Defiance and Defiance 2050 celebrate the holidays while offering server compensation
Ho-ho-hopefully you like fighting the Volge in Defiance and Defiance 2050 because that's the game's Christmas event this year. Yes, running until January 11th, both games are summoning special Arkfalls with 2050 offering a selection of new prototype weaponry and gear while the original game offers special contracts to clear. It wouldn't quite be right to say […]
Overwatch's Winter Wonderland and Hearthstone's Winter Veil events go live
For those who like to celebrate the season by blowing away enemy teams or playing card games, it is now the most wonderful time of the year as Overwatch and Hearthstone have both begun their holiday-themed events. In Hearthstone, there's Winter Veil shenanigans including a Gift Exchange Tavern Brawl and the Wacky Waxy Winter Veil […]
RuneScape introduces a wintry Yak Track, improves Diango's UI, and brings back Violet for a holiday quest
It's Christmastime in RuneScape (just in case the advent calendar's return wasn't a hint enough) and the game has decked the halls in its weekly update report with word of several festive-minded updates. First, Violet is back and is once more needing the help of players to uncover the mystery of why Yeti Town is […]
The Elder Scrolls Online's holiday event returns with new rewards and new Imperial quests
The New Life festival is coming once again to The Elder Scrolls Online this upcoming Thursday, December 17th, and while a number of the event details for this year are similar to past events, there are a few notable new additions to the festivities including a new Snowball Buddy pet and Imperial Charity Writs that […]
The Stream Team: Decking the halls (and snowmen and fish) in Star Trek Online's Winter Wonderland
Christmastime in Star Trek Online can be quite the violent affair. What else would you expect with Q in charge? Instead of decking halls, Massively OP's MJ will be punching gummy fish, pelting snowmen (and snow borg!), and pummeling Kramp'Ihri. At least the ice-skating race doesn't involve destruction. Join us live at 2:00 p.m. for […]
CCP Games partners with Sperasoft for the latest in a long line of EVE franchise shooters
It's no secret at all that CCP Games has been working on a new multiplayer online game, or at least it shouldn't be if you read MOP regularly. That's because the company has been slipping out hiring notices for the game for the last several years, and of course in August, Hilmar Petursson himself openly […]
Enter to win a Perfect World International mount and pet in honor of the Celestials update
PWE's Perfect World International doesn't get enough attention from the MMO community, but if you're a fan, you'll want to feast your eyes on it today. That's because the game has just launched its Northern Realms: Celestials update. There are four components to the update: a new PvP mode, the codex system for cosmetics and […]
Funcom's Conan Chop Chop isn't dead, and it's really launching next year
Funcom's Conan Chop Chop, originally introduced as a rogue-like ARPG back in 2019, wrecked our predictions for 2020 by not launching, and I'm holding a grudge. OK, I'm not. But it really has been a long time coming, something that Funcom acknowledges in today's press release. See, in 2019, Funcom and developer Mighty Kingdom delayed the […]
Massively OP's 2020 Awards: Biggest MMO Disappointment of 2020
MassivelyOP's end-of-the-year awards for 2020 continue today with our award for Biggest MMO Disappointment of 2020, which was awarded jointly to the cancellation of Peria Chronicles and the decline of Guild Wars 2 last year. Disappointments can be games, launches, patches, trends, stories, sunsets, all manner of topics in the MMORPG genre and orbiting sub-genres. […]
Torchlight III's Snow & Steam update is live with updates for Forged and Forts
Torchlight III is emulating the blizzard smacking the Northeast US right now by dumping winter all over the gameworld too. Today's Snow & Steam update has rolled out to PC and all three consoles, marking the biggest update the game's seen since launch. There are new arctic-themed weapons, new high-level armor, an overhaul for the […]
End-of-Year Eleven: The biggest MMO stories of 2020
Here's a fun question for you: What's the difference between the biggest surprises of a year and the biggest stories of the year? The answer, in short, is that it's something we actually debate and discuss a lot here as well because there isn't a very clear dividing line and we're doing our best to find […]
Free character transfers for World of Warcraft are closing on Thursday
Some servers in World of Warcraft are just more populated than others. That's a simple reality. In the hopes of having some players move off the more populated realms and to emptier ones, Blizzard turned on some free transfers back in November. However, the window for free transfers will be closed as of Thursday, December 17th; […]
Project Gorgon patches in winter festivities plus Deer and Ice Magic revamps
Project Gorgon doesn't technically have Christmas – but it does have Ri-Shin Day and New Year's Day, which means it's party season over in Elder Game's MMO. "Townsfolk who are your Friends will offer you gifts when you speak with them. (Make sure to have your favorite combat skills active in case they give you […]
Amazon's New World improves alpha combat with a new axe and shield
Who's pumped for New World to come out next year? There's a lot of hope and expectations riding on how much Amazon Game Studio can improve and flesh out the upcoming MMO before its 2021 release, and a key part of this is fine-tuning New World's combat system. On Tuesday, Amazon put the title through […]
Diablo IV works to 'get itemization right,' promises something 'chunky' for BlizzConline
When you come to a Diablo game, your brain is often just craving one thing: those loot explosions. Gear is a major source of those juicy endorphins, and it's a part of the game that Blizzard knows it absolutely has to get right as it continues to craft Diablo IV. After a "top to bottom" […]
The Daily Grind: What was the best new zone added to an MMO in 2020?
Way back in 2016, MOP reader Agemyth suggested that we debate the best new zone added to an MMO for the last couple of years. This year marks our fifth go-round, and I'm always glad to bring it back because it's one of those pseudo-awards that really is different every year, by definition. No game gets an […]
The Stream Team: A launch-day look at EverQuest II's Reign of Shadows
See you on the dark side of the moon! So says Massively OP's MJ, who is jumping into EQII's Reign of Shadows expansion that just launched today. The adventures on Luclin continue as MJ goes after Emperor Ssraeshza and his zealots who've have laid claim to the ancient citadel of Vex Thal. Tune in live […]
Spellbreak's Spellstorm update goes live as its executive producer talks matchmaking changes
Today is the day where the battle royale shooter Spellbreak expands its horizons. The Spellstorm update is officially live, introducing several touted features including narrative missions, a new region, and the game's launch on Steam. A number of these updates were discussed in a letter from executive producer Cardell Kerr, who asks players of the […]
Pokemon Go adds even more winter events, hints that Kanto is just the start of the tour
Gather around, trainers: Have you heard of Mr. Rime? The new version Pokemon's Mr. Mime got a Galar regional varient that also evolves, and it's making its way to Pokemon Go in a special event slated for December 18th. For about $8 US, players get incubators, Glacial Lures, Star Pieces, Premium Battle Passes, a poffin, and […]
Blade & Soul offers special Blade Dancer bundles and its Christmas event with tomorrow's Grim Tidings patch
The next patch for Blade & Soul adds a third specialization for Blade Dancer, and if you're enticed by the prospect of the Grim Blade option or just want to jump on the bandwagon partway the game has you covered. Two new bundles are available for new Blade Dancer characters, offering a variety of starting kit […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 301: Hurtling into Oblivion
Justin and Bree discuss Elder Scrolls Online's Gates of Oblivion, Crimson Desert, Elite Odyssey, Ark 2, Black Desert, WoW Shadowlands, PSO2, LOTRO, EverQuest, and FFXIV, with adventures in WoW, SWTOR, and CoH, and a mailbag topic on CoH Brutes that spirals into meta and endgame discussion.
Crowfall's Convergence update introduces active skills and a castle siege objective
A lot of hay has been made by Crowfall about the system changes being made to the MMO, but now it's time for beta players to try it out for themselves. Yesterday marked the release of Convergence, the latest update to the throne war PvP sandbox, to the Test server, bringing its active skills system […]
Grand Theft Auto Online releases the island-sized Cayo Perico Heist
Today is the day where players of Grand Theft Auto Online can enter an island paradise and rob it blind. The Cayo Perico Heist is now available, bringing a variety of new challenges and rewards for players to take on. As we've reported previously, this heist involves players infiltrating the private party island of drug […]
Book of Travels takes a detailed look at the character creation process
Tiny multiplayer online title Book of Travels has very much been all about the idea of players taking on their roles in a deeper sense than most other MMOs, and no more is that apparent than with the game's character creation system, which was detailed in a Steam post this past Friday. Character creation starts […]
Vin Diesel is officially part of the development team for ARK 2 as President of Creative Convergence
Just in case you happened to miss it during our coverage of the Game Awards, a sequel to survival sandbox ARK: Survival Evolved as well as an animated series are both happening, and both of these projects will be featuring actor Vin Diesel. That would normally be the end of the story, except Studio Wildcard […]
Star Trek Online delays its next patch to avoid mandatory respecs
Considering that respecs in Star Trek Online can cost you actual money, you wouldn't think that anyone would be upset at getting them for free… but when they're mandatory respecs coming time and again, you can perhaps understand why player reaction might be an exhausted sigh. Players weren't very happy about the idea that this week's update […]
Choose My Adventure: Simply skipping through quests small and large in Fallout 76
I'm not sure that this week has fully inured me to Fallout 76, but I will say that things were starting to come together a little bit more this time around. This week, as the title would lead you to believe, was all about completing quests, and while the setting and some of the gameplay […]
Guild Wars 2's Wintersday is now upon us as the game goes on sale for half off
The festive season has returned to Tyria this week as Guild Wars 2's Wintersday has just rolled out. ArenaNet says it'll run through January 5th. Notably, this year's event adds a new hood cosmetic to the meta-achievement, a new weapon set, and new guild deco for the season: "Come join us in celebrating Wintersday—Toymaker Tixx […]
Fight or Kite: Forget Cyberpunk 2077 – Hackmud is the real cyberpunk game you should be playing
Right now the game dominating headlines is Cyberpunk 2077 – Cyberpunk this and Cyberpunk that. I honestly believe some players expected this game to change the way we see a perfect game going forward, though whether it's done that in practice is another story. But what if I told you the epitome of a cyberpunk […]
Rumor: Nexon's Final Fantasy XI mobile remake has been cancelled
It looks as if the sun has finally set on the never-materialized mobile remake of Final Fantasy XI, as Korean site MTN is reporting that the project has been cancelled. The reasons cited are the usual ones, with development not progressing smoothly and difficulties in adapting the game's systems to work within a mobile environment. Employees […]
Massively OP's 2020 Awards: Best MMO Character Customization
MassivelyOP's end-of-the-year awards for 2020 continue today with… what's this? A brand-new award? Yep! This year we're debuting a new formal award for Best MMO Character Customization. After all, making toons is one of the few things pretty much every MMO and every MMO player truly has in common. Will this award be around next […]
New Dungeons & Dragons movie provokes teasing between Star Trek Online and Neverwinter
If you were, erm, pining for a new Dungeons & Dragons movie, then prepare your mind for the thrills that are to come with a new big-budget feature film that's in the works. It's drawn some attention this past week, thanks to the announcement that Chris Pine has been attached to star. Of course, this […]
Star Citizen adjusts insurance wait times and costs in 3.12 test build, sending the community into a froth
Alpha 3.12 of Star Citizen is still running through its private test server paces, which is probably a good thing because the latest build of the game has brought some adjustments to insurance timers and costs and players are not too pleased. For those who aren't familiar, when an insured ship goes pop in Star […]
World of Warcraft's Ion Hazzikostas evaluates Shadowlands' launch
Now that we're approaching a month of exploring Shadowlands, Blizzard and players alike have a better idea of how the World of Warcraft expansion is functioning in a live environment. Game Director Ion Hazzikostas sat down for an interview on Twitch to analyze the launch, saying that the studio feels pretty good at how it's […]
Star Wars Galaxies Legends will launch Bespin as the City in the Clouds expansion in early 2021
Star Wars Galaxies rogue server Star Wars Galaxies Legends has some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that it's put a halt to some of the projects being worked on by the team – but the good news is that it's only because the player-led team is turning all of its […]
The Daily Grind: What's your one big MMO gaming wish for 2021?
While it will no doubt continue to be a long and difficult winter, there's something mentally refreshing in turning the calendar over to a new year. As we continue to wrap up 2020 here at Massively OP with columns, awards, and recaps, we're also looking ahead to 2021 with tempered optimism. We'd love it to […]
The Stream Team: A Bargain of Blood in Dungeons and Dragons Online
Massively OP's MJ: Celebrating the season with Pirates! For the next adventure in DDO's pirate saga ("Bargain of Blood"), the D&D night crew was hired by merchants of Stormreach to thwart the pirates of the Blood Tide who are ransacking ships and then selling the goods back at their own Bargain Bazaar. Can the crew […]
Fall Guys Season 3 adds new wintry costumes, new obstacle courses, and Crown Ranks on December 15
There's a snow storm coming, with slippery ice, lots of snow, and a number of plush hazards meant to bat you aside. It's winter in Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, and it's bringing a whole bunch of new content to the obstacle course-running battle royale title. One of the primary features of this new update is […]
MapleStory previews Flicker of Light content and upcoming BTS collaboration
Whether you like doing regular game content or want to dress up like a K-pop band, MapleStory has got your number. The Awake: Flicker of Light update has a big list of features outlined including the second part of the Tera Burning event to help players hit level 200 quickly, a Legion Arena PvP minigame, […]
Blade & Soul previews the item upgrade changes for its next update
With the next Blade & Soul update arriving on Wednesday players will have access to a new legendary ring and gloves. That means you should throw your old gloves into the garbage with great alacrity, like the package of a frozen pizza before you realize you didn't fully check the cooking time. Also like reading the […]
Star Citizen Live talks update 3.12, reputation system, environmental effects, and more
The next alpha build of Star Citizen is pretty close now, considering much of the previous videos talked up several features of the update. We've all got one more now, as Star Citizen Live brought together director Todd Papy and core gameplay designer Richard Tyrer to talk all about the update. One of the first […]
Shroud of the Avatar shows off new hood patterns, gets a seal of approval from Richard Garriott
This week in Shroud of the Avatar, players can look forward to hoods. Specifically, cloth head patterns on the Cabalist Hood can be displayed with Release 85, where previously there were fewer options for those who wanted to show off their creepy headgear as well as individual style. Players can also look forward to more […]
Sci-fi horror title The Callisto Protocol is confirmed as a 'narrative experience' tied to PUBG
We've covered a few occasions where the decidedly plotless battle royale shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds was trying to build up some lore and backstory for itself, but this news is definitely a… unique turn. The Callisto Protocol, a sci-fi horror game from the newly formed Striking Distance Studios helmed by Dead Space creator Glen Schofield that […]
The Stream Team: Down into an Endless Delve in Path of Exile
Do you miss Path of Exile's Delve league? Massively OP's MJ never felt like she got to descend far enough. Luckily, for the holidays she has the chance to do so again: The Endless Delve mini-league is her chance to just see how far she can get without worrying about playing through the game's story […]
Microsoft outlines shared goals with Sony and Nintendo to make gaming 'safer'
There are a lot of things that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all disagree about. Which company gets your money, for example. But a new posting on the official Microsoft site from corporate vice president Dave McCarthy outlines specific areas wherein all three companies are in perfect alignment with shared principles about making console gaming safer […]
Pantheon's latest dev roundtable dives into the environment
While we often would like games to show, not tell, Pantheon fans are going to have to make do with the team telling, not showing in the most recent developer roundtable. In this edition, Senior Environment Artist Jimmy Lane sat down for a one-hour audio-only stream to talk about crafting the nooks, crannies, and landscapes of […]
Conan Exiles confirms that ongoing Xbox One issues won't be fixed until sometime next year
Who knew that the greatest threat Hyboria would ever know was some gnarly bugs in a console version of Conan Exiles? Certainly not Funcom, which has been fighting mightily against Xbox One issues over the past couple of months. Scott Junior has once again checked in with another update, and the news isn't exactly glowing. […]
Wisdom of Nym: Impressions of Final Fantasy XIV's patch 5.4 content
Here's something that I think no one, even me, really acknowledged heading into this particular patch: Final Fantasy XIV set itself up with a really difficult act to follow. Patch 5.3 was a real standout in both story and content terms, and that meant that the next patch was always going to be something of a letdown […]
Tencent moves forward in buying Leyou Technologies for over a billion bucks
Throughout the 2020, we've been covering the many companies competing to buy up Leyou Technology, the holding company that both owns the majority of Warframe's Digital Extremes and is working on multiple MMOs itself, including a new Lord of the Rings MMO, Transformers Online, and Civilization Online. Among those companies was Tencent, through one of […]
Massively OP's 2020 Awards: Biggest MMO Blunder of 2020
MassivelyOP's end-of-the-year awards for 2020 continue today with our award for Biggest MMO Industry Blunder of 2020, which was awarded to Blizzard last year thanks to the multi-month Blitzchung fiasco. This isn't a meta-award we particularly enjoy giving, but we think this type of accountability is a fitting complement to praising trends and big stories: Identifying […]
