More Pressure to Remove Leveling for MMO’s
ust this week, Cameron at Random Battle called for the removal of the first 20 levels for veteran MMO players. What is the reason for his discontent? It's the problem …
Unintended Consequences of Quest Directed MMO’s
Lately there have been some good discussions in the blogosphere lamenting the erosion of one of the key facets of MMO's: grouping. I made a few comments on some of …
Will You Grow Out of Your MMO?
Steve "Moorgard" Danuser brought up a thought provoking point on his blog this week. He contends that MMO's focus on a certain type of demographic. He used the analogy of …
Thoughts on Lord of the Rings Online One Year Later
For a change of pace from my usual obsessive critiquing of Blizzard's WoW, I've decided to jot down my some of my opinions on another relatively popular MMO: Turbine's Lord …
WoW: Is Blizzard Promoting Virtual Torture and Murder with the Deathknight Hero Class?
Today I read a very interesting thread on the official Blizzard forums about details about the quests for WoW's first hero class: the Deathknight. Orophino points out that in order …
WoW Insider Columnist Ridicules Stay At Home Mom
For years, the WoW community has been one of the worst communities in MMO history. Players on the official Blizzard forums routinely indulge sophomoric acts of flaming, personal attacks and …
WoW: Is Rolling the Dice a Good Way to Select Beta Testers?
Lately I've started wondering about the validity of the selection process for the beta test of Blizzard's Wrath of the Lich King. In the Burning Crusade Blizzard admitted that players …
Raph Koster on the Bartle Controversy
Before you can evolve you have to *want* to evolve. You just don't stumble upon greatness, you need to aspire to something greater. First comes the desire, then comes the …
Why They Hate Richard Bartle
Well lots of folks are upset with Richard Bartle including players, bloggers and some MMO developers. Why? On the surface it’s because he has the temerity to speak his mind …
WoW: Realizing When it’s Time to Quit
Once you progress to 25 person raids -- WoW becomes a virtual job. Many guilds start off as "casual, family style" guilds but soon end up becoming hardcore raiding guilds. …
MMO Developers: Community Should be Your Most Valued Commodity
It was in that moment that I made a value judgement about EverQuest2 as a whole. Instead of using the quality of the game play, the graphics, the quests as …
WoW: Thoughts on PVP, Tribalism and Marshall McLuhan
For a time WoW had both elements of right brain tribalism as it’s main underlying premise for being. Community driven game play was the cohesive element that made WoW really …
WoW: Blizzard’s Epic Arms Race
It's one thing to talk about this problem and hear anecdotal stories from players. It's another thing entirely when you see hard evidence that proves conclusively that Blizzard is literally …
WoW: Heroism For Sale
The bizzare way that Blizzard seems to be giving everything away lately is a real cause for concern. It's like they are dismantling WoW one feature at a time in …
WoW: Could Deathtards Be the Worst MMO Blunder of All Time?
Those that have read my previous article about hero classes in WoW will not be surprised that I'm appalled at this ill-conceived decision. Frankly, in it's current incarnation hero classes …
WoW: Stealth Changes to Naming Policy
Given that we have no server GM’s in WoW, I like to take time out of my busy play schedule to do unpaid volunteer customer service work for Blizzard. As paying …
Is World of Warcraft 2 in the Works?
About a week ago, I started pondering the question: is Blizzard working on WoW 2 yet? Sure enough, Tobold the resident Nostradamus of the MMO world just posted a thought provoking article on that very subject. …
WoW: Impressions of Sunwell Isle
Surely one of the long awaited features of the latest patch from Blizzard has been the introduction of the Sunwell Isle. This area just north of the Blood Elf capital of Silvermoon …
Game Design 101: Prepare Your Players For the Challenges Ahead
This week Tobold penned an excellent article about an impending crisis in WoW: the shortage of skilled players. This was not always the case. Back in 2004 when WoW was …
WoW: The Battle for the Future of Azeroth
Many people who play WoW these days simply ignore the official Blizzard forums. Unfortunately the forums are usually seething with bitterness and hostility. Too often those posters indulge in the “forum” meta game …
WoW: The Problem with Hero Classes
As the release of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft new expansion Wrath of the Lich King looms ever nearer, I’m starting to feel unease at the prospect of a hero class emerging from …
Are MMO’s in Danger of Becoming a Spectator Sport?
Don’t have time to play WoW? Not enough time to raid? Blizzard has never made it easier to feel connected to Azeroth without actually playing. Case in point: in …
Bushnell’s Theorem: Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master
Anyone who’s analyzed the success of Blizzard’s insanely popular World of Warcraft can not help but have heard the mantra: “easy to learn, hard to master”. Their designers have lovingly …