The Stream Team: A second Astroneer anniversary
The cutest space survival ever turns two years old today! And Massively OP's MJ is ready to wish Astroneer a very happy second anniversary. Folks who launch into the game starting February 1st also get a special party hat to wear as they explore, mine, and dodge deadly plants. Join us live at 2:00 p.m. […]
LOTRO Legendarium: Ranking Lord of the Rings Online's Eriador zones from worst to best
Probably like many of you, I have gone through the initial zones in Lord of the Rings Online more times than I can count (confession: I can only count to eight). And probably like you, I have formed very strong opinions on which of these older regions are better and which have aged like moldy […]
Star Trek Online's players and developers pay tribute to the late Christopher Plummer
The movie-watching world lost one of its greats when actor Christopher Plummer passed away on Friday, leaving behind a legacy of notable performances including Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Sir Charles Litton in The Return of the Pink Panther, and General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. It's Plummer's portrayal […]
WRUP: Excerpt from my autobiography, 'The Sushi Bar Will Never Open,' available everywhere books aren't sold on February 30 edition
Chapter 3: "But I Never Asked About The Walrus" At this point, my options were basically limited to either buying my way into college, buying my way into the military, or covering myself in mayonnaise and establishing a kingdom within my kitchen in which I would be hailed as Lord Imperator by my cats. Naturally, […]
The Daily Grind: Do you hate going to MMO snowy zones in actual wintertime?
OK, today's topic is totally silly, but sometimes we ask these questions because we're curious if anyone is like us. At least near me right now, we've been sitting in a frozen wasteland of snow and ice for weeks with no immediate relief on the horizon. You'd think that I would find video game reminders […]
Final Fantasy XIV's fourth expansion, Endwalker, arrives this fall, with a PS5 launch set for April
The fourth expansion for Final Fantasy XIV has been officially announced during the evening's live announcement event as Endwalker, launching in fall of 2021. You can also catch up on our liveblog of the event or just skim the highlights below! The expansion is called Endwalker, and it's launching this fall. Expect two new jobs: a […]
Liveblogging the Final Fantasy XIV announcement showcase
Maybe you're excited about the Final Fantasy XIV announcement showcase, but you're currently at work and can't watch video. Or maybe you're on public transit and have to settle for text. Or you're watching but you want to share in the excitement of what's happening as it happens. Whatever the case may be, we've got you covered […]
The Stream Team: Bound for fishing and Warframe's Balor Fomorian event
Massively OP's MJ thought she had a break from events to wrap up some loose ends in Warframe, but it turns out the Balor Fomorian event has begun! Since it happens only a couple of times a year, she needs to take advantage of her chance to participate in this special archwing mission. However, the […]
Betawatch: Starbase plans to offer an easy build mode
The tricky thing about games that offer you a lot of freedom when it comes to building is that sometimes it's difficult to figure out where to start. That's the core idea behind the upcoming easy build mode in Starbase, which will hopefully make the art of putting together a ship feel less daunting and more […]
Mortal Online 2 adds the first taste of character customization and dungeons
Is there anything worse than not being able to customize your character in an MMO? Mortal Online 2 sure doesn't think there is, which is why the game's latest alpha patch adds in the earliest version of character customization for players to play around with. Sure, right now it's just skin, hair, and eye colors, but […]
Atlas Rogues brings back Blackburn and PuP in its latest update
At long last, the greatest Freelancer from the original game has returned to Atlas Rogues. The magnificent mechanical robo-doggo PuP has finally arrived to the rogue-lite PvE title in its latest update. Oh, also Blackburn has returned as well, which is cool I guess. Not only does this update bring the return of two characters […]
Pathfinder Online shares the final tally and rewards for its Pharasmin Sequences event
This past December, Pathfinder Online held a holiday event that involved… Escalation drops that ran in five sequences for materials. While the event had almost nothing related to holiday cheer considering its release timing, it does appear to have been pretty active according to a postmortem shared on the forums. In total, players completed 40 […]
Allods Online opened a new server, plus its winter events continue
It was a Christmas miracle, and it went almost entirely unnoticed by the MMO community: Allods Online opened a brand-new server on Christmas day. It's called New Dawn, and it's a free-to-play server (that's not always a given with Allods, as it does still have a sub server too) with some specialty bonuses. Specifically, there's […]
Champions Online brings the conclusion of its third serial story to PTS this week
The PTS of Champions Online will have a gift for players that have been working their way through the game's recent serial story. This week will bring the Midnight Depths, the final chapter in the MMO's current arc that promises a challenging new foe and a character from the game's lore that has yet to […]
The Stream Team: Come to the Carnaval in AdventureQuest 3D
If you have the urge to dress up in bright-colored costumes with feathers, come to AQ3D's Carnaval! This AQWorlds event (based on the real Carnival celebrated over 100 years in Brazil!) has finally made it into its 3D cousin, and Massively OP's MJ is so ready for this party. Join live at 2:00 p.m. in […]
OSRS expands the Isle of Souls and discusses equipment balance as Jagex's CEO talks about its new owner
We've got a tale from both sides from the same RuneScape coin — the gaming side and the business side — so let's get cracking. On the game side of things, Old School RuneScape has added more to the Isle of Souls with new areas, new monsters, a new dungeon, and new amenities, while a […]
Elite: Dangerous explains the details of the First Footfall system coming with Odyssey
With the upcoming Odyssey expansion, players in Elite: Dangerous will be able to take one small step for their characters and one giant leap for playerkind on a regular basis while disembarking on new planets. The first footfalls upon an available world will be recorded dutifully, and the latest preview from the team is all about how […]
See how Elder Scrolls Online's map has doubled since launch
While we are all aware that Elder Scrolls Online is one of the most consistently updated MMORPGs on the market, perhaps we don't realize just how far it's come since the game's 2014 launch. One enterprising Redditor helped us gain a new perspective on Tamriel's growth by contrasting the launch day map with the MMO's […]
Not So Massively: First impressions of Century Age of Ashes
Dragons are ubiquitous to the point of over-exposure in gaming these days. And yet for all that, there are still very few games that let us command the power of a dragon ourselves. I think we're all a bit sick of fighting dragons, but I know I for one am still hungry to play as […]
Crowfall discusses tutorial progression and campaign scoring changes in latest livestream
The devs of Crowfall — specifically J. Todd "Bono Glasses" Coleman and Thomas "Ultrabeard" Blair — had a lot to talk about in a recent Q&A livestream, discussing current and future plans for the throne war MMO's beta. One of the primary topics was onboarding new players, pointing out that the Infected worlds have been […]
WoW Factor: What I want to hear from World of Warcraft during BlizzConline
So hey, BlizzConline is coming up very soon, and that means more announcements about World of Warcraft! Within a fairly narrow lineup of possible bits of news, anyhow. Let's be honest, we all know at this point basically that we're going to be hearing about patch 9.1, which hasn't really been discussed thus far. We're not yet […]
Star Citizen breaks down the capital ships and shield tech of the Assault on Stanton dynamic event
Star Citizen continues to make a whole lot of noise about its first dynamic event, which sees players engaging with the Idris and Javelin capital ships, and this week's episode of Inside Star Citizen is further talking up the event as it discusses the creation of capital ships in battle and the shields that surround […]
Blizzard celebrates Lunar New Year in World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Hearthstone
Blizzard is no slouch when it comes to Lunar New Year celebrations: Its largest online titles have all gotten updates for the season. In World of Warcraft, the Lunar Festival has begun as of today, plus of course there's a cute flying bull mount, Lucky Yun, up for grabs if you jump into a six-month […]
Path of Exile rolls back Xbox One server to avoid 'significant economic damage'
Console players of Path of Exile were in for a nasty surprise last night following the launch of the 3.13.1, when Grinding Gear Games was forced to pull the server offline and roll it back to just before deployment. In its apology tweets, the studio said about an hour of progress had been lost. "Our […]
Here's how TERA Console's battle pass will work
The very first battle pass for TERA's console edition is coming out on February 18th, giving players a new way to spend money and chase rewards. YouTuber Sarumonin took an advance look at this system, finding it pretty typical compared to seasonal passes in other games. TERA Console's battle pass can be experienced in both […]
The Daily Grind: Which modern MMOs are the best at not exploiting your FOMO?
FOMO – the fear of missing out – has unfortunately become a foundational motivator in the MMORPG industry. I don't think it was always this way. Back in the early days of the MMO genre, my FOMO was self-generated, like feeling I needed to be in the game to accomplish my own goals: hanging out […]
The Stream Team: The Tide Turns is the real finale of DDO's pirate saga
Massively OP's MJ may have said that last time was the last time for DDO's pirate saga. However, today is the real last time! The finale quest, The Tides Turn, will wrap up the pirate adventure that MJ and the crew have been working through. And what a finale it will be! Just as House […]
Massively Overthinking: Do MMO players secretly just want 'another WoW'?
Last week, there was a provocative discussion on the MMORPG subreddit about the genre. I don't want to get tangled up in the whole argument about failed MMOs and why people play the successful MMOs that aren't World of Warcraft, but I do want to home in on the overall premise: "I've become thoroughly convinced […]
Trove introduces Deep Dragon mounts to console players in latest update
If you're the sort of Trove console player who likes to chase hard-to-find materials to put together an extremely shiny mount, then you're going to have an absolute blast with the game's latest update, which has introduced three Deep Dragon mounts to go after. And honestly, who doesn't want to ride around on a blocky […]
EverQuest launches Valentine's event, PlanetSide 2 begins Outfit Wars playtest, DCUO readies Update 110
It's the Daybreak Games News Bundle! Because it just makes sense to pool smaller stories together, we're going to outline several little updates made to EverQuest and EverQuest II, PlanetSide 2, and DC Universe Online. Which also means it's bullet list time! First, EQ has kicked off Erollisi Day 2021, which is all outlined in […]
Activision-Blizzard Q4 2020: Activision's revenues are up QoQ and YoY as Blizzard MAUs drop again
We've simply got to stop meeting like this exactly every three months. Yes, it's time for another round of Activision-Blizzard dissembling in the form of the company's investor report and conference call. Welcome to Q4 2020! It's been a weird couple of years for the company as 2019 saw mass layoffs, the Blitzchung boycott, a weak BlizzCon, […]
Multiplayer survival RPG Frozen Flame updates enemies, shares some music, and offers a demo on Steam
It's been a little while since we looked in on Frozen Flame, and lo and behold, there's been a couple of notable things going on with the in-development multiplayer survival RPG. One of the first major updates is… well, an update, which has tweaked the attack behavior of the Cursed to make them "more menacing […]
Skyforge launches on Nintendo Switch today with time-limited cosmetics
The time has finally arrived for Skyforge to venture onto a new console in the form of the Nintendo Switch. The game is live today on the platform, allowing everyone access to the game in semi-portable form as you take on the role of one of the game's many immortal deities fighting to defend your planet. […]
Magic Legends begins selling discounted cosmetics bundle ahead of open beta
If for some reason you're angling to buy cosmetics for a game that hasn't released yet – and let's be real, MMO players are known for doing just that – then you're going to want to peek at PWE's Magic Legends reveal today. The company is apparently selling a new Planeswalker Bundle for the game, […]
EVE Online commemorates the Massacre at M2-XFE with data and an in-game monument
We can now officially put a new marker on the annals of EVE Online history. The Massacre at M2-XFE, which was already shaping up to be a historic battle from initial reporting, has gotten a full and final report from CCP Games, outlining just how immense this fight ended up being with data and details. […]
Obituary: ZeniMax Media founder and CEO Robert A. Altman has died
I'm sorry to report that the founder and CEO of ZeniMax Media, Robert A. Altman, has apparently passed away. He was 74. The news came directly from Bethesda's Twitter account, where staff shared one of Altman's recent memos to the teams urging them to take time to care for themselves during the pandemic. We are […]
Preview: Dauntless' Frost Escalation will force you to fight frigid foes and frostbite
I've said before that I respect and love how Dauntless keeps trying to bring something new to the table with its major updates, and the Frost Escalation, which should be live as you're reading this, is most certainly no exception. I was granted the opportunity to preview this new content with PR manager Andy Burt […]
Enter to win a Star Trek Online PC Alliance Reborn bundle from PWE and MOP
Star Trek Online's House Reborn has been a huge hit for the game, as the 11-year-old MMORPG is seeing a boost in concurrency as players flock back to the game to celebrate its anniversary. If you're among them, you're definitely going to want to enter today's giveaway to get your captains properly outfitted! PWE has […]
Vague Patch Notes: If this MMO was so good, why didn't it succeed?
Your mission today, should you choose to accept it, is to participate in an experiment. I want you to write up a nice long piece about all the things WildStar did that were, in fact, really good. Suggested areas of focus include the housing mechanics of the game, the art style, and the uniqueness of its […]
MMO Business Roundup: Improbable's defense contracting, Amazon Games' internal support
Welcome back to another roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news! Improbable: Back in January, CNBC did a big story on Improbable, the massive Herman Narula-led company backed by companies from SoftBank to NetEase that's working on SpatialOS with a goal of rescuing the MMO genre from "nuclear winter." Apparently, the company saw another year […]
Star Citizen outlines work on a 'community favorite' ship, hacking, weapons, and Orison landing zone
Feels like we sort of just did this, doesn't it? Sure enough, now that we're just into the month of February and the last report pooled progress from November and December of last year, Star Citizen has made sure to keep pace on its monthly updates by releasing January's report. Here are some of the […]
Sea of Thieves' first season has arrived with a new voyage type and LTM
Season one of Sea of Thieves' new business-and-content model has officially arrived today. Here's hoping this take lasts long than that whole "three live teams working on constant content" thing. Today's release includes the new permanent voyage type, a new limited-time event, better arena comms, new cash-shop loot, performance tweaks, and bug fixes. Season one is […]
Elite Dangerous players are apparently being duped into indentured servitude
An Elite Dangerous player and member of the altruistic Fuel Rats group has uncovered what appears to be an insidious scheme while responding to a seemingly routine call for help. Fans of the MMO will know that the Fuel Rats are a group of players in Elite who volunteer their services to help those who […]
BioWare shuts down talk of Mass Effect multiplayer, says 'it was just really hard'
There are a whole lot of people really excited to see BioWare bust out that Mass Effect legendary edition on May 14th — myself included. But when it does arrive, we know for sure that there will be one much-requested feature completely missing from the all-in-one bundle: multiplayer. According to Game Informer, BioWare evaluated the […]
Bluehole MMO Elyon shows off the new Slayer class
Do you ever get the feeling that two-handed sword classes in MMORPGs are less about actual swordplay and more about putting on glamorous light shows using a blade the size of a Boeing 747 wing? Because that's exactly the vibe I got when I watched the reveal of Elyon: Ascent Infinite Realm's latest class. "It's […]
The Daily Grind: Are there any live MMOs that seem too old for you to try?
It's easy to overlook the sheer weight of age involved with live MMOs. Sure, it's easy to say that intellectually there's no reason you can't start on Final Fantasy XIV right now even if you've never played before, but you also can't help but be aware that doing so means jumping into an existing game with […]
The Stream Team: Finally to the SWTOR Mandalorian flashpoint
After working through the rest of the new Mandalorian story in SWTOR, Massively OP's Larry and MJ have made it to the point of doing the flashpoint, The Spirit of Vengeance. And flashpoints are what you, the audience of Choose My Alignment, has been asking for. So what happens next is surely all your fault! […]
Starbase works on 'easy build mode,' lets avatars throw punches, and tweaks non-mineable asteroids
It's yet another look at the hyper-granular advancement of space-based building sandbox Starbase, which has put out another couple weeks' worth of progress notes. Let's get all caught up, shall we? Week 2 of 2021 includes the first version of "easy build mode" for ships being added to testing, which hopefully should make putting together […]
Wild Terra 2 plans to add in the map as it promises a growing team for development in Early Access
The team currently developing Wild Terra 2 – which just rolled into early access last week – is small. Quite small, in fact; it currently consists of four people, and the latest dispatch from the development team notes how challenging it was to bring the game to early access with such a small team behind it. […]
Final Fantasy XI previews more Voracious Resurgence and Odyssey content coming in February
If you thought that after the last round of content in Sheol: Gaol in Final Fantasy XI you weren't being sufficiently challenged, the game's February version update is almost here to help refute that assumption. While the last round of opponents were there to get players accustomed to how the content would work, the new batch […]
