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 […]
Perfect Ten: The types of MMO guilds
Guilds! They're remarkably consistent features of MMOs because developers have long realized that they are an unparalleled engine for creating drama, arguments, and recriminations. Occasionally guilds actually band together and do things, but most of the time they're a way for players to make everyone in a social group equally uncomfortable until someone finally gets […]
Valheim is a co-op PvE-minded survival title of conquering a Viking purgatory – and it's already sold 1M copies
Oh look, another survival sandbox! Before you close the browser tab, though, it would appear that this one has some genuinely unique hooks that have seen it leave some overall favorable impressions on players. It's called Valheim, and right out of the gate this one is different because it's built specifically to be co-operative and […]
Star Citizen plans a free fly event, a Lunar New Year event, and a vehicle team AMA this month
With the month of February just beginning, fans and followers of Star Citizen will have plenty to look forward to in the coming weeks according to a recent post from CIG detailing a variety of events that are on the way. First off, there will be an AMA with the Vehicle Experience Team running for […]
Former Riot Games staffer accuses CEO Nicolo Laurent of sexual harassment in new lawsuit
Another day, another round of bro culture at Riot Games. The latest episode has gone even further up the chain of command, as former executive assistant Sharon O'Donnell says she was fired from Riot last summer after enduring – and reporting to human resources – sexist language and sexual advances from no less than Riot […]
Ashes of Creation provides a preview of the tank archetype arriving to alpha
What's an MMORPG without a good tank? Probably one that doesn't lean on the crutch of the Holy Trinity class design, actually. Ashes of Creation, however, will have tanks and it provided a look at the tank archetype in a recent Alpha One preview. As one would expect, the tank archetype is all about using […]
World of Warcraft spills details about its March patch, including the return of Valor points (kinda)
You won't have to wait until BlizzConline to find out what's next in store for World of Warcraft. While Patch 9.1 is still hiding under the veil of secrecy, Blizzard posted details of what's coming in a smaller March patch for the MMO. Patch 9.0.5 began testing this week and will bring some quality-of-life improvements […]
Lord of the Rings Online starts testing its mid-level Wildwood update
As Lord of the Rings Online players wait in breathless anticipation of this year's producer's letter (soon! soon!), the game's first major update of the year has just started its rounds on the test server. Update 29: Wildwood represents a significant diversion from LOTRO's usual development path as it is adding a level 45 zone […]
The Daily Grind: How do you feel about wings on MMO characters?
I know that we get into some pretty esoteric topics here in The Daily Grind, but this may take the cake. Wings. Wings on people. Non-functional, purely aesthetic wings, mind you. How do we feel about them? I've noticed over the past few years that these have really been cropping up in a lot of […]
The Stream Team: The path to the dark side (of EverQuest II's moon)
Now that she has the magical map in hand, Massively OP's MJ is ready to find her way to the dark side of the moon in EQII. The only problem is that she'll have to return to Echo Caverns to continue the trek. After the last experience she is less than eager to travel there, […]
PlanetSide 2's Outfit Wars 2.0 officially goes live with the latest PC update
It's time for Outfits to fight it out and find out which is better in PlanetSide 2 thanks to the latest PC update, which has finally launched the much-ballyhooed Outfit Wars 2.0 feature. For those who haven't been following along, Outfit Wars is a tournament-style showdown where teams from each empire fight for control over […]
Black Desert Mobile gets the Archer and Fletcher next week, opens pre-creation today
Care to take your enemies out from a distance through some more conventional means in Black Desert Mobile? Then you're ready to give the Archer class and its Awakened form the Fletcher a spin when both arrive in an update next week. Despite both classes having similar-sounding names, they both operate entirely differently. The Archer […]
Blizzard announces a Hearthstone 'Classic' mode
The biggest consumer drawback for collectable card games is that it's a neverending chase of getting all of the latest usable cards before newer ones are added and older ones go obsolete. Well, that and the fact that each pack is a small lockbox in and of itself, but we won't go there. For players […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 308: FFXIV's endings and beginnings
Justin and Bree discuss Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker, Skyforge, Blizzard and NCosft financials, Stadia, and PSO2, with adventures in WoW Classic, LOTRO, ESO, SWG Legends, plus mailbag questions on MMO dungeons and juggling MMOs.
MechWarrior Online teases winter patches with monthly missions and weapons balancing
At what point does opening up communication cross the line into repeating yourself? It's possible that MechWarrior Online has hit that mark, or at least is pushing very close to that envelope, as a recent dev vlog breaks down several things that have been pointed out previously, albeit with a couple of release windows. The […]
A3: Still Alive introduces a new region, adds an offline auto-play feature, and merges servers
There's been yet another sizable update made to Netmarble's mobile MMO A3: Still Alive bringing the globally popular title a variety of new content updates and features. One of the major introductions is the region of Somius, featuring new territories, new quests, and the first two floors of a new Corrupt Aselcan Ruins equipment dungeon. […]
Path of Exile plans Ritual league improvements and fixes in a patch planned for this week
With all the moving parts going into a Path of Exile league challenge, it's not surprising that some bits might not work as well as others. Fortunately, the development staff also has a long history of making progress on addressing bugs and issues pretty quickly, and thus it's probably not a shock that another batch […]
E3 is currently in planning to be a digital-only event this year
If you were hoping that 2021 would return to hordes of people crammed into convention halls for this year's E3 after last year's version was cancelled due to the pandemic… maybe not so much! Early reports are that the ESA has already put forth plans to have E3 2021 be a digital-only event (possibly in […]
Stick and Rudder: Leader of Elite Dangerous 'slavery' racket espouses a 'cult-like' guild full of 'chaos and evil'
Last week we reported on an effort by several players of Elite: Dangerous to dupe new players into a sort of indentured servitude by offering them mining ships, training, and credits, but effectively taking them to an inescapable region of space and forcing them to mine materials to sell at prices that were well below […]
Terraria cancels its Stadia release after Google openly mishandles the developer's YouTube account issues
There's burning bridges and then there's firing a massive orbital strike laser at them. Google has effectively chosen the latter with its handling of an issue reported by Terraria developer Andrew Spinks, which started as a YouTube ban that devolved into a wholesale disabling of Spinks' Google account and ended with the game's Stadia version […]
