Atlas developers state that the game is not yet where they want it to be in a new Q&A
It's kind of nice to have a developer outright tell you that a game still deep in development is not yet into a finished state. The newest community Q&A from Atlas did precisely that, with a succinct and clear developer response explaining that the game's development is in part a collaborative process of seeing where players […]
The Blackwood chapter will headline Elder Scrolls Online's Gates of Oblivion year, launching in June
Here we go, folks: Tonight we're finally getting some hard details on what The Elder Scrolls Online is up to in 2021, courtesy of the ZeniMax Online Studios livestream this evening. What can we expect? ZeniMax already teased the year's theme – Gates of Oblivion – with a brief video back in December, so we're […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 306: Money makes the MMOs go 'round
Justin and Bree discuss Pantheon, the KingsIsle and Jagex buyouts, World of Warcraft, Star Trek Online, and Guild Wars 2, with adventures in WoW, LOTRO, and SWG Legends, plus mailbox topics on underwater combat and choosing between MMO subs.
Century: Age of Ashes is a team-based aerial combat game with dragons entering closed beta this weekend
I'm legitimately surprised this sort of game isn't more of a thing, but here we are taking a look at a multiplayer dogfighting game that trades in silly things like military hardware or steampunk airships for dragons. That's the kind of thing Century: Age of Ashes is offering potential players when it releases free-to-play in […]
The Division 2 lets players dress up like Resident Evil characters in limited-time collab event
It's the 25th anniversary of the iconic Resident Evil series, which seems like the perfect occasion to… collab with The Division 2? Sure, why not. In honor of the original trilogy of RE games, the multiplayer looter shooter will let players collect outfits, weapon skins, and more styled in the gear of the RPD, just […]
Magic Legends sets open beta for March 23, drops new trailer and dev vlog
The question of how a CCG like Magic: The Gathering will translate into an online ARPG like Magic Legends has been a question that may be on the minds of many, specifically how building a deck changes how things play out. That question is hopefully addressed thanks to a new trailer from the devs that […]
Sea of Thieves elaborates on upcoming seasons content in new video and update posts
Back in December, the devs of Sea of Thieves released a news bulletin video that, among other things, talked about seasons, which add content, events, and additional rewards that can be harvested over three months. Now Rare Ltd. has kicked out yet another video that further elaborates on seasons and how they work. According to […]
Changyou's World of Shadowbane opens its Steam page, lists a February release window
Back in December, we caught wind of the 2003 MMORPG Shadowbane preparing for a return on Steam after publisher Changyou snapped up the rights in 2012; you can read up the Game Archaeologist's roundup if you're curious about this one's history. In that initial report, all signs pointed to a global release in late January […]
Phantasy Star Online 2 outlines more details on what items transfer over to New Genesis
By now we all appreciate that a variety of character goodies can be transferred between Phantasy Star Online 2 and its reboot-cum-sequel New Genesis — it's a topic that was elaborated upon in August. Now, there are even more details on what can be brought over to New Genesis, just in case you're looking to […]
Choose My Adventure: My post-level 30 life in ArcheAge
Well, this final week of my time in ArcheAge was indeed challenging, but not perhaps in the ways that were expected. Almost overwhelmingly it was asked that I push on to level 30 and beyond, and so I did with a little bit of trepidation and curiosity. After all, I was expecting things to become […]
EVE Online player's ashes take last voyage into space as CCP Games adopts 'gaming genius' label
Members of the EVE Online community were saddened back in 2019 as they lost one of their own: Bruce R. "Spike" MacPhee aka Paradox Olbers, who passed away at the age of 72. But there's cause to salute the skies this week. As communicated by famous EVE player Charles White aka the Space Pope, MacPhee's […]
Final Fantasy XIV updates Blue Mage and Bozja in patch 5.45 on February 2
Hey, rebuilding Ishgard is all well and good, but you know what's even better? Killing stuff in Final Fantasy XIV. And the next patch for the game is all about that, so if you're ready to start crafting and start skewering your foes, you should be getting pumped up for patch 5.45 arriving on February 2nd. Yes, […]
Star Trek Online patches in its 11th Anniversary celebration and starts its Klingon Recruitment
The time has arrived to celebrate more than a decade of operation for Star Trek Online. The game's latest patch is here, and it kicks off the game's 11th anniversary festivities, which include a new project to earn the Temer-class raider that represents a cooperative effort between Klingon and Romulan engineers. That means players will want […]
World of Warcraft hits numerous dungeons and the Castle Nathria raid with the nerf stick
Whether or not you enjoy the expectations regarding how often dungeons and raids should be run for loot in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, you will not be able to deny that a bunch of the expansion's dungeons and raids are getting quite a bit easier. The latest round of balance tweaks is the sort of thing […]
Star Wars: The Old Republic starts to wrap up PvP Season 13
The current ranked PvP season for Star Wars: The Old Republic is due to wrap up by the end of February, which means that it's the traditional time for BioWare to come out and announce what rewards combatants can grab by the time that all is said and done. BioWare announced that this season comes […]
Diablo II's remaster is officially in the works
It's no longer just a rumor; now we know for a fact that Activision Blizzard is working on a remastered version of the classic Diablo II. Bloomberg reports that the recent corporate reshuffling that landed Vicarious Visions and its 200 employees in Blizzard's lap was executed in part because the studio was already working on […]
The Daily Grind: Which MMO do you wish were more transparent about its metrics?
Numbers numbers numbers: I wish we could have more. No, let me amend that. I wish we had fewer numerical representations inside MMOs. I'd much rather go back to the days when item quality was a basic suffix or prefix, the days before gearscore and stat squish. But behind the scenes? I want all the numbers. […]
The Stream Team: Listening for echoes in Path of Exile's Atlas
Path of Exile's new Ritual league is fine and she was having fun in it, but Massively OP's MJ really wants to try to explore the expansion part of Echoes of the Atlas. That means she needs to play in the standard league since that is the only place where she has a character that […]
Atlantica Online celebrates its 13th anniversary with giveaways and events
Here's another MMO that just keeps on keepin' on and has been doing so for 13 years now. It's Atlantica Online, the turn-based tactical MMORPG, which is marking its new anniversary with a whole bunch of freebies and events for players to enjoy. While the initial 13th Anniversary Celebration Package was already handed out between […]
Wild Terra 2 improves chat and makes player characters into feudal lords
It must be nice to be a feudal lord. You get a starting set of quests, for example, and you begin on the beginner island instead of just spawning in a field. What? Is that not what you thought feudal lords were all about? Because it's what being a feudal lord means in Wild Terra 2, […]
Blue Protocol shows off the quick-access shortcut bar in another Twitter tease
When will Blue Protocol be released over here? We have no idea, it's not even released yet in its native Japan. But the team continues to tease game features via Twitter as it moves through testing, and while the last teases were all about action combat, this is more about access to useful interactions and items […]
Book of Travels' soundtrack aims to take you to a whole new world
For an MMO that will be all about the journey, getting the music right for your road trip is an important task for the folks at Book of Travels. Happily, they've enlisted a trio of experts who are bringing the sounds of the east into the game. A Steam dev blog talks about how the […]
Albion Online's next major patch delivers the Use All button
Hearken ye, people, to a tale of Albion Online and the quest to deliver a most powerful artifact unto those who might make use of it! Forsooth, the development team did journey far and wide, o'er hill and dale, questing for this most sanctified of all relics. Asked for by many, the people cried out for […]
Shroud of the Avatar announces plans to make public cache chests bigger and fancier
Have you really had a good, long, hard think about what your Shroud of the Avatar public cache chest says about your player-owned town or property? Do you think that just having some basic-looking treasure chest exudes the right sense of style you want to project? According to this week's Avatar Update, you'll be getting […]
Profane maps out alpha updates and testing plans for the first half of the year
Profane, the self-described open PvP sandbox MMO of "territorial domination," has arrived to Reddit with a roadmap for alpha, offering details on update plans and testing foci from now all the way to August. January and February will be focused on the bare-bones needs of getting alpha ready to go, with work on localization, login […]
Titan Reach shows off more character and weapon models, shares new music, and crafts an account system
What's one of the most important features in an MMO? Is it the combat? The leveling experience? How classes interplay with one another in a group? No, arguably the single most important feature is being able to actually log in to the game with your account, and luckily Titan Reach's latest development update post announces […]
Fight or Kite: Sea of Thieves made me feel like a pirate
In the long running debate between who would win in a fight between pirates and ninjas, I've always fallen on the side of the ninjas. Ever since I was a young lad running through my home with a turtle mask on while donning a sword and nunchaku (you can't tell me I can't be Leoangelo!), […]
SuperData December 2020: World of Warcraft is dethroned again, and people still love Among Us
While SuperData has already put a bow on the entirety of games earnings in 2020, there's still the December 2020 breakdown to cover, which offers a couple of shifting standings at the top of the sales charts and some newly broken records. Surprising nobody that follows the PC gaming universe, Cyberpunk 2077 was the top […]
Wisdom of Nym: Oh, the places left to go in Final Fantasy XIV
There's a lot of stuff on the Source in Final Fantasy XIV. (It feels faintly wrong to call the place Hydaelyn now, for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who has cleared through the Shadowbringers story.) And with the announcement of the next expansion happening in less than two weeks, now seems like a fine time to […]
Guild Wars 2 game designer Keaven Freeman announces his departure from ArenaNet
It looks like ArenaNet is losing yet another member of its team. Guild Wars 2 game designer Keaven Freeman unveiled on his personal blog that he will be leaving the studio after nearly five years, which includes a long body of work on Living World updates from Jormag Rising to A Crack in the Ice. […]
Fallout 76's bumps STASH size by 50%, improves inventory features
The first Fallout 76 patch of the year is coming on January 26th, and while it won't be a groundbreaking content dump, it will impact all players by improving their inventory. The STASH is getting increased from 800 to 1200 pounds, the Pipboy is getting three new tabs (New, Armor, and Food/Drink) to help sort […]
RuneScape studio Jagex has been sold for the third time in six years against the backdrop of a… RICO lawsuit?
We're going to play a fun new game today. It's called Who Owns Jagex Now! As we chronicled last summer, RuneScape studio Jagex's ownership became a bizarre mystery in 2019 and 2020. It was sold to a Chinese mining company in 2016, then to a new holding company in 2019, which Jagex initially denied but […]
Star Trek Online's 11th anniversary update on PC will eliminate faction restrictions on starships
Klingons flying Federation ships? Romulans tooling around in a Section 31 Battlecruiser? What sort of madness is this? It's Star Trek Online shrugging at the IP's canon and letting players have fun, or more specifically, it's the end of factional restrictions on starships that will let characters that play the MMO on PC fly any […]
Neverwinter's combat rework on PC lights a bonfire of player complaints
Last week, Neverwinter released a major update on PC that applied a far-reaching rework to combat, changing the way stats, item level, and ratings applied throughout the entire MMORPG. Almost immediately, there were reactions from players pointing out problems with the patch, which has been a rolling theme from the game's community over the course […]
Blade and Soul Revolution will release worldwide this year, opens pre-registration January 28
It's been a while since this one came across our desk, so allow us a moment to refresh everyone's memory: Blade and Soul: Revolution, the mobile MMO being released by Netmarble that was first revealed in November 2017 and promised to stay true to the PC game, has been slowly rolling out details over the […]
The Daily Grind: Do you make use of votekicking in MMOs?
Not long after Shadowlands released, there was a heavily upvoted thread on the World of Warcraft subreddit in which a player related a story about an awful dungeon run. He'd been in a group with a new player who had weak damage but who was otherwise competent and hadn't caused any wipes or serious problems […]
MMO Week in Review: Guild Wars 2's Power, KingsIsle's acquisition
This week in MMOs, Guild Wars 2 showed its true Power with… its Power episode. Chapter. Thing. Plus, KingsIsle got bought by Gamigo's parent company, Star Trek Online is going all out for its anniversary, Pantheon scored some welcome investment, we got a tease for a new MMO on the way, and SSG went ahead […]
Battle Bards Episode 185: Taking Flight
Flying has always been both beloved and controversial in MMORPGs, but no matter what your stance on it, at least you can agree that when you slip the surly bonds of earth, you need an amazing soundtrack for that moment. Thankfully, captain Steff, co-pilot Syl, and navigator Syp are here to point out some of […]
Fortnite adds the Terminator T-800 and Sarah Connor as latest in long list of S5 cash shop cameos
Sheesh, we look away from Fortnite for just a few minutes, diverted by Epic Games buying shopping malls and continuing to fight Apple and Google, and find out that the game's turned into the Smash Bros. of battle royales. This realization arrives thanks to the addition of the Terminator T-800 and Sarah Connor to the […]
Make My MMO: Temtem turns one, Elyria marches onward, and Pantheon scores fresh investment
We're off to a good 2021 for MMO crowdfunding: Pantheon got a nice infusion of investment, Chronicles of Elyria posted a second video on its development progress, Temtem is celebrating a year in early access, Crowfall plans big customization upgrades, Albion Online announced the return of the Crystal League competition with the Season 11 Crystal League […]
Jukebox Heroes: The best of Wurm Online's original soundtrack
When is a soundtrack not quite a normal soundtrack? When it's Wurm Online, of course. This cult sandbox has one of the most unusual scores that I've ever heard paired with an MMO. It's made up of sparsely used incidental music that just so happens to be folksy blues songs (with lyrics), composed by Joss […]
Genshin Impact celebrates the Lunar New Year and adds a new character in its February 3 update
It's a new year and a new upcoming update arriving to Genshin Impact on Wednesday, February 3rd. Specifically, the Lunar New Year, which in-game is celebrated in Liyue as the Lantern Rite and brings an event with sidequests, a variety of food stalls in Liyue's streets, activities unique to the holiday like an all-new tower […]
One Shots: A good day to respawn
You'd think it would be mentally exhausting to be a Klingon, what with waking up every morning fully expecting to die and looking for every possible opportunity to throw yourself into the jaws of the Grim Reaper (or whatever the Klingon equivalent is). I'd say that Hikari settled on a good solution here in Star […]
The Daily Grind: What's your dream MMO cross-promotion?
I've always been amused by the fact that Naoki Yoshida has specifically said he'd love to have Final Fantasy XIV do a cross-promotional event with World of Warcraft. It's both wholesome and a sign that the rivalry players sometimes establish between games is not mirrored on the development side. Plus… let's be real, it would be pretty awesome […]
The MOP Up: Gran Saga's big Korean launch
NPixel's cross-platform Gran Saga is finally going live this week — albeit in Korea, for now. The attractive-looking mobile and PC title is supposed to make its way to the west some time next year, however, so it's always good to take a tour of its offerings to see if this is a title you'd […]
Cyberpunk 2077's latest patch 'lays the groundwork' for a better game
With massive player dissent, mismanagement, horrible console performance, and filed lawsuits against it, Cyberpunk 2077 has seen one of the rougher high-profile launches in video game history. But CD Projekt Red is hoping that hard work and incremental improvement will change the game's fortunes — and the company's battered reputation. Hence, this past week's Patch […]
Blizzard absorbs 200 Activision employees following merge of rumored Diablo II remaster team
The Blizzard family got a whole lot bigger this past week. Games Industry reported that the World of Warcraft developer absorbed 200 employees from the Activision side, thanks to a restructuring of the larger firm. The new staff comes with the Albany-based Vicarious Visions studio, which previously worked games like Tony Hawk Pro Skater and […]
The Stream Team: Horse racing in Black Desert Online
Black Desert has introduced horse racing, and Massively OP's MJ has been totally snookered into trying it out thanks to the super cute black spirit on horseback. How could she possibly resist that?! Now, whether or not she'll be able to afford to race in the Old Moon Grand Prix is another story, but she's […]
Into the Super-verse: Will we ever get a Marvel MMORPG?
While DC Universe Online is coasting high on its success in Year Ten, it feels a shame that there's no Marvel MMORPG to match it. Marvel is still a blazing hot IP as it moves into Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it's sad that MMO players who love that universe don't have […]
Microsoft walks back its previously announced price hike for Xbox Live Gold subscription
Much of the online multiplayer gaming world was lit on fire by Microsoft earlier this week when the company attempted to raise the cost for Xbox Live Gold subs, ramping up the one-month, three-month, and six-month subs by $1, $5, and $20 respectively. Microsoft attempted to rationalize the price change by pointing out the sub […]
