science
Massively Overthinking: Retaking Quantic’s survey to determine our ‘gamer type’
Five years ago - yes, it's been that long! - we did an Overthinking in which our staff all took Quantic's survey to see...
World of Warcraft gamers move 21B gold through the player economy every day
IT-centric Splunk's .conf is not generally an event we cover here on MOP, but the .conf20 edition held back in October had a presentation of...
A look back at the MMO and gaming science topics of 2020
It's now become a long-running tradition on Massively OP to track science-related and science-adjacent stories that touch on the MMORPG world, but this past...
Cooperating in violent games like Fortnite is good for children, actually
Here's something that might bake your noodle: A new study suggests that children playing violent video games cooperatively such as Fortnite are actually more...
Ten-year study finds no link between game violence and aggressive behavior from adolescence to adulthood
We've got another leaflet of evidence on the already towering pile of research suggesting no link between video game violence and aggressive behavior. A...
‘I saw a City in the Clouds!’: Previewing Star Wars Galaxies Legends’ Bespin expansion
There are very few MMORPGs that can plausibly compel me to sit down and log in the weekend of a big real-life move, seeing...
Why WB Games should make a new Asheron’s Call game in 2021+: The mechanics
Just based on lore alone, WB Games should make a new Asheron's Call game. As I argued last time, AC has the qualities of an underutilized...
Why WB Games should make a new Asheron’s Call game in 2021+: The lore
So we recently brought up how Asheron's Call 2 died twice during the winter seasons, with the second one being a double funeral with the original...
UK study says over 1 in 10 young gamers go into debt due to lootbox spending habits
The pushback against lockboxes in gaming in the UK continues in spite of the matter not exactly making non-stop headlines. A new study from...
ToxMod is a new moderation tool that recognizes and reports voice chat hate speech in real-time
Moderating a game's text chat isn't easy by any means, but at least there are a variety of tools and algorithms that try to...
For Science: Researchers investigate why some players invert their directional controls
When you have an analog stick to control the camera, does pushing the stick forward tilt the camera up or down? The Guardian published...
Massively Overthinking: Gratitude for the devs of the MMO genre
Thanksgiving conveniently falls on a Thursday every year, which means it's the perfect topic for our regular Thursday Massively Overthinking roundtable. I've asked our writers what they're grateful for in and around the MMO genre the last couple of years - and now we're gonna do it again.
Choose My Adventure: Surprise storytelling in No Man’s Sky’s base building progression
It was often remarked going in to this week’s Choose My Adventure task that base building in No Man’s Sky is something of a...
New survey points to increase in hate and harassment in online multiplayer games
The behavior of people in online games does not appear to be improving for the better. According to national survey results from the Anti-Defamation...
For Science: Gaming is good for you, actually, suggests new Oxford study
A new University of Oxford study published this week suggests that there's a "positive relation between game play and well-being."
The paper itself hasn't been...
CCP Games’ EVE Online community raised $135,500 for COVID-19 response through PLEX for GOOD
EVE Online is having a good run right about now. Not only is it busy enjoying topping its own Guinness World Records and contributing...
Massively-on-the-Go: Gotta cash’em all in Pokemon Go
In the last few editions of the Massively-on-the-Go column, I've been covering the deluge of events and updates Pokemon Go has received quite suddenly...
EVE Online dev discusses how communities and lasting friendships form in the sandbox
Let's all ignore the 15 weeks' worth of explosions, bubbles, and fighting going on in EVE Online and instead talk about friendship. Or more...
Enter to win a Star Trek Online PC Klingon Dahar Master Faction Pack or Klingon Defense Force Elite Starter Pack from PWE and MOP
With Star Trek Online's House Shattered patch live for PC players, PWE has kindly granted Massively OP some bundles to pass along in honor...
Researchers argue Pokemon Go caused a discernable increase in car accidents, injuries, and deaths
What is the deadliest video game in existence? If a scientific whitepaper is to be believed, at least in the case of Tippecanoe County,...
