I have seen so many definitions of the term “pay-to-win” over the years that I can no longer count them on one hand. Some think that gear in the cash shop is okay, so long as you can obtain better gear as drops. Others think that even experience boosters are pay-to-win. Others still insist that games that sell more than [...]
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The time has come once again. It's only a few days away from the biggest new MMORPG to hit the net. Cash in hand and at the ready, you swing down to the store, grab your copy, load it up and boom, It's happened again. You like many others throughout the globe have become part of what I like to [...]
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Perhaps sparked in part by my playthrough of The Witcher 3, the game that I believe simply outdid every story-based RPG ever created, I have recently begun to question story elements in MMOs. Stories are great for linking together structured content and providing some sort of “purpose” for taking part in this structured content. “It isn’t just a quest grind!” [...]
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Character creation is the defining moment of an MMORPG player’s beginnings. It takes pieces of who we are and molds them into who we want to be—to create another entity that represents the core of our selves. Without the weight of the real world to burden us we are given a chance to re-envision ourselves, and to exist in a [...]
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A lot of people of my generation and older can't wrap their head around the emerging market model for most MMOs. When I start telling friends that I am playing an MMORPG their first or second question is often, “you haven’t spent any real money in the game, have you?” This is said in a mildly indignant, somewhat judgemental tone, [...]
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Last summer I was passionately in love with TERA. I’m talking the play-for-sixteen-hours-and-forget-to-eat type of love. As a healer, it was more difficult to level and I was dependent on parties for help rather than soloing. Despite the shortcomings of my class, I liked the rewarding feeling I received once I was finally able to take down a BAM (big [...]
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Each year myriad MMOs are added to an ever-expanding library, while older games are sentenced to the graveyard. Some MMOs are kept alive by their communities, or re-licensed to a new publisher, but others fade into the void where almost no trace of their virtual worlds can be found. In 2015 a few game's server lights blinked off for the last time: Soldier [...]
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This week’s hottest eSports news and highlights for LoL, CS:GO, and Dota 2. Expect spoilers! Contents (Click to Jump to Section) League of Legends Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Dota 2 League of Legends NA LCS: Immortals look like the team to beat as other teams struggle to have synergy with their new rosters. EU LCS: Fnatic and Origen, despite being favorites to [...]
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MMOs get shut down regularly. With an ever-growing number of games, ever-rising standards, and an ever-growing reluctance to pay for games, it’s only inevitable. But some MMOs get lucky. Perhaps because the developers allow someone else to take over or the game’s code gets leaked somehow, some MMOs live on. Today, I am going to take a look at MMOs [...]
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Launch day. It’s approaching. The many beta weekends, reading up articles, and ensuring you’re on the right server. You’ve cancelled plans, ordered dinner in—you’re not cooking tonight. No, it’s launch day. The hype train can defeat the best of us, especially those who are patient and kind. Every MMO has their hiccups: the chaotic human element has not been unleashed [...]
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