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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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. …
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 …
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 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …