Why Every Great MMORPG Needs a Core Struggle
One of the most overlooked yet essential elements of MMORPG design isn’t found in mechanics, graphics, or even content cadence. It’s something deeper and more primal: a core struggle — …
Category: MMORPGs
The Lifecycle of an Online Community: From Pioneers to Decline
In the early days of any online community, there’s a spark: shared enthusiasm, fresh ideas, and a sense of possibility. But as time passes, communities change. Some evolve, others ossify. …
The Death of Beauty: How Feminism Poisoned Video Games and Deformed the Feminine Ideal
Once, our stories celebrated women—truly celebrated them. They were radiant, noble, feminine. Men admired them, longed for them, and were called to rise in their presence. In fantasy, cinema, and …
The Origins and Spread of the Body Type Fad in Fantasy RPGs
The recent release of Oblivion Remastered has reignited the controversy around the replacement of traditional sex designations with the modern “Body Type” system. The original Oblivion (2006) featured male and …
An Open Letter to Ji Ham, CEO of Enad Global 7: The Future of EverQuest Must Be Now
With EverQuest’s 25th anniversary having just passed, I am not only a veteran player, but a person who lived and breathed Norrath from its earliest origins. I have walked its …
Is Daybreak Games Creative Director Listing for EverQuest a Ghost Job Listing?
Loyal EverQuest fans, brace yourselves for another dose of bitter disappointment. For over 18 months, Daybreak Game Company has dangled a Creative Director job for Darkpaw Games like a carrot …
The Fall of RPGs: How Feminism Undermined a Male-Dominated Genre
Role-playing games (RPGs) have long been a bastion of fantasy escapism, providing players with immersive worlds built on medieval European traditions. These games offered heroic adventures, grand quests, and clearly …
The Vision™: Brad McQuaid’s Dream for EverQuest and the MMORPG Genre
The year 2024 A.D. was an important milestone in MMORPG History. EverQuest, the brainchild of Brad McQuaid and John Smedley had somehow survived for a quarter of a century. Over …
12 Things Amazon Games Should Do to Ensure Their Lord of the Rings MMORPG Stays True to Tolkien
If Amazon Games plays their cards right, they could see their upcoming Lord of the Rings MMORPG dethrone Blizzard’s aging giant, World of Warcraft. WoW is showing its age, not …
ChatGPT’s Analysis of Enad Global 7’s Stewardship of EverQuest
For almost 20 years, I have been writing articles about MMORPG design. There is one particular intellectual property that I’m very much interested in: EverQuest. Released in 1999, EQ was …
Rob Pardo’s Bonfire Studios Abandons the MMO Genre and Announces Cooperative PVP Game Arkheron
Hell has frozen over it seems. After 8 years of stealth development, Rob Pardo’s Bonfire Studios has finally released the name of its upcoming video game for the PC. It …
The War on Role-Playing: How Representation Ideology Undermines Immersive Gaming
For the past 30 years, the notion of representation has been incrementally injected into the cultural bloodstream. Even though nobody ever voted for representation ideology, it has crept into all …