The Soapbox is home to our staff’s wild opinions on MMORPG topics near and dear to us. [Follow this column’s RSS feed]
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The Soapbox: The joys of MMO collecting
I’ve often sat and pondered exactly what it is that I enjoy about the MMO experience. After all, being educated about your own likes...
The Soapbox: Feeling the loss of an MMO community
Back in 2012, I was almost a year deep into Lord of the Rings Online and enjoying my time both in the game and...
The Soapbox: Stubborn MMO players are sleeping on autoplay mechanics
Autoplay, huh. What is it good for? Absolutely something! I'll say it again: There is value in autoplay. It's got such a bad reputation...
The Soapbox: Powercreep in MMOs sucks – so how do we solve it?
We all love multiplayer, persistent world online games, don’t we? Players stay for the familiarity, nostalgia, and potential for years of enjoyment. Studios love...
The Soapbox: Where does WoW need to go beyond Shadowlands?
This expansion hype cycle, I've heard more about how to customize your character and less about raids than any other WoW expansion in recent memory, and I can't see that as anything other than good.
The Soapbox: PvP MMOs desperately need PvE-style feedback loops
As I settled into my captain's chair for my evening visit to World of Warships the other night, I had an interesting experience. In...
The Soapbox: The world of Gloomhaven is primed to be an MMO
Anyone familiar with modern board games will immediately recognize and likely have a positive opinion on Gloomhaven. It is an absolute juggernaut in the...
The Soapbox: No, forced grouping in MMOs isn’t ‘social’
Thinking back to high school, I'm awash in memories of the many deep, meaningful relationships that spawned as a result of being forced to...
The Soapbox: Yes, here
This guest Soapbox was commissioned through MassivelyOP's original Kickstarter back in 2015; the writer has chosen to remain anonymous. The opinions in guest Soapboxes...
The Soapbox: The sunsetted MMORPGs I miss the most
I'm pining for the fjords.
Not in the way that would assume I'm becoming some jaded and angry MMO fan; I'm never going to stop...
The Soapbox: Why does it feel like I don’t have time for an MMO when I really do?
This guest Soapbox was commissioned through MassivelyOP's Patreon program and is authored by Steve "Sray" Blouin, a name our longtime commenters will surely recognize...
The Soapbox: Cross-play, console exclusivity, and why companies won’t play nice
Let me tell you something: As the columnist who writes about Final Fantasy XIV I am so damn tired of hearing about crossplay. Seriously. Just so...
The Soapbox: There is no MMO that can fix a broken MMO community
We've heard again and again how the recently launched World of Warcraft: Classic was going to "fix" the MMO community by stripping away modern...
The Soapbox: No, the MMO genre is not dead – but it could use a little positivity
One of my favorite idioms is "dead as a doornail." It always reminds me of the time I got sent out of my 10th...
The Survivalist Soapbox: Astroneer’s moon landing update is a time-limited online event done right
I could definitely write a Why I Play on Astroneer (and maybe I still will!) because there are so many reasons this game just...
The Soapbox: The counterproductiveness of limited-time content in online games
While thoroughly enjoying playing Astroneer's special event in honor of Apollo 11's moon landing 50th anniversary that's happening now through August 31st, I was...
The Soapbox: Hoping for Amazon to succeed where Lord of the Rings Online failed
It's not often I really get excited about an upcoming MMORPG. Partly this is because of the industry slowing down, and partly this is...
The Soapbox: A pre-mortem for Star Wars The Old Republic, a game that never knew what it had
Would you believe that Star Wars: The Old Republic is shutting down? I'm going to bet that you could believe it, and I'm even going to bet...
The Soapbox: I have a bad feeling about Anthem
As I watched Nick Tarabay stand on stage hype up the audience in the Main Theater for PAX West 2018, I thought it was...
The Soapbox: The western port of Bless Online feels like a curse
To say that the development of Neowiz’s high-fantasy MMO Bless has been somewhat beleaguered would be an understatement. Since the Korean import’s Western release...