EverQuest Next: I Want to Believe Again
It's been a frustrating couple of years for the MMORPG genre and its devotees. The once mighty Blizzard Entertainment has had to suffer the embarrassment of years of declining subscriptions …
Tag: EverQuest
38 Studios: Requiem for a Lost Virtual World
The recent drama and subsequent bankruptcy of Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios has haunted me these past few weeks. Although I was just a bystander, I was living somewhat vicariously through …
The MMO Road Less Traveled: The Actor and the Adventurer
The past paradoxically becomes clearer as time passes. Trends are very hard to pinpoint and define while they are incubating and growing. When you are personally experiencing a cultural movement …
The Dark Age of the Super Hero Slacker MMO Player
For a long time I have been concerned about how the focus of MMOs has changed from the community as a whole to the individual player. Practically every MMO quest …
Blizzard’s Smoking Gun Interview that Shows How MMOs Became Games
Those of us poor souls who are MMO and virtual world veterans have seen a lot in the past 12 years of the history of this genre. We are no …
Why It’s Time to Get Rid of Quests in MMORPGs
I used to think there was something grand and noble about the idea of a quest, that is until MMORPG developers got their slimy hands on them. Quests have become …
Chasing the Virtual Dragon and the Search for Wonder
Many years ago when I first started to be seduced by the charms of EverQuest — the first fully realized 3D virtual world — I was overcome with a feeling …
RIFT Impressions: Loving and Hating That New MMO Smell
Almost everyone likes new. In our culture, newness gets an undeserved sense of respect and cachet. There’s a sense of anticipation and mystique about an upcoming film, a new restaurant, …
MMOs Were Originally Designed to Be Shared Social Experiences
Most MMO enthusiasts have noticed a sharp decline in the quality of the WoW community of late. Cursing, nastiness, bullying and other forms of rudeness have now become endemic in …
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 …
Reflections on the Upcoming EverQuest Next
Over the years, I've spent spent too much time obsessing about my obsession for one particular MMO: EverQuest . What is it about this enigmatic game/experience/world that keeps haunting me? …