MMO Design Blog of the Month: MMO Tidbits
Every once in a while you find a diamond in the rough in the world of MMO design blogs. There are many great sites out there and I try to …
The Rehabilitation of Blizzard’s Alex “Furor” Afrasiabi
It's been an interesting journey for WoW's Lead World Designer Alex Afrasiabi. Almost 10 years ago he started out as the infamous guild leader of the Fires of Heaven an …
How Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended
A few years ago I found this video gem on YouTube entitled How Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended. I realize this is old news but perhaps there are …
Impressions of PAX 2009
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a few hours at the Penny Arcade Expo otherwise known as PAX at the Seattle Convention Center. This …
Blizzard Reboots WoW with the Cataclysm Expansion
Nothing puts a damper on the player’s suspension of disbelief faster than when they finally realize there are no more horizons left to explore and conquer. That said, nothing excites …
EverQuest2 Revisited Part 2: Travels in Faydwer
This week I'm continuing with my journey back into the new Norrath of EverQuest 2. I've switched gears from my travels and experiences with the legacy content of Qeynos and …
Dubious Practices in MMO Marketing: How Numbers Can Be Misleading
For the past few years, I've been suspicious of Blizzard's grandiose claims of millions of subscribers for their World of Warcraft MMO. Those numbers have never struck me as being …
Who Killed Role-Playing in MMOs?
Recently there have been some good questions being raised and insightful explorations on the subject of role-playing in MMOs. These discussions have prompted me to put down in words what …
EverQuest2: Stranger in a Strange Land
A few days ago I wrote an article describing what a new player might find in their first 15 minutes in EverQuest2. As far as EQ2, I have no axe …
Initial Impressions of Aion
Lately the MMO world has been buzzing with interest about a new offering from NCSoft called Aion. I purchased the Collectors Edition in order to get access to the paid …
EverQuest2 Revisited Part 1: Analysis of the First 15 Minutes
One of the first things I learned as a game designer is that the first 15 minutes of your video game is critical. It is during this brief window of …
Those Poor Downtrodden Tolkien Kids
I've just read an interesting article entitled Tolkien's children fight for 'Lord of the Rings' gold by Los Angeles Times columnist Rachel Abramowitz. She claims that the Tolkien Estate has …
Dude, Who Stole My Community? Confronting the Inertia of MMO Players
We all come to MMOs and virtual worlds with grand expectations. For months before a MMO is released we experience the hype about how this time it will be different. …
A Tale of Two Playstyles and Why They Still Need Each Other
Before I started playing MMOs I was a bit of loner. I was always shy. I was the big clumsy kid that always got picked last for teams in school. …
Why Players Should Be the Ultimate Content for MMOs
In every game and sport since the dawn of time, human participants have been their existential lifeblood. The test of skill, athletics, teamwork and stamina as participants go head …
Brad McQuaid: The Once and Future King?
Ten years after the release of EverQuest -- one of the most beloved and revered MMOs of all time -- one if it's creator's Brad McQuaid has apparently resurfaced. For …
Is Alexa Charting the Decline of WoW?
Is there an accurate way to know if a MMO is in decline? For most players it's something we can sense by intuition. We make mental notes of our anecdotal …
The Deafening Silence of Today’s MMO Chat
For the past few months I’ve noticed a marked decrease in people chatting in Blizzard’s WoW. Of course I haven’t enjoyed general chat in WoW for many years now because …
Archaic MMO Subscription Fees: Welfare for Hardcore Players?
Thankfully most of us live in a world where competition spurs on industries to make better products. In most cases this drive to succeed has the end result of giving …
Player Housing Still on the Back Burner for WoW
The fact that Blizzard has refused to implement some form of player housing in WoW remains one of the most bizarre and perplexing decisions in the short history of MMOs …
Friends, Azerothians, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Bunny Ears
At first I thought that it was just another entry from the slow MMO news day department but after thinking about it perhaps there are some deeper issues to consider. …
Upside Down Cake: Contrived Controversy in the MMO Blogosphere
This week a well known MMO industry blogger and community manager Cuppycake posed a "controversial" question. Let me paraphrase: do game designers who blog know what the heck they …
How Dancing Failed in WoW
I don't know much about dancing. In fact I'm a terrible dancer -- ask my wife. But here's the thing: I like to watch other people dance and so do …