the balance of power, and tennis
Most MMORPGs have the core sandbox problem: Whoever gets there first, controls all the toys and has the power to drive everyone else away....
How video game lockboxes use psychology to manipulate you
We here at Massively OP can't get rid of lockboxes, but by gum, we're not going to roll over and give up on fighting...
Choose My Adventure Year in Review: DC Universe Online, Shroud of the Avatar, Guild Wars 2, and Secret World Legends
As our review of the past year of Choose My Adventure rolls onward (a bit longer than originally planned), we enter what I think...
FCC extends accessibility requirement waiver for online games once again
Last year, my husband deployed the requisite accessibility tools to the college science lab he runs to accommodate a bright student who happened to...
ESA pushes back against World Health Organization’s gaming disorder classification
In case you missed it over the holiday break, but the World Health Organization announced it would be adding "gamer disorder" and "hazardous gaming"...
A look back at the MMO and gaming science topics of 2017
Over the last couple of years, we've redoubled our efforts on our science-related articles, as you may have noticed from our roundups in 2016 and 2015....
Final Fantasy XIV previews the new dungeons for patch 4.2
Dungeons! They're important. They're also not really dungeons in the traditional sense, considering that no one is imprisoned in either of the two dungeons...
Wisdom of Nym: Looking ahead to Final Fantasy XIV’s 2018
It's not quite 2018 yet, but it will be next week. That means we have a whole year of Final Fantasy XIV to enjoy,...
Extra Credits on how to win, lose, and measure gamer trust
How does a "great series get driven into the ground," eroding player trust? That's precisely the subject tackled in a recent edition of the...
Gaming industry roundup: SWBG2’s poor sales, Gambling Commission, slot machines, and parody games
Don't agree that lockboxes, lootboxes, and gambleboxes were the biggest story of the year? We've collected so many news tidbits just on that over...
Exploring the psychology behind losses, gains, and grouping results in video games
Getting five batches of 100 gold feels better than one batch of 500 gold, and being forced to spend three separate 100 gold fees...
EVE Online uses city urban planning in its design
Who would have ever thought that something so mundane and everyday as city urban planning would be of immense inspiration to a game like...
Researchers document Pokemon Go’s vehicular casualties, Niantic raises $200M for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
Pokemon Go developer Niantic just got enough money to build a second pool in which to put all that money to roll around in....
Enter to win a trio of Star Trek Online console factional starter packs from PWE and MOP
In honor of the launch of Star Trek Online Season 14: Emergence on console last week, PWE has granted Massively OP a bunch of goodies to raffle...
For Science! Researchers find link between fluid intelligence and elite MOBA play
In a new paper released last week, University of York researchers sought to examine whether research that strategy gaming (like chess and arcade games)...
