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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …