the soapbox

The Soapbox is home to our staff’s wild opinions on MMORPG topics near and dear to us. [Follow this column’s RSS feed]

The Soapbox: Casuals and soloers need challenging MMO content too

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In a recent press Q&A around the announcement of Elder Scrolls Online's Gold Road chapter, Zenimax creative director Rich Lambert appeared to dismiss the...

The Soapbox: Hearthstone is probably in for another boring year in 2024

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I recently got a survey in my email on Hearthstone and its future. The last time a Hearthstone survey got sent out, the idea...
treasure hunting is one step from lockboxes

The Soapbox: The ‘problem’ with MMO hoarding

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I remember a number of years ago, in an article for a game I can't recall, an MMO developer discussed how an early build...

The Soapbox: In defence of World of Warcraft Cataclysm

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When Blizzard announced Cataclysm Classic servers for World of Warcraft, there was some bemusement in the broader MMORPG community. Cataclysm has always been controversial,...

Some Assembly Required: Grand Theft Online roleplay is a tough nut to crack

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A few months ago, I discovered the world of Red Dead Online roleplay. The possibility of interacting with other players and discovering mechanics in...

The Soapbox: Will Diablo IV’s Vessel of Hatred be a sufficient answer for Path of Exile 2?

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Everyone loves a good enrage timer, right? It puts pressure on everyone involved in a raid or boss fight to pull their weight and...

The Soapbox: The real cost of breaking trust with gamers

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There's a quote going around these days in gaming spheres about trust being like a broken vase that can be fixed but will never...

The Soapbox: How Vanguard’s diplomacy system could be revived and improved

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Once upon a time there was an MMORPG called Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. It wasn't the most popular MMO, but it did cultivate a...

The Soapbox: Why Cryptic’s MMOs are the epitome of comfort gaming

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They say you never forget your first kiss. I honestly can't recall much about mine, but I do vividly remember the day that I...

The Soapbox: The day my son lost his first online video game to a sunset

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It was a few weeks back that I walked into our family room and saw my 14-year-old son crouched over the iPad with a...

The Soapbox: Why The Secret World really failed

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We're back with part two of my long-overdue post-mortem of The Secret World, my favourite MMORPG of all time. In the first part I...

The Soapbox: A belated The Secret World post-mortem

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This weeks marks the eleventh anniversary of the launch of The Secret World. While the game is still playable (for those with existing accounts),...

The Soapbox: Raiding isn’t the problem with World of Warcraft

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It is by now clear that World of Warcraft's Dragonflight expansion hasn't exactly set the world on fire. This has set off another round...

The Soapbox: MMO housing is so much more than a frivolous feature

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When The Sims launched in 2000, what seemed like a dull and laughable concept on paper proved to be one of the most compelling...

The Soapbox: Hating on the competition is no way to promote an MMO

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Recently, RIFT was back in the news, offering free subscription time to new and returning players. While I salute Gamigo's generosity here, whenever the topic...
It's all the money we don't have!

The Soapbox: Subscriptions might actually be the next big innovation in digital card games

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What started earlier this week as a rant on how bad an idea a subscription model in Hearthstone would be evolved into something more:...
Darn it.

The Soapbox: Comparing the monetization of physical and digital card games

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Earlier this week, we reported on the recent Blizzard survey about a possible Hearthstone sub. When I read the news, I almost choked on...
E G G

The Soapbox: Why diversifying your MMO gaming is the smart thing to do

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Allow me to indulge in some retrospection for a moment as I sit back on my rocker, squint into the fading afternoon light, and...

The Soapbox: WoW’s talent trees don’t deserve your nostalgia

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As World of Warcraft's Dragonflight expansion marches into alpha testing, we're getting more glimpses at its new/old talent system, which harkens back to the...

The Soapbox: Fallout 76 absolutely needs better social tools to thrive

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Unpopular opinion time: I have to say that Fallout 76... is kind of a great game right now. I know that the launch and...

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