MMO Week in Review: Unbreaking Daybreak
If Daybreak's been a bit of a punching bag in the MMO genre over the last five years, it's only because of its long line of failures and shenanigans, from dumping EverQuest Next to fibbing about who owned it (and fibbing about not owning SSG!). But now, thanks to Swedish company EG7 buying up the […]
TERA and Aion EU are among the Gameforge titles ready to celebrate the holidays
Please don't let the angry Shugo or the emotionally neutral humans in the header image fool you, there's lots of holiday cheer to be had in Gameforge's variety of titles, particularly in the case of Aion EU and TERA. In TERA, players can look forward to the return of the Winteria Snowfield, a PvP snowball […]
The MOP Up: Crossout drives onto an island
Here's a useful tip from Crossout: It's dangerous to drive your car in water! This comes from the game's newest "Clean Island" patch, which adds the titular PvP map and brings back ranked battles with the Survivors League. "'Clean Island' is the first map in the history of Crossout that shows what 'big water' looks […]
Jukebox Heroes: The quieter side of Lord of the Rings Online's soundtrack
Yes, I'm kind of nuts about the Lord of the Rings Online soundtrack. It could be because I've played this MMO more than most any other at this point, but I like to think that it's also due to a really well-done score that does more for world-building than most soundtracks. Today, I want to […]
Massively on the Go: The rollercoaster that is Pokemon Go's Go Beyond update
I've previously mentioned in this Massively on the Go column some unexpected bonuses popping up with the release of Pokemon Go's Go Beyond update. Considering the daily additions of new features and event announcements we've had starting the day of the update, I'm feeling like that's the theme here. Since September, Niantic had been rapidly dropping changes and […]
Neverwinter brews up a sweeping rework of its combat system
Considering how integral combat is to Neverwinter, you'd have to imagine that any changes that touch upon this system are going to be felt far and wide by the game's playerbase. Now factor in the phrase "combat rework," and you might start to understand how significant such an event might be. Cryptic's got a large […]
One Shots: Pledging Trekkie Trekkie Trekkie
So you know how Star Trek claims that it has a functioning futuristic society without money? Somehow? That's made me overthink how Starfleet Academy works. My theory is that instead of taking out a student loan to attend, cadets have to pay off their debt by going on six away missions wearing red shirts. There's […]
The Daily Grind: Do you actually consider yourself a good MMO player?
There is an assumption, for some reason, that most people who work as game journalists are pretty bad at playing video games. I don't know where this comes from. Certainly I've known some people in this field who are not very good at games in general, but it's hardly universal, and I myself know that […]
Battle Bards Episode 182: Last Oasis
What does the apocalypse sound like? That's the burning question, so to speak, that the Battle Bards are investigating this week as they dive into the soundtrack to Last Oasis. Michał Korniewicz's unique score is a haunting experience that must be heard to be believed. But at the end of it all, will it be […]
Wolcen's Bloodtrail Chronicle update is live as a massive 12GB update
Remember when Wolcen announced that its first seasonal Chronicle, Bloodtrail, would be coming soon– but didn't offer up a date? It turns out "soon" meant actually soon because Bloodtrail is already live. The flagship addition of this season is the new Hunts feature, which sends players to track down bosses and slay them for unique […]
SWTOR previews the login rewards and emote window of Update 6.2
This coming Wednesday is an early Christmas — or an early Life Day — for Star Wars: The Old Republic players, thanks to the projected arrival of Update 6.2. It's a smaller patch, sir, but it checks out. And one thing you definitely will want to check out are the new login rewards that are […]
The Stream Team: Going to see Conan Exile's Judge
Massively OP's MJ hasn't met many of the inhabitants on Conan Exiles' Isle of Siptah. So today, she's going to see the Judge. Don't worry! It's not as if she's in any trouble… yet. After that, she might go around and meet a few more "friends" around the isle. Tune in live at 2:00 p.m. […]
LOTRO Legendarium: What Daybreak's sale revealed about LOTRO
Just when I thought we were getting to a quieter point in the year where I could engage in a leisurely wrap-up of the year in Lord of the Rings Online. But nooooo. No, Daybreak had to go and get itself sold off to Enad Global 7 — and in so doing, pulled off the […]
Former Anthem studio director Christian Dailey promises 'talented' leadership is still in place
As people collectively adapt, digest, and armchair analyze the departure of two of BioWare's top executives, there is one rather important piece of the shift that might have slipped notice: the fact that BioWare Austin studio director Christian Dailey, the one who was leading the reboot of Anthem, was moved from his position to lead […]
WRUP: Transcript of pouring out an entire bottle of ketchup on a hamburger edition
Act I: The beginning. Click. Whoosh. Squirt, squirt, squiiiiiiiiiiiiirt. Whoosh. Squirt! Squirt squirt squirt squirt. Whoosh. Squiiiiiiiiiiirt. Whoosh. Squirt, blorp. Whoosh. Act II: The burping. Squirt, blorp, whoosh. Squirt, blorp, whoosh. Blorp. Blorp blorp. Shake-a shake-a shake-a. Squirt, blorp, whoosh. Tap tap tap. Squirt, blorp, whoosh. Tap tap tap. Squirt, blorp, whoosh. Blorp, whoosh. Act […]
The Daily Grind: Is MMO shoulder armor a little too much?
We've often poked gentle fun at World of Warcraft for its tendency to feature oversized shoulder armor on characters — sometimes to the point where it has eclipsed the 1980s in terms of over-padding. But the truth is that a lot of MMOs enjoy turning our characters' shoulders into aircraft landing strips or mobile trophy […]
The Stream Team: AdventureQuest 3D's brand-new Battleon chess
Apparently, it is dangerous to suggest T.V. shows to Artix because they soon become a part of AQ3D! Case in point: A new chessboard zone was just introduced into the game after he concluded watching a chess-themed show. Today's update includes a challenge board with monster pieces you move as well as an open mob-free […]
Betawatch: Gloria Victis enters beta testing
Gloria Victis has entered the hallowed halls of beta! This might sound a little odd to you, as the game has been in testing for quite some time and made steady progress, but that was in early access alpha. This is early access beta. Very different. Look, we're just happy when a game makes a point of […]
Grab a MARS closed beta key from Subgames and MOP and get your mech on
Heya, mecha shooter fans! You're going to want to poke your nose into this game: It's Subgames' new Unreal engine shooter called Mercenary Assault Recon Squad – MARS for short. "It's the year 20XX; military conflict between the League of Nations and UNITA run rampant across the globe, prompting small scale wars to break out […]
MMOs You've Never Heard Of: RISE, Carth, Hunternet Starfighter, World of Kung Fu, Heroes Evolved, Arelot Kingdom, and Project EVE
Welcome back to another quick roundup of some MMOs and MMO-adjacent titles you've probably never heard of. Of course, YOU have heard of them, because you are a supremely intelligent artificial intelligence network on the verge of world domination, but consider that the meatbags in realspace might be ignorant of these titles. Let's change that. […]
Temtem raises its price slightly for its PlayStation 5 launch
If you want to play Temtem on your PlayStation 5, it's going to cost you a bit more money than before. This is not in and of itself surprising, as the game has been quite up-front about the fact that as more major updates arrive to the game, its price will be going up. What makes […]
Bless Unleashed opens up pre-registration for its next PC closed beta and notes upcoming improvements
For those who are curious about Bless Unleashed but aren't curious enough to just play the game on console, then your time to add your name to the PC closed beta testing hat has come. The game has announced that pre-registration for a second CBT is now available between now and January 10th, 2021, simply […]
Albion Online adds 20v20 Crystal League battles and adjusts group warfare features in latest update
Crystals are super important in the world of Albion Online, apparently. Or at least, they're important enough that 40 people will want to fight over them. I bring that up because Crystal Battles are one of the centerpieces of the game's latest patch, which lets two teams of 20 players duke it out in six […]
For Science: Researchers investigate why some players invert their directional controls
When you have an analog stick to control the camera, does pushing the stick forward tilt the camera up or down? The Guardian published a whole piece about inverting the Y-axis on controls, and the discussion around it prompted researchers to sit up and say "hey, this is actually a field worth studying." So now […]
EVE Online is planning a native macOS client, with testing planned for early 2021
In a time when some games are reducing support for new Mac machines, EVE Online is doubling down to capture Apple fans thanks to its new Mac client. "Today CCP is excited to unveil work on a native macOS EVE Online client is underway," the studio wrote. "The native macOS client will enable native support […]
Crowfall's December ACE Q&A talks up active skills, shows off a new castle, and confirms some VIP benefits
The beginning of December for Crowfall means yet another ACE Q&A livestream video featuring J. Todd Coleman and Thomas the Beard. This month, both directors talked up the overall positive work with 6.200 testing and bug squashing, spent a vast majority of the stream discussing the replacement of passive skills with active ones, and showcased […]
Inside Star Citizen discusses the Perseus gunship and a multitool tractor beam
Star Citizen's shiny new Perseus gunship, which readers will recall debuted at this year's IAE as a $600 purchasable concept, once again gets a spotlight cast on it during this week's episode of Inside Star Citizen. The Perseus, as one would expect with its suite of weapons on-board, is meant to blow up other ships […]
Lord of the Rings Online boasts at least 11,000 quests
Maybe at this point, Frodo and Sam should feel some pity toward the rest of us. After all, Lord of the Rings Online players have gone on far more quests than the Fellowship could even conceive. Curious players petitioned developer Jeff Libby to help them figure out roughly how many quests that LOTRO has as […]
Star Wars The Old Republic announces December 9 release for GU 6.2, December events, and a new CM
It's almost time once more for Star Wars: The Old Republic players to find out just what Valkorion is up to. Again. The game's Twitter has confirmed that Update 6.2, aka Echoes of Oblivion, will be arriving this coming Wednesday, December 9th, bringing with it a number of features including a new storyline, a new […]
WoW Factor: The five paths forward for WoW Classic
Throughout its lifespan, WoW Classic has had an interesting relationship with the future. Not just because it is and always was an explicitly back-looking piece of World of Warcraft, but because the game was essentially launched as a complete product with the last-patch balancing all done. What remained to be seen was not what would happen […]
Pokemon GO's 2020 community day won't include 2017 CD moves but does grants Shiny Celebi
The month of December is generally Pokemon Go's double-feature catch-up Community Day. Over the course of two days (December 12th and 13th this year), players can traditionally evolve previously featured Community Day pokemon to have meta-defining moves – Meteor Mash Metagross – which goes from D-tier all around to A-tier. Many of them also have […]
Npixel reveals stunning 'space-time' MMORPG Chrono Odyssey
If you like Gran Saga but want something a bit less cartoony, you're going to want to feast your eyes on the second MMO coming from Npixel. The newly unveiled game is called Chrono Odyssey, and it boasts a "space-time" open-world fantasy MMORPG theme and stunning photorealistic graphics. "Chrono Odyssey, which is formerly known as […]
Final Fantasy XIV posts the preliminary notes for Tuesday's patch 5.4, Futures Rewritten
The posting of patch notes for Final Fantasy XIV is a long-respected tradition because they're always extensive and they first come out before the full patch. As it has always been, as it still is for patch 5.4, Futures Rewritten, which now has its preliminary patch notes available for players to peruse at their pleasure. And […]
BioWare loses GM Casey Hudson and Exec Producer Mark Darrah
If you felt a seismic shift in the foundation of the world last night, it may be that questionable burrito you bought from 7-11… or it could be the departure of two of BioWare's biggest executives. Yesterday evening, the Star Wars: The Old Republic studio announced that General Manager Casey Hudson and Executive Producer Mark […]
The Daily Grind: What MMO needs a waaaaay better tutorial?
Ultima Online studio Broadsword is currently hard at work on a new game mode and server that is explicitly meant to onboard new players and ease them into what is a very old and frankly very complicated sandbox. And it really, really needs it. The studio is not wrong to be setting its priorities to […]
The Stream Team: Descending into Neverwinter's The Chasm
After ascending Icespire Peaks, it's time to descend into The Chasm. Massively OP's MJ is leaving the iciness behind and moving on to the rocky depths of a festering pit where the Spellplague accumulates and malforms creatures. Join us live at 9:00 p.m. as MJ experiences this zone for the first time. What: Neverwinter Who: […]
Massively Overthinking: MMO cash shop confessions
Do you ever pick up a drink absentmindedly, thinking it's going to be something, but it's actually something totally different that you hate? You know that feeling of first surprise and then revulsion? I had this experience with an industry article a few weeks ago. I sat down to read it based on its title, […]
Phantasy Star Online 2 is launching Episode 6 on December 9
It's almost time to reach for new heights in Phantasy Star Online 2. The game started running its campaign for the road to episode 6 late last month, but that road is nearly over as the game reaches its destination on December 9th. Yes, that's when the patch arrives, bringing in all sorts of new things […]
Final Fantasy XI previews its December version update without any Odyssey content
It says something about this particular year that it's actually comfortable and refreshing to find something being delayed just because it isn't quite polished enough for prime time. Yes, it's sad that the next Final Fantasy XI update will be launching without new Odyssey content, but the reason stated by the team is just that it […]
Temtem answers questions about early access on PlayStation 5 on December 8
It's a good thing that Temtem is going into early access on the PlayStation 5 as of December 8th, as that means a chance for more players to enjoy the game. It's an even better thing that it will feature crossplay with the game's PC version, so players can hang out with their friends even on […]
PSA: The standard edition of Elder Scrolls Online is free-to-play until December 9
It's the most wonderful time of the year. Not just the start of the holiday season, but the start of yet another free play promotion for Elder Scrolls Online. The standard edition of the MMORPG, anyway. From now until Wednesday, December 9th, at 10:00 a.m. EST, players can hop in to MMO Tamriel on PC, […]
Spellbreak is tying lore to gameplay and arriving to Steam with the Spellstorm update December 15
What are your motivations for playing battle royale? Progression? The chance at victory? Because you've hitched your YouTube channel to a single game and you desperately need content to feed the ever-ravening ur-beast known as the Algorithm? With the upcoming Spellstorm update arriving to magic-using battle royale title Spellbreak, the devs at Proletariat are offering […]
Indie MMO Gloria Victis has just rolled its way into beta
Happy beta launch week to Gloria Victis! No, really. The MMO has been in early access alpha since 2016, but it's finally moving out of alpha and into beta, though apparently it's staying in early access – but only for now. "[T]he beta will last a few months and will prepare us to leave Early […]
Crowfall plans to replace stat-building passive skills with active skills in its next update
Players unfamiliar with Crowfall's terminology should know that "passive skills" in the game mean they allow players to accrue stats over time whether they play or not and were even needed in some cases to gain access to certain types of content. This, effectively, has meant that players who have been playing longer have access […]
Changyou's World of Shadowbane is gearing up for a global Steam launch in January
Remember way back in 2015, when Chinese studio Changyou bought up the rights to classic territorial warfare MMORPG Shadowbane and relaunched it overseas as World of Shadowbane? It was welcome news, though western players were still stuck playing on emulators instead. But six months ago, Changyou began testing an international version of the game, and […]
Dauntless shares patch notes for its Reforged update as Phoenix Labs expands its operations
Today is the day where Dauntless gets Reforged. The much-ballyhooed update that shifts a number of the multiplayer RPG's base systems — particularly how players find Behemoths to hunt and how they progress — is going live today and has shared some patch notes ahead of time. The notes themselves, as one would expect, link […]
Sea of Thieves announces Seasons, the arrival of a battle pass, and the end of active development for Arena
It's been some time since Sea of Thieves kicked out a news bulletin video — three months to be exact — but that time away has meant that the most recent news video is chock full of information about where the pirating sandbox (oceanbox?) is going as the new year rolls forward. The video first […]
The Soapbox: Red Dead Online is just not as fun as it should be
A few weeks ago, I detailed my newfound adventures in the single-player title Red Dead Redemption 2. More relevant to our interests here on MassivelyOP, when I purchased the game it came with an MMO version, Red Dead Online. As a fan of MMOs and someone who has thoroughly enjoyed RDR2, I naturally decided to […]
Skyforge has delayed its planned fall Nintendo Switch launch to February 2021
One of the highlights of the end of 2020 was meant to be Skyforge's Switch launch, but unfortunately, My.games has opted to delay the release until next year. The hard date is now February 4th, 2021. "We know many of you were looking forward to playing it sooner, and we're sorry that we couldn't make […]
Vague Patch Notes: You are and are not who you are in MMOs
If you've never been hit in the face, you're not really prepared for when someone does it, much less when it's a fist instead of an open-palmed slap. There's a sort of misfire that happens in your brain acknowledging that you've just been struck in the face, something that sends a hot flame down your […]
