EverQuest2 Revisited Part 1: Analysis of the First 15 Minutes
One of the first things I learned as a game designer is that the first 15 minutes of your video game is critical. It is during this brief window of …
Author: Wolfshead
Those Poor Downtrodden Tolkien Kids
I've just read an interesting article entitled Tolkien's children fight for 'Lord of the Rings' gold by Los Angeles Times columnist Rachel Abramowitz. She claims that the Tolkien Estate has …
Dude, Who Stole My Community? Confronting the Inertia of MMO Players
We all come to MMOs and virtual worlds with grand expectations. For months before a MMO is released we experience the hype about how this time it will be different. …
Why Players Should Be the Ultimate Content for MMOs
In every game and sport since the dawn of time, human participants have been their existential lifeblood. The test of skill, athletics, teamwork and stamina as participants go head …
Brad McQuaid: The Once and Future King?
Ten years after the release of EverQuest -- one of the most beloved and revered MMOs of all time -- one if it's creator's Brad McQuaid has apparently resurfaced. For …
The Deafening Silence of Today’s MMO Chat
For the past few months I’ve noticed a marked decrease in people chatting in Blizzard’s WoW. Of course I haven’t enjoyed general chat in WoW for many years now because …
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 …