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Perfect Ten: MMOs with live-action media tie-ins
Every so often I think to myself that a video game should get some kind of media adaptation before I come to my senses. Like, imagine a Final Fantasy VII movie! Except then you should imagine...
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Everything we learned about the future of Star Trek Online, Neverwinter, &...
The knowledge that Cryptic’s MMOs have been shunted off to a tiny European corner of the Embracer empire is not news to the MMO industry. In fact, we’ve known since last year that the ailing megacorp...
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Vague Patch Notes: Why in the world do you want the Riot MMO to be a thing?
Let’s make something clear right up front: If you came into this column eager to head for the comments section to say, “Well, I don’t want a Riot MMO,” this is already not about you. Yes, you’re very...
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Fight or Kite: Is Epic’s MOBA Paragon just too easy to remake but impossible...
This past week we got some news regarding Predecessor, a new MOBA game on the way. At first blush, it looks like many other third-person over-the-shoulder MOBAs that have released recently, though few...
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Massively on the Go: 10 Pokemon Go Mega Pokemon to invest now – and 2 for later
Roughly two years ago, Pokemon GO’s Mega Evolution system got its third reworking, which was a major reason I made our list of pokemon to invest in, both present (now past) and future (our present)....
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Wandering Wraeclast: Path of Exile 2 showcases the Ranger, announces beta...
The wheels of Grinding Gear Games’ Path of Exile 2 info machine are moving, and we are here for it! Earlier this week, I met with devs to preview the big development update livestream that aired today...
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Wandering Wraeclast: Create your own graveyard with Path of Exile’s new...
You’ve heard all about Path of Exile 2’s news during Grinding Gear Games’ big development update livestream last night, so now it’s time to dig into Path of Exile’s new league. And dig we will,...
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WoW Factor: World of Warcraft’s Plunderstorm is neither greedy nor good
It would be an exaggeration of the highest order to say that no one was even a little interested when World of Warcraft unveiled its whole Plunderstorm spinoff. Not the fun hyperbolic...
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Massively on the Go: 10 Mega Pokemon Legends Z-A could add to help Pokemon GO
We have very little information about Pokemon Legends: Z-A, but one thing for sure is that it can make a big impact on Pokemon Go, especially when it comes to the Mega Evolution teaser. Mega Evolution...
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LOTRO Legendarium: My 11 favorite zones in LOTRO
This week I put my chin on my fists and thought super-hard about the following question: What column could I write that would be both fluffy and controversial? The answer came to me in a fit of...
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Vitae Aeternum: Analyzing New World’s ‘content drought,’ comms chaos, and...
The always cantankerous New World community is in even more of an uproar than usual lately. Go to any of its social media, and you’ll hear the constant refrain that we are in a severe content drought,...
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Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail release dates, event dates, and...
Well let me be the first to say that I can most definitely live with this particular set of revelations from PAX East, so well played to the Final Fantasy XIV team! I apparently should have gone with...
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Choose My Adventure: Losing myself roaming the realms of Nightingale
This edition of Choose My Adventure might strike similar notes as last week, but I suppose that’s to be expected considering you told me in the polls to continue exploring the astrolabe forest of...
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Perfect Ten: MMOs that experienced a surprising comeback
It’s hard to pass up a really good comeback story. We love it when a beloved something or someone is counted down and out… and then returns in a surprising but welcome fashion. In today’s list, we’re...
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WoW Factor: Blizzard didn’t reveal World of Warcraft sub numbers – it drew a...
It will not surprise anyone reading this to learn that there are things which upset me. This is just part of being a human being; there’s no greater moral architecture to it than that. The vast...
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Vague Patch Notes: The limits of data in MMORPGs
Yesterday, I went on a rant about data. As you probably guessed from the various columns wherein I attempt to use data to analyze future points, I like data. I like math. It’s really interesting to see...
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Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online celebrates its 10th anniversary in...
I have to give some serious credit to ZeniMax: This studio isn’t letting Elder Scrolls Online’s 10th anniversary go by with nothing more than a token nod and a box of fireworks. March has been a full...
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Massively on the Go: Pokemon GO’s April content isn’t all laughs
Pokemon Go isn’t talking about its yearly April Fools’ day event yet, but we do have some details on the rest of the month, and they’re a mixed bag. There’s a new Mega, but not a super useful one. Half...
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LOTRO Legendarium: Middle-earth’s world integrity is an endangered species in...
Back in 2018, Steven Spielberg adapted the popular novel Ready Player One into a film. It seemed like a great pairing: The master director of many ’80s film classics handling a story that’s all about...
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Working As Intended: The top 10 hot tubs in MMORPGs
It’s been a running joke for a few years that I always put hot tubs in my MMO houses whenever possible, and once that became a Whole Thing, I started looking for them in other games too. So, on this...
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Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV isn’t easier, but it also is
So it was about half a month ago when Final Fantasy XIV fans translated an interview with producer and director Naoki Yoshida talking about making the game more stressful moving forward. I don’t blame...
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Choose My Adventure: Returning, remembering, and relearning in New World
Once again for this week’s Choose My Adventure, I’ve found myself coming back to a game I haven’t touched in a while – New World – and being up to my eyeballs in some slight confusion, which is likely...
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Fight or Kite: Predecessor’s open beta brings back MOBA action and a heap of...
The newest, brightest pupil from the School for Extraordinary MOBAs has arrived for your gaming pleasure. Predecessor launched in early access last week, bringing a ton of click-click-clicking...
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Perfect Ten: The 10 best Final Fantasy crossovers
So yesterday we got hit with the Final Fantasy XVI crossover in Final Fantasy XIV. It was all right, I guess. But it wasn’t a surprise that we got it because Naoki Yoshida is a guy who plays video...
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Into the Super-Verse: How to get started with Incarnates in City of Heroes
It wasn’t so long ago that I mentioned how pleased I was about City of Heroes matching my different intensity and goals after I returned to Homecoming with zeal once the license was announced. This has...
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Tamriel Infinium: Everything you need to know about Elder Scrolls Online’s...
The Elder Scrolls Online celebrated its 10th anniversary just this week, an impressive milestone and a chance to reflect on just how far this game has come. And yet Zenimax Online is showing no sign of...
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Vague Patch Notes: Game preservation is way more complicated than it seems
Before I say anything with this week’s article, I want to make something very, very clear right from the premise: As you have probably gathered by now, I am very much in favor of game preservation. I...
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LOTRO Legendarium: Lord of the Rings Online’s Corsairs of Umbar is a vacation...
Those of you who follow this column know that I’m never in a particular rush to plow through Lord of the Rings Online expansions for the sake of a timely review. I’d rather go at my own pace, explore...
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Wisdom of Nym: Taking a look at the Final Fantasy XVI x Final Fantasy XIV...
Confession time: I’ve been not exactly low-key waiting for the Final Fantasy XVI crossover in Final Fantasy XIV since June of last year. You might point out – correctly – that the crossover was not...
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Not So Massively: Final Stand Ragnarok might be the seed of a fun game, but...
Not being a PvP fan, I haven’t had much investment in the long and tortured saga of Camelot Unchained, but I am a fan of Norse mythology and co-op action, so I was happy to grab a review key for the...
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Perfect Ten: MMOs that earned a notorious reputation
Nobody wants a bad reputation. I mean, you can’t make everyone everywhere approve of you, but you also don’t have to go out of your way to offend people and put your worst face forward. For obvious...
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Into the Super-Verse: What to pick for your Incarnate powers in City of Heroes
Last week in Into the Super-Verse, I offered a quick explanation for how you can get started with the process of sorting out the Incarnate powers in City of Heroes. This is all well and good, and...
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WoW Factor: What’s a Mists of Pandaria remix and why is World of Warcraft...
In hindsight, I feel like I was gentler toward Season of Mastery than I should have been. World of Warcraft has turned everything into that. WoW Classic just went all-in on just launching as many...
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Wisdom of Nym: Benchmarks, better graphics, and bountiful schedules for Final...
What kind of deal does Final Fantasy XIV have with the Yo-Kai Watch people? For some reason this event keeps not just re-running but actively expanding each time, despite the fact that the franchise is...
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Fight or Kite: Gigantic is a fantastic MOBA, but it’s missing a bit of Q and...
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been keeping a cursory eye on the development and release of Gigantic: Rampage Edition – another resurrected MOBA game. I suppose I’m on a bit of a kick with these...
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Choose My Adventure: Battling New World tank builds, the wider meta, and...
New World is getting under my skin. I’ll better explain myself soon, but before I do, I want to point out that this sudden frustration with the game is likely due to personal behaviors and less with...
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Perfect Ten: The 10 types of MMO rotation
Rotations! They’re not just just for your tires any more; they’re in your MMORPGs, determining what order you should press the shiny buttons on the bottom of your screen in order to do stuff. But there...
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Vague Patch Notes: Getting meta in MMORPGs
This week, MOP’s Chris ran afoul of the MMO meta when he was going through New World. Only he… didn’t, not really. He ran afoul of something that looks a lot like the meta, but it really isn’t; he ran...
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Not So Massively: Godsworn made me break my ‘no early access’ rule
I’m pretty blasé about most monetization in games, but there are a few things that I don’t like, and charging for early access is near the top of the list. I don’t like the idea of paying for an...
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WoW Factor: The strange excitement split for World of Warcraft’s The War Within
There’s an interesting aspect I’ve observed about World of Warcraft as we slowly creep toward the release of The War Within. No one who has an interest in this game is excited about the expansion… but...
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LOTRO Legendarium: Looking back and ahead at LOTRO’s 17th birthday
At the start of Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo Baggins famously celebrates his 111th birthday (alongside Frodo’s own 33rd birthday). He looks back at a life well lived but also one that’s developed a...
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Wisdom of Nym: Does Final Fantasy XIV not have enough minigames?
Based on a wholly out-of-context reading, the headline for this edition of Wisdom of Nym might sound completely ridiculous. Final Fantasy XIV is not a game lacking for minigames. Heck, FFXIV is not a...
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Choose My Adventure: Elder Scrolls Online makes a play to be my second home MMO
When it comes to MMORPG games, most of the time I hold just one home title — an MMO that I stay subscribed to or play pretty religiously because I’ve gotten invested in terms of time, effort, money,...
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Vitae Aeternum: So just what is New World’s big June announcement?
For the past few months, Amazon Games has repeated the same mantra in regards to New World‘s future: Wait for the announcement in June. But what will this announcement be? Let’s take a look at some of...
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Perfect Ten: Great MMO April Fools’ Day pranks from back in the day
There are two types of people on April 1st: those who are annoyed and indifferent to the tomfoolery going on all around them, and those who gleefully embrace the zany antics and bald-faced lies. For...
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Tamriel Infinium: Will Elder Scrolls Online Gold Road’s spell scribing be a...
All the way back in 1996, Bethesda introduced an interesting feature with its second Elder Scrolls RPG. Daggerfall included “spellcrafting,” a system that allowed players to modify and combine spells...
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Vague Patch Notes: When MMO designers build traps for players
So last week, I spent a whole lot of words talking about what “the meta” actually means when it comes to MMOs. Put very simply, the meta is just a description of what the game is like beyond the...
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WoW Factor: Exit BlizzCon, for good this time?
Back in 2021, we learned that there was not going to be a BlizzCon 2022. This did not surprise me, and I penned a whole column that included speculation that this was the beginning of the end for the...
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Into the Super-verse: Why the resurrection of 20-year-old City of Heroes is...
There’s a certain poetry to the fact that this year, on the 20th anniversary of City of Heroes, we can all play the game again on a licensed server. Oh, sure, the rogue servers did not pop into...
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Stick and Rudder: So let’s talk about those Elite Dangerous pre-built ships
Over the past couple of days, I’ve been watching and writing about the fun little tire fire that Elite: Dangerous ignited when it announced that it would be selling pre-built ships — cash shop bundles...
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