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 …
Suffering for Your Art Has New Meaning in Video Game Industry
I wonder how many people who buy and play video games are aware of the draconian working conditions of the average employee in the industry. Not many I wager. Until …
Must We Always Kill? Confronting the Murder On Rails MMO Mindset
Let me make a small confession. I find it somewhat troubling yet strangely fascinating that video games are largely popular because they provide people with a safe, sanitized and consequence …
Confessions of a WoW Quest Designer
Rarely do we get a chance to peek behind the curtain at Blizzard Entertainment. The company that makes the most popular MMO in the history of gaming is fairly secretive …
G4TV Interviews 38 Studios Curt Schilling at GDC
There's been a MMO currently in development that has been looming on the horizon for a few years now that has generated a tremendous amount of interest and speculation. The …
Challenging the Sacred Cash Cow of Quest Based MMOs
It's been a good 5 years since the release of World of Warcraft -- the first MMO to focus on entirely on quests as the prime vehicle for it's gameplay …
Fix for Nvidia and Vista Problems in WoW
or the past few months since the release of the Wrath of the Lich King I have been experience terrible instability problems when I play World of Warcraft. I'm currently …
Fox Uses 24 TV Series to Broadcast Propaganda
Even MMO bloggers like to watch TV occasionally. Lately each Monday night I settle down to watch a popular drama called "24". Just this past Monday viewers of that Fox …
WoW Patch Notes We Might See in the Future
There is one undeniable fact about World of Warcraft: as the MMO ages it's becoming less challenging. For lack of a better word WoW is being dumbed-down as Blizzard feels …
Predicting the Second WoW Hero Class
By a simple process of deduction I'm going to attempt to predict the identity of the second WoW hero class. I have no special or inside knowledge but I will …