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 …
How to Clean Up Your WoW Server One Idiot at a Time
Admittedly, I'm still playing WoW. After quitting last year, like many people I decided to come back to experience the new expansion content of Wrath of the Lich King. To …
MMO Journalism Jumps the Shark
MMO journalism is in a sorry state these days. Faced with a lack of new information to report MMO news websites must resort to creating news to keep their readers …
Corruption, Treachery and Deceit at Wikipedia
Reverence for knowledge and history are two things that are absolutely essential for the continuance of any great civilization. At times in our history we have had emperors, kings and …
The Problem with the WoW Achievement System
I absolutely loathe the WoW achievement system. There I said it. Both in it's design and implementation Blizzard has created an obnoxious cuckoo clock that pops out every so often …
Bartle Questions Virtual Torture and the Lack of Choice in WoW’s Quests
Virtual world evangelist Richard Bartle has made the news yet again in the MMO blogosphere. Richard Bartle the grandfather of virtual worlds, recently posted a blog article about some concerns …
Are Blogs Impacting the MMO Industry?
Eventually every MMO blogger worth their salt ponders the impact that blogs have on the MMO industry as a whole. Of course we'd like to think we are somehow making …
Xbox Live Barbarians at the Gates of Virtual Worlds
Despite the amazing advances in information, communication, connectivity and commerce that Cyberspace has provided us, it has one glaring defect: people can behave badly without fear of repercussions because they …