I’ve seen a lot of desperate requests in my day in which players are asking for games outside of the normal sphere of popularity and MMO mainstream (such as it is). We all know what the big games are, the ones that get the lion’s share of the publicity, press, and popularity. But all of that attention can easily blind us to those titles that are quite good if not as well-known, and I believe it’s those MMOs that many players are seeking when looking for an alternative to the games they’ve been playing for years. So today we’re going to explore a list my top 10 recommendations for “obscure” MMOs. These are games that might not be on the tips of everyone’s tongues but have earned a solid reputation in some way and might offer a different experience than the same-old that you’re used to seeing. For this list I’m mostly sticking with released or playable titles that have good word-of-mouth behind them, are still in … [Read more...] about Perfect Ten: Top 10 obscure MMORPGs
Top text based games
The Game Archaeologist: The Island of Kesmai
It was the mid-’80s, and I was just a kid in love with his family’s IBM PC. Not having a wealth of capital at the time, I relied on hand-me-down copies of software that rolled in from friends and family and probably the Cyber-Mafia. Practically none of the disks came with instructions (or even labels, sometimes), and as such I felt like an explorer uncovering hidden gems as I shoved in 5 1/4″ floppy after 5 1/4″ floppy. Some titles were great fun, some were so obtuse I couldn’t get into them, and some were obviously meant for those older and wiser than I. One game that fell into the latter category was a brutally difficult RPG that smelt of Dungeons & Dragons — a forbidden experience for me at the time. It was just a field of ASCII characters, jumbled statistics, and instant death awaiting me around every corner. I gave it a few tries but could never progress past the first level, especially when I’d keep running out of arrows, so I gave … [Read more...] about The Game Archaeologist: The Island of Kesmai
15 Gaming Influences
Gaming Influences A few days ago one of my friends that works in the games industry was talking about a thing that had been circulating around his studio. The idea was for each of the folks to create a list of the fifteen games that most influenced them, or taunt them something new that games could do. While this is a really helpful exercise in the gaming industry I am sure, I figured it would also be pretty fun to do as a lifelong gamer and gaming blogger. The thing I was not realizing while going into it… was just how hard it would be to pair things down to a list of fifteen games. There are so many titles I wanted to include, but I had to come up with a hard rationale for each and every one on the list. So there will be titles that are conspicuously absent, and others that I have included that you wouldn’t think of. However the final list includes titles that I learned some lesson from along the way. Gauntlet (1985) I grew up … [Read more...] about 15 Gaming Influences
GDC 2018: Ready Player One Now, billion person gaming, and mitigating abuse
It’s no surprise that Ready Player One was constantly being referenced at GDC 2018, especially in VR, AR, and MMO panels. It’s not just because of the movie’s release but because the tech involved is seeing a surge of interest. That doesn’t mean we’re on the cusp, in my opinion, but it may be a thing we should start talking about. And talking about it we did. As Bill Roper of Improbable and SpatialOS recently told me, “The next generation of online games isn’t going to behave like current-generation MMOs. […] We don’t know what a billion-person game might look like, but it’s likely to include a wide variety of playstyles, to reflect the diversity of its playerbase.” Even if you’re a cynic and don’t think SpatialOS will play any part of this future, Roper’s very much on the mark: Billion-person gaming isn’t going to be like our current MMOs. Roper moderated a panel on the topic, … [Read more...] about GDC 2018: Ready Player One Now, billion person gaming, and mitigating abuse
Top 10 Real Online Jobs For Earning Quick Money
We all want to make money blogging but the only factor that is stopping most people to start a blog is the failure rate. Did you know upwards 90% of bloggers never make even $100 from their blogs? Blogs will never make any money, but businesses do. So if you can’t build a product and use your blogs as a promotional tool you can never make a passive income from online businesses. Finding real online jobs isn’t easy especially in this crowded online. But what if you can make money without a blog? There are thousands of real online jobs available to make some quick money. Are you frustrated with money making scam websites? Are you looking for extra money by doing easy and real online jobs? Are you a college student wanting to make money online in spare time? If yes, this article is definitely for you where I’ll be discussing few real online jobs for making some quick money online. Most college students are willing to work online to earn some money in their free time … [Read more...] about Top 10 Real Online Jobs For Earning Quick Money