Confessions of a PVP Draft Dodger
Dear King Varian of Stormwind, please explain to me why I should leave the comfort of my beloved farmstead here in the rustic pastures of Elwynn Forest to fight in …
Blizzard and SOE Agree: Improving the Newbie Experience Equals Success and Growth
Last year I penned a few in-depth and apparently controversial articles that evaluated some of the EverQuest 2 starting areas from the perspective of a newbie. It has long been …
WoW’s Growing Immersion Deficit
The success of a virtual world is dependent on the ability of the developers to convincingly immerse the player in their world. Without a daily emphasis and reverence for mechanics, …
Wikipedia in Trouble as Volunteers Leave
There's an interesting piece about Wikipedia from the Wall Street Journal Online. It seems that Wikipedia volunteers are leaving faster then new volunteers are joining. It seems that this unaccountable …
Blizzard’s Addiction to Previewing the Future
What if J.R.R. Tolkien had named his classic fantasy trilogy How Frodo Destroyed the One Ring at Mount Doom? Thankfully he had the good sense and propriety not to do …
How Virtual Worlds Mimic the Politics of the Real World
Virtual worlds are ultimately about creating and administering a system of governance. Every day millions of players enter virtual worlds and are subject to rules and policies laid down by …
MMO Design Blog of the Month: That’s a Terrible Idea
In an age when just about everyone has a blog, it's rare to find a well-written new MMO design blog that causes you to pause, think, discover and learn. …
Windows 7 Fix For Losing Connection to the Internet
Like many PC users, last week I purchased and installed Windows 7. This operating system from Microsoft was supposed to have fixed many of the stability problems encountered with Vista.
Within …
Why Aren’t There More Blizzards in the Video Game Industry?
I used to work for a big video game studio that specialized in making licensed hand-held games which were primarily directed towards kids and teens. We'd have regular company meetings …
Why Scaling Challenge Should Be the Future of MMO Content
Last week in the wee hours of a starlit Azeroth morning the Dark Iron Dwarves attacked the Brewfest celebrations outside of Ironforge. Since there were only a few half-awake adventurers …
Waiting for the Next MMO Revolution
Back in the 1980's I was a big fan of the music group The Police. As a big fan of the band I devoured everything I could get my hands …
MMO Design Blog of the Month: MMO Tidbits
Every once in a while you find a diamond in the rough in the world of MMO design blogs. There are many great sites out there and I try to …