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Exclusive Features : Columns

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A Look Ahead at 2008 01/04/08 MMOWTF MMOWTF columnist Dan Fortier brings his own brand of cynicism and sarcasm to a look at what MMORPG fans can expect from the industry in the coming year. Dan Fortier
Online Friends 01/03/08 Community Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at the concept of online friends and looks at a forum post that brings to question the concept of friendships in MMOs, and what communities best foster these long-lasting relationships. Laura Genender
It's the End of the World 12/28/07 MMOWTF In his MMOWTF column this week, Dan Fortier takes a look back at the year 2007 and some of the news stories that dominated MMO headlines. Dan Fortier
What's in a Game? 12/27/07 Community Spotlight - Forums Community Manager Laura Genender uses her Community Spotlight this week to talk about the different ways in which people can enjoy MMORPGs, and the ways in which some games are better suited to some play styles than others. Laura Genender
Story - Smackdown vs. Raw 12/24/07 Beyond the MMORPG In this Christmas Eve edition of Beyond the MMORPG, Managing Editor Jon Wood uses Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 to discuss storytelling in MMORPGs. Jon Wood
MMOWTF Award Winners 12/21/07 MMOWTF Last week, Dan Foriter opened up voting on the worst games of 2007. Today, he posts the results along with his own picks. Dan Fortier
Conan 12/18/07 Beyond the MMORPG In this Beyond the MMORPG column, Managing Editor Jon Wood takes a look at a small aspect of the recently released Conan game for the XBox 360 and expresses concerns about "franchise" or IP MMORPGs. Jon Wood
Questioning the Crutch 12/17/07 Community Blog Spotlight Over-powered skills and abilities in games are often referred to as "crutches". Today, Laura Genender takes a look at an MMORPG.com blog that brings the idea of "the crutch" into question. Laura Genender
MMOWTF Awards 12/14/07 MMOWTF Dan Fortier, being the rabble-rouser that he is, has opened the voting on his own awards to coincide with our Reader's Choice Awards. The MMOWTF Awards celebrate and glorify all that you, the MMOWTF readers, hated about 2007. Dan Fortier
Affluenza 12/13/07 Community Forum Spotlight Not to be confused with the viral influenzsa, affluena is actually "a state of extreme materialism which is the impetus for accumulating wealth and for overconsumption of goods; also, feelings of guilt and isolation from the dysfunctional pursuit of wealth and goods." In her Forum Spotlight, Laura Genender looks at a thread that tackles this interesting concept in how it relates to MMORPGs. Laura Genender
Waiting for Lich King? What to Do? 12/12/07 Joe's World... of Warcraft In Joe Iuliani's World of Warcraft column this week, he discusses the feeling of futility that he is feeling in waiting for the new WoW expansion, and offers some suggestions to players of things to do in the meantime. Joe Iuliani
PvP in MMOs: What Gamers Want 12/10/07 Community Blog Spotlight This week in her MMORPG.com Community Forum Spotlight column, Community Manager Laura Genender discusses a user blog involving PvP and what kinds of experiences players are looking for. Laura Genender
What's in a Name? 12/07/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG Columnist Dan Fortier uses his time this week to gripe about naming policies in MMOs. Dan Fortier
Assassin's Creed 12/04/07 Beyond the MMORPG In our Beyond the MMORPG column, we take a look at a game that doesn't fit into our genre and speculate about how that game could be used to positively influence our genre. This week ,Donna Desborough takes a peek at Assassin's Creed. Donna Desborough
Mob Mentality 11/30/07 MMOWTF In this week's MMOWTF, Dan Fortier tackles the issue of monster AI in MMORPGs. Fortier feels that monsters today just don't have the intelligence to pose a real challenge to human players. Dan Fortier
Journeys and Destinations 11/29/07 Community Forum Spotlight In this Community Forum Spotlight, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at whether or not the art of the journey is lost in today's mad scramble to hit max level. Laura Genender
Three Years 11/28/07 Joe's World... of Warcraft In this edition of his bi-weekly column, MMORPG.com Staff Writer Joe Iuliani takes a look back at the last three years of World of Warcraft, including some of the changes and its influence on pop culture. Joe Iuliani
Public Raids 11/26/07 Community Blog Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender takes some time this week to talk about the broader application of the WAR public quest system and whether or not, as a user blog suggests, it could be the basis of a game rather than as an additional feature. Laura Genender
Pre-Order Syndrome 11/23/07 MMOWTF This week in his MMOWTF column, Dan Fortier takes on the subject of pre-orders and whether or not we should be paying for them. Dan Fortier
Do Game Companies Charge for Beta? 11/23/07 Community Forum Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender take a look at an MMORPG.com forum thread that asks the question: "Why do MMO companies think they can charge monthly for a beta game?" Laura Genender
Rise of Kunark 11/22/07 All Around Norrath In her weekly All Around Kunark column, Adele Caelia interviews players of EverQuest II in-game to find out their opinions on a variety of subjects. Today, it's the Rise of Kunark expansion. Adele Caelia
Patch 2.3 11/14/07 Joe's World... of Warcraft IN this World of Warcraft column this week, Jo Iuliani takes a quick look at patch 2.3 and gives his impressions. Joe Iuliani
We're All Orcs? 11/12/07 Community Blog Spotlight In this week's Community Blog Spotlight, Laura Genender takes a look at a blog that asks what ever happened to feeling special and different in an MMORPG? Laura Genender
City of Heroes Sale and Age of Conan 11/10/07 Editor's Weekly Round-Up In his second weekly round-up, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood gives his opinion on some of the issues from the last week, namely the sale of City of Heroes and the recent announcement that a character from Age of Conan will make an appearance in Playboy magazine. Jon Wood
Expansions 11/09/07 MMOWTF This week in his MMOWTF column, Staff Writer Dan Foriter tackles the subject of expansions to popular MMORPGs. Dan Fortier
The Future of MMOs 11/08/07 Community Forum Spotlight This week in her Forum Spotlight column, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at a thread that suggests that MMOs are dying. Laura Genender
All Around Norrath: Kunark Expansion 11/07/07 EverQuest II In her bi-weekly All Around Norrath column, Adele Caelia travels the world of EQII to speak with the players about the game. This week she asks them: “What are your hopes and expectations for the upcoming expansion Rise of Kunark?” Adele Caelia
Blogging on Tabula Rasa 11/05/07 Community Blog Spotlight Continuing today's Tabula Rasa theme, Laura Genender shines her Community Spotlight on MMORPG.com user Chryses and his recent blog entry about his personal experiences playing TR. Laura Genender
WAR, TR and EVE 11/03/07 Editor's Week in Review In this new column, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood sums up his thoughts on some of the happenings around the world of MMOs in the past week. This week, he talks about Warhammer Online's release date being pushed back, Tabula Rasa and EVE Online. Jon Wood
Horror 11/02/07 MMOWTF This week, Dan Fortier waxes poetic about bringing a truly scary MMORPG to the market and what that might entail from developers and players alike. Dan Fortier
Guilding 10/31/07 Joe's World... of Warcraft Today, Joe Iuliani focuses his WoW spotlight on using guilds in WoW. Joe Iuliani
Starting Over in WoW 10/29/07 Community Blog Spotlight Laura Genender returns with a new Community Blog Spotlight this week, highlighting Ceejay9's blog that details that user's experiences "starting over" in World of Warcraft. Laura Genender
Mature Ratings 10/26/07 MMOWTF In this week's MMOWTF column, Dan Fortier takes on the ESRB's "Mature" rating and suggests that there is very little mature about an M-rated game. Dan Fortier
What's in the News? 10/25/07 Community Spotlight Managing Editor Jon Wood fills in for the Community Spotlight today, taking a look at two of the hottest topics on our boards, the indefinite hold of Gods & Heroes and the rumored confirmation that BioWare's new MMO will be based on the Knights of the Old Republic franchise. Jon Wood
All Around Norrath - Remember When? 10/24/07 EverQuest II Today, we kick off a new column as Adele Caelia travels the world of Norrath in EverQuest II, talking to players about their experiences. Today, she talks to folks about their fondest EQII memories, and shares some of her own. Adele Caelia
Neverwinter Nights: What's in it for MMOs? 10/23/07 Beyond the MMORPG This week in Beyond the MMORPG, Dan Fortier steps out of his usual mud-slinging role to talk about Neverwinter Nights and elements from that game that could be of use in the modern MMO. Dan Fortier
Competitive PvE? 10/22/07 Community Blog Spotlight In this week's Community Blog Spotlight, Community Manager Laura Genender highlights two blogs with opposing viewpoints about PvE and the competitive nature of MMOs. Laura Genender
Happy Games Make Me Want to Kill 10/19/07 MMOWTF In this short-but-sweet edition of MMOWTF, Dan Fortier takes a swing at what he calls "kiddie MMOs", friendship meters, decorating contests and the like. Dan Fortier
Something for Everyone? 10/18/07 Community Forum Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender looks at the idea of trying to please everyone in MMO design as she examines a forum thread on the subject. Laura Genender
What MMOs Might Learn from Resident Evil 4 10/17/07 Beyond the MMORPG Today in his Beyond the MMORPG column, Managing Editor Jon Wood discusses Resident Evil 4, and suggests some of the ways that MMOs might capture that game's feeling of suspense. Jon Wood
Keeping the Wow in WoW: Trapped in Outland 10/16/07 Joe's World... of Warcraft This week, Joe Iuliani sets his sights on on ways that Blizzard can get level 70 players back into their home areas. Joe Iuliani
Costumes, Names, and More! 10/15/07 Community Blog Spotlight This week, Community Manager Laura Genender uses her spotlight to talk about MMORPG.com user wan7830's blog that takes an interesting look at everything from costumes to names. Laura Genender
The “Solo Content” Debate 10/11/07 Community Forum Spotlight This week, Community Manager Laura Genender trawls the forums and comes out with a thread that focuses on solo play in MMORPGs. Laura Genender
Joe's World... of Warcraft: Keeping the Wow in WoW: Seasonal Questing 10/10/07 World of Warcraft Each week, MMORPG.com writer Joe Iuliani gives us his thoughts on what's going on in WoW. Recently, he's been examining some of the things that keep players entertained in-game even after years of playing. This week, he looks at seasonal questing. Joe Iuliani
Pirates of the Burning Sea: A Guided Tour 10/09/07 Pirates of the Burning Sea Community Manager, Laura Genender was in San Francisco recently, to attend Sony Online Entertainment's "Step Into Fall" event where she had the chance to take a guided tour of Pirates of the Burning Sea. Laura Genender
Restless Finger Syndrome 10/08/07 Community Blog Spotlight Each week, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at one of the MMORPG.com blogs. This week, she looks as a mock-ad about Restless Finger Syndrome. Laura Genender
Joe's World... of Warcraft: Keeping the WOW in WoW 10/03/07 World of Warcraft This week, in his World of Warcraft editorial, Joe Iuliani poses the question: What keeps players interested in playing WoW and what draws new players to a game where so many people have already reached max level? Joe Iuliani
Hitman: Blood Money 10/02/07 Beyond the MMORPG This week, Dan Fortier of MMOWTF fame takes the wheel on this just-for-fun column that takes a look at games that we wouldn't normally cover here at MMORPG.com. Dan's topic of choice? Hitman: Blood Money for the PC. Dan Fortier
Innovation in the Mainstream 10/01/07 Community Blog Spotlight This week, MMORPG.com's Community Manager, Laura Genender, takes a look at a blog that discusses innovation in MMORPGs. Laura Genender
What’s the Score? Music in MMOs 09/28/07 MMOWTF MMORPG.com's own Dan Fortier uses his weekly column to discuss music in MMORPGs. Dan Fortier
Game Mechanic Gripes 09/27/07 Community Blog Spotlight Each week, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at a thread in our forums. This week, she's found one dealing with the most despised game mechanics in MMOs. Laura Genender
Joe's World (of Warcraft) - Shattrath 09/26/07 World of Warcraft MMORPG.com Staff Writer Joe Iuliani has been playing Blizzard's World of Warcraft since Beta. Today, we kick off a new weekly column focusing on all aspects of the game's past, present and future. In this edition, Joe talks about Shattrath. Joe Iuliani
Guitar Hero 2 09/25/07 Beyond the MMORPG This week in Beyond the MMORPG, Jon Wood takes a look at Guitar Hero 2, a simple game that offers great challenges. Jon Wood
Character Customization 09/24/07 Community Blog Spotlight In this week's Blog Spotlight, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at a blog that focuses on how people customize their characters in MMORPGs. Laura Genender
One Shot Wonders: The Art of Stealth 09/21/07 MMOWTF This week, Dan Fortier takes a hard look at stealth in MMORPGs in the most recent incarnation of his weekly column, MMOWTF. Dan Fortier
Why Game? 09/20/07 Community Forum Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender explores the motivations behind MMORPG play in her most recent Community Forum Spotlight. Laura Genender
Battlefield 2142 09/18/07 Beyond the MMORPG Today, MMORPG.com debuts a new column that will see our writers give their opinions on some of the games that don't fit into the MMORPG genre. In this week's column, Jon Wood talks a little bit about Battlefield 2142 and the franchise behind it. Jon Wood
Card Games 09/17/07 Community Blog Spotlight Every Week, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at one or more of the entries being created in our MMORPG.com blogs. This week, she looks takes a look a blog that mulls over the idea of card games and MMORPGs. Laura Genender
The Rule of Simplicity 09/14/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG.com columnist Dan Fortier talks about the idea of difficulty in MMORPGs from what we have, to Perma-Death to a difficulty system. Dan Fortier
Flash Over Substance? 09/13/07 Community Forum Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at a forum post asking members whether they would prefer an eye-candy MMO with mediocre gameplay, or a game with out-dated graphics that was deep and well designed. The results may surprise you. Laura Genender
Alts 08/20/07 Community Blog Spotlight Every Week, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at one or more of the entries being created in our MMORPG.com blogs. This week, she looks takes a look at a member blog about playing alts in MMORPGs. Laura Genender
Infamy in MMOs 08/17/07 MMOWTF This week in his MMOWTF column Dan Fortier uses a piece of fiction to punctuate his views on playing an infamous outlaw character in an MMORPG. Dan Fortier
The Gender Question 08/16/07 Community Forum Spotlight In the past here at MMORPG.com, we have run editorials on how our writers feel about real life gender in gaming and whether or not it is a factor. Today, Community Manager Laura Genender looks at what our community thinks about the subject. Laura Genender
Social Interaction 08/13/07 Community Blog Spotlight Every Week, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at one or more of the entries being created in our MMORPG.com blogs. This week, she looks at Jimmy_Scythe's most recent entry, and discusses the social interaction in MMORPGs. Laura Genender
The Waiting Game 08/10/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG.com columnist Dan Fortier talks about what happens to MMORPG players when we're waiting for our next big game. Dan Fortier
Churn Baby Churn 08/09/07 Community Forum Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at a thread from our forums that discusses the churn of players in MMORPGs. Why do we move on from the games we play? Laura Genender
Guilds 08/06/07 Community Blog Spotlight Every Week, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at one or more of the entries being created in our MMORPG.com blogs. This week, she looks at Bardoc's recent entry about the treatment of new players in guilds. Laura Genender
How Do You Like Your PvP? 08/03/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG.com columnist Dan Fortier takes a look a subject near and dear to his heart... PvP. Dan Fortier
Dungeon Masters, Anyone? 07/30/07 Community Blog Spotlight Every Week, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at one or more of the entries being created in our MMORPG.com blogs. This week, she looks at Jesad's blog entry about the Dungeon master's role in pen and paper gaming and how that relates to MMORPGs. Laura Genender
To Twitch or not to Twitch 07/27/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG.com columnist Dan Fortier takes a look at the idea of using twitch-based combat in an MMORPG. Dan Fortier
Insect MMO? 07/26/07 Community Forum Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at a thread from our forums that discusses the idea of an insect MMORPG, and the idea that the setting doesn't matter, it's features that are key. Laura Genender
Controls! 07/23/07 Community Blog Spotlight Every Week, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at one or more of the entries being created in our MMORPG.com blogs. This week, she looks at Jimmy_Scythe's blog on controls and more! Laura Genender
Giv Beta Plz: A Look At Testing 07/20/07 MMOWTF This week, columnist Dan Fortier returns to talk about the meaning of beta testing. Dan Fortier
Instancing 07/18/07 Community Forum Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at a thread from our forums that discusses instancing in MMORPGs. Laura Genender
Trash Talking and More! 07/16/07 Community Blog Spotlight Every Week, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at one or more of the entries being created in our MMORPG.com blogs. This week, she looks at GMTristan's blog entry about trash talking in MMORPGs. Laura Genender
Flair Follows Function 07/13/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG.com columnist Dan Fortier tackles the subject of complexity in MMORPGs and how flashy new features can sometimes be a hindrance to a smooth game. Dan Fortier
Blog as Design Document 07/09/07 Community Blog Spotlight Every Week, Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at one or more of the entries being created in our MMORPG.com blogs. This week, she looks at someone who is using the blog system to create an interesting MMORPG design document. Laura Genender
Gold Farmers? Oh Noes! 07/06/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG.com columnist Dan Fortier muses on the subject of Gold Farming and MMORPGs. Dan Fortier
Speed Leveling 07/04/07 Community Forum Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at what is being said on our forums about feeling pressure to level quickly in MMOs. Laura Genender
I Have Dream 07/02/07 Community Blog Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at a blog from MMORPG.com user Vajuras, discussing “Appealing to the Hardcore PvP Crowd” and "Player Run Universes". Laura Genender
The Console MMO Apocalypse 06/29/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG.com columnist Dan Fortier muses on the subject of MMORPGs for the next-gen consoles. Dan Fortier
Death Penalties 06/28/07 Community Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at what is being said on our forums about Death Penalties in MMORPGs. Laura Genender
From Sandbox to Linear and Back 06/22/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG.com columnist Dan Fortier talks about getting a balanced diet of both freeform sandbox-style games and linear progression games. Dan Fortier
PvP, Raids and Endgame 06/20/07 Community Spotlight Community Manager Laura Genender takes a look at one of our new User Blogs that deals with the idea of PvP and raids as endgame for MMORPGs. Laura Genender
Nerfronomicon 06/15/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG.com columnist Dan Fortier uses this week's edition of MMOWTF to talk about Nerfing in MMORPGs. Dan Fortier
An Interview with Randy Beuhler 06/11/07 Outside the Box Jon Wood recently spoke to Randy Randy Buehler from the Dpeartment of Digital Games at Wizards of the Coast. The two talked about the upcoming "Gleemax" website that WotC is releasing. Jon Wood
Going Solo: The Grouping Dilemma 06/08/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG.com columnist Dan Fortier shares his own personal opinions on solo play versus group play. Dan Fortier
Blog Introduction 06/06/07 Community Spotlight Today, MMORPG.com launched our new Blog feature. In this week's Community Spotlight, Managing Editor Jon Wood gives us a short introduction to the new system. Jon Wood
Don't Fear The Reaper? Maybe You Should. 05/25/07 MMOWTF Weekly MMORPG.com columnist Dan Fortier tackles the question of whether or not we should really have something to lose from death in MMOs. Dan Fortier
What's in a Genre? 05/21/07 Community Spotlight This week, in a new Community Spotlight, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood addresses a thread from our forums and tackles the question on genre in MMORPGs and Fantasy's place at the top of the mountain. Jon Wood
Where's the Wanderlust? 05/18/07 MMOWTF This week, in his most recent MMOWTF column, Staff Writer Dan Fortier tackles the idea of dynamic content and true MMORPG exploration. Dan Fortier
How to Kill a Giant 05/15/07 Mayson's Musings In this edition of his column, Keith "Mayson" Sarasin takes a look at how PvP could be used to try to kill the giant that is World of Warcraft with its 8 million subscriber base. Keith Sarasin
The Tedium of Being Evil 05/01/07 MMOWTF This week, Dan Fortier muses about the idea of playing a genuinely evil character in an MMORPG. Dan Fortier
The Future is Mod 04/27/07 MMOWTF Dan Fortier returns this week for a special Friday edition of MMOWTF. This time around, Dan tackles the idea of player created mods and the possibilities for MMORPG gaming. Dan Fortier
Guilds 04/17/07 Outside the Box News Editor Garrett Fuller pens this most recent edition of his column, Outside the Box. Today, Garrett discusses the use of guilds in MMORPGs.
Linear Systems 04/16/07 MMOWTF This week, Dan Fortier takes a look at linear systems as a trend in MMORPGs. Dan Fortier
Lowering the Bar 04/12/07 Casual Play This week, Casual Play's Steve Wilson talks about the idea of certain games "lowering the bar" for what we expect from an MMORPG. Steve Wilson
End Game Content 04/10/07 Outside the Box This week, Garrett Fuller returns with his Outside the Box column discussing the use of end game content in MMORGPs.
The Extinction of the Nerd? 04/09/07 MMOWTF This week, Dan Fortier waxes philospohical about the extinction of the "nerd" as he / she has always been known. Dan Fortier
Casual PvP Still Has Some Kinks 04/05/07 Casual Play Staff Writer Steve Wilson returns with his Casual Play column. This week, he looks at PvP for the casual player. Steve Wilson
Dreamlords Internet Management System 04/03/07 Outside the Box This week in his Outside the Box column, News Editor Garrett Fuller takes a look at the out-of-game online component of the MMORPG, Dreamlords.
Dark Ages in the Ultima World of LameQuest 04/02/07 MMOWTF This week, Dan Fortier takes an April Fool's walk on the wild side as he presents his weekly MMOWTF column, this week titled: Dark Ages in the Ultima World of LameQuest. Dan Fortier
MMOs Could Learn A Lesson From GTA 03/29/07 Casual Play Steve Wilson returns this week with his Casual Play column. Today, he tackles the successes of Grand Theft Auto, and looks at what the MMO industry could have learned from that hit game.