The List

Love is in the air this time of year. Stores are lines with pink and red decorations, flowers poke out in every direction, and romantic gifts are littered across the aisles. In fact, the upcoming holiday Valentine’s Day just so happens to be on a Saturday this year.

When I first played Dragon’s Dogma back at its launch in 2012, I felt like I had stumbled across something that would surely go down as a cult classic. It was rough around the edges, had some quirks that wouldn’t appeal to everyone, and lacked a true multiplayer mode. As it turns out, I wasn’t far off.

The concept of sequels is very familiar to anyone who plays video games, so much so that we basically expect any hit to spawn one, if not more. In the MMO space, the situation is somewhat different because the titles continue to grow and evolve over time. Accordingly, follow-ups aren't nearly as common. That said, it wasn't hard to come up with a handful that would potentially be of significant interest for me.

The zombie survival genre has grown to become something decidedly different from anything else in the industry. With a combination of elements from several different existing conventions, zombie survival games have worked out their own niche that continues to rise in popularity. It makes sense when you think about it.

After nearly one hundred twenty hours, I finished my completionist run through Dragon Age: Inquisition today. As I sat staring at the credits and waiting for the short epilogue cinematic that would come after them, I was left with a curious sense of emptiness with a mental image of an empty calendar filled with endless days stretching out in front of me.

Sword Art Online II recently wrapped up. I haven’t actually watched the second leg of the Sword Art Online story as I’m late to the party on this topic, but I’ve seen all of Sword Art Online I and was enamored with the concept. If you’re unaware, Sword Art Online, or SAO for short, is an anime about a group of people that get trapped inside of an MMORPG. The catch is that if they die in the game, they die in real life as well.

Now that the bold new year of 2015 is upon us and we’re striking out into unknown territory, I felt like it was only appropriate that we take a look at MMOs that let you embark on grand voyages of your own. When doing research for this list, I noticed that there are shockingly few MMOs with robust sea-based content. As a result, some of the games on this list feature sailing as an extra feature, while some of the games have sea adventures as the primary gameplay mechanic.

Full-time jobs, children, spouses… It happens to all of us: the good things swoop in and steal game time right out from under you. It begs the question: are MMOs even for us anymore? We’ve been through the wringer and have your answer, and eight crucial tips to make sure you succeed.

Another year has come and gone, and with that flurry of levels and experience points goes many of our most-wanted RPGs finally delivered. 2014 was a good year for roleplaying games with the likes of Dragon Age: Inquisition leading the pack but 2015 looks to be downright spectacular. We here at MMORPG have spent a lot of time discussing this year’s games, but with New Year’s Eve fast approaching, let’s look ahead to what next year has in store.

Well, 2014 is almost over. It has been a year full of…stuff. Overall, the gaming industry as a whole was pretty disappointing. It seems like the biggest moments of the year are underscored by horrible launches, broken games, greedy publishers, and lazy developers. There were plenty of bright spots, no doubt, but overall it’s hard to argue that the year wasn’t disappointing.

It’s that time of the year again. Depending on where you live, snow is falling, wind is blowing, the air is chilly, and fireplaces are roaring. Or if you’re like me in Northern California, weather is slightly colder on most days, but generally sunny and not all that much different most of the time. Either way, it’s the Holiday Season.

We’ve all been there. We’re dying to play an MMO and get our fix and sometimes it doesn’t even have to be our go-to main game. Maybe your laptop can’t handle it, you’re out of town, or you don’t have the time to play a bigger game – whatever the reason, sometimes you just need a browser game to scratch that itch.

Starting when I was still a child, I've greatly enjoyed numerous incarnations of high fantasy. However, it has never been my only thematic area of interest. So, when it comes to MMOGs, I've always wanted more variety. Perhaps the ongoing growth of the category's audience signals that such a time is upon us or at least close at hand. Considering how the market is growing and evolving, here are some concepts that seem to hold unrealized potential.

My PlayStation 4 has been dominated by Dragon Age: Inquisition over the past week. In about 7 days, between working full-time, writing as a freelancer, balancing relationships, and several other things, I have somehow found nearly 20 hours of spare time to invest in Bioware’s latest epic – and I can tell I’m just now scratching the surface.

MMO launches are one of the trickiest things in the world for a developer and publisher to orchestrate. In the case of single player games, the experience can be perfectly balanced and simulated in a controlled environment. For standard multiplayer games, you can easily cap the number of players involved and know how it’s going to turn out in a live scenario. A Massively Multiplayer Game on the other hand, is something else entirely.