https://massivelyop.com MMORPG news and opinions Thu, 20 Apr 2023 16:31:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/massively-overthinking-what-should-mmos-do-when-guild-leaders-vanish/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/massively-overthinking-what-should-mmos-do-when-guild-leaders-vanish/#comments Fri, 21 Apr 2023 00:00:14 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435850 Last week, we covered that wild story about a “heist” in EVE Online that allowed the perpetrators to make off with trillions of ISK in cash and assets, amounting to a value of something like $22,000 US. And when you look a little more closely at the story, you realize it wasn’t really a heist […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/massively-overthinking-what-should-mmos-do-when-guild-leaders-vanish/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/massively-overthinking-how-to-alienate-your-mmorpg-playerbase/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/massively-overthinking-how-to-alienate-your-mmorpg-playerbase/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434862 I am not a Pokemon Go player, but I can’t help but stare at its many trainwrecks thanks to the detailed coverage of our Massively on the Go columnist Andrew. And the latest trainwreck is one that I’ve seen play out in MMOs many times. I’ll spare you a full rundown of the gory details leading […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/massively-overthinking-how-to-alienate-your-mmorpg-playerbase/feed/ 21 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/06/massively-overthinking-tabletop-and-boardgames-for-mmorpg-players/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/06/massively-overthinking-tabletop-and-boardgames-for-mmorpg-players/#comments Fri, 07 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433878 Last week, following the crowdfunding of an Elder Scrolls boardgame, the MOP staff got derailed by a discussion on boardgame prices (it’s expensive, y’all). MOP’s Sam showed off a pic of his massive collection (a tiny sliver of which sits atop this article), and pretty soon we were all sharing our favorites (and also whining […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/06/massively-overthinking-tabletop-and-boardgames-for-mmorpg-players/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/30/massively-overthinking-the-dumbest-conversations-in-your-main-mmos-general-chat/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/30/massively-overthinking-the-dumbest-conversations-in-your-main-mmos-general-chat/#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2023 00:00:30 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=432659 Last week, in a thread about one of Diablo IV’s many rivals, MOP commenter Greaterdivinity noted that chat in the game was exhausting because all anyone wants to talk about is that game vs. all the other roguelikes and ARPGs. We gotta talk about that in this week’s Massively Overthinking because I bet every single […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/30/massively-overthinking-the-dumbest-conversations-in-your-main-mmos-general-chat/feed/ 24 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/23/massively-overthinking-the-times-mmo-developers-admitted-they-were-wrong/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/23/massively-overthinking-the-times-mmo-developers-admitted-they-were-wrong/#comments Fri, 24 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=430627 Earlier in March, Jagex did the unthinkable for an MMORPG company: It admitted it was wrong about something. If you’re used to the Blizzards of the world, you know that they seldom admit to making mistakes or misjudging their players; that’s why Jagex’s comments stand out. In this case, Jagex offered a piece of honesty […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/23/massively-overthinking-the-times-mmo-developers-admitted-they-were-wrong/feed/ 13 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/16/massively-overthinking-when-is-localization-itself-the-kiss-of-death-for-an-imported-mmorpg/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/16/massively-overthinking-when-is-localization-itself-the-kiss-of-death-for-an-imported-mmorpg/#comments Fri, 17 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=429968 Last week, when I was poking around the internet trying to understand why Amazon was still making excuses for de-sexualizing some Lost Ark characters for the western audience as if the game hasn’t been undergoing identical localization already for over a year now, I stumbled into the Blue Protocol subreddit, where a vocal segment of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/16/massively-overthinking-when-is-localization-itself-the-kiss-of-death-for-an-imported-mmorpg/feed/ 19 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/09/massively-overthinking-the-one-about-fomo/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/09/massively-overthinking-the-one-about-fomo/#comments Fri, 10 Mar 2023 01:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=428655 World of Warcraft has become a very dump-on-able game lately, and Blizzard isn’t making it any harder, as a tweet the company sent out last month reminded me that even MMOs that have won our best business model award in the past and aren’t gross about monetization or blockchain or lockboxes still find ways to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/09/massively-overthinking-the-one-about-fomo/feed/ 24 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/02/massively-overthinking-how-should-mmos-handle-in-game-criming/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/02/massively-overthinking-how-should-mmos-handle-in-game-criming/#comments Fri, 03 Mar 2023 01:00:34 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=428589 A week or so ago, I fell down a rabbit hole when writing up an ArcheAge post. Kakao was handing out joke titles for absurd achievements like racking up the longest jail sentence, and I went wiki-diving to refresh my memory on how it all worked. “ArcheAge’s justice system essentially scores players with ‘crime points’ […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/02/massively-overthinking-how-should-mmos-handle-in-game-criming/feed/ 27 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/24/massively-overthinking-the-mmo-characters-we-want-to-love-but-dont/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/24/massively-overthinking-the-mmo-characters-we-want-to-love-but-dont/#comments Fri, 24 Feb 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=426650 A few weeks ago, MOP reader Neurotic pinged the MOP Podcast with a question about characters we want to love but just don’t. He had found that in spite of absolutely loving World of Warcraft’s Druid class and having a cool name and a cool look and a long history, he just can’t stand playing […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/24/massively-overthinking-the-mmo-characters-we-want-to-love-but-dont/feed/ 23 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/16/massively-overthinking-whats-the-ideal-content-cadence-for-an-mmorpg-in-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/16/massively-overthinking-whats-the-ideal-content-cadence-for-an-mmorpg-in-2023/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2023 01:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=426583 Earlier this week, Guild Wars 2 revealed a major shake-up of its content delivery cadence. Studio ArenaNet suggested that the traditional living world cadence – with an expansion coming far and few between – drained the company’s resources without providing the punch of power players really wanted. Consequently, the team is replacing the living world-expansion […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/16/massively-overthinking-whats-the-ideal-content-cadence-for-an-mmorpg-in-2023/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/09/massively-overthinking-that-moment-when-you-realize-an-mmo-is-truly-something-special/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/09/massively-overthinking-that-moment-when-you-realize-an-mmo-is-truly-something-special/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2023 01:00:34 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=425643 MOP commenter Bruno tweeted something the other that that I thought would make a fun topic. Here’s what he said, printed with permission: “Wanna know the moment I knew Star Wars Galaxies was special? When I wanted to play, I went to check some stuff on the Emu forums, and well, first, they will have […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/09/massively-overthinking-that-moment-when-you-realize-an-mmo-is-truly-something-special/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/02/massively-overthinking-what-mmorpg-content-requires-the-most-skill-and-why/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/02/massively-overthinking-what-mmorpg-content-requires-the-most-skill-and-why/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2023 01:00:53 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=424632 Back in January, there was an inflammatory thread on the MMORPG subreddit that argued that anyone using rotation mods in endgame MMO content was nullifying skill and competition from the game, and that merely being able to navigate raid bosses didn’t count as skill. It all dovetails rather nicely with Naoki Yoshida’s comments earlier this […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/02/massively-overthinking-what-mmorpg-content-requires-the-most-skill-and-why/feed/ 36 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/26/massively-overthinking-what-will-be-your-three-most-played-mmos-in-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/26/massively-overthinking-what-will-be-your-three-most-played-mmos-in-2023/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2023 01:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=421677 Last week in Massively Overthinking, we discussed our three most-played MMOs of 2022 – and whether we’d guessed right at the top of that year what they’d be (and several of us didn’t!). Now, we’ve got to talk about the year ahead. Taking into account both your most-anticipateds (should they indeed launch) as well as […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/26/massively-overthinking-what-will-be-your-three-most-played-mmos-in-2023/feed/ 34 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/19/massively-overthinking-what-were-your-three-most-played-mmos-in-2022/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/19/massively-overthinking-what-were-your-three-most-played-mmos-in-2022/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2023 01:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=421495 Last year, we did a piece on what we expected our top three MMOs of 2022 to be. We’ll do that again next week, but for this week’s Massively Overthinking, I want to see if we were right! I’ve asked our writers to name their three most-played MMOs in 2022 – and whether they correctly […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/19/massively-overthinking-what-were-your-three-most-played-mmos-in-2022/feed/ 37 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/12/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-trainwrecks-we-aint-lettin-go/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/12/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-trainwrecks-we-aint-lettin-go/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2023 01:00:19 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414762 As we wrap up our end-of-the-year and turn-of-the-calendar content until next December, there’s one more recurring Massively Overthinking I like to do – and that’s this one that makes sure we don’t leave any dank stones unturned. See, as we’re debating our awards like “biggest blunder” and “stormiest future,” we put together one hell of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/12/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-trainwrecks-we-aint-lettin-go/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/05/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-mmo-hopes-and-fears-for-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/05/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-mmo-hopes-and-fears-for-2023/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414800 As 2022 drew to a close, we spent our Massively Overthinking roundtables discussing our predictions for 2023 as well as our goals. Now, we’re going to talk about our hopes and fears for MMOs and the MMO genre in the year we’re now five days into. Our predictions piece, of course, is made up all […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/05/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-mmo-hopes-and-fears-for-2023/feed/ 14 https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/29/massively-overthinking-eoty-2023-mmo-resolutions/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/29/massively-overthinking-eoty-2023-mmo-resolutions/#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2022 01:00:09 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414797 I know that not everyone does “resolutions,” and that even most folks who make them don’t actually stick with them. And when it comes to MMO resolutions, I’m not even judging you for the latter. But the end of December is traditionally the time when we at least set some goals and aspirations for the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/29/massively-overthinking-eoty-2023-mmo-resolutions/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/22/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-favorite-stories/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/22/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-favorite-stories/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2022 01:00:03 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414789 It’s tradition for us to pick out one big story or narrative arc that defined the year and slap it with an award label, but we actually write around 6000 articles every year, and it’s pretty likely you didn’t read all or even most of them. Hence this annual Massively Overthinking, in which I’m asking […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/22/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-favorite-stories/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/15/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-mmo-predictions-for-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/15/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-mmo-predictions-for-2023/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2022 01:00:23 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414781 Nobody can see the future, but it sure is fun guessing, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do for (to?) the MMO genre in this end-of-the-year-themed Massively Overthinking. I’ve asked our writers and readers to prognosticate on what we expect from the genre in 2023 – not what we wish will happen, but what […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/15/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-mmo-predictions-for-2023/feed/ 22 https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/08/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-dev-quotes/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/08/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-dev-quotes/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414777 You might not know this about me, but I literally spend all year jotting down in my little notepad file all the quirky stuff MMO devs say specifically for this article. Every year I’m worried developers will finally stop spouting off and this article will wind up empty. Fortunately for us (but unfortunately for many […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/08/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-dev-quotes/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/01/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-best-music/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/01/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-best-music/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2022 01:00:25 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414772 Years ago, MOP’s Justin listened to hundreds – no, probably more like thousands – of MMO music tracks to narrow this topic down to a handful of winners. This was frankly too much work for one man, so last year we opted to make it a team effort right here in Massively Overthinking. I’ve asked […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/01/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-best-music/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/24/massively-overthinking-the-best-cooking-in-mmorpgs/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/24/massively-overthinking-the-best-cooking-in-mmorpgs/#comments Thu, 24 Nov 2022 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414029 You probably thought tonight’s Massively Overthinking would have a gratitude theme, what with the holiday and all. Nope, not this time, although it’s sort of Thanksgivingy. We’re going to talk about food! Video game food, that is. Y’all know that I’m not an amazing cook in real life, but I absolutely love cooking in video […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/24/massively-overthinking-the-best-cooking-in-mmorpgs/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/17/massively-overthinking-changing-mains-in-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/17/massively-overthinking-changing-mains-in-mmos/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2022 01:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=411280 When I first started MMOs, the idea of mains and alts was bizarre to me. Why would I spend time on a second character when I could be making my first character even better? That assumption quickly gave way as I spent time in the world and wanted to branch out to try different playstyles […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/17/massively-overthinking-changing-mains-in-mmos/feed/ 17 https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/10/massively-overthinking-the-new-world-comeback/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/10/massively-overthinking-the-new-world-comeback/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2022 01:00:52 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=413382 New World is having a bit of a comeback moment – or is it? Since the launch of Brimstone Sands and the fresh start servers over the last few weeks, we’ve been keeping an eye on Amazon’s 2021 MMO as it appears to pulling itself out of a serious summer slump to a new high […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/10/massively-overthinking-the-new-world-comeback/feed/ 14 https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/03/massively-overthinking-would-you-do-hard-mmo-content-without-rewards/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/03/massively-overthinking-would-you-do-hard-mmo-content-without-rewards/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=388520 Are you here for the challenge or here for the shinies? That’s the core question the MOP team and audience is tackling this week in Massively Overthinking. I’ve been overthinking this question for years; many endgame fans will tell you they’re there for the challenge right up until you propose that their rewards won’t be […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/03/massively-overthinking-would-you-do-hard-mmo-content-without-rewards/feed/ 26 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/27/massively-overthinking-do-you-have-a-love-hate-relationship-with-specific-mmo-content/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/27/massively-overthinking-do-you-have-a-love-hate-relationship-with-specific-mmo-content/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=409126 This week’s Massively Overthinking is inspired by one of Justin’s Daily Grinds, ironically. It was the one about the best online card game you’ve ever played, and when I saw his headline, my brain instantly leaped to the old Star Wars Galaxies card game, which I never played and in fact had some serious objections […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/27/massively-overthinking-do-you-have-a-love-hate-relationship-with-specific-mmo-content/feed/ 14 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/13/massively-overthinking-do-gaming-tourists-ruin-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/13/massively-overthinking-do-gaming-tourists-ruin-mmos/#comments Fri, 14 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=406858 Yes, I know that’s a provocative title. Yes, we’re gonna talk about it with some nuance. It’s a topic inspired by a Reddit thread from several weeks ago in which the original poster railed against “MMO tourists,” who he claims hurt the genre more than they help when they treat MMOs as disposable, zipping between […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/13/massively-overthinking-do-gaming-tourists-ruin-mmos/feed/ 24 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/06/massively-overthinking-do-you-take-vacation-time-to-play-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/06/massively-overthinking-do-you-take-vacation-time-to-play-mmos/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=407248 Back when Amazon was busy merging several dozen Lost Ark servers, I saw a comment thread where people were grousing about being locked out of their server for most of a day, which also happened to be patch day. “In WoW there are a lot of people that plan their vacation around raid release,” one […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/06/massively-overthinking-do-you-take-vacation-time-to-play-mmos/feed/ 21 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/29/massively-overthinking-what-do-you-think-about-mmo-expansion-prepatches/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/29/massively-overthinking-what-do-you-think-about-mmo-expansion-prepatches/#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=405067 Prepatches for expansions have been a major event for World of Warcraft players to contend with for a very long time, but it’s far from the only MMO that sees them. For this week’s Massively Overthinking, I want to ask a very simple question: Do you even like them? OK, maybe it’s not that simple. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/29/massively-overthinking-what-do-you-think-about-mmo-expansion-prepatches/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/22/massively-overthinking-the-mmo-kickstarters-that-let-us-down/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/22/massively-overthinking-the-mmo-kickstarters-that-let-us-down/#comments Fri, 23 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=406001 MOP’s Chris penned a solid piece earlier this week about the fate that has apparently befallen Destiny’s Sword, and as I was editing it, I got madder and madder. This was an indie studio that promised an MMO, offered demos, went to Kickstarter, got MMO players to give it money, went mostly silent for a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/22/massively-overthinking-the-mmo-kickstarters-that-let-us-down/feed/ 32 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/15/massively-overthinking-have-you-ever-returned-to-an-old-mmo-and-fallen-in-love/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/15/massively-overthinking-have-you-ever-returned-to-an-old-mmo-and-fallen-in-love/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=403673 Earlier this month, MOP’s Eliot penned a WoW Factor that doesn’t quote but certainly does evoke the ol’ Heraclitus quote about how you cannot step into the same river twice. Even if you’ve somehow not changed, the river has. Reformatted for MMOs, it’d mean that returning to an old game can be rough: Even if […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/15/massively-overthinking-have-you-ever-returned-to-an-old-mmo-and-fallen-in-love/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/01/massively-overthinking-whos-really-paying-for-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/01/massively-overthinking-whos-really-paying-for-mmos/#comments Fri, 02 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=401797 Two years ago, we did a piece on dark patterns in MMO design, and in the comments, a reader named Shadex De’Marr penned a rant that raised interesting points – so interesting that when I bumped into it again, I had to make it the subject of a Massively Overthinking. Shadex essentially argued that social […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/01/massively-overthinking-whos-really-paying-for-mmos/feed/ 33 https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/25/massively-overthinking-the-most-unusual-subscriptions-in-the-mmo-space/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/25/massively-overthinking-the-most-unusual-subscriptions-in-the-mmo-space/#comments Fri, 26 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=398175 A while back on the MassivelyOP Podcast, so long ago that I can’t remember who or when, a listener asked us about unusual MMO subscriptions and whether we’d pay them. We’re in an age when even having a subscription at all, especially a mandatory one, is pretty unusual, but set that aside for a moment, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/25/massively-overthinking-the-most-unusual-subscriptions-in-the-mmo-space/feed/ 14 https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/18/massively-overthinking-the-real-world-value-of-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/18/massively-overthinking-the-real-world-value-of-mmos/#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=397513 A while back on the MMORPG subreddit, there was a wildly contentious – one might even say transparently provocative – thread declaring that “[i]f governments all over the world banned online gaming/MMOs, nothing of value would be lost” and that indeed it would be a net improvement for mankind as a whole. It’s gone now […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/18/massively-overthinking-the-real-world-value-of-mmos/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/11/massively-overthinking-whats-so-bad-about-comfort-zones-in-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/11/massively-overthinking-whats-so-bad-about-comfort-zones-in-mmos/#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=399494 If you’ve been following the MMORPG meta for a long time, particularly in World of Warcraft, you know there’s corner of the industry convinced that players should be nudged into the developers’ preferred content in games – usually some sort of constantly churning, socially tinged endgame grouping grind that acts as glue to drive engagement. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/11/massively-overthinking-whats-so-bad-about-comfort-zones-in-mmos/feed/ 46 https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/04/massively-overthinking-what-endgame-content-keeps-you-in-an-mmorpg-long-term/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/04/massively-overthinking-what-endgame-content-keeps-you-in-an-mmorpg-long-term/#comments Fri, 05 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=398174 A while back on the MassivelyOP Podcast, Justin and I were trying to sort through why New World’s endgame hasn’t had staying power with the broader MMORPG playerbase that has no problems at all milling around in other MMO endgames for months and years. I suspect it’s because New World’s endgame is missing some special […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/04/massively-overthinking-what-endgame-content-keeps-you-in-an-mmorpg-long-term/feed/ 27 https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/28/massively-overthinking-is-old-school-mmo-dungeon-camping-ever-coming-back/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/28/massively-overthinking-is-old-school-mmo-dungeon-camping-ever-coming-back/#comments Fri, 29 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=397264 A while ago on the MOP Podcast, Justin and I randomly wound up on the topic of camping in MMOs – not pitching a tent and peeing behind a tree but the rather old-school MMO idea of taking your group to a specific spot in a dungeon and staying there for hours. Different MMOs back […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/28/massively-overthinking-is-old-school-mmo-dungeon-camping-ever-coming-back/feed/ 35 https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/21/massively-overthinking-are-mmo-gamers-just-frogs-in-a-boiling-cookpot/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/21/massively-overthinking-are-mmo-gamers-just-frogs-in-a-boiling-cookpot/#comments Fri, 22 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=396100 Longtime MOP reader Miol recently wrote us a long email inspired by a non-MMO stream he’d been watching during which the streamer went off over one viewer’s genuine excitement at grinding legendary gear in MMOs. “Check out my rare purple super sword,” the streamer said sarcastically, making barfing noises. “I had to farm f***ing Grave […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/21/massively-overthinking-are-mmo-gamers-just-frogs-in-a-boiling-cookpot/feed/ 38 https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/14/massively-overthinking-are-you-a-cheater-in-mmos-or-other-games/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/14/massively-overthinking-are-you-a-cheater-in-mmos-or-other-games/#comments Fri, 15 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=395462 We recently got a press release about a pair of studies on cheating, and I hesitated to run it as a news article because the studies were sponsored in part by a company that makes single-player game trainer software and so obviously has a vested interest in positive studies of cheating. However, the stats offered […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/14/massively-overthinking-are-you-a-cheater-in-mmos-or-other-games/feed/ 47 https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/07/massively-overthinking-solved-problems-in-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/07/massively-overthinking-solved-problems-in-mmos/#comments Fri, 08 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=392268 One of the most annoying pet peeves this genre seems to spin up frequently is some companies’ tendency to treat solved problems as unsolved problems – or more colloquially, to keep on trying to reinvent the wheel, all while pretending wheels never existed and then not focusing on cool things that can done with said […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/07/massively-overthinking-solved-problems-in-mmos/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/30/massively-overthinking-is-mmo-class-balance-achievable-or-even-desirable/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/30/massively-overthinking-is-mmo-class-balance-achievable-or-even-desirable/#comments Fri, 01 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=393923 This past week, a chunk of the endgame-focused Guild Wars 2 community was up in arms over the profession balance update and the perception that the devs working on class balance in the game don’t understand or play or like the classes they balance. This is not a new discussion in Guild Wars 2 or […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/30/massively-overthinking-is-mmo-class-balance-achievable-or-even-desirable/feed/ 19 https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/23/massively-overthinking-the-second-big-five-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/23/massively-overthinking-the-second-big-five-mmos/#comments Fri, 24 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=389698 So here in the MMORPG genre, we’ve been working under the assumption for the last few years that the “big five” MMOs that dominate our corner of the industry are World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, Elder Scrolls Online, Guild Wars 2, and Black Desert. We might quibble over the fifth one, but I don’t want […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/23/massively-overthinking-the-second-big-five-mmos/feed/ 30 https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/16/massively-overthinking-which-classic-mmos-hold-up-the-best-visually-in-2022/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/16/massively-overthinking-which-classic-mmos-hold-up-the-best-visually-in-2022/#comments Fri, 17 Jun 2022 00:00:58 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=392086 As one of our resident fans of old MMOs, I always have to clarify that it’s the systems and ideas in old games that I like. Their graphics… not so much. I was a happy adopter of every one of Ultima Online’s post-3D clients (four? I lost count). I did not find the original client’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/16/massively-overthinking-which-classic-mmos-hold-up-the-best-visually-in-2022/feed/ 19 https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/09/massively-overthinking-every-mmo-inconvenience-is-someone-elses-game/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/09/massively-overthinking-every-mmo-inconvenience-is-someone-elses-game/#comments Fri, 10 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=388349 A while back, someone in our comments (I can’t find it again, so I can’t remember who!) dug up a quote from Raph Koster that I wanted to resurface and talk about for this week’s Massively Overthinking. I’m sure we covered his blog post back in 2012 on Old Massively when it first ran, but […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/06/09/massively-overthinking-every-mmo-inconvenience-is-someone-elses-game/feed/ 39 https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/26/massively-overthinking-which-mmo-will-be-next-to-raise-its-subscription/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/26/massively-overthinking-which-mmo-will-be-next-to-raise-its-subscription/#comments Fri, 27 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=388139 Almost three years ago, our writers and readers came together for a discussion about whether the age of the $15 subscription was coming to an end. Obviously, this question was injected into an industry that had and still has free, hybrid, and a la carte options, as well as games with under-$15 subs, and many […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/26/massively-overthinking-which-mmo-will-be-next-to-raise-its-subscription/feed/ 44 https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/19/massively-overthinking-the-mmo-grudges-we-just-cant-let-go/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/19/massively-overthinking-the-mmo-grudges-we-just-cant-let-go/#comments Fri, 20 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=382682 Back in April, MMO Fallout’s Connor and I had a lil tweet convo about grudges. He was joking that there will be aged gamers on their deathbeds in the far future still griping about Star Wars Galaxies’ NGE. And he’s right. MMO players are absolutely amazing at holding epic grudges, whether it’s for a sunsetted […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/19/massively-overthinking-the-mmo-grudges-we-just-cant-let-go/feed/ 51 https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/12/massively-overthinking-if-you-could-change-one-thing-about-an-mmo/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/12/massively-overthinking-if-you-could-change-one-thing-about-an-mmo/#comments Fri, 13 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=384110 Back in April, MOP’s Colin posed us an interesting challenge on the MOP Podcast: change one thing about an MMO you don’t like that would make it a game you would. “Are there any MMOs that you have absolutely zero interest in playing right now, but would be there in a heartbeat if they changed […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/12/massively-overthinking-if-you-could-change-one-thing-about-an-mmo/feed/ 36 https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/05/massively-overthinking-the-minimum-requirements-for-mmo-player-housing/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/05/massively-overthinking-the-minimum-requirements-for-mmo-player-housing/#comments Fri, 06 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=385991 We’ve got housing on the brain lately, thanks to Ship of Heroes’ housing beta, Final Fantasy XIV’s botched housing lottos, Warframe’s new housing, and World of Warcraft doing… whatever the heck it’s doing. And every time we talk about housing in MMOs, the discussion gets bogged down in the same few quibbles every time – […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/05/massively-overthinking-the-minimum-requirements-for-mmo-player-housing/feed/ 29 https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/28/massively-overthinking-bots-in-mmos-but-not-the-bad-bots/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/28/massively-overthinking-bots-in-mmos-but-not-the-bad-bots/#comments Fri, 29 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=380715 A while back on the MMORPG subreddit, there was a provocative thread about bots – no, not those bots. Essentially, the Redditor asked whether people would still be game to play an MMO if they didn’t know whether the other people in the game were real or AI. The question didn’t get the response I […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/28/massively-overthinking-bots-in-mmos-but-not-the-bad-bots/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/14/massively-overthinking-the-ideal-mmo-server-setup/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/14/massively-overthinking-the-ideal-mmo-server-setup/#comments Fri, 15 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=380277 Over the last year, we’ve seen multiple major MMO and expansion launches, and most of them went awry in some way or another. Final Fantasy XIV had to shut down Endwalker sales briefly because it couldn’t handle all the new players. New World and Lost Ark both struggled with overloaded servers and belated merges and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/14/massively-overthinking-the-ideal-mmo-server-setup/feed/ 14