Articles Index
Foldit: Solving Puzzles for Science
An overview of Foldit, a puzzle game that lets you fold proteins to help scientists gain a better understanding of certain diseases and potential treatments for them.
TERA Online Beta Impressions
These are my beta impressions of TERA, a MMORPG from En Masse Entertainment and Bluehole Studios.
WoW: Transmogrification Basics
World of Warcraft players can swap the appearances of items to attain a look that better suits their preferences. This is an introduction to the transmogrification feature that makes it all possible.
Story in Games: Does It Matter?
A good story can compliment gameplay, but a lot of people skip past narrative and lore as quickly as possible. These are my thoughts on the role of story in games.
Buying a Keyboard for Gaming
The keyboard is a vital part of any PC gaming system and options for gamers have grown rapidly over the years. Here are some things to consider if you're looking to buy a keyboard for gaming.
GW2, Microtransactions, and Fairness
Microtransactions account for a rapidly growing piece of the game revenue pie. Are there fair ways to implement F2P revenue models, or does this approach lead inevitably to people paying to win?
MMORPGs: Solo vs. Group
Although grouping with other players has long been a central to gameplay in MMORPGs, current titles tend to leave ample room for soloing, especially until you reach the level cap. Should there be a greater emphasis on group content in these games?
The Secret World Primer
Funcom's new MMORPG The Secret World is due to arrive in the summer of 2012. Find out more about the game in this preview.
Social Games: The Clone Debate
Cloning other successful game ideas is standard proceedure for some companies in the social games industry. Given that game concepts aren't really subject to copyright laws, is there any recourse for developers that have had their ideas ripped-off?
Solid State Drive Basics
A solid state drive, or SSD, can improve boot times and make your games load faster. They've become much more affordable in recent years, and many gamers are now adding them to their desktop systems.
TERA Online Primer
TERA is a Korean-developed MMORPG that will arrive in North America and Europe in May of 2012. If you're not familiar with the game, this is an introduction to its core features.
Star Wars: The Old Republic Space Combat Basics
Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't just about light sabers, you can also go into battle in your spaceship. This introduction to space combat is intended to get you off to a good start.
MMORPGs: 4 Ways to Improve AI
Has the behavior of monsters in MMORPGs become too predictable? We look a few ways to make the AI in games a little a more dynamic, and make encounters with mobs less routine.
Diablo 3 Beta Impressions
Diablo 3 will arrive in 2012, and I've been frantically clicking my way through the closed beta. Here are my impressions of what I've seen of the game so far.
MMORPGs: The Travel Dilemma
The amount of in-game running around required from MMORPG players has been steadily reduced over the years with quick travel and various instant forms of transportation. These changes aren't to everyone's liking, so we examine some of the pros and cons of quick travel systems.
Crowdfunding and the Future of Game Publishing
Crowdsourcing and crowdfunding may change the way video games are developed and funding in the upcoming years. Here's a look at how the publishing model is being affected by these recent trends.
Tribes: Ascend Beta Impressions
It has been a long wait for an addition to the Tribes series, but Hi-Rez Studios is making it happen with Tribes: Ascend. These are my first impressions of the game after playing the closed beta test.
MMORPGs: Why So Few Sandboxes?
For the most part it would appear that themepark MMORPGs have won out over their sandbox brethren. Is it really over for big-budget sandbox worlds, or is it just that nobody has come up with secret sauce to make it work?
WoW: Mists of Pandaria Talent Overhaul
Mists of Pandaria will include big changes to World of Warcraft's Talent system. We take a look at the new system to see how it measures up.
Star Wars: The Old Republic Crafting Basics
Need a good combination of Crew Skills for your Star Wars: The Old Republic character? This is an introductory guide to the game's crafting and gathering system.
MMORPGs: The Difficulty Dilemma
Have MMORPGs become too easy in recent years? This week we discuss the connection between a game's difficulty and its popularity.
PlanetSide Retrospective
Countless people have fond memories of the truly massive engagements that PlanetSide introduced back in 2003, and they really haven't been surpassed in scale to this day. This is look back at the game, why it was so much fun, and why so many of us have moved on.
SWTOR Nexus Guild Leader Interview
Considering a switch from World of Warcraft to Star Wars: The Old Republic? We talk to leader of the Nexus guild about transitioning to SWTOR, and get their impressions of group content in Bioware's new MMORPG.
MMORPGs: Are Voice-Overs Now Mandatory?
Voiced-over dialogue has been a growing trend in MMORPGs for many years now, but Star Wars: The Old Republic went the extra mile by using voice-overs for all the game's quests. Will gamers be willing to go back to reading after this, or will every MMORPG be expected to have voice dialogue going forward?
Game Review Scores and Metacritic
We've all seen game review scores we don't agree with, and a lot of people have come to believe that reviews use scores to drive the average at Metacritic one way or the other. Are review scores still meaningful in this day and age?