https://massivelyop.com MMORPG news and opinions Fri, 07 Apr 2023 21:39:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/08/the-game-archaeologist-pirates-of-the-caribbean-online/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/08/the-game-archaeologist-pirates-of-the-caribbean-online/#comments Sat, 08 Apr 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=432733 In 1967, Disneyland opened one of its most iconic attractions: a dark boat ride called Pirates of the Caribbean. A large fandom surrounding the pirate-themed attraction sprung up, prompting the company to make several other copycats in its other parks across the world. The property was quite ripe, then, for a jump to the silver […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/08/the-game-archaeologist-pirates-of-the-caribbean-online/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/03/the-game-archaeologist-planeshift-the-poster-child-of-open-source-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/03/the-game-archaeologist-planeshift-the-poster-child-of-open-source-mmos/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2023 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=420610 As the character creation screen fades out, a dark vista fades into being. The fledgling adventurer looks around at dim shapes and sinister movements — the underground realm of Yliakum. It is here that first steps will be taken into a wider world and an MMORPG that went a decidedly different direction than the rest […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/03/the-game-archaeologist-planeshift-the-poster-child-of-open-source-mmos/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/31/the-game-archaeologists-ultimate-mmo-archives-v6-0/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/31/the-game-archaeologists-ultimate-mmo-archives-v6-0/#comments Sat, 31 Dec 2022 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=419982 And that’s a wrap on this year in history! While everyone says farewell to 2022, here at TGA we’re always looking way back at the past to see where we used to be and how the MMO genre developed. This year we touched on the familiar (Ultima Online) to the obscure (Dark Eyes) to everything […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/31/the-game-archaeologists-ultimate-mmo-archives-v6-0/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/26/the-game-archaeologist-wizardry-online-the-short-lived-permadeath-mmo/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/26/the-game-archaeologist-wizardry-online-the-short-lived-permadeath-mmo/#comments Sat, 26 Nov 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=415838 While the Wizardry series may not have the cultural cache that Ultima or Final Fantasy ended up with, nevertheless the dungeon crawling RPG series cultivated a sizable fan base. The first title by studio Sir-Tech came out in 1981, with seven more arriving to challenge players over the next two decades. As I said, it […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/26/the-game-archaeologist-wizardry-online-the-short-lived-permadeath-mmo/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/29/the-game-archaeologist-the-radically-different-design-of-early-everquest-ii/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/29/the-game-archaeologist-the-radically-different-design-of-early-everquest-ii/#comments Sat, 29 Oct 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=411739 Sometimes it’s all about timing — both good and bad — when it comes to MMORPG releases. EverQuest II may go down as the winner of the “worst timing ever” by coming out just two weeks before World of Warcraft. As SOE’s aspiring sequel subsequently got steamrolled by its direct competition, the studio moved to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/29/the-game-archaeologist-the-radically-different-design-of-early-everquest-ii/feed/ 21 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/01/the-game-archaeologist-dark-ages-the-weird-lovechild-of-celtic-lore-and-lovecraftian-legends/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/01/the-game-archaeologist-dark-ages-the-weird-lovechild-of-celtic-lore-and-lovecraftian-legends/#comments Sat, 01 Oct 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=407486 While the online world was fascinated by “the Big Three” Western MMOs in 1999 — that would be EverQuest, Ultima Online, and Asheron’s Call — this did not mean that they were the only three MMORPGs in existence. Plenty of other projects had come to fruition around this time, especially overseas in the Korean market. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/01/the-game-archaeologist-dark-ages-the-weird-lovechild-of-celtic-lore-and-lovecraftian-legends/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/11/the-game-archaeologist-the-legacy-of-ultima-online/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/11/the-game-archaeologist-the-legacy-of-ultima-online/#comments Sun, 11 Sep 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=403657 Last week in The Game Archaeologist, we traced the history of Ultima Online’s origin, development, and testing — not to mention one pesky in-game assassination of its lead figure. But making a game is only half the story; the other half is its live operation. After receiving effusive advance praise at media events and seeing […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/11/the-game-archaeologist-the-legacy-of-ultima-online/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/03/the-game-archaeologist-how-ultima-online-got-made/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/03/the-game-archaeologist-how-ultima-online-got-made/#comments Sat, 03 Sep 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=403650 You know how there’s that yokel in every global chat channel that likes to troll players by claiming that World of Warcraft was the first MMO? If you’re me and you sense even a whiff of sincerity behind that statement, you kind of want to smack them with a thick history book. Yet as we’ve […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/03/the-game-archaeologist-how-ultima-online-got-made/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/13/the-game-archaeologist-megawars-the-star-trek-online-sim-from-the-70s/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/13/the-game-archaeologist-megawars-the-star-trek-online-sim-from-the-70s/#comments Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=400442 When we look at the early days of online computer gaming, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the geeky crowd that was working on these titles were also enamored with geeky shows like Star Trek. In fact, somewhen in the mid-1970s, an unknown author wrote the code for a Star Trek sim called WAR that […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/08/13/the-game-archaeologist-megawars-the-star-trek-online-sim-from-the-70s/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/30/the-game-archaeologist-that-time-when-everquest-let-you-play-as-the-monsters/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/30/the-game-archaeologist-that-time-when-everquest-let-you-play-as-the-monsters/#comments Sat, 30 Jul 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=398518 It’s a near-given that in every MMORPG, players assume the roles of heroes who are sent out to vanquish the evil, dark, or at least annoying mobs that populate the game world. There’s us on one side, and all of the critters, undead, dragons, kobolds, gelatinous cubes, harpies, gnolls, and members of Congress on the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/30/the-game-archaeologist-that-time-when-everquest-let-you-play-as-the-monsters/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/16/the-game-archaeologist-the-origins-of-blizzard-mythic-funcom-soe-and-bioware/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/16/the-game-archaeologist-the-origins-of-blizzard-mythic-funcom-soe-and-bioware/#comments Sat, 16 Jul 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=396383 A good origin story always captivates me, especially when it gives me a new perspective on something I’ve come to appreciate over the years. I love looking back at actors’ first few films or hearing about how, say, Atari and Microsoft got their start. With MMO studios, these origin stories abound and are equally fascinating […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/07/16/the-game-archaeologist-the-origins-of-blizzard-mythic-funcom-soe-and-bioware/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/23/the-game-archaeologist-the-90s-bioware-mmorpg-that-almost-was/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/23/the-game-archaeologist-the-90s-bioware-mmorpg-that-almost-was/#comments Mon, 23 May 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=387431 These days, if you mention “BioWare” and “MMORPG” in the same sentence, it’s most certainly going to be about Star Wars: The Old Republic. Sure, Neverwinter Nights spawned some cool (small) persistent online worlds, and there’s always been this hope for the studio to make a Mass Effect or Dragon Age MMO, but SWTOR is […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/23/the-game-archaeologist-the-90s-bioware-mmorpg-that-almost-was/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/01/the-game-archaeologist-six-cancelled-mmos-that-i-wish-would-have-launched/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/01/the-game-archaeologist-six-cancelled-mmos-that-i-wish-would-have-launched/#comments Sun, 01 May 2022 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=384911 In my lengthy tenure writing The Game Archaeologist — which dates back to May 2010, if you can believe it — I’ve covered MMOs that generally fell into three categories. These games are either famous ones that had an early start in the genre, very obscure titles that are nevertheless interesting to explore, and MMO […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/01/the-game-archaeologist-six-cancelled-mmos-that-i-wish-would-have-launched/feed/ 53 https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/04/the-game-archaeologist-when-everquest-players-killed-the-unkillable-sleeper/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/04/the-game-archaeologist-when-everquest-players-killed-the-unkillable-sleeper/#comments Mon, 04 Apr 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=381338 In many CRPGs and MMORPGs, there are bosses designed to be so crazy tough that, for most people, these enemies are straight-out unkillable. Developers often put them in, such as Final Fantasy’s Ultima Weapons, to give a crazy obscene goal to players that enjoy the greatest of all challenges. For the original EverQuest, this was […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/04/the-game-archaeologist-when-everquest-players-killed-the-unkillable-sleeper/feed/ 20 https://massivelyop.com/2022/03/13/the-game-archaeologist-dark-zion-the-brainchild-of-tad-williams-and-ultima-online-devs/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/03/13/the-game-archaeologist-dark-zion-the-brainchild-of-tad-williams-and-ultima-online-devs/#comments Sun, 13 Mar 2022 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=378107 It has almost become a running joke in MMO circles that pretty much every new studio and new title these days was founded by “ex-Blizzard employees.” Certainly, the class of World of Warcraft is rather extensive, and many developers have sought to take their experience and ambition elsewhere. This is not a new phenomenon, even […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/03/13/the-game-archaeologist-dark-zion-the-brainchild-of-tad-williams-and-ultima-online-devs/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2022/02/16/the-game-archaeologist-dark-eyes-a-forgotten-japanese-mmo-from-1999/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/02/16/the-game-archaeologist-dark-eyes-a-forgotten-japanese-mmo-from-1999/#comments Wed, 16 Feb 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=374561 For a country that was the epicenter of video games (and, in many ways, still is), Japan never quite latched onto the MMORPG genre the way that Korea, China, and the west did. Compared to other regions, Japan only produced a handful of significant titles. Granted, one of those was Final Fantasy XIV, which has […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/02/16/the-game-archaeologist-dark-eyes-a-forgotten-japanese-mmo-from-1999/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/29/the-game-archaeologist-the-history-of-hi-rezs-global-agenda/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/29/the-game-archaeologist-the-history-of-hi-rezs-global-agenda/#comments Sat, 29 Jan 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=372503 This past week, former Global Agenda players woke up to a surprising reality: Their game, which went offline in 2018, suddenly was back. Hi-Rez Studios said that it was a test that nobody was really supposed to notice, but hey, the studio wasn’t going to overlook the flood of goodwill from players rejoicing over this […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/29/the-game-archaeologist-the-history-of-hi-rezs-global-agenda/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/15/the-game-archaeologist-talking-25-year-old-tibia-with-cipsoft/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/15/the-game-archaeologist-talking-25-year-old-tibia-with-cipsoft/#comments Sat, 15 Jan 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=370456 It’s not every MMORPG that can boast that it started back in the late ’90s and is still going strong even today. However, Tibia is one of a very elite club of long-running MMOs that not only continues to exist but it thrives as well. This year, the formerly silent MMO is celebrating its 25th […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/15/the-game-archaeologist-talking-25-year-old-tibia-with-cipsoft/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/03/the-game-archaeologist-the-blizzard-real-id-fiasco-of-2010/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/03/the-game-archaeologist-the-blizzard-real-id-fiasco-of-2010/#comments Mon, 03 Jan 2022 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=369105 As we come off a year when Blizzard Entertainment’s seedy underbelly of scandals and coverups was exposed, I thought it might be worth risking a pile-on to look back at another famous scandal that the video game developer created. At the height of World of Warcraft’s global popularity, Blizzard came out with an announcement that […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/01/03/the-game-archaeologist-the-blizzard-real-id-fiasco-of-2010/feed/ 20 https://massivelyop.com/2021/12/25/the-game-archaeologists-ultimate-mmo-archives-v5-0/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/12/25/the-game-archaeologists-ultimate-mmo-archives-v5-0/#comments Sat, 25 Dec 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=368525 It has been another thrilling year of exploring the relatively unknown or forgotten lands of MMORPG history here in The Game Archaeologist. From projects that never saw the light of day to new revelations about older MMOs to plenty of “firsts” for the industry, this column continues to be a great source of delight and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/12/25/the-game-archaeologists-ultimate-mmo-archives-v5-0/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2021/12/11/the-game-archaeologist-hero101-the-lost-kingsisle-superhero-mmo/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/12/11/the-game-archaeologist-hero101-the-lost-kingsisle-superhero-mmo/#comments Sat, 11 Dec 2021 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=366530 You do get the sense that KingsIsle once had very grand plans for what is called its “101 Universe.” After Wizard101 came out to great acclaim in 2008, a flurry of plans went into action to expand the world of the Spiral to other titles and genres. Unfortunately, Wizard101’s follow-up Pirate101 was a mere shadow […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/12/11/the-game-archaeologist-hero101-the-lost-kingsisle-superhero-mmo/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2021/11/20/the-game-archaeologist-the-wonderful-world-of-eamon/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/11/20/the-game-archaeologist-the-wonderful-world-of-eamon/#comments Sat, 20 Nov 2021 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=362243 As we’ve long since established, 1980’s MUD1 was the official kick-off of the MMORPG genre, bringing online players together to adventure through persistent worlds for glory and glitter. But this text-based MMO didn’t exist in a vacuum; there were projects before and after that explored what this genre could be. One of those projects came […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/11/20/the-game-archaeologist-the-wonderful-world-of-eamon/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/26/the-game-archaeologist-segas-dragons-dream-the-first-console-and-cross-platform-mmo/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/26/the-game-archaeologist-segas-dragons-dream-the-first-console-and-cross-platform-mmo/#comments Tue, 26 Oct 2021 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=359540 When most people are asked to think back upon the first console to attempt an online RPG experience, the name that most likely pops up is Phantasy Star Online. SEGA’s 2000 entry on the Dreamcast became an instant hit, spawning other ports, new versions, and a couple of sequels. Yet Phantasy Star Online wasn’t SEGA’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/26/the-game-archaeologist-segas-dragons-dream-the-first-console-and-cross-platform-mmo/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/09/the-game-archaeologist-kingdom-of-loathing/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/09/the-game-archaeologist-kingdom-of-loathing/#comments Sat, 09 Oct 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=356969 It is, in so many ways, the antithesis of a modern MMORPG. It has crude stick figure drawings instead of lush 3-D graphics. It limits your daily activities to a handful of encounters. It often mocks, belittles and berates you for your stupidity. It uses meat for currency and has a character class that dabbles […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/09/the-game-archaeologist-kingdom-of-loathing/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2021/09/25/the-game-archaeologist-tanarus-sony-online-entertainments-first-online-game/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/09/25/the-game-archaeologist-tanarus-sony-online-entertainments-first-online-game/#comments Sat, 25 Sep 2021 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=354998 While EverQuest is perhaps thought of as Sony Online Entertainment’s first online game, the truth of history tells us differently. Just as how Mythic Entertainment pumped out several other online titles prior to Dark Age of Camelot, SOE had a run at online multiplayer before Norrath. And instead of this virtual world being populated by […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/09/25/the-game-archaeologist-tanarus-sony-online-entertainments-first-online-game/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2021/09/04/the-game-archaeologist-soes-many-mmo-spin-off-digital-card-games/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/09/04/the-game-archaeologist-soes-many-mmo-spin-off-digital-card-games/#comments Sat, 04 Sep 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=352375 One thing that I deeply admired about old Sony Online Entertainment was that it strove to experiment, innovate, and take risks. Sometimes those special projects panned out, sometimes they did not — but it was always a wild ride, giving us things like Player Studio, SOEmote, and pizza integration with EverQuest II. Another thing that […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/09/04/the-game-archaeologist-soes-many-mmo-spin-off-digital-card-games/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2021/08/28/the-game-archaeologist-jeff-butler-on-everquest-everquest-next-and-vanguard/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/08/28/the-game-archaeologist-jeff-butler-on-everquest-everquest-next-and-vanguard/#comments Sat, 28 Aug 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=350676 As an MMO historian, I have to applaud the work of former SOE developer Shawn Lord in his huge interview series with the people who worked on these titles. A recent three-hour beast of a video caught our attention as Lord interviewed Jeff Butler on a wide range of MMOs, including EverQuest, Vanguard, and EverQuest […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/08/28/the-game-archaeologist-jeff-butler-on-everquest-everquest-next-and-vanguard/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2021/08/07/the-game-archaeologist-defining-the-eras-of-mmorpg-history/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/08/07/the-game-archaeologist-defining-the-eras-of-mmorpg-history/#comments Sat, 07 Aug 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=348525 With MMO history stretching back to the early 1980s (and even before), this genre has accumulated a whole lot of history over the years. Taking a bird’s eye view of this history is interesting, because you can see the outlines of several distinct (and many more muddled) eras that defined certain years. For a while […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/08/07/the-game-archaeologist-defining-the-eras-of-mmorpg-history/feed/ 17 https://massivelyop.com/2021/07/09/the-game-archaeologist-why-2008-was-one-of-the-wildest-years-for-mmorpgs/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/07/09/the-game-archaeologist-why-2008-was-one-of-the-wildest-years-for-mmorpgs/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2021 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=342723 In the relatively short history of MMORPGs so far, there have been a few years that I would say were watershed moments for the genres. And while I’m sure we could quibble over which year was the most significant, the one period of time that I keep coming back to in my mind as the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/07/09/the-game-archaeologist-why-2008-was-one-of-the-wildest-years-for-mmorpgs/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2021/06/26/the-game-archaeologist-anarchy-online-from-launch-to-now/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/06/26/the-game-archaeologist-anarchy-online-from-launch-to-now/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=341066 July 27th 2001. On this date, Funcom pulled the trigger on Anarchy Online, launching it in North America with a planned release in Europe a couple of months later. Almost instantly, the game and its support infrastructure buckled and broke under the demand of the 35,000 or so subscribers who ponied up money for this experience. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/06/26/the-game-archaeologist-anarchy-online-from-launch-to-now/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2021/06/18/the-game-archaeologist-anarchy-online-from-development-to-beta/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/06/18/the-game-archaeologist-anarchy-online-from-development-to-beta/#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=340799 We all have stories of our very first MMORPG experiences, and the one that I often share is that my initial dip into this genre happened with Anarchy Online. I was intrigued at the scifi angle of this online MMO and already was fond of Funcom due to The Longest Journey, so I took my […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/06/18/the-game-archaeologist-anarchy-online-from-development-to-beta/feed/ 13 https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/08/the-game-archaeologist-jumpgate-and-jumpgate-evolution/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/08/the-game-archaeologist-jumpgate-and-jumpgate-evolution/#comments Sat, 08 May 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=335060 Historically, space-bound MMORPGs have not had as easy of a go as their fantasy counterparts. For one thing, there are proportionally fewer of them that even existed. For another thing, early cancellations of genre titles like Earth and Beyond probably served as warning signs for other studios not to pursue similar projects. But I’ll give […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/08/the-game-archaeologist-jumpgate-and-jumpgate-evolution/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/10/the-game-archaeologist-lifestorm-japans-first-mmorpg/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/10/the-game-archaeologist-lifestorm-japans-first-mmorpg/#comments Sat, 10 Apr 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=330715 In comparison to how widely that China and Korea’s game development studios embraced MMORPGs right from the beginning, Japan’s been curiously low-key in creating for this genre. Oh, don’t get me wrong: The country’s produced several notable MMOs, but it’s not been quite the obsession with dev studios the way it is with its neighbors. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/10/the-game-archaeologist-lifestorm-japans-first-mmorpg/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/03/the-game-archaeologist-the-ballad-of-fansy-everquests-famous-bard/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/03/the-game-archaeologist-the-ballad-of-fansy-everquests-famous-bard/#comments Sat, 03 Apr 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=329679 It was summer, 2001. EverQuest had just rolled out Sullon Zek, a no-rules “penal colony” server where the realm was as lawless as the PvP was ruthless. Ganking, PKing, and corpse camping were rampant, all the more so for anyone who dared roll on the “good” side, as “evil” players made up the vast majority […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/03/the-game-archaeologist-the-ballad-of-fansy-everquests-famous-bard/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2021/03/20/the-game-archaeologist-the-online-world-of-diablo-ii/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/03/20/the-game-archaeologist-the-online-world-of-diablo-ii/#comments Sat, 20 Mar 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=325234 Most of us probably weren’t expecting to see Diablo II once again propelled into the spotlight in the year 2021, but the BlizzCon announcement of that classic game’s remaster had a whole lot of fans salivating at the thought of diving back into this action RPG. For a game that came out two decades ago […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/03/20/the-game-archaeologist-the-online-world-of-diablo-ii/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2021/02/28/the-game-archaeologist-eas-motor-city-online/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/02/28/the-game-archaeologist-eas-motor-city-online/#comments Sun, 28 Feb 2021 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=324631 When we use the shorthand “MMO” for online games, it’s always assumed that we’re talking about swords-and-sorcery or sci-fi RPGs. However, the massively multiplayer online sports genre has existed practically as long as MMORPGs have, enjoying great popularity particularly in Asian territories. Back in 2001, Electronic Arts — with its eyes swimming of visions of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/02/28/the-game-archaeologist-eas-motor-city-online/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/30/the-game-archaeologist-lost-continents-the-jules-verne-mmo-we-never-got/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/30/the-game-archaeologist-lost-continents-the-jules-verne-mmo-we-never-got/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2021 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=320323 If you’re looking for an alternate vision of futuristic science fiction, you would do well to dive back into the worlds of 19th century author Jules Verne. His forward-thinking designs and stories influenced movies such as Back to the Future Part III and theme parks such as Euro Disneyland and Tokyo Disneysea. Jules Verne’s imaginary […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/30/the-game-archaeologist-lost-continents-the-jules-verne-mmo-we-never-got/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/09/the-game-archaeologist-free-realms/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/09/the-game-archaeologist-free-realms/#comments Sat, 09 Jan 2021 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=317576 Its very name was a declaration of rebellion against the status quo. In an era that had yet to shift from a subscription-only model for MMORPGs, Free Realms came onto the scene with creative ideas and a radical approach. Instead of targeting older and more computer-savvy players, this MMO would try to appeal to a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/01/09/the-game-archaeologist-free-realms/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2020/12/26/the-game-archaeologist-seven-ways-everquest-reshaped-mmo-history/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/12/26/the-game-archaeologist-seven-ways-everquest-reshaped-mmo-history/#comments Sat, 26 Dec 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=315839 To many veteran MMO players, the opening horns of EverQuest’s score are enough to trigger vivid memories, violent hallucinations, and an unstoppable desire to leap through the computer screen to return to Norrath. It all depends, of course, on which MMO you first cut your teeth, and while many gamers would claim titles like World […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/12/26/the-game-archaeologist-seven-ways-everquest-reshaped-mmo-history/feed/ 32 https://massivelyop.com/2020/12/13/the-game-archaeologists-ultimate-mmo-archives-v4-0/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/12/13/the-game-archaeologists-ultimate-mmo-archives-v4-0/#comments Sun, 13 Dec 2020 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=314214 By far, my favorite column to write here at Massively OP (and the one that always takes the longest) is The Game Archaeologist. I’ve been doing this in one form or another for about eight years now, and I still haven’t run out of material from the MMORPG genre’s crazy and shadowy past to dust […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/12/13/the-game-archaeologists-ultimate-mmo-archives-v4-0/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2020/10/31/the-game-archaeologist-fallen-earth/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/10/31/the-game-archaeologist-fallen-earth/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=307893 I remember back when Fallen Earth first came out, I had some friends who were raving about it and doing everything in their power to drag me kicking and screaming into it. I did a lot of kicking and screaming back then, I realize. But what I first didn’t get soon became a tale of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/10/31/the-game-archaeologist-fallen-earth/feed/ 17 https://massivelyop.com/2020/10/10/the-game-archaeologist-deadlands-legends-the-western-mmo-that-never-saw-the-light-of-day/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/10/10/the-game-archaeologist-deadlands-legends-the-western-mmo-that-never-saw-the-light-of-day/#comments Sat, 10 Oct 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=304449 The saying goes that there is nothing new under the sun. So while you probably can’t write an original setting that’s never been seen before, the next best thing is to take two established settings and slam them together to create a tantalizing mash-up. This is what game developer Shane Hensley thought in 1996, when […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/10/10/the-game-archaeologist-deadlands-legends-the-western-mmo-that-never-saw-the-light-of-day/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2020/09/26/the-game-archaeologist-the-short-ride-of-auto-assault/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/09/26/the-game-archaeologist-the-short-ride-of-auto-assault/#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2020 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=302438 When you think of post-apocalyptic video games, what comes to mind? Most likely it’s a crawl through a bombed-out or zombiefied landscape as you might find in The Last of Us or Fallout 4. However, there’s a side branch of the post-apoc genre that I like to call the “Mad Max strain.” This is where […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/09/26/the-game-archaeologist-the-short-ride-of-auto-assault/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2020/09/06/the-game-archaeologist-mirrorworld/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/09/06/the-game-archaeologist-mirrorworld/#comments Sun, 06 Sep 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=299306 In this column, we have previously journeyed to lands where you saw not with your eyes, but with your imagination. I speak, of course, of text-based multi-user dungeons, or MUDs. These games took players to virtual worlds long before technology could handle sharing graphics, electing instead to use text as the medium in which these […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/09/06/the-game-archaeologist-mirrorworld/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2020/08/22/the-game-archaeologist-flagships-mythos/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/08/22/the-game-archaeologist-flagships-mythos/#comments Sat, 22 Aug 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=297109 Whenever the topic of Flagship Studios comes up, usually it’s in conjunction with Hellgate: London. And while Hellgate certainly was a huge and ultimately not-too-successful effort by the studio, there was another MMO that was greatly affected by the company going belly-up in 2008 called Mythos. I felt that Mythos absolutely should be discussed in […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/08/22/the-game-archaeologist-flagships-mythos/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2020/08/01/the-game-archaeologist-clone-wars-adventures-the-star-wars-mmo-everyone-kinda-forgot/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/08/01/the-game-archaeologist-clone-wars-adventures-the-star-wars-mmo-everyone-kinda-forgot/#comments Sat, 01 Aug 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=293671 Whenever the topic — the argument — of Star Wars MMOs arises, the debate is usually between the merits of the sandboxy Star Wars Galaxies and the themeparky Star Wars: The Old Republic. While opinions and passionate feelings whirl into the atmosphere on these games, I can’t help but think how fortunate Star Wars fans […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/08/01/the-game-archaeologist-clone-wars-adventures-the-star-wars-mmo-everyone-kinda-forgot/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2020/07/12/the-game-archaeologist-world-war-ii-online/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/07/12/the-game-archaeologist-world-war-ii-online/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=290139 The 1990s saw the rise of flight simulators that thrived on detailed, complicated controls and handling. Such games threw out accessibility and casual-friendliness for stark-raving realism, and a certain subset of gamers really thrived on them. I tried my hand at a couple and found myself breathing rapidly when pouring through keyboard charts and doing […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/07/12/the-game-archaeologist-world-war-ii-online/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2020/06/27/the-game-archaeologist-when-world-of-warcraft-opened-ahnqirajs-gates/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/06/27/the-game-archaeologist-when-world-of-warcraft-opened-ahnqirajs-gates/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=288675 This past month, Blizzard has been testing what might well be the milestone moment for World of Warcraft Classic: The Ahn’Qiraj gates event. In the 14 years that have gone by since the original opening, this event has gone done in WoW’s history as one of its more infamous moments… and that infamy is not […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/06/27/the-game-archaeologist-when-world-of-warcraft-opened-ahnqirajs-gates/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2020/06/21/the-game-archaeologist-the-virtual-worlds-of-the-1990s/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/06/21/the-game-archaeologist-the-virtual-worlds-of-the-1990s/#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=286639 With the increased speeds of modems and the move into 3-D space in the 1990s, some game designers thought it was a logical conclusion to want to merge the two factors together to form immersive, 3-D virtual worlds that would host multiple users. A true cyberspace, in other words, that would grab the imaginations of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/06/21/the-game-archaeologist-the-virtual-worlds-of-the-1990s/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2020/06/06/the-game-archaeologist-were-sequels-ever-a-good-idea-for-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2020/06/06/the-game-archaeologist-were-sequels-ever-a-good-idea-for-mmos/#comments Sat, 06 Jun 2020 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=285499 From movies to books to video games, sequels (and all related spin-offs) are a common sight when a property is sufficiently successful enough. Even some not-so-great creations might get a follow-up or two, prompting much discussion over whether or not the makers should have stopped when they were barely ahead. In the history of MMORPGs, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2020/06/06/the-game-archaeologist-were-sequels-ever-a-good-idea-for-mmos/feed/ 21