Nexon's V4 plans new zones and quests August 25, web-based minigame now
MOP's Carlo has been obsessively playing one game for the last few weeks: Nexon's brand-new crossplatform MMO V4. The game rolled out toward the end of July with its flashy Unreal Engine graphics and PvPvE and nobile-friendly automated gameplay. And now, Nexon has announced the game's next content launch is on the way for August […]
Epic Games could lose almost $50M every month the Fortnite Apple/Google lawsuits goes on
Yesterday, we covered the emerging legal drama between Epic Games and… well, everyone with a platform trying to take a cut from transactions inside apps. Epic implemented discounted direct payments inside its mobile apps, inciting Apple and Google to ban Fortnite from their marketplaces, which in turn allowed Epic to drop its prepared "Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite" […]
Into the Super-verse: Early impressions of Valiance Online
When I heard that Valiance Online was going to be running an open beta this week to coincide with the PlayNYC convention, I knew I had to get in and check out what this superhero MMO had going on so far. Valiance Online's always seemed like it's been trailing the other two serious City of […]
World of Warcraft shows off Shadowlands adventures, opens Classic's Ahn'Qiraj raids
Ever since mission tables were introduced in Warlords of Draenor, Blizzard has struggled to figure out what to do with World of Warcraft's offline systems. When Shadowlands comes to town, it's going to try something a little different than before as it introduces adventures. Adventures is basically an offline autobattler that lets the player set […]
Final Fantasy XIV states more housing plots are on the way for patch 5.4
Back in March, Final Fantasy XIV's developers turned off the housing demolition timers due to the ongoing global pandemic, so no one has to worry about logging on to the game to make sure a house isn't demolished. This is a good thing, and it's not changing soon. Unfortunately, it also means that inactive houses […]
The Daily Grind: Do you play MMOs with 'rested experience' in mind?
Let's talk about rested experience in online games this morning. MMOs call them all sorts of things, but World of Warcraft's has stuck the best in my brain, even if it wasn't at all "first": It's basically a way of granting boosted experience for a certain chunk of future experience, usually based on some factor […]
Epic Games is suing Apple (and probably Google too) over its payment monopoly
Epic Games is really swinging for the bleachers on this one. Earlier today, Epic revealed the Fortnite "mega drop" – a permanent discount of up to 20% on V-Bucks in the game for its console and desktop versions. "This isn't a sale," Epic assured players. As part of the deal, the company also implemented "Epic […]
Chronicles of Spellborn's rogue server makes a sizeable balance pass and adjustment update
It looks like the stewards of the rogue server for Chronicles of Spellborn have been extremely busy. In a now-deleted but digitally recovered post on the MMORPG subreddit, the devs share the patch notes for an update that makes a whole slew of changes. Among these updates are general bug fixes to quests, some improvements […]
Iron Harvest is a multiplayer RTS set in a robot-filled 1920s era, now in open beta
Developer KING Art Games and publisher Deep Silver have dared to ask, "What if the Polish-Soviet War had robots in it?" That's the general setup for Iron Harvest, a real-time strategy title that pits three factions — Polania, Saxony, and Rusviet — in a war with one another in an alternate reality 1920s setting where […]
Grand Theft Auto Online's latest update brings summer fun, Los Santos style
When you think of summer fun, do you think of armed felonies? It's kind of a thing in Grand Theft Auto Online, you know, and the new summer update is specifically the Los Santos Summer Special. That does mean players can take on new content, like new open-wheel races complete with a race track creator… […]
Path of Exile confirms that Harvest mechanics will not be coming to the base game… at least not yet
The current limited-time challenge league in Path of Exile seems to be rather popular with its more deterministic approach to crafting, so it definitely has mechanics that players like. The developers also quite like the mechanics, as it turns out… but despite that, these mechanics will not be getting added to the main game, at […]
Warframe moves Orokin Derelicts and shares details of a 'frame-eating mouth ahead of Heart of Deimos
As the Heart of Deimos update to Warframe slowly makes its way to the game, a recent update on PC has done a fair bit of foundation laying in what's being called the Derelict Shift update. This update, as its name implies, has shifted Orokin Derelict Nodes, moving them in orbit around Mars. Furthermore, accessing […]
Pearl Abyss Q2 2020: EVE Online is doing great, NA/EU drives 48% of company revenues
Pearl Abyss dropped its second quarter financial report today: The South Korean MMO company saw its revenues decline ever so slightly, down to 131.7 billion KRW (111 million USD), representing a drop of 1.1% since last quarter and 8.4% since last year. But of course, as we noted last quarter, last year saw the launch […]
GDC Summer 2020: Creating kinder digital communities outside of online games
I don't know about the rest of you, but I've found that being familiar with online communities and tech has really helped me survive our COVID situation. As I'd developed fewer digital habits in recent years, the outbreak felt like a very personal blow. I felt as if I'd made a lot of progress only […]
The Elder Scrolls Online offers an in-depth peek at the Stone Garden dungeon
Alchemists. Can't live with 'em, can't have a slightly unsettling dungeon crawl without 'em. There's something about this particular line of fantastical scientific inquiry that breeds madmen, and the Stone Garden dungeon arriving as part of The Elder Scrolls Online's Stonethorn DLC continues the trend as evidenced by the most recent preview. Unlike the last […]
NCsoft Q2 2020: Lineage 2M drives revenue as Aion and Lineage flag and Guild Wars 2 rebounds
MMO readers will recall that NCsoft has been having a big year for revenue, doubling its revenue in the first quarter of this year largely thanks to the success of the mobile Lineage 2M during the pandemic. The company released its second quarter earnings today, and the numbers aren't quite as wild, though still better […]
Star Citizen is on track to breaking sales records in 2020 as it passes last year's $47.7M
As of right now, funding for Star Citizen just ain't slowing down. A graph shared on the game's subreddit illustrates that 2020 has already been a banner year for funding CIG's efforts, bypassing last year's $47.7 million. The graph helps to visualize each month's spike up to this point, with considerable funding surges shown in […]
Vague Patch Notes: Balance in MMOs is overrated
Earlier this week, we did a post all about balance in Crucible. It was a detailed post explaining all of the ways that the team looks at data, at the title's metagame, at what is and is not competitive. All important to balance, all very vital, and all things that show that the developers have […]
Guild Wars 2 struggles with high latency but improves World Boss Rush
Today's Guild Wars 2 story is a little bit of bad news, good news. Let's get the bad news out of the way first: The MMO is struggling with latency spikes for some players and there's no simple fix for it. ArenaNet admitted on the forums that it's seen "ongoing gameplay performance issues" due to […]
Razer is launching an improved left-handed Naga MMO mouse
Did you know that today is International Left Handers Day? It is indeed, which makes it the perfect day to announce gear for lefties, right? Enter Razer, which is doing just that with its incredibly popular Naga series. Yep, it's launching a new and improved lefty Naga specifically for MMO and online gamers, in spite of […]
CCP and Netease's mobile MMORPG EVE Echoes is officially live on Android and iOS
We hope you got your preloading done overnight because EVE Online mobile MMO EVE Echoes is officially live, offered up by CCP Games and Netease as an "authentic" version of EVE that works on both Android and iOS mobile devices, though it'll run on separate servers from those used by PC players. "Global games developer NetEase […]
Bless Unleashed is heading to PlayStation 4 with a closed beta already planned for next week
You could be forgiven for assuming that Bless Unleashed would have no truck with any sort of successful reception, given its pedigree. But expanding to be playable on the PlayStation 4 certainly seems like a mark of at least moderate success; you don't port these things over unless you expect to find at least a […]
ArcheAge's Ipnysh Sanctuary is live today for Garden of the Gods players
ArcheAge's latest content update from Gamigo has arrived today, and the good news here is that unlike Garden of the Gods itself, this isn't a separate paid DLC that's going to cause a ruckus among the community. It's a fully free update for free-to-play ArcheAge players, and it's actually an addon to Garden of the […]
City of Heroes Homecoming confirms NCsoft talks continue, plans new name, domain, and launcher
Of all the City of Heroes rogue servers to spring up over the last year in the wake of the 2019 reveal that the game's code was out in the wild, the one that's attracted the most attention and players is surely Homecoming. And a large part of the reason was the fact that its […]
The Daily Grind: What moments do you feel people have missed if they haven't played your favorite MMOs?
When we try to sell people on MMOs, we naturally talk about systems or mechanics. If I wanted to convince someone to play World of Warcraft, I'd probably talk about classes or race options or quest design. What I would not talk about are years of roleplaying history or the electric feeling of logging in […]
EVE Echoes launches early tomorrow morning – here's how to install it now
CCP Games and Netease are about to embark on a joint venture that will hopefully do what no other EVE Online spin-off has done to date: actually succeed. EVE Echoes is that venture, and if you're up at 4 a.m. EDT tomorrow morning, you'll be able to log into the game right from the comfort […]
SMITE introduces the Japanese moon god Tsukuyomi in the latest update
Yesterday has seen the moon shine over SMITE as the Japanese moon god Tsukuyomi has officially landed to the game. This new character is described as having a "bold, sharp Assassin playstyle" with a pair of bladed tonfas, Shingetsu and Mangetsu, that both get individual buffs with every attack and are used in a variety […]
Halo Infinite will be pushing back its launch to sometime in 2021
If you were among those eager for the rumored free-to-play multiplayer or just the open world single-player of Halo Infinite, then 343 Industries studio head Chris Lee has some bad news for you: The upcoming shooter will be delaying its launch to some point in 2021. "The decision to shift our release is the result […]
Black Desert revamps Padix Island, brings out a Glimmering Earring, and starts a beach party for beer
It's Wednesday, and that means it's patch day for Black Desert, and in this case that also means you can head down to Terrmian Beach to get plastered. Yes, that's one of the new events this month, running until August 26th. Players head on down there, visit Gioro, and get a quest to deliver beer […]
Final Fantasy XIV kicks off the Moonfire Faire and plans for more Yo-kai Watch crossover fun
It feels like just yesterday that Final Fantasy XIV had a major update full of things for players to do… probably because it was just yesterday. But a new in-game event arrives today with the kickoff of the Moonfire Faire, running from now until August 26th. Get yourself some summer beachwear and a new dance. […]
TERA PC brings its 64-bit client and new content online, console adds Quick Signals and offers charity bundles
TERA players on all platforms have a little something to look forward to this week. As of yesterday, PC players have a new client to install that seeks to address several technical matters as well as some new content, while console players can get emotive with a new quick chat feature and purchase bundles for […]
Phantasy Star Online 2 celebrates one million players with Persona collab and bonus week
Since its western release earlier this year, Phantasy Star Online 2 is fast becoming known for two things: surprise announcements and weird crossovers. We've got both today, as SEGA revealed that it's got another collab launching, this one with the Persona franchise. "Starting today, costumes, hair styles, paint, accessories, room items, music and more from […]
GDC Summer 2020: Accessibility shouldn't be a dirty word in online gaming
I don't know about you readers, but one of the first things I always do when starting a game with voice acting (or movie) is turn on the subtitles. I'm not hard of hearing, but between noise and a reading bias, subtitles just make everything better for me. I say this because even though accessibility […]
Magic: Legends unveils the mechanics and design of the Necromancer class
What is a necromancer to you, aside from "a healer who shows up very late to the party"? If you're familiar with Magic: the Gathering, you probably associate necromancers with black mana, and Magic: Legends is leaning in on that with the newly unveiled Necromancer class and all of its malicious intent. And just like […]
Ship of Heroes is gearing up to test its 'big battle capabilities' this weekend
Valiance Online isn't the only superhero MMORPG in full testing mode right now: Ship of Heroes is also rearing its head this week for a big new event where players will be fighting massive waves of AI enemies as devs scattered across the globe monitor the game's performance. "On Saturday we will have the first […]
ArtCraft says 'the purpose of Crowfall is to destroy' the themepark model
Crowfall is in beta. If that statement reads a bit reverently, that is perhaps one's cynicism that a crowdfunded anything can reach a finish line, let alone a milestone, and it's an event that has caused creative director J. Todd Coleman to wax poetic and philosophical about the game's latest step forward. "The process is […]
Tamriel Infinium: Six more things to love about The Elder Scrolls Online
When I think back to my earliest days of gaming, sitting in front of a tiny TV set with the non-ergonomic 80s beauty of an Atari joystick in hand, I recall the relative simplicity of that time. Back then, we didn't need to concern ourselves with things like cash grabs, the working conditions of developers, […]
Torchlight III just got its last big update before its official launch
Torchlight III testers got absolutely wiped this week – literally. PWE and Echtra Games dropped part one of what it's dubbed the "mainline" patch yesterday, with a complete character and account wipe, more skill slots, new dungeon areas, fort deco, and controller support. The highlight feature, however, is the relic system becoming a "full-blown subclass," […]
DDO Wayfinder players are getting even more boosts and refunds following three-week rollback
Last week, Dungeons and Dragons Online players were dismayed to learn that they hadn't quite escaped all the horrors of the LOTRO downtime last month after all: In fact, one of the DDO servers, Wayfinder, suffered a catastrophic bout of data loss, resulting in a rollback for the server and all of its recent players […]
Albion Online's Rise of Avalon is live with its unique new (and deadly!) roads network
Albion Online's long-awaited Rise of Avalon update is live for all players today, and I promise I won't make the joke about not needing roads this time – besides, you're definitely going to want the roads added in this patch. "This update brings numerous new features and improvements to the world of Albion. Foremost among […]
Red Dead Online's 1.21 update introduces dancing corpses, alligator rains, ghost towns, and horse glitches
Boy oh boy have things been going all sorts of crazy in Red Dead Online. The most recent update to the online multiplayer sandbox has hitched its wagon to a whole host of hilarious and alarming bugs, glitches, and problems. Corpses inexplicably dancing their asses off? It's happening. Trains appearing out of nowhere? Yes sir, […]
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands pre-patch hits the test realm
Could World of Warcraft's Patch 9.0 be arriving soon? The Shadowlands "pre-patch," as this game's strange terminology goes, just arrived on the public test realm, signalling that it's making its way to the live servers in the near future. Or the far future. This is Blizzard, after all, and speed is never one of the […]
Meridian 59 and Storybricks' Brian Green has passed away at only 46
It's with a very heavy heart today that we report that Brian "Psychochild" Green has passed away at a relatively young age. Green was an MMO developer who was deeply involved with Meridian 59, a frequent blogger, and a co-creator of Storybricks, the software that EverQuest Next purchased for its development. "Sad to share the […]
The Daily Grind: Do MMOs need to jump onto bandwagons to stay relevant?
We've been watching TERA's latest move into — of all things — MOBAs with a quirked eyebrow and a quizzical expression. We're never quite sure why developers do the wacky things they do with their MMOs, but a lot of times it feels like experiments such as the above are a way to jump onto […]
Path of Exile plans another bug-fixing patch in the next couple of weeks
Just because Path of Exile has started the process of working on its next League doesn't mean the bug fixes for the current game version stop, no siree bob. Consider patch 3.11.1F, which had some of its patch notes previewed yesterday. As the headline alluded to, most of this patch is focused on bug fixing, […]
War Thunder kicks off Operation S.U.M.M.E.R. 2020, World of Tanks Console had a collab event with WWE
What goes best with driving heavily armed and armored military vehicles around? Summertime! Also, apparently, professional wrestling! The summer season arrived to both War Thunder and World of Tanks on console, just in two decidedly different ways. War Thunder players can enjoy Operation S.U.M.M.E.R. between now and August 31st, which has players trying to earn […]
Seed's Klang Games answers player questions about gameplay mechanics
A broad variety of player questions regarding gameplay and mechanics were picked up and answered in what can be best described as a sort of video AMA from Klang Games, the developers of the colonization MMO Seed, with a few details about a number of systems. One of the questions confirmed that player colonies can […]
Crucible's designers explain how the game's balance is achieved
So, how does balance work in Crucible? As in any competitive game, balance is important, but it's kind of a vague and nebulous concept at the best of times. The most recent dispatch from the Amazon Game Studios development team may or may not assuage this, since it's a quick overview of the high-end concepts […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 283: TennoConversations
Justin, Bree, and MJ discuss Warframe and TennoCon 2020, Crowfall's beta, LOTRO's Rohan housing, DDO's nasty rollback, Blizzard's latest mess, and Guild Wars 2's underwater mounts, with a special edition of the Daily Grind Blitz.
Dynamight Studios' CEO discusses Fractured's gameplay mechanics and features in an interview
This past Wednesday, the CEO of Dynamight Studios Jacopo Gallelli joined streamer and YouTuber Morrolan for an interview about practically all things Fractured, answering questions about the game's mechanics, systems, and development timetable among other things. One of the first questions was regarding solo players and whether living like an in-game hermit is possible. Gallelli […]
