The Daily Grind: Which MMO characters of yours do you truly miss?
If MMO characters had opinions and feelings of their own, they probably feel very much let down by my decisions over the years. I've left plenty to be abandoned, deleted others, or casually tossed some out to reroll them in an attempt to do it better this time. There are some characters that I dearly […]
The Stream Team: Will werewolves and vampires find peace in AQ3D's Darkovia Chapter V?
The Blood Moon rises in AQ3D, and Massively OP's MJ is hoping that brings the peace to Darkovia that the leaders of the werewolves and the vampires want. But there are those in both groups who don't want that to happen! So how will things work out: Will the powerful orb come into play, and […]
Betawatch: Pantheon shows off its crafting
Could you describe Pantheon as a game about standing in place with other people and slowly leveling up? Maybe, if you were being reductive, but there's a lot more to the game to be shown off. Case in point, the game has some elaborate crafting that has been shown off in the most recent development stream. […]
Whatever happened to Absolver?
Remember Absolver, the martial arts multiplayer title from developer Sloclap and publisher Devolver Digital? There hasn't been much news out of the game beyond a production update post in May 2018, the Downfall expansion release in September 2018, and more recently a balance patch in March 2019. So just where do things stand? In terms […]
Skyforge launches a Mechanoid Invasion for Switch players
Welcome to Skyforge, Nintendo Switch fans! You'll notice a whole lot of immortal deities around you, that's totally normal. Bit of a lack in anti-aliasing, perfectly normal. Screams of normal citizens and gigantic explosions rocking the nearby city as armies swoop in from the sky and seek to conquer the planet? Also totally normal, actually, this […]
An Ashes of Creation player built a card game based on the MMO for the whole community
File this one under "extremely awesome things MMO players did": One Ashes of Creation player has created an entire card game based on the upcoming MMO and released it for the entire community to use. MMO gamer Lashing points out that the game isn't fully complete yet as it's just a hobby, but it's still […]
Century Age of Ashes delays early access, plans second beta following player feedback
Century: Age of Ashes popped up almost outta nowhere last month with its closed beta, boasting a dragon-centric aerial PvP mode. MOP's own Not So Massively columnist Tyler poked his nose into the game already and found it to be a surprisingly good time, in spite of the early state of the game and the […]
DC Universe Online hands out freebies to Xbox players after a 'blank screen' issue made the game unplayable
If you get your superheroic MMOing done in the Xbox version of DC Universe Online, you likely experienced some very specific problems in the last couple of days. Namely, a problem with GU110 that simply had players staring at a black void instead of a game world or an increased number of game crashes. There […]
Warframe offers a brief look at upcoming updates and events arriving this spring
Where I live, we're still under the frosty heel of winter and probably won't see spring until sometime in mid-April if we're lucky. As for the world of Warframe, spring is coming soon, bringing with it several content updates that were outlined in a quick sizzle reel. The video touts the Call of the Tempestarii […]
RuneScape offers another update on its ongoing player avatar refresh project
The devs of RuneScape are very hard at work making very pretty avatars for players. Readers will recall that this was first outlined in a developer livestream earlier this month, and now the devs have taken to updating via dev blog, providing a current progress report as well as an outline of previous work. The […]
Star Citizen previews alpha docking features, launches Valentine's Day and Lunar New Year events
It's a bunch of Star Citizen stuff today, with the usual weekly episode of Inside Star Citizen as well as some highlighted seasonal events that are being celebrated. In the weekly video digest, we get a look at ship-to-ship and ship-to-station docking features that will arrive with alpha 3.13. Ship-to-ship docking is specific to the […]
Valentine's Day begins in Star Citizen, SWG Legends, DAOC, and more
OK, MMOs, we get it, you have chocolate and pink stuff and hearts. This is the last one of these roundups I'm doing this year, I promise. All these games have to do is stop announcing them! I kid, mostly. New content and events are fun. Star Citizen is celebrating Valentine's Day – I mean, […]
World of Warcraft's patch 9.0.5 adds Stygia crafting but will not allow upgrading old M+ items
So the next patch for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is bringing back Valor points… after a fashion. But there are actually some new things available currently on the first build on the game's test server with the mysterious new Stygia Crafting, allowing players who access a rather tucked-away forge in the Maw the option to craft […]
Vague Patch Notes: Emergent gameplay in MMOs isn't a defense of awful behavior
To the surprise (or at least disappointment) of many, it turns out that some players in Elite: Dangerous found an exciting and fresh way to do something beyond the pale. These players managed to find a way to build a form of indentured servitude or slave labor into the game starting from first principles, which is […]
Hackers have successfully sold stolen CDPR source code and internal documents in a dark web auction
Earlier this week we reported on a breach of CD Projekt Red's systems that resulted in a number of stolen pieces of data, including source code for Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, Gwent, and Thronebreaker, with the intent of ransoming off the ill-gotten gains. CDPR refused, and now the hackers have gotten their payday by […]
Lunar New Year sales and events arrive to Steam, Champions Online, and gobs more
It's lovely seeing the Lunar New Year holiday continue to rise in prominence in the west – and especially in online video games. And especially when it elbows Valentine's Day out of the way. Here for it! Last night, Steam ushered in the holiday with its massive – but relatively short – Lunar New Year […]
Here's how Star Wars: The Old Republic is improving amplifiers
Star Wars: The Old Republic's amplifier system is a relatively new addition to the game, having been introduced back in 2019 with the Onslaught expansion. BioWare's apparently decided that there needs to be some work done on the system, which is why it's about to roll out a whole bunch of amplifier changes with next […]
Magic Legends casts hype spell for next month's open beta
Things are starting to move faster and faster over at Magic Legends, as Cryptic's upcoming multiplayer title will conjure up an open beta next month on March 23rd. The studio announced this week that the beta will be available both on Cryptic's own Arc platform and through the Epic Game Store. Sign-ups are now available […]
The Daily Grind: Which MMO offers the best crafting (not gathering/trading) experience?
A while back, I remember having a discussion with a reader about crafting in MMOs where I was arguing that having good crafting is pointless without a good economy. And I still think it's true. A crafting system without a solid economy is just a minigame. And that's fine, but a truly full-bodied MMORPG needs […]
The Stream Team: Drow, Driders, and other creepy crawlies in Neverwinter
After venturing to the edge of the Underdark and back in Neverwinter (and slaying a drider prince), Massively OP's MJ and her D&D night team are returning. The task this time is to take out the high priestess of Lolth. Join us live at 9:00 p.m. to squash some serious spiders in… What: Neverwinter Who: […]
Massively Overthinking: Do you need to be the hero in MMOs?
MMORPG developer Raph Koster recently tweeted that he'd had a "debate with some devs who asserted that videogames require the player to be the hero." You know we just have to talk about that. I don't know whether the devs in question were MMORPG devs too, but let's assume for the sake of argument in […]
Classic MMO Priston Tale is getting a mobile version in South Korea
Do you remember Priston Tale? It's a Korean MMORPG that originally released to our shores in 2004 and is still apparently running free-to-play to this day — it even has an event calendar for this month. This blast from the past is apparently going to get a second lease on life (in South Korea at […]
Blade & Soul delivers a solo dungeon and chocolate hearts with its Eternal Blade update on February 17
The next update for Blade & Soul arrives on February 17th, and it's placing you in a difficult situation of fighting on your own. The new Spectral Shrine dungeon is a solo venture (except for the easiest difficulty, where you can get a partner to accompany you) in which you seek out the truth behind a […]
Conan Exiles adds Isle of Siptah improvements, sprint attacks, and offline single-player mode on PTS
There's a new build of Conan Exiles available for players to try out on Testlive and it brings with it a whole slew of previously discussed improvements to Isle of Siptah as well as some new overall features. Among the Isle of Siptah improvements are new NPC camps that range from major faction camps to […]
Valentine's Day arrives in Skyforge, EverQuest II, GTAO, PlanetSide 2, and Runes of Magic
The Valentine's Day MMO events are piling up in our newsroom like all the candy wrappers piling up in our garbage… actually let's just get to the news. Skyforge: The Mysteries of Love event is now live with three quests you can complete in exchange for Rose Quartz, which you'll be turning in for companions, […]
The Stream Team: Mini Mo Mania MOP birthday bash
Happy Birthday Massively OP! Yes, it is MOP's sixth birthday today, and that means it's party time! MJ is so ready to commemorate the day with chatting, gaming, and maybe even a giveaway or two. Tune in live at 3:00 p.m. for a Mini Mo Mania and celebrate with us. What: Wheel of Mo Who: […]
Habbo Hotel is bringing back the Flash client while the developers work on the Unity version
It's been about a month since Habbo Hotel released its Unity client, a move that basically no one in the community seemed to be all that happy with. The Unity client had functional issues, you see, with functionality that was missing and performance issues that were hard to ignore. In response to all of this and the […]
Large-scale multiplayer Neverwinter Nights persistent world Arelith is getting a new city tomorrow
If you've been following The Game Archaeologist column all the way back to Massively-That-Was, you maybe will recall a piece from June 2014 about Arelith, a player-operated Neverwinter Nights multiplayer persistent world (PW) that has been running for nearly two decades and has been home to over 20K players. We unearth this bit of history […]
Neverwinter celebrates the Year of the Ox
It's time for the Year of the Ox in Neverwinter starting today, and if you've long been waiting for ox content in the game, you will no doubt be absolutely over the moon about this event. There are so many oxen available for you to earn. You can earn an ox mount, a miniature ox companion, or […]
MMO Business Roundup: Microsoft's ZeniMax Vault, Square's financials, and the Fortnite 'scapegoat' lawsuit
Welcome back to another happy fun roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news. Business business business! ZeniMax: Microsoft is apparently creating a subsidiary named Vault specifically to merge with ZeniMax and seal the deal on the $7.5B acquisition of the company announced last year. As Eurogamer suggests, "Vault" is likely a reference to the shelters […]
Fallout 76 preps the return of the PTS and next week's Fastnacht Day celebrations
Bethsoft is planning an "action-packed week in Appalachia" in this week's edition of the Fallout 76 newsletter, and that's because the team is sending you all to the PTS. Yes, the test server is reopening in the "next week" with the spring update Bethsoft has already teased, including the new loadout system and C.A.M.P. slot […]
Star Citizen talks about ship capacitors, ship roles, and tweaking the meta in an AMA
The Vehicle Experience Team of Star Citizen took to the game's official forums to field player questions in an AMA, with the devs talking up ship capacitor gameplay as well as other vehicle-related matters. A number of answers refer to the pending arrival of ship capacitors, promising the system will change combat dynamics as well […]
Gamigo unleashes Valentines events on ArcheAge, RIFT, Trove, and Defiance
Gamgio's got a fleet of Valentine's Day events stacked up for its MMORPGs. To wit: ArcheAge invites you to "synthesize your love" with the return of Chocolate Merchant Piero who's got some deliveries for you to make. Trove has been invaded by Heckbugs! "Travel to Dragonfire Peaks to stop the invasion with your lovely assistant […]
WoW Factor: The return of Valor is far from valorous
This week's announcement that World of Warcraft will be bringing Valor back as a currency piqued my immediate interest, especially when we're not that far out from talking about the virtues (and relatively few vices) of deterministic gear systems. Of course, it then became immediately obvious from actually reading the announcement that far from actually […]
ArcheAge Unchained just launched two new ArchePasses, including one with no end date
Gonna be honest, ArcheAge Unchained's business model has flipped and scooched so many times now that I can't even keep track of it – but let's try anyway. The Oskmir ArchePass rolled out on January 14th in tandem with the game's eighth season. That one doesn't end until March 11th. But today, the Sunflower Pass has […]
Shadowbanning of Elite Dangerous 'slavers' is reportedly corroborated by email screenshots
The actions of the 7th Labor Division (7LD) group in Elite: Dangerous, who readers will recall were ensnaring brand-new players into mining servitude while actively keeping them misinformed about ways to escape, appear to have hit the consequence phase. Earlier this week, at the end of an article detailing an interview with one of the […]
Phantasy Star Online 2 is coming out on the Epic Game Store next week
With a global release under its belt already and a revamped version in the works for later this year, Phantasy Star Online 2 is poised to have a very good 2021. What will make the year even better for the MMO, however, is a launch on the Epic Game Store next week. SEGA announced that […]
Elder Scrolls Online takes you into a cursed mine with The Cauldron
The Gates of Oblivion are starting to slide open over at Elder Scrolls Online, and while players can't yet dive into the new year of content, ZeniMax has a preview up for one of the two upcoming dungeons. The Cauldron is a "cursed mine" that's coming with the Flames of Ambition DLC. Players will team […]
The Daily Grind: Are there MMOs you tend to play mostly for events?
Back in the first season of Guild Wars 2's living world content, the update cadence meant that there were a lot of little bits of content that amounted to being holiday events. That bothered a lot of players who were hoping for somewhat more substantial updates, but I always think of that when I think […]
The Stream Team: A Leap of Faith in Star Trek Online's House Reborn
Last week for Star Trek Online's anniversary, Massively OP's MJ started the new House Reborn adventures by playing J'Ula. She learned of a fiery leader who would unite the Klingons again, and now her goal is to bring a past legend back to life. The next task: a special soul shopping trip! Tune in live […]
Check out this amazing player-created trailer for LOTRO's Mordor expansion
Do you remember back in 2017 when Lord of the Rings Online released that embarrassingly bad trailer for the Mordor expansion that was in 460p? Pepperidge Farm remembers. It was really bad, people. At least it gave us a goldmine of hilarious comments (our favorite: "The Budget of the Five Armies"). Of course, leave it […]
Book of Travels developer Might and Delight shares gameplay footage of single-player title Shelter 3
While we're obviously eager to see studio Might and Delight put out its tiny multiplayer online title Book of Travels, that's not the only game the devs are known for. The studio has also put out a series of sometimes-multiplayer games known as Shelter, which sees players taking on the role of animals leading their […]
Wizard101 assures players 'we're still KingsIsle' after acquisition and outlines a PvP hotfix
It's a tale as old as time by now: MMO studio is acquired, MMO studio issues a stated commitment that nothing in the game's day-to-day is changing. So it goes with Wizard101 as the February bulletin post offers a statement of reassurance that the game will continue on as normal following the buyout of KingsIsle […]
Nexon saw a record 2020 revenue haul thanks to MapleStory and FIFA
With an emphasis on MapleStory's continuing success and a push into "new markets," Nexon settled out 2020 rather well for itself. Its Q4 2020 financial report shows a decline in global revenue for the quarter, the worst chunk of the year, resulting in a quarterly net loss owing largely to deferred tax liabilities and foreign […]
Glitch reboot releases early demo version, opens Discord and Patreon for funding
Almost two years ago now, the two key Glitch successors – Eleven and Chrildren of Ur – joined forces to rescue the MMO from its sunsetted fate. Glitch, of course, was the adorable but short-lived sandbox from TinySpeck, which was led by the founder of Flickr and later Slack. Unlike many MMO companies, TinySpeck granted […]
Blade & Soul II begins pre-registration in Korea as a showcase video shares gameplay details
We know that the MMO Blade & Soul II is on our horizon here in the west sometime this year, but that horizon has gotten a bit closer in its native South Korea as the game kicked off pre-registration for the game in the region yesterday, complete with another teaser trailer. The beginning of pre-registration […]
Craftopia's newest update adds spears, a new biome, and tree planting
The latest patch for Craftopia lets you pick up red envelopes from cows as part of a New Year's celebration. Perhaps you can do so after killing those cows with your newest weapon, the Spear. Yes, the update has a lot of meat to it, and some of that includes the new ability to turn your enemies […]
Black Desert patches in defense icons and a new event to praise the sun
It can be a bit tricky sometimes to remember exactly how various defensive abilities work in Black Desert from time to time. Does this particular skill make you actually invulnerable (taking no damage and immune to all crowd control effects), or does it just give you super armor (still taking damage, but immune to crowd control […]
Final Fantasy XI updates with the newest chapter of the Voracious Resurgence
Sinister rumors! Ancient prophecies! A dignified and serious soldier dancing! That last one might sound a little out of left field for Final Fantasy XI, but it's all part of the latest story update for the game with the newest patch. The Voracious Resurgence continues, and players will need to contend with new dangers including… well, […]
Here's the big BlizzConline 2021 schedule, from World of Warcraft to Overwatch 2
Blizzard's just released its schedule for BlizzConline, and… well it's not going to absolutely shock you, since we had a pretty good idea of what the con was going to focus on already. Notably, following the open ceremonies on February 19th, there's a big World of Warcraft What's Next panel, and it's the big one […]
