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 […]
SEED shares the experience of a friends and family playtest of four brothers
The family that plays in-development colony-building MMOs together stays together. Or at the very least, they take part in a friends and family playtest for SEED and then come together on video chat to share their experiences in developer Klang Games' latest dev vlog. That's a bit too long of a sentence to be a […]
Mobile MMORPG Lineage 2: Revolution introduces the territory of Rune in its latest update
I don't know about you, but when I'm told that a place called Rune is available to explore, my mind immediately leaps to either the plot of an '80s fantasy film or the plot of an old FMV point-and-click PC game. However, the addition of Rune is part of Lineage 2 Revolution's latest update, so […]
MapleStory puts out a new update with job balancing, gameplay improvements, and a full moon festival
I think having to avoid going to public gatherings for so long is having a real effect on me because when I watched the video for MapleStory's new in-game festival, I sort of got weepy and wistful and filled with a longing to be in that sort of atmosphere. I genuinely hope that we can […]
Fortnite celebrates Valentine's Day with a duos tourney, team battles, quests, and Creative Mode hub
Do you think love can bloom on a battlefield? It apparently can in the battle royale battlefield of Fortnite with a little help from several events going on in-game for Hearts Wild, of course. The Hearts Wild event offers up several activities for players of the shooter to take part in, including a Hearts Wild […]
Genshin Impact fans have built a scale model of the city of Liyue Harbor
How much of a fan of Genshin Impact are you? Are you the sort of creative person that makes fanart of the game? Maybe you write fanfiction? Or are you the sort of fan that decides to spend hours building a scale model of one of the game's major cities? Because that's precisely what some […]
Rogue Company and Paladins release new seasons with new characters and battle pass rewards
Hi-Rez Studios' games are all about those battle pass-filled seasonal updates and the latest updates to both Rogue Company and Paladins are no different. Both multiplayer hero shooters have launched some new seasons with new characters and new seasonal reward tracks. In Rogue Company, the game's first official season sees the arrival of Kestrel, the […]
Shroud of the Avatar adds two new community events and makes its fishing tourney a monthly event
Even if I'm side-eyeing the heck out of Shroud of the Avatar, I do have to give a smile and a nod to the developing MMO's love of community events, and with this week's Avatar's Update, there are a couple of notable things on that front to point out. Particularly since the rest of the […]
Epic Games denies rumors that it's aiming for an IPO
It's a pretty well-known fact that Epic Games is doing pretty well for itself between the success of Fortnite and the ongoing popularity of the Unreal engine. As a result, when someone spied the company hiring someone to work in Investor Relations, the supposition was that the company was getting ready to put forth an […]
RuneScape improves various teleportation methods and adds a Valentine's Day-themed heist
It's a new week in the world of Gielinor and that means it's time for another weekly newsletter from RuneScape. This week, the Ninjas have attacked a number of teleportation methods in the game, with Fairy Rings getting better UI, the Big Book O' Piracy, Enchanted Lyre, Mortania Legs, and Sceptre of the Gods each […]
Fioresia Online posts its 2021 development roadmap
Fioresia Online is a relatively new title to us here at Massively OP, but it instantly grabbed our attention for its wide scope and its adorable cartoony design. The game is working toward an early access version, which you can see with the dev team's 2021 roadmap. The roadmap, which covers from now through May, […]
Book of Travels provides a look at a few of the threats that inhabit its world
A lot has been made by Book of Travels about the game's world and aesthetic, whether it's music, art style, or things that inspired its creation. In the most recent post shared on Steam and Kickstarter, the devs are offering a more specific look at something within its game world: the threats that players will […]
Albion Online details its plans for the upcoming faction war revamp
War! What is it good for? Faction standing in Albion Online, among other things. But there's room to make that faction warfare system better all around, and that's what the developers are aiming to do in the next major update to the system. There are four major points being addressed by the changes: making the system […]
Wisdom of Nym: Everything we now know about Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker
So, hey, the moon! That's a place we haven't been yet, isn't it? We've blown up a moon in Final Fantasy XIV (or had one blown up on us, same difference), but now we're actually going to the moon… and that leaves me wondering how in the heck they're going to make the moon interesting […]
NCsoft Q4 2020: Aion Classic was a huge success, Guild Wars 2 improves on 2019
NCsoft's Q4 2020 financials are up, and while it was a solid year for the company on the whole, some of its games have me a smidge nervous. The Korean games giant had a relatively flat and quarter and year, never quite making it back to the spike it saw early in 2020 when the pandemic […]
A new version of the long-sunsetted MMORPG Shadowbane has landed on Steam
Shadowbane has had one of the strangest journeys of an MMORPG over the past two decades. Originally launched in the early 2000s, the PvP-centric title spun down in 2009 as its then-owners threw in the towel. However, in 2012, China's Changyou obtained the rights to the game and eventually turned the servers back on in […]
Ingress announces an optional subscription, sparking speculation among Pokemon Go players
It's been some time since Ingress, the MMOARG from the same company that brought us Pokemon Go, has been in the news, but this new info is certainly a doozy. Niantic has unveiled the pending arrival of a new optional subscription that adds an expanded inventory, a monthly loadout kit, a unique profile medal and […]
Pantheon Rise of the Fallen stream offers a look at early gathering and crafting gameplay
What's a sandbox MMORPG without its gathering and crafting gameplay loops? Fans of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen have gotten their first taste of these essential gameplay elements in a recent developer stream, which took a pretty close look at the MMORPG's base crafting and gathering systems. The stream goes out of its way to […]
The Daily Grind: Are lifetime subs in MMOs still worth it in 2021?
MOP reader Kaz sent us a note over the weekend alerting us that Star Trek Online's lifetime sub just so happens to be half off right now, $150 instead of $300. (It ends at 3 p.m. EST the day this post goes live, in fact, so consider this a Daily Grind/PSA combo with an expiration […]
MMO Week in Review: Endwalker
It's not the end, but it is an end: Final Fantasy XIV announced its Endwalker expansion this past Friday during its showcase. Launch is fall 2021, and that's not all, as the game is also rolling out to PS5 this spring! Read on to catch up with the very best of this week's MMO news […]
Battle Bards Episode 186: Lineage
While Lineage II is one of the absolute favorite soundtracks of the Battle Bards, the first game in this series has been shamefully overlooked on the show. No longer! In today's episode, Syl, Steff, and Syp dig into this rather lovely and expressive score for an MMO that's been around longer than some of their […]
Make My MMO: Chronicles of Elyria backers lodge lawsuit, Wagadu snags more funding
This week in MMORPG crowdfunding, the backers of Chronicles of Elyria have officially lodged their class-action lawsuit against Soulbound Studios and Xsolla in a California district court. The suit alleges that Soulbound raised over $14M in crowdfunds and sales, almost half of which were conducted through Xsolla; that Soulbound misled backers about the state of […]
Jukebox Heroes: Secret World Legends' soundtrack
As a video game music collector and lover, I am frustrated by how very few MMO soundtracks ever make it to a proper release. Sure, I know it's a niche interest within a niche hobby, but it's still maddening to think of how many great games have no soundtracks out there whatsoever. Considering how going […]
First impressions of Skyforge on Nintendo Switch: A messy port of a solid MMORPG
I played Skyforge briefly when it first launched on PC in 2015, but only put a few hours into it. My short stay there was not because I found anything wrong with it, but it had the unfortunate timing of launching around the same time as new content in some of my other favorite MMOs, […]
OrbusVR celebrates three years of operation with a scavenger hunt
It's hard to believe that OrbusVR has been running for three years now, but the numbers don't lie and it's true. And it's been a busy third year, too, with players killing more monsters, making more characters, and collecting more loot than the first two years of operation combined. To celebrate, players can pick up a […]
One Shots: Giant envy
Last week's call for screenshots of MMO giants brought out some big responses. Hefty contributions, if you get my drift. And we'll kick off with Utakata's adventures in Blade and Soul where this bold warrior met a giant gorilla who can dress himself in armor, apparently. "The bigger they are…" Utakata said. …the larger their […]
The Daily Grind: How much effort do you want to put into MMO housing?
Housing! It's fashionable, it's fun, it's extensive, it gives your character in a given game a place to spend time other than milling around the auction house. Housing in MMOs is a fun thing, and the MOP writers and readers are generally pretty enthusiastically pro-housing. But there are still a lot of different tiers of […]
The MOP Up: Valentine spirit sweeps through MMOs
MMO Love Bear, shine! Warm fuzzies and romantical notions are washing through various online games this month in anticipation of Valentine's Day this month. Ultima Online is giving out gifts on the 12th — but it warns players that these presents will be allocated according to karma. Habbo is getting way into flowers, because why […]
Rockstar letter: GTA Online 'shattered records,' Red Dead Online 2's $5 sale is ending soon
Rockstar was crowing about its two online virtual worlds this past week in a new letter to the community. Because of the support fans showed for Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online in 2020, Rockstar said that both games saw spectacular numbers. "GTA Online shattered its own records once again, with more players […]
LOTRO's upcoming Wildwood content drop won't be a 'mini-expansion'
Last fall's move to start charging every Lord of the Rings Online player — including subscribers — for what was a glorified content update has the community watching SSG like a hawk to see how it's going to be handling similar patches in 2021. The good news is that the studio confirmed that the next […]
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 […]
