RIFT MMO Beta Impressions and How to Fix What’s Wrong
Now that Trion Worlds has lifted the NDA and I have a few hours of spare time during the Christmas holidays, I'd like to share some of my impressions of …
Trion Announces RIFT MMO Beta and Opens Floodgates for Free Beta Keys
Via MMO Symposium, for those of us looking for a polished AAA+ MMO that poses a credible alternative to the Blizzard's dominance of the market, there is at last some …
The Triumph of Personal Virtual Space in Social Games
There's a revolution going on in the video game industry. Each day hundreds of millions of players log on and experience the phenomenon called social gaming in games like Farmville, …
Identity of BlizzCon Red Shirt Guy Revealed
There’s more Red Shirt Guy news today. As well as the fact that the video of him asking that now famous question of the lore devs at BlizzCon has seen …
Revenge of the Nerds: BlizzCon Red Shirt Guy Defeats Alex Afrasiabi in His Own Dojo
There is nothing better in this world than seeing poetic justice come true. At BlizzCon this past weekend during the WoW Quest Question and Answer Panel an avid WoW and …
Tough Questions I’d Like to See Asked at BlizzCon 2010
As an observer of Blizzard for many years, I've noticed that they rarely engage or debate the public in open and independent forums. The Blizzard public relations machine runs a …
BlizzCon 2010 New MMO Announcement Speculation
Earlier this week, Blizzard released the Cataclysm cinematic to the public. I find this anti-climatic given the fact that BlizzCon is only a few days away. Perhaps this might …
An Examination of Risk in MMO Design
A couple of years ago something happened while I was designing the levels on a LEGO video game that I'll never forget. After the programming team added the "lives" to …
Are Chatless MMOs a Precursor to Console MMOs?
At least for me, the big appeal of participating in a MMORPG was the fact that you could interact with other people online. Not only could you band together to …
Inspired New LOTRO Video Campaign
This week Turbine launched a very new ad campaign to herald their new free to play monetization model for their MMO <a href="http://www.lotro.com/">Lord of the Rings Online</a>. Here's the ingenious …
The Great MMO Paradox: Why Success Keeps Trumping Quality
Think for just a moment, what would happen if we took the most classic sports and games of all time and asked two of today's most successful gaming companies Blizzard …
WoW Cataclysm Beta: Blizzard’s Lack of Respect for Customer Loyalty
Every two years as a WoW expansion draws nearer, it seems I have to write the same article questioning the validity of Blizzard's beta selection process. Despite pointing out …