virtual world
The MOP Up: Aion reworks sieges, raids, and world bosses
NCsoft brought a sweeping raft of changes to many group activities in Aion this past week: "We are excited to reveal that we have...
New books about EVE Online, Second Life, and EverQuest are on the way
You've played the game, now read the story. Or read the story out of curiosity about a game you would otherwise never play. Or...
Massively Overthinking: Has the term MMORPG become toxic?
Back in 2016, when the MMORPG genre had just suffered a brutal one-two punch of losing EverQuest Next and the gutting of WildStar's team,...
The MOP Up: 2008’s Grand Fantasia relaunches with a classic Origin server
Anime MMO Grand Fantasia is relaunching on September 3rd with a classic edition called Origin that harkens back to the title's 2008 era:
"New engine,...
Perfect Ten: 10 times MMOs appeared in TV and movies
It's always surreal when real MMOs cross the divide between niche and mainstream to be referenced in television and films. Depending on how you...
Stars Reach’s Raph Koster argues that a persistent virtual world is ‘too powerful an idea’ to dismiss
Those watching the online gaming genre with a growing sense of dismay at everything drifting away from large, persistent MMO worlds may find solace...
LOTRO Legendarium: Six ways you can prepare for the new legendary servers
With brand-new legendary servers coming soon to Lord of the Rings Online, the allure of a fresh start, lower lag, and the Ringwraith ruleset...
Perfect Ten: 10 MMORPGs with weirdly defensive fanbases
I do not have nice things to say about RuneScape. I have never had nice things to say about RuneScape. I also do not...
Raph Koster’s new MMORPG is called Stars Reach, and yes, it’s basically Star Wars Galaxies 2
It's June 26th, Star Wars Galaxies' 21st birthday, and I'm sitting on Google Meet talking to none other than MMORPG founding father (and SWG...
Second Life celebrates 21 years of operation with town halls, music events, and exhibitor showcase
While techbros on some serious stuff dream about a metaverse (or more specifically how to turn it into a monetizable hellscape), Second Life has...
Raph Koster’s nine Playable Worlds teasers (so far) hint at the MMORPG sandbox you always wanted
As we covered earlier in the week, Raph Koster's studio Playable Worlds has been tweeting what appeared to be a countdown accompanied by a...
Massively Overthinking: Unfair stigmas that follow MMORPGs
A few weeks back, our team was discussing the intersection of survival sandboxes, MMORPG virtual worlds, and gankboxes - and how hard it is...
SGF 2024: Aloft is a cozy Ghibli-inspired PvE-centric survival sandbox in the sky
When I first heard about Aloft while planning for Summer Games Fest 2024, I figured it would just be a cute multiplayer survival game;...
Pride Month celebrations begin in DC Universe Online, EverQuest, City of Heroes, and more MMOs
The month of June is Pride Month around the world, and that means that multiple MMORPGs and multiplayer games are going to be celebrating...
Massively Overthinking: Does challenging solo content belong in MMORPGs?
Star Wars The Old Republic's plan to implement new solo challenge content called Ventures in its Desperate Defiance patch raised more than one eyebrow...
33 Immortals preps weekend closed beta for the ‘distillation of the MMO raid experience’
Thunder Lotus' MMO-inspired multiplayer raiding roguelike 33 Immortals is barreling onward toward its May 24th closed beta, with more info now being dispatched to...
Tower of Fantasy enters a virtual world on May 28
May 28th brings the next big addition to online RPG Tower of Fantasy with the arrival of Version 4.0. This introduces players to a...
Second Life begins beta testing terrain updates, 2K textures, and mirrors for creators
The toolset for creative players of Second Life is seeing a number of interesting updates, as the sandbox is running some beta tests that...
LOTRO Legendarium: My 11 favorite zones in LOTRO
This week I put my chin on my fists and thought super-hard about the following question: What column could I write that would be...
Massively Overthinking: Are survival games the new MMO?
A few Overthinkings ago, a MOP commenter said something that seemed very simple but still hit me really hard, to the point that I'm...
