Justin Olivetti is Massively Overpowered’s resident Game Archaeologist; he never lets a good old game stay buried. [Follow this column’s RSS feed]
the game archaeologist
The Game Archaeologist: That time when EverQuest let you play as the monsters
It's a near-given that in every MMORPG, players assume the roles of heroes who are sent out to vanquish the evil, dark, or at...
The Game Archaeologist: The origins of Blizzard, Mythic, Funcom, SOE, and BioWare
A good origin story always captivates me, especially when it gives me a new perspective on something I've come to appreciate over the years....
The Game Archaeologist: The ’90s BioWare MMORPG that almost was
These days, if you mention "BioWare" and "MMORPG" in the same sentence, it's most certainly going to be about Star Wars: The Old Republic....
The Game Archaeologist: Six cancelled MMOs that I wish had launched
In my lengthy tenure writing The Game Archaeologist -- which dates back to May 2010, if you can believe it -- I've covered MMOs...
The Game Archaeologist: When EverQuest players killed the unkillable Sleeper
In many CRPGs and MMORPGs, there are bosses designed to be so crazy tough that, for most people, these enemies are straight-out unkillable. Developers...
The Game Archaeologist: Dark Zion, the brainchild of Tad Williams and Ultima Online devs
It has almost become a running joke in MMO circles that pretty much every new studio and new title these days was founded by...
The Game Archaeologist: Dark Eyes, a forgotten Japanese MMO from 1999
For a country that was the epicenter of video games (and, in many ways, still is), Japan never quite latched onto the MMORPG genre...
The Game Archaeologist: The history of Hi-Rez’s Global Agenda
This past week, former Global Agenda players woke up to a surprising reality: Their game, which went offline in 2018, suddenly was back. Hi-Rez...
The Game Archaeologist: Talking 25-year-old Tibia with CipSoft
It's not every MMORPG that can boast that it started back in the late '90s and is still going strong even today. However, Tibia...
The Game Archaeologist: The Blizzard Real ID fiasco of 2010
As we come off a year when Blizzard Entertainment's seedy underbelly of scandals and coverups was exposed, I thought it might be worth risking...
The Game Archaeologist’s ultimate MMO archives v5.0
It has been another thrilling year of exploring the relatively unknown or forgotten lands of MMORPG history here in The Game Archaeologist. From projects...
The Game Archaeologist: Hero101, the lost KingsIsle superhero MMO
You do get the sense that KingsIsle once had very grand plans for what is called its "101 Universe." After Wizard101 came out to...
The Game Archaeologist: The Wonderful World of Eamon
As we've long since established, 1980's MUD1 was the official kick-off of the MMORPG genre, bringing online players together to adventure through persistent worlds...
The Game Archaeologist: SEGA’s Dragon’s Dream, the first console and cross-platform MMO
When most people are asked to think back upon the first console to attempt an online RPG experience, the name that most likely pops...
The Game Archaeologist: Kingdom of Loathing
It is, in so many ways, the antithesis of a modern MMORPG. It has crude stick figure drawings instead of lush 3-D graphics. It...
The Game Archaeologist: Tanarus, Sony Online Entertainment’s first online game
While EverQuest is perhaps thought of as Sony Online Entertainment's first online game, the truth of history tells us differently. Just as how Mythic...
The Game Archaeologist: SOE’s many MMO spin-off digital card games
One thing that I deeply admired about old Sony Online Entertainment was that it strove to experiment, innovate, and take risks. Sometimes those special...
The Game Archaeologist: Jeff Butler on EverQuest, EverQuest Next, and Vanguard
As an MMO historian, I have to applaud the work of former SOE developer Shawn Lord in his huge interview series with the people...
The Game Archaeologist: Defining the eras of MMORPG history
With MMO history stretching back to the early 1980s (and even before), this genre has accumulated a whole lot of history over the years....
The Game Archaeologist: Why 2008 was one of the wildest years for MMORPGs
In the relatively short history of MMORPGs so far, there have been a few years that I would say were watershed moments for the...
