the game archaeologist

Justin Olivetti is Massively Overpowered’s resident Game Archaeologist; he never lets a good old game stay buried. [Follow this column’s RSS feed]

The Game Archaeologist: Lifestorm, Japan’s first MMORPG

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In comparison to how widely that China and Korea's game development studios embraced MMORPGs right from the beginning, Japan's been curiously low-key in creating...

The Game Archaeologist: The ballad of Fansy, EverQuest’s famous bard

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It was summer, 2001. EverQuest had just rolled out Sullon Zek, a no-rules "penal colony" server where the realm was as lawless as the...

The Game Archaeologist: The online world of Diablo II

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Most of us probably weren't expecting to see Diablo II once again propelled into the spotlight in the year 2021, but the BlizzCon announcement...

The Game Archaeologist: EA’s Motor City Online

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When we use the shorthand "MMO" for online games, it's always assumed that we're talking about swords-and-sorcery or sci-fi RPGs. However, the massively multiplayer...

The Game Archaeologist: Lost Continents, the Jules Verne MMO we never got

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If you're looking for an alternate vision of futuristic science fiction, you would do well to dive back into the worlds of 19th century...

The Game Archaeologist: Free Realms

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Its very name was a declaration of rebellion against the status quo. In an era that had yet to shift from a subscription-only model...

The Game Archaeologist: Seven ways EverQuest reshaped MMO history

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To many veteran MMO players, the opening horns of EverQuest's score are enough to trigger vivid memories, violent hallucinations, and an unstoppable desire to...

The Game Archaeologist’s ultimate MMO archives v4.0

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By far, my favorite column to write here at Massively OP (and the one that always takes the longest) is The Game Archaeologist. I've...

The Game Archaeologist: Fallen Earth

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I remember back when Fallen Earth first came out, I had some friends who were raving about it and doing everything in their power...

The Game Archaeologist: Deadlands Legends, the western MMO that never saw the light of day

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The saying goes that there is nothing new under the sun. So while you probably can't write an original setting that's never been seen...

The Game Archaeologist: The short ride of Auto Assault

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When you think of post-apocalyptic video games, what comes to mind? Most likely it's a crawl through a bombed-out or zombiefied landscape as you...

The Game Archaeologist: Mirrorworld

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In this column, we have previously journeyed to lands where you saw not with your eyes, but with your imagination. I speak, of course,...

The Game Archaeologist: Flagship’s Mythos

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Whenever the topic of Flagship Studios comes up, usually it's in conjunction with Hellgate: London. And while Hellgate certainly was a huge and ultimately...

The Game Archaeologist: Clone Wars Adventures, the Star Wars MMO everyone kinda forgot

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Whenever the topic -- the argument -- of Star Wars MMOs arises, the debate is usually between the merits of the sandboxy Star Wars...

The Game Archaeologist: World War II Online

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The 1990s saw the rise of flight simulators that thrived on detailed, complicated controls and handling. Such games threw out accessibility and casual-friendliness for...

The Game Archaeologist: When World of Warcraft opened Ahn’Qiraj’s gates

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This past month, Blizzard has been testing what might well be the milestone moment for World of Warcraft Classic: The Ahn'Qiraj gates event. In...

The Game Archaeologist: The virtual worlds of the 1990s

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With the increased speeds of modems and the move into 3-D space in the 1990s, some game designers thought it was a logical conclusion...

The Game Archaeologist: Were sequels ever a good idea for MMOs?

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From movies to books to video games, sequels (and all related spin-offs) are a common sight when a property is sufficiently successful enough. Even...

The Game Archaeologist: McDonalds’ McWorld MMO is a thing that existed

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If you thought that it was strange for MTV to create its own virtual world, then you probably are forgetting how desperate companies always...

The Game Archaeologist: The rise and fall of Landmark and EverQuest Next

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The year was 2013. Sony Online Entertainment was still a functioning and seemingly robust MMORPG studio, and its yearly SOE Live convention was a...

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