AdventureQuest 3D previews the first pass of its new system for guilds
When you hang out with someone new in AdventureQuest 3D, you've always had the option to be friends if you think the other person is cool. But what if you know a bunch of cool people and you all want to hang out in the same space? Well, that's what the game's new guild mechanics are […]
WoW Factor: A wild theory for World of Warcraft's Shadowlands
I don't have quite as much as I would have expected to say about Shadowlands so close to its launch. Part of that is, of course, timing; the surprise delay sort of disrupted my normal expected cadence. But another part of that is just that I haven't been in the beta and thus I'm going to […]
Fallout 76 brings you up to speed on the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel
When December 1st arrives, so will the heavy boots of the Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout 76. The fan-favorite faction from the Fallout series is finally making its way to Appalachia. And if you're wondering why it took the group so long to get there and what it's even about, well, there's a video for […]
New survey points to increase in hate and harassment in online multiplayer games
The behavior of people in online games does not appear to be improving for the better. According to national survey results from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), people are experiencing an uptick in hateful and harassing behavior in their online multiplayer gaming day-to-day. The survey took responses from a nationally representative segment of American players aged […]
ArcheAge Unchained extends its free trial into December
ArcheAge Unchained's free trial program must be doing well for the MMO — or the studio wants to divert attention from other, more shadowy and warcrafty releases — because Gamigo announced this week that it's extending the promotion through December 10th. Originally, the trial for the buy-to-play title was scheduled to conclude on November 16th. […]
World of Warcraft goes on a Shadowlands interview blitz
With only days to go until Shadowlands ushers World of Warcraft players into the afterlife, it's definitely a good time for the studio to drum up hype through interviews. Blizzard seems to be on a tear with these, starting with Assistant Lead Quest Designer Johnny Cash and Art Director Ely Cannon sitting down with VG247 […]
The Daily Grind: Are you sick of being a tankmage in MMOs?
One of the very first gaming terms I ever learned in an online game was bestowed upon me as a teenager in Ultima Online, and that term was tankmage. It was simultaneously a dirty word and a mark of pride: Tankmages, in those early days, were characters running around in full platemail and weapons but […]
The Stream Team: Planting the Icehammer flag in Neverwinter
After defeating the Rime Hound, Massively OP's MJ still needs to ascend Neverwinter's Icespire Peak again to retrieve the Icehammer flag from fallen Rurik Hillhelm so she can plant it at the gates of the frost giant's home. Tune in live at 9:00 p.m. for a trip back up the icy mountain. What: Neverwinter Who: […]
Massively Overthinking: No-thank-you bites in MMO gaming
One of the things I always try to have my kids do is take a no-thank-you bite of new foods. They have to at least try it to be able to politely turn it down. This doesn't work, mind you; my kid who likes everything still eats everything and my kid who likes nothing will […]
War Thunder releases the New Power update, World of Tanks lands on next-gen consoles via backwards compatibility
Both of the big-name vehicular multiplayer combat titles have some big updates for their players. War Thunder has released its New Power update, while World of Tanks Console is touting its backwards compatibility with the newly-launched PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The New Power update has introduced a visual rehaul for War Thunder, with better […]
Neverwinter is retiring Bonding Runestones and making changes to companions
How well does item level match to actual player power in Neverwinter? Not well enough, at least according to the way developers see it, and that's leading to some changes to the way that companions work. This includes outright removing Bonding Runestones, which never really lined up with stated item levels and will thus be available […]
Pokemon Go announces better distance trading event after all, and it's live today
In our article on the reveal of Pokemon Go's upcoming Go Beyond update and its promised level cap increase, we noted how Niantic refused to acknowledge some press questions while making sure to specifically say "no comment" or "no announcements at this time" for others. We included this because sometimes it's obvious when "we have […]
Wizard101 opens the world of Karamelle and a new story arc in its latest update
I'm going to be honest, the new world that's been added to Wizard101 sounds absolutely delightful. The newest update has introduced the region of Karamelle, with places like the Gumdrop Forest, Sweetzburg, and the Rock Candy Mountains, and creatures like Honey Badgers and Chocolate Moose. We're up to our eyeballs in candied whimsy here, folks. […]
EVE Online is getting some changes to torpedoes with its next update
When you fire a torpedo in EVE Online you would like it to have a notable impact. You are firing at a ship with the intent of causing serious and preferably irreparable damage. So you will probably be happy to know that with the next major update on November 24th XL torpedoes will see a boost […]
Elite Dangerous' free Epic Games Store promo is plagued by access issues
Frontier had a big promotion for Elite Dangerous planned today: It was meant to be fully free on the Epic Games Store, including Horizons, which was recently merged into the base game. That's a markdown from a retail rate of $29.99, clearly primed to attract people not just to the game but to the platform. […]
Aion NA adds the Timeless Terrace, opens a new dungeon, and introduces Glyphs in the Unshackled Fate update
The NA version of Aion has gotten itself some fresh content in the form of the Unshackled Fate update. The centerpiece of the update is the new Timeless Terrace, a level 80 area with a base, ten border areas, and three sanctuaries. Interestingly, monsters in the Timeless Terrace do not respawn normally when killed, only […]
Last Oasis is launching on Xbox Series consoles early in 2021, PC wipe slated for Sunday
Woodpunk survival MMO Last Oasis has had a bumpy ride since its B2P early access rollout last spring, losing the vast majority of its player concurrency since. But now studio Donkey Crew has big plans to expand the game – to a new platform. "Last Oasis will be coming to Xbox One as well as […]
World of Warcraft posts survival guide and profession primer ahead of Shadowlands
We're less than a week away from World of Warcraft's Shadowlands launch, which means Blizzard is running out of days to preview stuff – but it's certainly not running out of previews. The studio today dropped two pieces worth your attention. First, there's a new dev blog up on how professions will work in the […]
New World's latest alpha patch buffs threat and makes high-end combat more challenging
If you caught the big news yesterday, then you already know that Amazon is dropping a big new patch for alpha testers of New World, complete with a new level 58-60 zone and the fishing tradeskill. MOP's Justin toured the new content during the Amazon press event, finding Reekwater to be a properly nasty and […]
Pantheon toasts Brad McQuaid, plans next pre-alpha test, and updates the 'evaluation' build
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen has delivered its November producer's letter today, and it begins on a sad note as Producer Ben Dean reminds fans that it's now been one year since the genre and the game lost veteran game developer Brad McQuaid. "Visionary Realms itself is a team Brad built," Dean writes. "He brought […]
Vague Patch Notes: Players aren't the only people who should prepare for their MMO to die
There are certain realities that developers need to reckon with that start with acknowledging a certain degree of reality, and one of those bits of reality is acknowledging that the MMO they work on is going to reach the end of life. That doesn't necessarily mean that the game is going to shut down, per […]
Activision-Blizzard lays off more support staff, this time in the Asia-Pacific region
(This piece has been updated with Blizzard's confirmation and an updated headcount of those affected.) UK publication MCV/Develop is reporting today that the global redundancies for Activision-Blizzard are continuing. According to MCV's unnamed insider source, over 100 around 30 employees in the Asia-Pacific region are seeing staffing impacts to their offices, specifically affecting employees who […]
First impressions of Netmarble's A3 Still Alive: Is it relevant in 2020?
What's going with MMO names these days? First there was V4, and now we have A3. The full title is A3: Still Alive, which I think stands for "Ah, Ah, Ah, Still Alive." It's Netmarble's newest massive multiplayer mobile online roleplaying battle royale game, or MMMORPBRG for short. It's an interesting title, but I wish I […]
Age of Conan surprises fans with a snowy defense scenario
Ho, Age of Conan! Nice to see that you are still pillaging, burning, and looting your way across the MMO landscape — and that Funcom hasn't fully abandoned you to the ravages of time. In fact, the studio just released a new defense scenario that players can join via the group finder. "Inspired by an […]
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is seemingly cracking down on orgs and 'politics' in-game
Back in October, we reported on a move by Joe Biden's presidential campaign to create an island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which was subsequently used for cringe-y promotional show with Kinda Funny. At the time, some of our readers wondered whether that was against Nintendo's terms of use. It wasn't. But it might be […]
Final Fantasy XIV opens its special site for patch 5.4, Futures Rewritten
The next major Final Fantasy XIV patch arrives in early December, but you can start teasing out some information about it now via the newly launched special site for the patch. This includes many teases about what's coming next in terms of lore, but the contents of the story remain vague. Sure, we can see that […]
World of Warcraft dev posts exit manifesto: 'I was unhappy with the state of the game'
While people are hired, fired, and leave Blizzard all the time, it's certainly not very often that we get a lengthy manifesto on the state of the game from someone who is on the way out. However, that's exactly what happened this week as former game designer Chris Kaleiki left the company and posted a […]
The Daily Grind: What's the longest you've gone without playing an MMO?
It's been a rough fall for me personally as my family is preparing for a move. I've spent so much time building and packing and painting, and the reality is I've got so much more to do both on the house and on the site. I'll be really happy if everything goes well and I […]
Star Wars Squadrons plans two more updates in 2020, including new starfighters
Star Wars Squadrons may not be considered a "live service," but it's still apparently due for some updates, as Motive and EA announced today they've been working on "two free content updates" to run "through the holiday season." Update 3.0 launches on November 25th, featuring the new multiplayer Fostar Haven map; it was singleplayer only […]
MMO Business Roundup: Twitch affiliate mess, NFL esports, Skull & Bones boss ousted
Welcome back to another quick roundup of MMO and games industry news relevant to our interests. First, Twitch is making waves – the bad kind – as it's announced that its apparently solution to the ongoing deluge of DMCA demands from the music industry (and thousands of videos being stripped from the platform) is to […]
Trove's insane Turkeytopia event returns with free wings
Does Trove have the best Thanksgiving event in the MMO biz? Turkeytopia certainly does double-down on the whole theme of hunting, dressing up as, and idolizing these chubby birds. In any case, Turkeytopia is running from now through the end of the month. That should give you plenty of time to gobble gobble up all […]
Huge Lord of the Rings Online Q&A talks Gundabad, River-hobbits, Brawlers, and 2021 plans
Lord of the Rings Online players have been clamoring for a lot more communication from SSG this year, especially from the game's higher-ups. This is their week, then, because Executive Producer Rob Ciccolini showed up for a one-hour community Q&A and fielded a whole lot of questions about the current state of the game and the […]
Whatever happened to Requiem: Memento Mori?
Requiem: Memento Mori isn't a name that's often on the lips of MMO gamers. In fact, we wouldn't blame you if you were staring at this post with a blank look and a complete lack of recollection. In short, Requiem is a bloody splatterfest that came out in 2008 and has gone through a few […]
Roblox's Lil Nas X concert racks up a total of 33 million views
So it would seem that the in-game concert event held by Roblox this past weekend was something of a success. According to statements shared by the game, the Lil Nas X in-game concert drew in a total of 33 million viewers over the course of its Saturday run, along with a special encore performance on […]
Albion Online seeks to improve faction warfare and Hellgates in its next major update
With the Brimstone and Mist update effectively in the rearview mirror of Albion Online, the question of what happens next for the game has to be answered. That answer is a focus on Hellgates and faction warfare according to the latest developer post. Faction warfare will be seeing a number of changes including the ability […]
Blade and Soul celebrates the Thanksgiving season with the Golden Harvest Festival
Today is the day to give thanks in Blade and Soul with the start of the Golden Harvest Festival. As of today, players can take part in new events, check out the new Primeweald auto-hunting zone, collect new gems, and enter the Tower of Infinity: Season of Ascension. On the events side of things, the […]
Black Desert brings basilisk fights and shared character equipment on PC, Guardian Awakening on console
This week in Black Desert sees some more events and a unique new feature for PC and the Awakening of the Guardian as well as Succession for several classes. It's yet another bundle of BDO, so let's hop in. On PC, this week's update has introduced the Marni's Suspicious Device item that effectively lets players […]
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition gets a battle royale mode as part of its anniversary update
It looks like the multiplayer RTS Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is joining the battle royale party. As part of the game's most recent update celebrating its first anniversary, there's now a battle royale mode that pits eight players against one another. In battle royale, players start with only a few units under their […]
For Science: Gaming is good for you, actually, suggests new Oxford study
A new University of Oxford study published this week suggests that there's a "positive relation between game play and well-being." The paper itself hasn't been peer-reviewed yet, but it's been covered widely this week as its findings and methods are unique. The authors used Plants vs. Zombies and Animal Crossing New Horizons, working with EA […]
Epic is suing Apple in Australia over Fortnite as Apple halves its profit cut from indie devs
You might think Epic Games' primary business is video games or video game engines, but as it turns out, it's fast becoming "filing lawsuits." Yes, Epic has apparently now filed suit against Apple in an Australia federal court, compounding the ongoing feud between Epic and Apple over Epic's August decision to sneak a third-party payment […]
Perfect Ten: The 10 qualities of MMO sandboxes
What is a sandbox MMO? At first glance, it seems like a pretty easy question to answer, especially if you're going by Kickstarter projects, which will inform you that sandboxes are good and themeparks are bad. But the actual definition of what a sandbox is remains fuzzy, and it often contains some pretty bad assumptions, […]
Curseforge will be stopping new World of Warcraft add-on updates right as Shadowlands launches
Sometimes, two events coincide in a way that is particularly unpleasant for more or less everyone. The changeover from Curseforge to Overwolf for World of Warcraft add-ons is such a scenario. You see, as part of the transition, the existing framework for updating add-ons with new versions will be disabled starting on November 24th, so no […]
Fortnite adds in-game Houseparty support for video chat while you play
So the world is covered in a suffocating miasma of death and you probably aren't hanging out with most of your friends in person. (If you are, well… that's kind of why the world is covered in a suffocating miasma of death.) This has been good news for video chat apps like Houseparty, and the team […]
So Guild Wars 2's new roadrunner mount basically looks like a chocobo
Yesterday's The Icebrood Saga: Champions: Truce update for Guild Wars 2 came with a fun surprise in the form of the Roadrunner skin for the raptor mount originally introduced in Path of Fire. "You'll have a fine feathered friend to help you traverse the harshest Tyrian landscapes!" ArenaNet's promo says. "This enormous bird is an […]
Amazon's New World demo: Fishing, Reekwater, and hands-on havoc
It's certainly been rough seas for Amazon's upcoming New World over the past year — especially with a significant change of development direction for the title and several delays — but at the end of it all may be a welcome harbor for an eager fanbase. That's thanks to the fact that the revised and […]
Overwatch floats 'priority passes' while Hearthstone brings back the Darkmoon Faire
Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan clearly got out of the house this past week, donned his iconic sunglasses, and addressed the community in a new developer update. One of the big reveals that he dropped on us is that the team shooter is going to be introducing something called "priority passes" in the near future […]
Niantic just announced Pokemon Go Beyond, the game's biggest content update ever
Pokemon GO has already had an overwhelming number of events since late September, with both hits and some misses, but Niantic's looking to close out 2020 with a bang with Go Beyond, the game's next update. We attended the press reveal of Go Beyond, and while it was exclusively about the new update and not longstanding […]
The Daily Grind: How do you feel about MMO login rewards?
When I sit down at the end of my day to get in my two hours of gaming, I always start with a ritual: I'll quickly log in and out of a handful of MMOs to grab daily rewards. In most of these cases, they're not even titles I play on a regular basis, but […]
The Stream Team: Cruising to complete EverQuest II's Blood of Luclin
Massively OP's MJ anticipates that the Reign of Shadows expansion will launch sometime next month, so she wants to finish the Blood of Luclin story before it does! That doesn't leave too many EverQuest II-sdays to wrap up the signature quest line. Join us live at 8:00 p.m. to see what new things MJ discovers […]
RuneScape rolls out Construction Contracts with its latest update
The time has arrived for RuneScape players to stop holing up in their houses as a means of leveling up Construction. The new Construction Contract system previewed last week is now being rolled out completely, alongside the expected swath of bug fixes and minor improvements one would expect for a patch. If you caught up on […]
