MMO designer Raph Koster talks about what makes the subscription model a success
Playable Worlds CEO Raph Koster, as we all know, has opinions about MMO gaming and multiplayer gaming, especially on the business side of things, so if you're the sort of person who likes to hear his thoughts on those topics, then you'll absolutely want to dig in to a VentureBeat interview that discusses the subscription […]
Black Desert begins Hashashin pre-creation as console announces a physical edition
It's a big day for Black Desert as the Hashashin pre-creation event has kicked off ahead of the class' formal launch on PC next week. "Get ready for Hashashin who dominates the desert with his crescent-shaped shamshir and haladie which carries the power of the sand spells," Pearl Abyss says. As usual, there are rewards […]
World of Warcraft players are noticing some problems with soloing old content in the pre-patch
You may be forgiven for thinking that after doing a massive item level squish twice before, World of Warcraft's developers would have learned how to do so without causing major disruptions to the status quo. You may also be forgiven for having a moment of blinking confusion at the concept of twice before there. But […]
EverQuest II lights up Solusek's Eye with Game Update 115
Things are heating up in EverQuest II with the release of Game Update 115: Reignite the Flames. The patch comes equipped with many challenges for seasoned adventurers, including two new raids, a heroic dungeon, and additional quests. It also looks like fighting underground dinosaurs is in the cards, so be warned. "A return to the […]
Bless Unleashed is running a PC closed beta test next month – here's how to sign up
If you're over there watching Bless Unleashed run its PS4 beta and wishing you could play it on your PC, first of all, that's already come and gone with Bless Online. Y'all remember how that went, right? But second of all, if you really want another bite at that apple, you're about to get your […]
The Daily Grind: What MMOs did you test that never released?
When I submitted my column on Flagship's Mythos (shameless plug!), Bree and I got into a short discussion about how we both tested the game back in the day. We both kinda liked it, too, and felt that it was a shame it never actually made it to launch. Probably many of us have tested […]
The Stream Team: Going straight to Warframe's Heart of Deimos
Massively OP's MJ may not have completed the Deadlock Protocol yet, but that will have to go on the back burner because Heart of Deimos just launched, and there's no way she's missing this new open-world zone full of gooey gory creepiness, personal mechs, and ridable dragonflies! Join us live at 8:00 p.m. for a […]
Final Fantasy XI gives players a shot at winning the Shadowlord's sword for a month
The Shadowlord: First major villain of Final Fantasy XI, owner of a tragic backstory, leader of beastmen, and wielder of an absolutely killer sword. The last one is the big thing you'll have a chance to loot from fights against the Shadowlord starting on August 30th, so it's perhaps the most pertinent to mention. Sure, […]
Path of Exile begins stirring the hype for its next expansion, dates a reveal for September 1
In an announcement of several announcements, Grinding Gear Games is looking to drum up excitement for Path of Exile's next expansion, which is still on track for a release on Friday, September 18th, though that release date might change between now and then. As with previous expansions, there will be supporter packs on sale for […]
Conan Exiles adjusts avatars and followers in console patches, moves on to PC
Usually in multi-platform MMOs, the PC version is the first to get updated and consoles follow shortly after (likely thanks to the differing certification processes for each console). In a rather odd twist, though, Update 41 for Conan Exiles has landed on PS4 and Xbox One first while update timing and details for PC players […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 285: Exit En Masse
Justin and Bree discuss En Masse's closure, Amazon's Lost Ark, LOTRO, WoW Classic, Wurm Online, Population Zero, and Torchlight III, with adventures in SWTOR, WoW, SWG Legends, and The Sims, plus reader mail on MMO customer service and MMO talent trees.
The Stream Team: Journeying into New World's preview event
We can show you New World Is it shining? Shimmering? Splendid? Tell us, viewers, now when did You last watch a game to decide? A whole New World A new adventure to preview Now to log in so And find where to go And say we're finally streaming A whole New World The muzzling NDA […]
Thor's hammer! Fortnite crosses over with Marvel this week!
Selling Batman and Harley Quinn outfits in Fortnite is so last month. This August, it's all about Marvel. This week, the popular game is crossing over with the blockbuster Marvel franchise. August 27th's Chapter 2 Season 4 won't be bringing the first Marvel skins to the game, but it certainly will greatly add to the […]
Rumor: A new version of the Nintendo Switch is due out some time next year
Everyone likes the Nintendo Switch. It's a solid console that's portable and fun and useful. About the only thing it's lacking is some hardware power because… well, that's never been Nintendo's primary goal, after all. But there's a rumor going around once more that you will be able to pick up a turbo-powered Switch next […]
The Rising returns to Final Fantasy XIV on Thursday
It's nearly time to celebrate seven years of Final Fantasy XIV since its relaunch with the annual return of the Rising event, starting on Thursday, August 27th. This has been a pretty strange year for FFXIV (and, you know… the rest of the world), but that doesn't mean an end to the festivities. It does […]
Choose My Adventure: Determining the strengths and weaknesses of AdventureQuest 3D
So it's my final week here in AdventureQuest 3D and things ended with not a bang nor a whimper so much as with a gentle shrug and a soft sigh, I guess. I pressed on with using the Guardian as was decreed by the voting public, which was a reasonable if unremarkable choice. I got […]
Guild Wars 2's End of Dragons expansion takes us to Cantha in 2021
There's gobs of addenda to this post as the stream rolled along today, so scroll down to the bottom for the big news! There's a lot going on this week, what with New World's test event and Elder Scrolls Online's DLC, but this day truly belongs to Guild Wars 2 as it's turning eight and […]
New World's open preview event has just begun
Amazon's New World has just kicked off its don't-call-it-a-beta beta preview event. The event is a follow-on to last month's density stress test (seriously, is there a reason we keep inventing new terms for tests), but unlike that event, this one requires the new client and doesn't come under an NDA, meaning you're about to […]
Warframe releases the Heart of Deimos for PC, Xbox, and PS4, delays Switch version to later this week
It's time for another romp around an open world region in Warframe, and while an infested moon doesn't really elicit visions of playful romping, there is certainly lots to do in the Heart of Deimos update and the new Cambion Drift area as outlined at the update's hub page. That same page, by the way, […]
Neverwinter is dramatically overhauling mounts and reducing cash-shop mount prices
Neverwinter is due for a mount overhaul, and as it turns out, PWE is game to give it one. "Mounts in Neverwinter are very much the same as they have been for years," the studio admitted in a blog post yesterday. "While that is a good thing in many areas, there have been some aspects […]
Hands-on with New World's war mode: All the fun you can have blowing up a fortress of lumber
It's really hard to look at the general progress of New World and not get the sense of a game that's struggling to sort out its place in the MMO hierarchy even before it launches. Release dates keep getting moved back, principles of design keep changing, sometimes dramatically, and so on. Whether or not it […]
World of Warcraft announces more low-population realm connections
Just like the next expansion is bringing players together with the dead in Shadowlands, the current server plans for World of Warcraft seem to involve linking the dead (low-population servers) with the living (higher-population servers that are already connected). A fresh batch of connections is planned for August 27th, with numerous realms linking up with […]
New week, old problems: LOTRO can't seem to fix its servers
If you logged into Lord of the Rings Online this week hoping for an easy road to Mordor, think again. There are a whole lot of orcs, balrogs, and stuttering servers between here and there. It doesn't appear that the issues that (re)plagued the game last week have cleared up at all. After a few […]
Epic secures early win against Apple for Unreal Engine, but Fortnite remains barred
If we're keeping score, and really that would be unnecessary since the courts are doing that for us, we're currently at Epic 1, Apple 1 in the Fortnite-involved legal battle over platform payment monopolies. Last night, the judge in the case issued an early decision that essentially stops Apple from retaliating against Epic by deleting […]
The Daily Grind: Do you do side quests in your MMOs?
I realize this question doesn't apply to all MMOs: Some MMOs don't have quests at all, while in others, there's no way you're leveling without them even if you hate them. So adjust the question for your experiences accordingly. But I've been playing LOTRO lately, and all I'm doing is sidequests. I'm quite certain that […]
The Stream Team: Scion smash in Path of Exile
Massively OP's MJ has had to do some demo work in her new home, but she's not ready to stop now! Even with sore muscles, she can smash things up with her Scion in Path of Exile. And that's exactly what she plans on spending her evening doing, so join us live at 8:00 p.m. […]
OrbusVR previews the Aberration Island community goal and matches unlock points for a week
For the past several weeks, OrbusVR players have been participating in the Explore the Realm event in an effort to unlock a new island to explore, while the devs of the VR MMO have been making that goal easier by uncapping event totals which has reportedly helped fill the bar to completion significantly. Over the […]
Supremacy 1 is a new mobile and browser MMORTS coming to Steam
August has seen another new mobile MMO launch, this one a strategy MMO Supremacy 1914 spinoff called just Supremacy 1, which developer Bytro says is meant to be a deep MMORTS that is still accessible to newbies. "Supremacy 1 puts players in command of a nation during the dark days of World War I, in […]
Champions Online wants you to create a developer's costume
One of the unique perks of working on Champions Online for Cryptic is that each developer gets his or her own in-game avatar, complete with a personalized look. But there's one dev that is lacking such an honor, and the studio is looking to the playerbase to help writer and community manager Mike "Ambassador Kael" […]
Shroud of the Avatar will add spawn functionality and customization to player town signposts
When is a sign more than a sign? When it doubles as a spawn location as well as a teleporter. That's some of the duties that player-owned town signposts will soon be capable of in an upcoming update to Shroud of the Avatar. In addition to letting players fast travel to other player-owned towns, these […]
Realm of the Mad God introduces some deadly desert ruins as it preps to close its Flash client in September
Even if sand is coarse and rough and gets everywhere, there are bigger problems with the desert ruins area that was recently introduced to premadeath dungeon-crawling shooter MMO Realm of the Mad God. Things like monsters that would very much like to shoot your character down, thanks very much. This new Ancient Ruins dungeon also […]
RuneScape introduces a traveling artisan and begins taking nominations for the Golden Gnomes awards
This week in RuneScape we have traveling artisans, some Golden Gnomes, and a couple of little fixes to share. It's just another Monday for fans of Jagex's MMORPG! Players who visit the Dwarven Mine entrance have likely noticed a new NPC by the name of Doran the Tool Artisan, who is bringing with him a […]
World of Warcraft kicks off a new animated series, Afterlives, starting on Thursday
The old adage about writing is that a dead character is less interesting than a living one, because a dead one can't do anything more. World of Warcraft has heard that advice and informed someone to hold its beer, because its new animated series is all about dead people. Of course, since it's clearly leading […]
Webzen will no longer run Flyff as transfer of the MMO to a new publisher is underway
It appears to be the end of the Webzen era for Flyff as the free-to-play MMO will no longer be serviced by the company. However, the game will live on as it will trade hands with an unannounced new publishing partner. "We are working with Gala and the new publisher to ensure there is a […]
TERA Battle Arena spotlights several heroes and a boss from the upcoming Battle Arena MOBA
What's a MOBA without heroes to control and bosses to fight? A wholly non-existent game, that's what, and TERA's in-development Battle Arena MOBA side piece will absolutely feature both. And if you don't believe me, then you can look at a spotlight post for yourself. Unless you really thought a doggo dual-wielding wrenches as weapons […]
IKEA Taiwan recreates a catalogue's offerings in Animal Crossing New Horizons
In what is probably one of the most creative and surprising bits of synergy between gaming and the real world, a Taiwanese branch of IKEA has managed to recreate its catalogue's offerings in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cobbling together pages from the store's catalogue into in-game versions of themselves. The showcased decor is almost shot-for-shot […]
Wisdom of Nym: Impressions of Final Fantasy XIV's Reflections in Crystal storylines
All right, let's make something very clear right off the bat: There will be spoilers in this column. If you have managed to not do the content yet and wish to avoid spoilers, fairly warned be ye. The probability of a fan of Final Fantasy XIV having waited for two weeks to do the story […]
Elder Scrolls Online's Stonethorn dungeon DLC and update 27 are live for PC and Mac today
It's patch day for Elder Scrolls Online, and this is no ordinary patch: It's the Stonethorn DLC and update 27, which as we've been covering ushers in the character pathing system for player homes. Let's start with the DLC: Stonethorn, which is buyable for 1500 crowns for PC players or free with the sub. It includes […]
Fight or Kite: Early thoughts on Crowfall's lively beta, necromancy, and alts
Anyone who's been following Crowfall over the years since its original Kickstarter has likely at one point or another felt like the game's development was dragging out to infinity – pre-alpha seemed to have no ending. So a couple weeks ago when ArtCraft pulled the trigger and opened up its beta to the masses (well, […]
Population Zero's playerbase dwindles into single-digit territory as the devs confirm 'light' content for August
It would appear that the fortunes for early access survival MMO Population Zero are not improving whatsoever. In fact, the game's population as of a current check of Steam Charts sees a single person playing right now, with a 24-hour peak of only two people. Worse yet, the game's Steam page and official site have […]
Rumor: Halo Infinite may drop Xbox One support, delay to 2022
It may not be a good idea to base all of your hopes and dreams on Halo Infinite at this point in time. It was bad enough that 343 Industries recently announced that the multiplayer shooter would be delaying into 2021, but the scuttlebutt is that a further delay may be in the cards — […]
Past Fate's Kickstarter run was successful, just making its $25,000 goal
This past month, we've been keeping an eye on a little fantasy MMORPG called Past Fate that's been waging a crowdfunding campaign to help with its development. And it's been a successful campaign, too, closing out at $25,364 with the help of over a hundred backers, several of whom pitched in as much as $4000 […]
Microsoft general manager says Apple's block of Unreal Engine 'will harm game creators and gamers'
The ongoing kaiju-sized hand-slapping fight between Epic Games and Apple isn't just about two massive corporations having a hissy fit over money; it's tangentially about whether developers will be able to use Unreal Engine to create games on iOS, something that readers will recall is under real threat thanks to retaliatory actions taken by Apple […]
The Daily Grind: What's the most annoying 'dark pattern' in MMO gaming?
I've been kind of obsessed with dark patterns – that is, intentionally deceptive or annoying interface design – for kind of a while now, so it's vindicating to see research on the subject. Last year, researchers from Princeton analyzed 11,000 online shopping sites to identify 15 specific types of dark patterns across 1818 instances they […]
Neverwinter's roadmap promises new stories, system refinements, and a faster path to epic levels
The devs of Neverwinter have peered deep and hard into their crystal ball and they see… they see… they see a content roadmap. Yes, yes, a chart of things for players to do stretching all the way into September 2021. Things like two new modules, a new story arc, the promise of "evolving-world content," and […]
Multiplayer shooter Frostpoint VR is plotting a closed beta beginning next week
Somehow we've not covered Frostpoint VR: Proving Grounds yet even in passing, so with its closed beta beginning next week, now's a good time. The game is a multiplayer shooter from inXile planned for the Rift, Vive, and Valve Index too, and it's doing something few online games have done: take players to Antarctica. Hence […]
The MOP Up: EVE Echoes racks up one million players
It looks like CCP's newest mobile game is already a smash hit. According to the studio, EVE Echoes has already crossed one million players — and counting. Of course, that doesn't mean that EVE Online is being abandoned. Just the opposite, in fact, if you take a look at all of the patches that have […]
Destiny 2 takes a look at the Prophecy dungeon design and explains the Content Vault
Destiny 2 appears to be wearing its MMO-ness like a snuggly coat if a couple of recent articles are to be believed, what with its love affair for dungeon design and its upcoming system that will lock up old content to keep things in the world fresh. In one, we get a close look at […]
Jukebox Heroes: Great tunes from Destiny's first soundtrack
Is there any MMO soundtrack that arrived with such incredible expectations and baggage as Destiny? If so, I can't recall it. We have not only the legacy of Halo's scores (which are for some gamers the only soundtrack they know and revere) but also the saga of Composer Martin O'Donnell's firing and the boon of […]
RuneScape introduces the Alchemical Hydrix gem, OSRS seeks feedback for its Trailblazer League
The staff at MOP were very kind to leave me the duty of handling the Jagex bundle of news updates as a welcome back from my week-long internet outage, it seems. Thaaaaanks, guuuuys. The week gone in RuneScape saw the introduction of the Alchemical Hydrix, a powerful gem that is used for two pieces of […]
