Editor's Comments: Today, Mac and I go head-to-head in a battle royale to see which form of multiplayer gaming is the best. Who will win, the massively multiplayer RPGs? Or will it be the smaller, peer-based multiplayer games? We'll let you, the reader, decide.

Editor's Comments: What exactly makes a game bomb? Is it lack of sales, poor quality, or...did they even bomb at all? Bryan analyzes the data surrounding whether or not the games YOU think actually bombed.

Editor's Comments: As a sort of follow-up to his previous editorial on random levelling, Derek contemplates the need for random bonuses gained during level up, and whether or not present gaming needs it.

Editor's Comments: Clichés are everywhere in gaming today, and they will continue to populate games of the future. However, sometimes designers need to put a little more thought into their implementation.

Editor's Comments: As RPGs have progressed, villains have become more complex. No longer are they raving madmen bent on destruction with no purpose behind it, they are fully-developed personalities.

Yarr. Here be editorials.

As has been the case in recent days, I have to go ahead and use this space to emphasize the point that Guild Wars: Factions is awesome. In fact, writing this update is seriously destroying my playing time. Well, ok, the studying for exams this week is doing that too, but that's totally beside the point! I can cold turkey Guild Wars for...a...few...NOOO!

*Loads Guild Wars*

Oops. Well, Gamer-Countergamer is back today, as Mac and I take on opposite sides of multiplayer gaming. I take the side of peer-based multiplayer, and Mac stands up for the MMORPGamers.

We also managed to snare some fan editorialists - John Boske and Nick Colucci! John discusses the clichés that are abundant in games today and how developers should address them, and Nick provides insight into the world of villains and antagonists and how their roles in RPGs have changed over time. Also, congratulations to John on reaching Gold! On the staff side of things, Bryan reaches Copper status with his fourth editorial where he points out that he is fed up with people wrongly accusing games of 'bombing.' Lastly, Derek adds an addendum to his previous editorial, this time analyzing the random bonuses that are acquired through leveling.

Well, that's it for now, I'm off to study for my exams. Enjoy your reading!

Josh Martz
Editor@RPGamer.com