Last week Raph Koster posted a controversial article entitled Are Virtual Worlds Over? It was a reply to a more readable article by Cnet's Dan Terdiman. In order to even …
This weekend I finally decided to start reading Robert E. Howard's sword & sorcery classic Conan the Barbarian. At one point the author felt the need to write a history …
Dear King Varian of Stormwind, please explain to me why I should leave the comfort of my beloved farmstead here in the rustic pastures of Elwynn Forest to fight in …
Last year I penned a few in-depth and apparently controversial articles that evaluated some of the EverQuest 2 starting areas from the perspective of a newbie. It has long been …
The success of a virtual world is dependent on the ability of the developers to convincingly immerse the player in their world. Without a daily emphasis and reverence for mechanics, …
Lately my faith in the MMO media and sadly the media in general has been waning due to the problem of advocacy journalism. Otherwise known in gamerspeak as fanboyism.Very rarely …
There's an interesting piece about Wikipedia from the Wall Street Journal Online. It seems that Wikipedia volunteers are leaving faster then new volunteers are joining. It seems that this unaccountable …
What if J.R.R. Tolkien had named his classic fantasy trilogy How Frodo Destroyed the One Ring at Mount Doom? Thankfully he had the good sense and propriety not to do …
Virtual worlds are ultimately about creating and administering a system of governance. Every day millions of players enter virtual worlds and are subject to rules and policies laid down by …
In an age when just about everyone has a blog, it's rare to find a well-written new MMO design blog that causes you to pause, think, discover and learn. …
Like many PC users, last week I purchased and installed Windows 7. This operating system from Microsoft was supposed to have fixed many of the stability problems encountered with Vista.
Within …
I used to work for a big video game studio that specialized in making licensed hand-held games which were primarily directed towards kids and teens. We'd have regular company meetings …
Last week in the wee hours of a starlit Azeroth morning the Dark Iron Dwarves attacked the Brewfest celebrations outside of Ironforge. Since there were only a few half-awake adventurers …
Back in the 1980's I was a big fan of the music group The Police. As a big fan of the band I devoured everything I could get my hands …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …