Ryahl

In this article, I want to discuss business acquisitions from a seller and buyer’s perspective. I am working towards a speculative argument as to some of the things we might see from the SOE Acquisition. Specifically, I think the more interesting aspects of this deal may have little to do with MMO’s.

Shroud of the Avatar, along with Camelot Unleashed, Pathfinder Online, and Star Citizen represent the upcoming crop of crowdfunded MMO’s. The Kickstarter for the project raised $1.9 million from over 22,000 backers and the project has since raised about $5 million in total crowdfunding from nearly 132,000 backers.

If there’s one game the MMO consumer really seems to enjoy, it’s playing “the next big thing” game. Hopeful fans project their best wishes forwards onto the next game, jaded players are certain that the next game is just “the next WoW clone,” and fervent players are certain the next game is the much-prophesied “WoW killer.” In each case, what brings us all together is looking at the next shiny toy. EQ:Next is most likely the next big thing.

How many people do you interact with reasonably often in your current MMO? How many of those people are outside of your guild? Assuming you have played MMO’s for awhile, is your pattern of socialization today similar to that back when you started?

It’s the fall of 1999 and my Paladin is sitting on a pyramid in the eastern commonlands of Norrath waiting on the start of a raid. Our raid leader is barking instructions, to the extent one can bark in a /shout channel. Fairly soon 30-odd player characters take a trip up to the Plane of Hate to fight the minions of a god.

Ryahl offers a quick update and editorial on what's coming up next for Marvel Heroes, thanks to recent news surrounding the game.

Inspired by reader comments, Ryahl takes a look at the Massively Multiplayer and Action RPG genres. He discusses recent convergence between the two and explores elements from each genre that could improve the other genre.

On 24-January, Gazillion brought down the Marvel Heroes game in order to apply content update 2.14. The downtime for the patch was extended for several hours, during which time Doomsaw, Ryolnir, and a number of Gazillion developers participated in a marathon “Ask Gazillion Anything” session. Several hours, eighty-plus pages of posts, and hundreds of questions later, we learned a lot of interesting things regarding the present and near future for Marvel Heroes.

Final Fantasy XIV added content update 2.1, A Realm Awakened, in December 2013. With a month to experience the content, Ryahl provides a review of the end-game PVE content expansions offered in this update. Come along for the ride and read about the good and awkward parts of this massive update.

Back in 1999, Everquest helped launch the MMO genre. Nearly fifteen years and twenty expansions later, EQ is still chugging along. With the recent announcement of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen led by Brad McQuaid, it’s easy to get nostalgic. In this List, Ryahl takes a Norrathian detour from Final Fantasy XIV. Join in and see ten surprising things he found in a return to Everquest!

Now that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has made its official debut, players are moving up the ranks and taking on some of the game's bosses. In our latest Eorzea Reborn column, we take a look at five awesome early level bosses. Read on and then tell us what you think of our choices in the comments.

The discussion ever rages about whether or not any MMO these days can be classified as a sandbox or a theme park. In today's Eorzea Reborn, we take a look at aspects of both that are present in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Check it out and then leave us your opinion in the comments.

The third beta phase for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is in the books now and players who've taken part are having to wait for the commencement of beta 4 to reenter the game. We've got a beta 3 wrap report to share that you won't want to miss if you're keen to know more about the upcoming game. Read more before leaving your thoughts in the comments.

In our latest look at all things Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, we check out what the crafting and harvesting systems will be like for players. Find out more about the two and then leave your thoughts in the comments.

Now that the NDA is partially lifted, we have so much to say about Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. During our time in game, we discovered five great things about FFXIV: ARR. See what they are and then leave your ideas in the comments.