The Stream Team: Trouble with troglodytes in Dungeon and Dragons Online
Is Massively OP's MJ turning into a tomb robber? Well, she and her DDO group are going into Garl the Grey's tomb to appropriate it's treasure. The only thing standing in their way is… troglogytes. Lots of troglodytes! Tune in live at 8:00 p.m. for this next D&D night adventure. What: Dungeons & Dragons Online […]
Massively Overthinking: Are isometric MMOs more or less immersive than 3-D?
I was chit-chatting with MOP reader (and prolific tipster!) Panagiotis the other day about Ultima Online's big news when he hit on a topic about isometric MMOs that leaped out at me as being really insightful. "I find the isometric games give a better fantasy feel at the cost of realism. Games with good realistic […]
World of Warcraft Moon Guard players finish a massive roleplaying campaign ahead of Shadowlands
Perhaps you feel that Blizzard is either taking too long to kick off the events leading into World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. or maybe you wish that everything was a bit more personal. Players on Moon Guard certainly wanted something more engaging and personal, but instead of waiting for it to happen, they just organized a […]
Survival MMO Stars End zooms into open beta with redesigned planet environments
About a year ago, we covered a brand-new survival MMO called Stars End, a Firefly-tinged space title that had just blasted its way into Steam early access. It's come a long way from then – in fact, it's come all the way to what it's calling open beta and its milestone 41 update. "The main […]
World of Warcraft delays Shadowlands, pre-patch coming October 13th
We're sorry to bring you some disappointing — but not altogether unexpected — news: Blizzard announced today that it will be delaying World of Warcraft: Shadowlands from its October 27th release date until "later this year." In a post on Twitter, Executive Producer John Hight said that the move is to allow for more time […]
Lord of the Rings Online brings back Hobnanigans through October 4
Hobnanigans! Lord of the Rings Online! October 4th! That's about all the most recent tweet from the game promises, without providing you one whit of information about what Hobnanigans actually is supposed to be beyond time-limited. Fortunately, a bit of searching will reveal that it's really pretty simple, as it's just field hockey… played with live […]
Last Oasis adds the Panda Walker and a new map, prepares to introduce a beta test branch soon
A couple of weeks have slid by, which means there have been a couple of updates for survival sandbox Last Oasis. Last week saw the addition of the Panda Walker, a new vehicle that's custom-built to carry every type of Walker (except another Panda) and has a total of five slots to do so. As […]
Star Trek Online prepares a new task force allowing players to relive the Synth Invasion on Mars
It's a bit funny that Star Trek: Picard takes place in the future of all the actual television series, but in the not-too-distant past of Star Trek Online, meaning that major events like the attack on Utopia Planitia on Mars are all in the rear view of the game's actual timeline. So on that level, […]
EVE Echoes shares its first economic report as the mobile title celebrates 2M players
So, just how are things over on the mobile universe of EVE Echoes? By all accounts, booming, at least if reports from the game's Twitter are any indication. On the subject of booming in-game business, there's the game's first economic report, which shares the expected graphs of data collected from launch until September 29th. According […]
Cyberpunk 2077 drops new commercial starring Keanu Reeves
Cyberpunk 2077 would really like everyone to stop looking at its ongoing crunch fiasco and instead watch this brand-new commercial! It's got Keanu Reeves! Everybody look over there! Do note it really is a commercial, not a trailer; as VG247 notes, folks in the US may spy this one on TV. "Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, […]
Fallout 76 invites players to jump on to the test server to build Shelters
It's almost time to head underground in Fallout 76 when it comes to building Shelters. This is the next major feature arriving for the game's C.A.M.P. system, allowing players access to underground spaces from a small utility space to a massive atrium. Players are encouraged to come try out the system on the game's test server […]
Desert Oasis: The worst week I've ever had in Black Desert Online
This week, I was planning a third entry on my adventures in Black Desert Mobile, but a few very exasperating incidents happened to me in Black Desert PC last week, and it just seemed as if everything that could go wrong, did. The universe was telling me something and was making me listen. I just […]
PlanetSide 2 on PC adds new missions, revamps Esamir, and introduces the first campaign with the Shattered Warpgate update
A self-described "massive, multi-faceted" update for PlanetSide 2 has arrived to the PC version of the multiplayer shooter. Say hello to the Shattered Warpgate update, which is actually a catastrophic event in the game's fiction even if the update's name has a sort of bouncy rhyming cadence. As the update's name suggests, there was a […]
Vague Patch Notes: What we mean when we talk about MMO success – and failure
Yesterday, aside from love being such an easy game to play, MOP's Justin graced us with a Daily Grind asking about why it was RIFT didn't do better. I read it and found myself nodding along, saying that the game never really did light the world on fire like its designers wanted. And then I stopped and […]
Co-op village builder Drake Hollow launches today on Steam
For years, we've been told by our mothers and fathers to eat our vegetables. As if that wasn't a great enough burden, now we must defend them. Today sees the launch of Drake Hollow, a cute base building title that can be played solo or with a few friends online. The premise is that, for […]
Classic Guild Wars tightens up security in its latest update
Among the many little unique quirks that were seen in the original Guild Wars and pretty much nowhere else was a security question that asked players to enter in the name of one of their characters as proof that this was their account. However, that method of authentication proved detrimental to players returning to the […]
Camelot Unchained's latest news dispatches cover Dragon's Web, giants, and art
Camelot Unchained's City State Entertainment dropped three chunks of content from the developers last night, a bit unusually since it was a Wednesday and not a Friday. The game's weekly update discusses work on giants, warbands, the Overmind AI, behind-the-scenes tech, and the Dragon's Web battleground zone integration. In fact, Dragon's Web gets another mention […]
Epic Games and Apple both ask to have their case be heard by the judge, not a jury
It appears that both Apple and Epic Games have finally found at least one piece of common ground. Earlier in the week, we reported on a three hour hearing where Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers ruled to have the case moved to a jury trial at some point in the middle of 2021. Now, it appears […]
Ashes of Creation previews mounts and underwater content in latest livestream
Getting around on foot in Ashes of Creation is all well and good, but why bother with that when you've got mounts? That was a topic of discussion for a recent developer livestream which focused on mounts in general, underwater mounts in specific, as well as a bit about underwater content among other things. In […]
Star Wars Squadrons gears up for launch tomorrowday
EA's next big Star Wars game, Star Wars Squadrons, is set to release tomorrow with its shiny $39.99 pricetag and availability on almost every current platform, including VR. As we've covered all year, the game isn't an MMO per se, but it does feature some multiplayer content alongside the single-player campaign. "In Star Wars: Squadrons, […]
The Daily Grind: What makes you most likely to spend money on a free-to-play MMO?
There are two basic approaches that strike me when it comes to free-to-play monetization, as I see it. The first is a sense of contempt for players who aren't paying, with everything being somehow stymied or lessened because you're a mere free player and not a proper paying customer. The second is the inverse, that […]
The Stream Team: Canvassing Corellia and hunting Hoth for SWTOR's droids
The search for droids (oh, and we suppose The Shroud, too) continues in SWTOR. This week, Massively OP's Larry and MJ will be canvassing Corellia and hunting Hoth for their targets. Will it get dangerous? Viewers can only hope! Join us live at 8:00 p.m. to see if the Death Counter is forced to starve […]
Mortal Online 2 adds new races and a host of other adjustments in its latest combat alpha patch
The combat alpha testing for Mortal Online 2 continues to move forward as the most recent patch has made several additions, most notably the Alvarin races. There's also some new Berserker armor, the ability to craft weapons, and new poleaxe weapons. As well as new stuff, existing stuff has been adjusted with this latest patch […]
Co-op roguelike ARPG Darksburg has officially launched on Steam
Just in case you missed the report from earlier in the month, allow us to remind you that as of last week, Darksburg officially left early access and released its full 1.0 version as of last week. Styling itself as one of the few cooperative roguelike games out there, Darksburg sees players in teams of […]
Not So Massively roundup: Iron Harvest, Second Extinction, Valorant, Paladins, Wolf Team, The Cycle, and New Frontier
Welcome back to a quick roundup of recent news from some not-so-massively online multiplayer titles. Wolf Team: Gamigo's MMOFPS introduced a new map last week called Jungle, a deathmatch template. Wolf Team doesn't get a lot of coverage, but yes, this is a PvP game where you transform into werewolves and use wolf powers. Hey, […]
Wurm Online patches in improvements to sacrificing items
Players in Wurm Online deserve to get stuff when they sacrifice things. Not things like time or money, but in-game items used for Favor. The game's latest patch improves that particular system by no longer discarding excess Favor if your bar is full or would be overfilled when you sacrifice something; instead, you have that amount […]
Old School RuneScape breaks down the Trailblazer League in a video and adds the last Poll 72 updates
The time for the upcoming Trailblazer League in Old School RuneScape is almost nigh, so in order to get players prepared for it (and maybe stir the pot of hype a bit), there's a newly released video that offers up a closer look at what the new League is up to. The video condenses a […]
Final Fantasy XI prepares for full throttle campaigns in October
The next version update for Final Fantasy XI will be in October, but at this point no details are known beyond the usual monthly content cycles. Still, while that would be a bit less content than the past few patches, it should be buoyed by the Autumn Full Throttle Campaign just announced, which is all about […]
Guild Wars 2 preps tournament week, while community website Dulfy.net disappears
Guild Wars 2's PvP scene is a lot like hanging out at the pool. Some players are content to sit on the sidelines, some want to dip their toes into the WvW water, and some fully dive into the full arena experience. ArenaNet is hoping to tempt more players into the pool with its announcement […]
The Stream Team: Happy 10th birthday Final Fantasy XIV!
Double digits unlocked! FFXIV turns 10 today — if you count from the day first launch. (With A Realm Reborn, the game enjoyed a very successful second launch.) Massively OP's MJ is not about to miss this milestone; besides, if the first iteration didn't happen, we wouldn't have the second, right? Also, it's been too […]
Today's Crowfall patch adds guild alliances, mounts, and performance boosts
Crowfall's much-touted guild alliance update has arrived to the beta today, along with the rest of the 6.100 content, which includes the alliance system, mounts, faction banking, crafting improvements, and performance boosts that should increase the total number of players in battle to 175. "The Alliance system is now live offering a new path to […]
PWE is delaying Magic Legends' launch to spring 2021
Back in January, PWE announced that Magic Legends, no longer an MMO, would launch for PC in 2020, with console releases to follow in 2021. Given that we're just about in the last quarter of the year, and a whole lot has happened in the world since January, you might have wondered whether that date […]
PSA: Lord of the Rings Online has switched its payment processors – RIP Subway gift cards
You can no longer pay for things in Lord of the Rings Online via Subway gift cards. No, really. This is a thing. Anyone and everyone who had opted to pay for stuff in the game via a gift card intended for delicious sandwiches is someone not to be messed with. Unfortunately, some messing may […]
Perfect Ten: 10 tools MMOs use to tell stories
While some players like to rebel against the notion that MMORPGs are storytelling experiencies, that narrative is exactly why I show up to these games in the first place. The social atmosphere and persistent worlds are nice, but if I'm going to be spending hundreds of hours in a virtual world, I want to be […]
World of Warcraft explains Shadowlands' Conduit levels, preps stress test for today
With less than a month until the announced launch date for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, players are anxiously crying out in one voice for just several dozen things. Seriously, there's a lot of consternation in the playerbase right now. But one of the points of anxiety has been the functionality of conduits, and the latest official […]
Black Desert confirms backwards compatibility with PS5 and Xbox Series X
So, you like to play Black Desert on console, but you also are excited for the next generation of consoles that are coming soon. What do you do? You don't worry is what you do because Pearl Abyss has recently confirmed that the game will be fully backwards compatible with the new PlayStation 5 and […]
Here's Torchlight III's headstart pre-launch is going to work in October
Hot on the heels of its launch announcement yesterday, Torchlight III's Echtra Games and PWE posted another state of the game piece meant for existing players and testers. Notably, the studios say, the early access period will come to a close with the launch of the game and the 1.0 release, though early access players […]
Elite: Dangerous elaborates on how Odyssey moves careers and missions to NPCs, stations, and settlements
Most of the time, getting a mission in Elite: Dangerous involved docking into a spaceport and navigating a UI from the seat of your spaceship. That's all completely changing when the Odyssey expansion arrives, though, as the ability to leave the ship and walk around stations and space ports will now deliver mission giving in […]
PBS Kids' kart-centric MMO Kart Kingdom is sunsetting today after five years online
While a game like Kart Kingdom is not often touched upon here, it's still a valuable place in the MMO sphere, especially since there are fewer MMOs aimed at children nowadays. Unfortunately, that number is decreasing by one more as Kart Kingdom announced its shutdown after five years of operation. For those unaware, Kart Kingdom […]
CD Projekt Red goes back on its word regarding Cyberpunk 2077 crunch
Crunch — the period of development time where studios enact overtime to get a product ready to ship — is a controversial and harmful practice that has come under increased fire in recent years. Last year, CD Projekt Red took a vocal stand against crunch, saying that it would most definitely, most assuredly not enact […]
The Daily Grind: Why didn't RIFT do better?
Want to make me sad? All you need to do is remind me that RIFT is stagnating in the hands of Gamigo, which hasn't seen fit to do much with this incredible MMO since it acquired it from Trion Worlds. It's really depressing to see this title languish when it could be thriving under the […]
The Stream Team: Avenging dragons in Guild Wars 2
Have you heard of Guild Wars 2-sday? Well now you have! Massively OP's MJ has decided that it's the perfect day to continue her Tyria adventures. And those adventures are focused on avenging a dragon! Little did she know last time that her heart would shatter just like the dragon. Join us live at 8:00 […]
Pokemon Sword and Shield teases dungeons, Pokemon Go will finally connect to Home
Today's Pokemon Direct had some surprising news for franchise fans. First, the second Pokemon Sword and Shield expansion, The Crown Tundra, is coming out October 22nd, 2020. We've previously discussed how some kind of movement dungeons would be involved, and as represented in the video, it seems teams of up to four players will simply […]
Path of Exile's developers are working at improving Heist rewards and making Heists shorter
After about two weeks of elegant heist antics in Path of Exile, the developers are hard at work improving the experience. This includes literal experience, too; right now, Heist enemies are just not providing enough experience for fighting through them. So one of the big areas the team is working on is providing more experience (especially […]
Hearthstone begins Halloween celebrations with the Masquerade Ball event
Some balls are held for charity and some for fancy dress, but the ball being held in Hearthstone's Scholomace Academy is the one we'll be talking about. Starting today, the Masquerade Ball event is beginning, bringing some Halloween-themed fun and a few wrinkles to the game modes of the online CCG. Starting today, players will […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 290: African expedition
Justin and Bree discuss Ultima Online New Legacy, Phantasy Star Online 2's New Genesis, LOTRO's new class, WoW and BlizzConline, The Wagadu Chronicles, and Secret World Legends, with adventures in WoW, Guild Wars, and City of Heroes, plus mailbag topics on representation in MMOs and favorite jumping puzzles.
Shroud of the Avatar adds Lord British's castle, details food updates, player dungeon creature spawners, and even bigger player towns
The latest newsletter from Shroud of the Avatar has a lot of ground to cover this time around in terms of content being added or soon to be added. On the "added" front is the Lord British's castle adventure, which readers will recall was first opened to Episode 2 early access buyers this past July. […]
Diablo IV devs discuss 'major changes' for the game's skill and talent systems
Hey, remember how Blizzard is still work on Diablo IV? Yeah, one or two other major things in 2020 may have made that slip from your mind. But today the studio released another quarterly update on the game's development. Lead Systems Designer David Kim says the studio has been busy tweaking ancestral, demonic, and angelic […]
City of Heroes: Homecoming previews Page 6 content, preps for Halloween, and shares the cost of operations
We've got a whole lot of news pouring out of the Homecoming rogue servers for City of Heroes, so let's dive right in. First off, we've got a preview of Page 6 content, which will be introducing a new Sonic Manipulation secondary powerset for Blasters, a whole slew of endgame balance adjustments that will mostly […]
Phantasy Star Online 2's episode 5 launches tomorrow with new hero class, level cap bump, and raids
Tomorrow's patch day for Phantasy Star Online 2, SEGA announced today, complete with new trailer and pics too. Episode 5 begins tomorrow, meaning that the "road to episode 5" content is nearing completion tonight. "In Episode 5, following the aid of those on Earth, players discover a mysterious portal that leads to another dimension, called […]
