Battle Bards Episode 197: A royal affair
Bow to your king and queens of MMO music royalty, for the Battle Bards have donned the crown, taking up the majestic scepter, and issued a proclamation that all sorts of royal music must be heard through the land! Battle Bards is the world's first, best, and only MMO music podcast. Biweekly episodes alternate between examining […]
The MOP Up: World War II Online divides into two battle fronts
Even as World War II Online (aka Battleground Europe) kicked off its 183rd campaign this past week, the studio is running a spin-off game through its early access paces. Called WWII Online Chokepoint, this "represents the future of WWII Online in the form of a standalone game. With an all-new team at CRS working on it […]
Final Fantasy XIV aims to vex you with its Gold Saucer event
Whether you're part of the parade of new people coming into Final Fantasy XIV these days or an experienced player who is twiddling thumbs waiting for Endwalker to arrive, it never hurts to have something extra to do during the summer months. To spice up the already electric atmosphere of the MMO, Square Enix is […]
The Stream Team: Checking out the ninth anniversary hubbub in Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis
It's time to party like it's… whatever year it is in Halpha! It's been nine years since Phantasy Star Online 2 arrived to the west, and MOP's Chris is keen to check out a little bit of the celebratory goings-on in New Genesis. Tune in today at 12:00 p.m. EDT for some anniversary event fun! […]
PAX East 2021: MMO community building – on a budget
Any community managers or indie devs in the audience? This year at PAX East 2021, a few well-known community managers – Linda "Brasse" Carlson of SOE/Trion fame, Margaret Krohn of SOE and Ashes of Creation fame, plus Stephen DuCrest from GREE and Skycrest Games – participated in a discussion described at building communities on a shoestring budget. […]
One Shots: A back warmer for cramps
When you're rocking some bad back pain or a spite of cramps, it certainly helps to have something warm to rest against. Loosens up the muscles, you know. I mean, you could go with an electric heating pad or a hot water bottle, but if you've got a friendly dragon-griffon at the ready, nothing is […]
The Daily Grind: What routine tasks do you frequently forget in MMOs?
If you never played it back in the day, Final Fantasy XI was often a game of chores. Did you remember to get food? Did you bring your prism powder and silent oil? Did you get your spells for your next couple level-ups? Of course you didn't. Of course someone in your leveling party forgot […]
TennoCon 2021: Waframe introduces cross-platform play, shows off mobile
For five TennoCons, Warframe players have asked about cross-platform play. They want it. They need it. Well, it turns out the sixth time's the charm! The first big reveal during TennoCon 2021's TennoLive Broadcast was a double whammy, showing off not only a live demonstration of Warframe on mobile but also cross-platform play. So which […]
Ubisoft faces sexual harassment lawsuit from French game workers union
Ubisoft's uncovered problem with widespread sexual harassment is (rightfully) not a finished matter. The Solidaires Informatique, a French game workers union, has officially filed a lawsuit against Ubisoft, representing victims of the 2021 scandal and accusing several members of management, CEO Yves Guillemot, and the company as a whole of fostering "institutional sexual harassment." The […]
Elite Dangerous attempts to explain its balancing act between sharing details and communicating too much
A common refrain among players of Elite: Dangerous is that developer Frontier Developments isn't communicative enough – a pain point that the studio says it's attempting to address. However, the communication that has been provided to this point is apparently not good enough for some, which has drawn forth a lot of discussion on the […]
PvP sandbox Fractured is blindsided by 'rampant' player killing in alpha tests
With a growing studio and another major alpha test on the horizon, Fractured is taking things to the next level in 2021. Level 2, to be precise. You get some new skills, a bump in stats, and a hat that earns you a free mug of ale in any tavern you visit. In any case, […]
LOTRO Legendarium: What returning to LOTRO feels like
I don't think that I have ever rage-quit Lord of the Rings Online, but I certainly have put it down often enough. That's pretty typical for any player who's been engaged with a decade-and-a-half-old MMORPG. Sometimes I enjoy a good run of a year or more of consecutive play; sometimes my stints are barely a […]
Crowfall quietly adjusts its API to prevent bots from reporting player numbers
Yesterday saw Crowfall put out a tiny patch that didn't really do much on its face beyond changing a resource respawn and preventing some graphics adjustment settings from being changed in certain situations. That alone wouldn't really be newsworthy except for the feature that the patch notes don't detail: a stealthy change to the game's […]
WRUP: Horse mage sampler edition
Level 1: Horse Bolt: Fire a bolt of concentrated horse from your horse wand to deal between 15-38 horse elemental damage. This damage increases as you level and is affected by horse resistance. Level 15: Horse Heal: Use your horse wand to fill your target with the energy of horses, healing the target for 65-97 […]
The Daily Grind: What's the most useful MMO tidbit you've learned recently?
No matter how long I've spent playing an MMORPG, there seems to be no end to the new things I can learn about any particular game. The other day I discovered (to my dismay) that there was no apparent way to toggle my character's vitals above my character's head in Lord of the Rings Online, […]
Betawatch: Elyon is planning its next closed beta with an early fall launch
It seems as if it's taken forever for Elyon to really make much movement over here in the west, but don't worry: It's happening. See, the next round of beta signups and preorders are rolling around on July 26th, and there are plans for a full release in early fall! It's actually happening! And what […]
MapleStory provides a preview for the upcoming Neo: Light's Wrath update for July 21
Good news for MapleStory fans, you'll be able to hang out with Seren some more in the upcoming Neo: Light's Wrath update scheduled for July 21st. Somewhat worse news, however, is the fact that Seren is showing up as a boss, so your former ally is going to want to pound your face in. That's […]
World of Warships brings Dutch cruisers to early access in its recent update
Players of World of Warships now have the opportunity to experience some new Dutch hardware with Update 0.10.6, which introduces a series of fresh Dutch cruisers to early access. This variety of ships is described as hard-hitting, heavily armored, maneuverable, but with a shorter range. This new line of ships runs between tiers IV through […]
Realm of the Mad God's biggest patch of the year lands August 17
It's been a while since we poked our head into Realm of the Mad God – the top of the year, in fact. Back in January, in the wake of its 2020 Exalt remaster, Deca Games and Wild Shadow Studios laid out a bold roadmap for the game, which readers will recall is unique in […]
Discord scoops up harassment-detection AI startup Sentropy
Happy Thursday: Here's your weekly argument over toxicity, moderation, and AI, courtesy of Discord, which has apparently purchased a company you've probably heard of once and then immediately forgot. It's a security company that was launched publicly last year thanks to funding from everything from Twitch and Riot Games to Twitter and Reddit founders. Its […]
Champions Online kicks off a limited-time event that grants goodies for hitting max level
How quickly do you think you can hit the level cap in Champions Online? Do you think you can do it in a couple of weeks? Because if you can, you'll be getting an opportunity at a variety of cosmetic rewards from Defender in the game's latest limited-time event. Players who create a new character […]
Netflix hires a new vice president of game development for its game division
In case you had forgotten, Netflix wants to get into the video game industry in some capacity, because being successful in one area of online commerce will naturally translate to other areas of online commerce. What's that you're saying about some river in South America? Hush up. Anyway, the latest part of that push is […]
PAX East 2021: Gaming streamers are frontline workers, not mental health experts
Since PAX East 2021 is virtual again due to that little virus that's been going around for over a year now, it should come to no surprise that it's been prompting topics in gaming spheres. In fact, Take This' Dr. Kelli Dunlap, mental health streamer Mxiety, and Games and Interactive Media MFA candidate Jocelyn Wagner […]
Conan Chop Chop studio finally acknowledges and apologizes for latest delay
Just a few weeks ago, we pointed out that Conan Chop Chop, a Mighty Kingdom game being published by Funcom, was long overdue. The roguelike OARPG was announced in 2019, but the studios delayed the game from September 2019 into 2020 to add full online multiplayer, then delayed to February 2020, then delayed to Q2 2020, […]
Neverwinter gives a quick rundown of the changes coming to professions with its level squish
With the arrival of Neverwinter's level squish with the Jewel of the North update on July 27th, players are going to have to deal with a lot of changes. Maybe even more than they realized because it turns out crafting is changing as well. And no, not just so that players can craft gear for […]
Star Citizen discusses balancing for shields, energy weapons, ships, and thrusters coming in alpha 3.14
While the upcoming alpha 3.14 build of Star Citizen has a number of headline features of its own like the Orison landing area, there are other things of note coming as well – namely, some changes to thrusters, shields, and weapons, and more, which were outlined in a pair of forum posts. Shields are seeing […]
Massively on the Go: How Jackbox Games helped gamers stay social through COVID
For some people, Jackbox Games' Party Packs were a COVID lifesaver. While many of us have a lot of virtual connections thanks to our MMO communities, others don't have much overlap between our virtual and meatspace lives. As we struggled to keep in contact with family members who were drifting further and further into awkwardness […]
Elder Scrolls Online kicks off Pan-Elsweyr Celebration next week
What's the Pan-Elsweyr Celebration? Well, it's ZeniMax's way of smooshing players into the Elsweyr zones in The Elder Scrolls Online, and it's your way of scooping up gobs of loot and event tickets by complying. "The Pan-Elsweyr Celebration in-game event begins Thursday, July 22 at 10AM EDT, and will run until August 3 at 10AM […]
Vague Patch Notes: Hating an MMO isn't the same as having a personality
There was a friend I had at one point who had a particularly annoying habit. Whenever I would bring up something obnoxious that was done in World of Warcraft (which, at the time, was still knee-deep in Northrend and looked like it was just going to continue being fun forever, so, you know… ha), she […]
Swords of Legends Online touts 200K units sold as Gameforge insists NA server can handle player load
As we noted previously, the NA server of Swords of Legends Online had something of a rough start as the MMORPG launched here in the west, as technical issues caused lag, login issues, and other problems. Despite that, Gameforge is crowing happily about SOLO's debut, touting in a statement to MMORPG that it sold 200K […]
Camelot Unchained boss rebuts theory that its studio finances are in disarray
Dedicated readers of MassivelyOP already know that Camelot Unchained has become an MMO saddled with controversy over the last couple of years. Originally Kickstarted in 2013, it has seen multiple major delays, the founding of a second studio, and the announcement of a second game using its custom-built engine. It's also run some pretty impressive […]
City of Titans is crushing its sound and music design
Although City of Titans is lagging far behind where it should be in development (and release) by now, given that it was Kickstarted in 2013, there are some signs of life in this superhero MMORPG project. Not only is flight coming very soon to the game build, but a lot of work has been poured […]
DC Universe Online's latest patch sells a new $10 bundle and beefs up World of Flashpoint
A small-but-not-insignificant patch arrived yesterday for the bold heroes of DC Universe Online. Game Update 115 brought back a $10 booster bundle in the marketplace that includes replay badges, a metal detector, artifact XP, a radar enhancer, a repair bot, and a bonus reward box with a random cosmetic feature. It's not just blatant sales […]
The Daily Grind: What's your least favorite content in an MMO that you still take part in?
I have a lifelong policy of not being spicy to people who are bad in World of Warcraft PvP because I can hardly blame them for it. It's not just because I'm not all that great but also because I remember full well when PvP was the best deterministic gearing system in the whole dang […]
Massively Overthinking: The curious cycle of MMO refunds, tutorials, and reviews
MOP reader Steve recently posed us an intriguing question about the state of tutorials in MMOs and other games – and how those tutorials' increasing lengths have impacted everything from refund periods to reviews. He pointed out to us that in particular, Steam's two-hour/two-week refund period no longer seems like enough time to actually decide […]
Overwatch seeks an entry-level narrative designer, Hearthstone adjusts cards and fixes bugs
We have a fresh little list of smaller news snippets from Blizzard games that aren't WoW, so once again we'll be bundling these smaller stories into one larger one for your reading ease. This bundle, for the record, is all about Overwatch and Hearthstone, if the headline isn't a hint enough. We'll begin with Hearthstone […]
Fallout 76 plans to re-open the public test server this month
You thought you were done with the Fallout 76 public test server just because the game's Steel Reign update is out in the wild and has been for about a week now? Don't be foolish. There's still so much more to do, and the developers intend to have you testing more stuff this month in […]
Path of Exile's battle royale mode returns for weekend fun
Do you miss Path of Exile's 2018 April Fools' joke battle royale mode made real? Or did you miss out on it completely as I regrettably did? Either way, if you've been yearning to play it, then today's your lucky day — and a good start to the weekend! That's because Path of Exile: Royale, […]
Path of Exile's Expedition league sets off next week
The show's over, folks, but the journey has just begun! Grinding Gear Games just concluded its reveal livestream for Path of Exile's 3.15 expansion and challenge league that starts July 23rd. And this one has players going on an Expedition! GGG Managing Director Chris Wilson not only unveiled the new Expedition league and its introduction […]
Path of Exile is about to unveil its long-teased 3.15 expansion
It's showtime for Path of Exile: Grinding Gear Games is finally taking the wraps of its next expansion. Not a whole lot is public right now, apart from the date – it's launching July 23 on PC and July 28 on console – and the extremely brief teaser video. "Exact details of our upcoming expansion […]
Elyon opens preorders and CBT2 signups on July 26, confirms 'early fall' western launch
MMO players already knew that Kakao was plotting a second round of beta for Elyon in August. We knew this because the studio has been telling us so for month. But as of today, we have more details on what to expect thanks to a new outline from the studio and the launch of its […]
Grand Theft Auto Online is bringing the Los Santos Tuners update on July 20
Do you have a customized, tricked-out vehicle just made for gracing the streets in Grand Theft Auto Online? Then the Los Santos Tuners update is made just for you. Not only will the update see you starting out with the new Los Santos Car Meet where you get to show off your custom-made ride, it'll […]
Top-down looter shooter Space Punks begins its paid-for early access journey exclusively on the Epic Games Store
Earlier this month we showcased Space Punks, a multiplayer top-down looter shooter from developer Flying Wild Hog and publisher Jagex Partners. For those who'd rather not re-read that link, it's an ARPG-like title that has players taking up several different characters to blow up enemies, hoover in loot, and experience what was described at the […]
Valve announces portable PC gaming device called Steam Deck
If you've ever wanted a device that smooshes your PC games with something cute and portable like a Switch, welp, Valve has your toy. It's just unveiled the long-rumored Steam Deck, a slightly-larger-and-much-more-powerful-than-the-Switch device using a version of SteamOS that will run all your Steam games, though according to IGN, it'll also run your non-Steam […]
Guild Wars 2 gives a full technical accounting of last year's server rollbacks
Guild Wars 2 studio ArenaNet has been the subject of many side-eyes over the last few years, amassing a reputation as a studio with a messy and opaque technical side and a messy and opaque leadership side – and the mass layoffs in 2019 didn't help. Earlier this month, however, the company finally publicly admitted […]
Elite Dangerous deploys a fix to weapons engineering in an effort to alleviate material grinds
The materials required to engineer weapons in Elite Dangerous: Odyssey are pretty high right now, all things considered. With a recent small patch applied to the game, Frontier Developments appears to be trying to address this issue, while the patch announcement itself has kicked off a discussion about material grinds in the expansion. The patch's […]
EVE Online announces the return of the 10v10 Alliance Tournament PvP event
After a two year-long hiatus, fans of official PvP tournament action in EVE Online as CCP Games announced the return of the Alliance Tournament this coming November, a double elimination 10 vs. 10 PvP throwdown where alliance representatives will duke it out for glory and prizes. Sing-ups for the tournament begin this coming Monday, July […]
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen offers up more details and video footage of the new Monk class
Developer Visionary Realms is really excited to showcase the Monk class that's being added to Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. Hot on the heels of an in-depth gameplay breakdown video, the devs have put out some supplemental details on the class. For those who like a bit of lore sprinkled in with their class information, […]
Ashes of Creation kicks off its long-awaited Alpha One playtest
Arriving amid a frantic summer season where every MMO is clawing for attention and engagement, the Ashes of Creation Alpha One test hopes to make an impact on the gaming community and prove that it has the chops to be a serious contender. The Alpha One playtest kicked off yesterday after a series of delays […]
RIFT's Summerfest has finally, silently begun in Europe
If you've been wondering where RIFT's Summerfest event was this year, you're not alone. Apparently, the festival rolled out to EU servers this morning without any official studio announcement, while North American servers are still waiting for both an announcement and the patch. Readers will recall that Gamigo, which bought RIFT in the Trion firesale […]
