The Stream Team: Moon poetry and flames in EverQuest II
It's been a while since Massively OP's MJ has been able to advance her Blood of Luclin signature quest line in EQII. But today, she finally has the chance to return to the moon and pursue her next lead: moon poetry. Hulda shared a poem with MJ's Ratonga, and it following its lines might be […]
Shadow Arena's latest roster addition is the swift and dexterous ninja Sura
You know what Shadow Arena needs? More ninjas! This was likely said by someone while banging fists on the table, and that noise has been heard and answered by the devs of the Black Desert MOBA spinoff with the addition of Sura. Sura is described as a particularly daring melee combatant who counters his low […]
Animal Crossing New Horizons player recreates The Wizard of Oz in-game
With the variety of creation tools available to players in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it's not a wonder that this sort of thing was done (and is a nice refresher from penis-shaped fireworks). A player by the name of WilbosWorld has put together his own little version of Oz. In the first video we get […]
Path of Exile explains its structural changes for patch 3.11.2
The upcoming patch 3.11.2 for Path of Exile does not have a catchy name. It will also require a complete re-download of the entire game (although you won't have to manually uninstall and reinstall), which means you would kind of hope that it has a lot of neat stuff in it… but it doesn't. No, it's […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 287: Rep grind
Justin and Bree discuss WoW Classic, WoW Shadowlands, SWG Legends, Fallout 76, Path of Exile, and Crypto Space Commander, with mailbox topics on MMO roleplay and a 10-part quick lighting round.
Shroud of the Avatar showcases new decorative walls and a flower-filled change to public gardens
This week's Shroud of the Avatar update newsletter is mostly about pretty things, so if you're here looking for content updates… well, I mean, the fact that this story is about decorative things was in the headline. Thanks for clicking, but at the same time, why are you here? For those who are here to […]
EVE Online rolls out the first phase of quantum cores with today's patch
Structures in EVE Online should not be haphazardly deployed as bait for confusion. That's the basic idea behind the addition of quantum cores, putting more stakes in the placement and maintenance of structures so that destroying them has a more substantial impact. Today marks the first phase of the quantum core rollout, so players can buy […]
Kickstarted multiplayer RPG Swords 'n Magic and Stuff goes into Steam early access
Maybe it's time to take a break from looking for the next big thing — and look at the next small thing. It may be tiny, chubby, and streamlined, but Swords 'n Magic and Stuff has potential to be an enjoyable diversion for you and a few of your best friends. Today, the game is […]
Trove begins testing a 'hubdate' that reworks the game's main hub on PC
Ah, the main hub. Landing point for new players, social space for veteran players, and generally the first impression made to all players. If you thought that the hub in Trove needed a bit of a touch-up, well so did the devs, hence the upcoming "hubdate," which recently arrived to the PC PTS. This new […]
Choose My Adventure: Mining misadventures in Wurm Online
Well, I have to say, following the advice of the poll from last week did help a little bit while also unfurling the multiple layers that are waiting in Wurm Online. The Wurmpedia is a vast repository of things as I found out, but not all of that knowledge is what I'd consider wisdom in […]
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is live today
If you have already properly reckoned with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, now is the time for you to reckon again, as the remastered Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is live today on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. This means you've got a new chance to play the action RPG that famously killed Curt Schilling's video game development […]
Fight or Kite: New World's beta hasn't made me a true believer – yet
The New World beta preview came to an end a few short nights ago. Like some of the other members of the MOP crew, I spent the majority of my game time this past week running through Aeternum. And while I enjoyed just about every minute I spent in game, I'm not completely sure this […]
Craftopia focuses primarily on bug fixing in its most recent patches
With JPRG-like survival sandbox Craftopia now in early access, the focus of developer Pocket Pair has turned almost exclusively to attacking bugs in the game as noted in its last two updates. Adjustments include better hit detection and more damage to enemies when using axes and hatchets as weapons, fixing a bug where buildings would […]
Guild Wars 2 offers a peek at the upcoming Sunqua Peak fractal in a new trailer
Peep this peek at Sunqua Peak! Wasn't that fun to read? Perhaps, then, the upcoming new fractal to Guild Wars 2 will be just as fun. Which does require one to find fractals enjoyable, I contend, but there has to be some folks out there who like this stuff, right? On topic, this new location […]
Final Fantasy XIV brings a fresh batch of Ishgard restoration with patch 5.31
It's time once more for rebuilding the Firmament in Final Fantasy XIV, as the latest patch has launched today and brings with it a fresh wave of repair projects. There are new items to gather in the Diadem, new recipes to turn in, a new ranking board to climb for contributions before September 17th, and of […]
New World dev discusses gameplay mechanics, the preview event, and planned changes in an interview
With the preview event behind us, it's time to unpack things and see what the next steps are for New World, and that was part of the discussion during a streamed interview hosted by streamers Asmongold and Rich Campbell with Michael Willette, one of the MMO's developers. One of the earlier questions was regarding how […]
Guild Wars 2 players built an unofficial addon manager and unofficial upgrade to DX12
If you're the sort of person who uses unofficial addons in Guild Wars 2 such as ArcDPS or the radial mount menu addon, then you'll definitely want to know about the GW2 Addon Manager, a newly released utility that, as one would expect, makes managing addons easier. Created by player Matthew Lee, this new utility […]
VR MMO Zenith opens up its Steam page and shares some gameplay in a new trailer
The in-development VR MMO Zenith is slowly striding forward to its upcoming alpha release, and while developer Ramen VR still is mum about a date for alpha's arrival, it is eager to begin showing off what it's added up to this point with a first look at alpha gameplay. According to the devs, the video […]
The Daily Grind: Are any MMORPGs ever truly 'ready' for launch when they launch?
A few weeks back, I was proofing one of Tyler's Not So Massively columns, when he said this: "In general it was a very polished beta experience, with few bugs or issues to speak of. The September launch date doesn't seem like rushing things; this game is ready." It leaped right out at me because […]
The Stream Team: Talking Heist as the time of Path of Exile gardening grows short
The time for gardening grows short… and not just because summer is ending! Path of Exile's Harvest league is coming to its end, and Heist will soon take its place. Massively OP's MJ wants to spend some final time in her Sacred Grove before turning to a new life of crime. Tune in live at […]
Massively Uplifting: MMOs from LOTRO to ESO bring comfort, healing, camaraderie, and charity
Summer may be ending, but good deeds and uplifting stories aren't! Throughout August we've been surrounded by stories of kindness, generosity, and goodness within our gaming universe. These moments of making a better world can be big or small, but they always touch us. And they can make us better! On a personal level, we […]
Uncharted Waters Origin is an Age of Sail PC and mobile MMO entering closed beta later this year
So this one had me diving in to the rabbit hole of Uncharted Waters, a Japanese game series from Koei Tecmo Games set in the 15th and 17th century Age of Sail time period. As seen from the preceding link, the game has had a long and storied history, spanning back from the NES days […]
Crucible previews several adjustments coming to Heart of the Hives mode
The devs of Crucible would like to inform those in the game's beta take two of what it's got planned for the Heart of the Hives mode. Which is good considering that is the primary mode for the game thus far. The latest internal build for the game includes some new locked spawn points, a […]
Crowfall plans guild alliance features, mounts, and mass production crafting features
As the beta test of Crowfall continues to roll on, the folks at ArtCraft Entertainment are keen to add what it considers to be "must have" features to the game. One such feature is the ability for guilds to form alliances with one another, which is planned to arrive to the game soon. Guild alliances […]
Legends of Aria is opening a new area and adding pet abilities and necromancy in Point Release 11
Point Release 11 of Legends of Aria is on the horizon and with it comes a variety of new features, the largest of which is the final landmass for the world of Celador, the Outlands, which are about as dangerous and difficult as the name would suggest. "In the Outlands, you'll be exploring an arid […]
The Stream Team: Laboring through Elder Scrolls Online's PvP event
Massively OP's MJ may not participate in PvP much in Elder Scrolls Online, but when an event happens, she's there! She's not about to miss those sweet, sweet tickets and new indriks. And rumor has it she even made a kill this weekend, topped off by then added a number of healing assists. What timeline […]
Jukebox Heroes: Six great ArcheAge tunes
ArcheAge is well-known for being one of the more beautiful MMO game worlds out there, but does its music stack up in comparison? The answer to that is a little yes and a little no. I got ahold of it several months ago, well before I was even paying attention to this game or its […]
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV's second season of crafting PvP
Let's call this side of Ishgard Restoration what it is, yes? This is Final Fantasy XIV giving people another form of PvP in competitive crafting. The name of the game is turning in lots and lots of stuff over and over to hit the top of the rankings, and every scrap someone else turns in […]
Last Oasis addresses its thinning numbers with a promise to continue with development
There's been a recent update to Last Oasis that primarily is about the recently announced Exosuit, a framework of wood, pulleys, and gears that equates to heavy armor in the game's fiction. It's… questionable, but we've all accepted far weirder video game handwavium before, so we'll all just agree to give it a pass. What's […]
World of Warcraft polls players about the game's next free sparklepony
Citing a "spirit of unity" with World of Warcraft players through a difficult year, Blizzard announced on the site that it is going to be creating a brand-new mount to add to the game when Shadowlands arrives. The best part? Not only will players have a say in what this mount will be but everyone […]
TERA's console version gets a new (old) publisher
Just because En Masse Entertainment is out of the picture doesn't mean that TERA's going anywhere. In fact, plans are moving forward to transfer the console edition to a new publisher — which is, in reality, an old friend. "TERA Console's Publisher for North America, Europe and Japan will be KRAFTON Bluehole Studio," the team […]
The Daily Grind: What real-world critter do you wish were in more MMOs?
The other day, my family was having a discussion about why more of the animals they've seen on TV zoo shows are never represented in the online games we play together. My son, for example, loves koalas, but I couldn't immediately think of an MMO with koalas. My husband blurted out wallabies, which are cute […]
MMO Week in Review: A Heist, a security breach, and a whole New World
The week before Labor Day is always a weird one between conventions and bonus events, and this week was no different in spite of the circumstances. We mused on New World, pondered the Epic/Apple lawsuit, cheered for WoW Classic, welcomed Path of Exile's Heist reveal, puzzled over Camelot Unchained, raised eyebrows over Dual Universe's security […]
Hearthstone will have a three-week event all about Scholomance Academy's Hidden Library
As is always the case with places of magical learning, there's some sort of hidden repository of ancient knowledge that nobody wants students to find out. But, of course, students being students, they're going to go looking anyway. That old chestnut is the basic setup for Hearthstone's upcoming Forbidden Library event, a three week-long series […]
The MOP Up: Elder Scrolls Online's Stonethorn DLC arrives on consoles
Good news for the patient and long-suffering Elder Scrolls Online console players: The game's latest DLC and patch have finally arrived following the PC release last month. "The Stonethorn DLC game pack and Update 27 is now available on all platforms and brings a host of new stories, challenges, tools, and improvements to ESO, including two new […]
Star Citizen sheds some light on how it sheds some lights in-game
You can spend all the time in the world creating neat locations for your internet spaceship sandbox, but none of that work will matter if players can't see what you've done. Basically, lighting is important, and that importance was illustrated in this week's developer roundtable video from Star Citizen. Once more, this development video is […]
The Game Archaeologist: Mirrorworld
In this column, we have previously journeyed to lands where you saw not with your eyes, but with your imagination. I speak, of course, of text-based multi-user dungeons, or MUDs. These games took players to virtual worlds long before technology could handle sharing graphics, electing instead to use text as the medium in which these […]
Google seeks to dismiss Epic's lawsuit as Epic talks up the Fortnite 'Metaverse'
While much of the focus of the Epic lawsuit coverage has been on Apple, which was certainly helped along by that 1984 parody ad played on Fortnite, Epic Games is picking a fight on at least two fronts as the company is fighting Google too. So let's cast our eyes in that direction for a […]
One Shots: Bow before Zuul!
We've all certainly met plenty of kings, queens, and other rulers in MMOs, and as a greater community, we've come to one unified opinion — they're just as incompetent as politicians in the real world. So why not stage a coup and replace them with someone who is effective, vivacious, and smart? Someone like… you? […]
The Daily Grind: Which MMO is best for playing alone (not just solo)?
No, I didn't mean "solo." I meant alone. Because there's a difference. There are many games I play where I have friends, established groups of people, group activities I take part in on a regular basis, and so forth. Sure, I might be playing solo right now in World of Warcraft, but I'm still in contact […]
Battle Bards Episode 176: Orchestral RuneScape
In 2018, RuneScape put out an official orchestral album to highlight some of the best of its remastered and re-recorded soundtrack. From delicate tunes to epic themes, the album shows just how far the game has come since its early MIDI days. The Battle Bards dive into this triumphant score and pull out some vindication […]
Black Desert is adding a tier 10 pegasus mount, new Red Battlefield map, and new world boss
A post made to the Pearl Abyss' Black Desert Global Lab is offering up some enticing new pieces of content for Black Desert players, particularly if those players have ever wanted to travel on the back of a pegasus. And honestly, who wouldn't? People who are wrong, that's who. This new tier 10 mount is […]
Torchlight III's next early access patch reworks Dusk Mage, adds a training dummy
Get ready, get set, and go… wait a little while until Torchlight III's next patch arrives. You won't have to wait long, as the update for the early access title is coming on September 9th, carrying with it a raft of adjustments and a couple of new features. The big change here is a rework […]
Fallout 76's One Wasteland and second season arrive on September 15
Mark your calendars, because September 15th is going to be a significant date for Fallout 76. That's the day when Update 22 arrives, bringing with it the One Wasteland leveling revamp as well as the game's second season of play. Speaking of Season 2, this week's Inside the Vault dev blog gave a preview of […]
Massively on the Go: An open letter to Pokemon Go's Niantic and The Pokemon Company
Dear Niantic and The Pokemon Company, Thank you for Pokemon Go. Despite my criticism, this is probably the longest I've ever played a Pokemon game. Ever. I've also probably made more friends with it than any other game in the series as well. So please understand that my criticism comes from a wish to see the game […]
TERA's Undying update is coming next week, but no new word on game's future
While TERA's players continue to forge on in the wake of En Masse Entertainment's closure, at least everyone is going to have a good distraction come next week when the Undying update lands on September 8th. The patch is adding the Undying Warlord to the Forbidden Arena, bringing back a tougher version of Kezzel's Gorge […]
WRUP: Things you could do if you had twenty fingers on each hand edition
Thing the FIRST: Play the piano really well with way less hand movement. Thing the SECOND: Play a flute really well. Thing the THIRD: Play two flutes at the same time, but not as well. Thing the FOURTH: Play… wait, why would you be doing the fingering for two other people playing the flute at […]
The Daily Grind: What lessons hath WoW Classic taught us?
You might have missed it, but WoW Classic just celebrated its first anniversary this past week. It was a huge and slightly messy launch back in August 2019, and while the server populations have settled down somewhat, it's still a popular MMO with a bustling community that's finding its fun in this old school design. […]
The Stream Team: Meeting the family in Warframe's Heart of Deimos
While Massively OP's MJ had tried to plan on finishing the Deadlock Protocol tonight, she just can't pull herself away from Warframe's Heart of Deimos! Not only is there is so much story left to experience just in the main quest line (and that's not even counting all the extra lore you learn as your […]
Betawatch: New World promises lots of content in its November test
People seem to have generally been rather pleased with the New World preview event this month, huh? It's winding down today, but the promise made is that feedback is not just being heard but actively taken into account, and there should be a lot more content in the game for its next preview event in November. […]
