Allods Online plans for Desert Dreams update launch and server merge on March 11
A bit of good news, bad news for Allods Online players. The good news is that the upcoming Desert Dreams update will be arriving soon on Thursday, March 11th. The bad news is that there will also be a server merge going down as well. Though that might also be considered good news if you're […]
Back under Naddic's direction, Closers adds new dungeon and raid to defeat the Ocean King
So, how's Closers doing since transferring back from Krafton and En Masse to its original developer Naddic last fall? Not too shabbily: Naddic has rolled out multiple events and patches in 2021, including a newbie event and the merging of the Thai server into the global set. Most recently, Naddic has announced a new content […]
Atlas Q&A acknowledges problems with Alliances, island assaults, and experience
Depending on your perspective, the latest community Q&A for Atlas will be either positive or frustrating. For example, if you're hoping to hear some acknowledgement of the problems the game has with experience, you'll probably be happy that this set of answers explicitly acknowledges that solo players or those in small companies are locked in a […]
Choose My Adventure: Fizzle frustration, boss beatdowns, and slowly forming strategies in Wizard101
Remember last week how I wrote about being surprised at the depth of Wizard101's combat? This week I learned that the game's combat can also provide a stern challenge for the unprepared. Or perhaps more likely, the undergeared. Or perhaps even more likely, the clinically stupid. Up to this point, battles have been generally pretty […]
Star Trek Online podcast to introduce Gene Roddenberry's son to the MMO
When you have a dad who created one of the most famous scifi IPs of all time, you best ride those coattails all the way through life, son. And so it is for Rod Roddenberry, the son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who is the CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment and an executive producer on […]
Flameseeker Chronicles: First impressions of Guild Wars 2's 'Balance' chapter, launching today
Another month, another round of Dragon Response Missions. Balance is part three of four chapters in Guild Wars 2's Icebrood Saga, and things are starting to heat up (no conflagration dragon pun intended). With two elder dragons actively assaulting Tyria, and Aurene, her champion, and their ever-growing alliance caught in the middle, the stakes have […]
Whatever happened to superhero MMO Valiance Online?
As one of the original community-led "Plan Z" superhero MMORPGs that sprung up in the wake of City of Heroes' original demise, Valiance Online has had the appearance of an intermittent development life. MMO players will recall that the game was at one point intended to launch in 2020, but 2020 didn't go the way […]
Casually Classic: How Burning Crusade revolutionized WoW questing
While it's been a blast stepping back into an era where I can re-experience World of Warcraft as it once was, playing WoW Classic has also reminded me of several aspects of vanilla that I never liked so much. The lack of content for casuals at endgame? Yeah, that smarts. Only one flight path per […]
Warframe preps a huge overhaul to the Railjack experience
The four-player Railjack spacecraft offer an exciting angle of play in Warframe, offering ship-to-ship combat and boarding scenarios. However, building a Railjack is a rather daunting prospect and its play has proved controversial, which is why Digital Extremes is taking a second look at how it handles this vehicle. Update 29.10, which is on its […]
Dauntless changes course on vault cosmetics with rotating reward cache and Slayers Club
Goodbye vaults, hello reward caches: Dauntless is changing how it offers items from seasonal passes to players. Instead of the traditional "vault" format, whereby players could pick from a small selection of cosmetic items in a rotating system, the new reward cache won't be rotated at all. The vault itself is retiring forever. "The Reward […]
Leaked internal email suggests that The Burning Crusade Classic will be in beta testing this month
If you can't wait to go through the Dark Portal in WoW Classic, you can take heart that you may not be waiting all that much longer. According to a purported leaked internal email from Blizzard (shared by Reddit user zon3tknew3), the beta test for The Burning Crusade Classic servers is set to start at some […]
ArcheAge announces Akasch Invasion patch coming March 25 – paid content for Unchained
Over the weekend, Gamigo teased that "something's coming" for ArcheAge, prompting more trepidation than curiosity. Now we know what it is: a big update, and not even far away. It's called Akasch Invasion, and it's launching later this month on March 25th, just after the final land rush from the recent server merges. The notable […]
The Daily Grind: What's your biggest collection in an MMORPG?
I am not what I would called a "collector." In MMOs or really anywhere else. Or I guess I should be more specific and say that my goal is not to collect the most of everything or the all of everything. I don't gotta catch 'em all. Minipets, mounts, I just don't have the urge […]
The Stream Team: Boss beatings after the great Elder Scrolls Online skill respec
The big ESO Update 29 happened today, and before she heads out and starts beating on some world bosses, Massively OP's MJ needs to respec her skills. As if it didn't take her forever to decide the first time! Tune in live at 8:00 p.m. to see if she can manage to spend the points […]
Conan Exiles' next patch will add a host of PC version features to consoles by the end of March
The next update for Conan Exiles is very soon, along with another step closer to parity between PC updates and consoles, according to an update from the devs posted to the forums. The post starts off by apologizing to console players for the gap in communication about the next patch as the devs have been […]
Genshin Impact Update 1.4 celebrates spring in Mondstadt, adds new quests and a new character on March 17
The next update for multiplayer RPG Genshin Impact is on the horizon, and just like the last major update, this one comes with a festival. Specifically, a springtime festival in Mondstadt known as the Windblume Festival, where players can play minigames, take on challenges, enjoy a multi-ending quest with some of the game's characters, and […]
Final Fantasy XIV brings around another iteration of the Moogle Treasure Trove
Need a little extra incentive to take on old content in Final Fantasy XIV? You'll get exactly that with the newest incarnation of the game's Moogle Treasure Trove event, with various older duties awarding players with Irregular Tomestones of Esoterics which can subsequently be exchanged for a variety of prizes. Players can earn tomestones from the […]
Book of Travels offers some background details for the Braided Shore
Book of Travels is set in the Braided Shore, which is a fine enough bit of background, but just what is the Braided Shore exactly? The most recent Kickstarter update post seeks to answer that question with a variety of background details about the tiny multiplayer online game's location. The post is effectively a lore […]
The Elder Scrolls Online officially releases Update 29 and Flames of Ambition on PC
We've been covering the next update for The Elder Scrolls Online from the very jump, starting with its initial reveal all the way through to its dungeon previews. Now the time has come for PC and Mac players to dive in as Update 29 and the Flames of Ambition DLC are both officially live, while […]
Arizona moves forward with legislation that will force Apple and Google to allow alternative payment options
While Apple and Google likely breathed a sigh of relief when a proposed North Dakota bill that would require the mobile platforms to allow alternative forms of payment was voted down by that state's Senate, the Arizona state House of Representatives has recently voted in favor of its own form of that same legislation this […]
Elite Dangerous explores missions, spawning, bounties, and more Odyssey details
Whether you ended up indifferent or excited after Elite: Dangerous offered a preview of a mission from its Odyssey expansion, you very likely had a number of questions. In which case, you very likely will want to look over this recap of a Q&A livestream from this past Thursday. The livestream offered a number of […]
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen addresses crafting and harvesting in latest dev roundtable
It's time once again to listen to a developer from Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen talk about a game feature for roughly an hour and a half. Yes, it's the February Dev Roundtable podcast and this episode features associate game designer David "Nephele" Beach who fields questions about the MMORPG's crafting and harvesting gameplay. The […]
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV's forced grouping serves an important purpose
It's not exactly a secret, but just in case you didn't know this, Final Fantasy XIV has dungeons that are absolutely necessary to progress through the game's main story. They are not optional. It is structured in such a way that you will need to queue up for these dungeons in order to advance the […]
Fight or Kite: Crowfall's Transformation added necessary polish to bring us closer to launch
The most recent patch to Crowfall brought a whole slew of improvements and enhancements to the game. Every update we've seen in the past year has enhanced the game tremendously, so it's hard to believe that just a little over a year ago I was still struggling to see the light at the end of […]
Corepunk's class options expand to include the Mercenary, Pain Reaper, and Warmonger
Have you settled on a class to play when Corepunk's beta arrives? You may want to reserve judgment until you read the full reveal on the Mercenary, because this class may be perfect for the snipers and gadgeteers out there. The Merc can specialize as a Sniper, Berserker, or Engineer, but any way you go […]
US and EU trading bodies both approve Microsoft's $7.5B buyout of ZeniMax Media
It's been a few months since Microsoft acquired all of ZeniMax Media's studios to the tune of $7.5 billion back in September of last year. There hasn't been much news on the front outside of Phil Spencer and Todd Howard both assuring fans that there won't be major changes in ZeniMax's cross-platform strategies (while Microsoft's […]
Final Fantasy XIV bans over 5,000 accounts for RMT activity
Trading real money for gil in Final Fantasy XIV is expressly forbidden. Players shouldn't do that if they want to keep their accounts. Apparently more than 5,000 people didn't get that message, as the latest dispatch from the development team has announced that 5,037 accounts participating in RMT have been terminated as part of the ongoing […]
ArcheAge posts mysterious teaser that 'something is coming'
Usually the phrase "Prepare yourself — something's coming" would be of great excitement to any MMORPG player. But we can't help but think that when this is applied to the oft-controversial ArcheAge, it has the potential to be a terrifying omen. In any case, Gamigo posted a "coming soon" video teaser that shows insects fleeing […]
Jagex continues work on RuneScape login issues through the weekend, promises no accounts are lost
This past Friday we reported on some issues with RuneScape's login servers, which were so bad that the devs had to roll back the servers to a few hours and were forced to postpone this week's update. As of right now, it doesn't look like things have gotten any better as problems persist through the […]
World of Warcraft posts full notes for tomorrow's Patch 9.0.5
Like a murloc bum-rushing the unwary adventurer, World of Warcraft's Patch 9.0.5 is sprinting toward the live servers. Tomorrow's update is a mid-range patch, but even so, it's throwing a whole lot of changes and quality-of-life improvements into the mix. That's why it's helpful to read the full patch notes, which Blizzard thoughtfully posted this […]
The Daily Grind: Do you miss free return events in MMORPGs?
Eliot was writing a piece about Final Fantasy XI's return home event a week or two ago and I suddenly had a pang of nostalgia – not for FFXI, which I never really got into, but for the idea of MMO freebie events period. Most MMORPGs are now at least partly free-to-play, and I have […]
MMO Week in Review: Blade & Soul's revival, ArcheAge's fresh starts
At this point, it seems as if Gamigo has entirely given up on trying to appease disgruntled ArcheAge fans, as smack in the middle of its ongoing server merges and land rushes, the studio announced new fresh start servers. Meanwhile, Blade & Soul's Revival is happening, Daybreak and Cold Iron finally revealed Aliens: Fireteam, Crowfall […]
SEED talks about its latest playtest and how testing is utilized in a video
Klang Games, the developers of colonization MMO SEED, has once again put together a new dev vlog that takes a moment to discuss testing, including the game's latest playtest and what the devs use testing for. The last test, known as Pioneers Phase 1, brought together a variety of gameplay mechanics for the first time […]
The MOP Up: Champions Online plumbs the Midnight Depths
The game is afoot — the Champions Online game, that is! Cryptic pushed out the second part of the Midnight Depths story arc this past week, giving costumed crusaders another challenge. "Without the good doctor's help, you and Ladyhawke find yourselves in desperate need of answers, and she's only in the mood for one way […]
Battle Bards Episode 188: World of Warcraft Shadowlands
While the Battle Bards tend to agree that World of Warcraft: Shadowlands isn't as strong of an expansion soundtrack compared to the last few, it's still WoW, and it still has some gems worth uncovering. Join Syl, Steff, and Syp as they journey into the afterlife and see what the freshly dead listen to in […]
Global Chat: What can fill that 'new MMO' void?
MMO blogger Digital Visceral asked the question, "Where have all the good MMORPGs gone?" but the underlying question isn't one of scarcity or burnout. Rather, it's a search for new games to fill the still-burning desire to play online games in an era that seems more hesitant than ever to make them. "It's easy to […]
Diablo II Resurrected will allow old save file transfers, will likely be Blizzard's last remaster
I have to wonder who would be hanging on to an old Diablo II save file but then I check myself as I look at a screenshot folder that still has old shots from WildStar, so maybe it's not so fargone a conclusion that there are plenty of folks hanging on to their old ARPG […]
One Shots: Never crowd surf over cats with claws
If you ever find yourself at a heavy metal concert where most of the crowd is made out of bestial cat-things, trust me: Don't crowd surf. You're going to end up with unintended acupuncture if you do so. I'm not sure if Miol is full of holes now, but this Guild Wars 2 concert seemed […]
The Daily Grind: Would you play an MMO on console with crossplay?
I like Star Trek Online. It'd probably be a pretty fun game to play on consoles during idle downtime, but there's a problem with that: I don't like it so much that I want to start up totally from scratch just to occasionally play on the PS4 instead of on my PC. I also like Final Fantasy […]
Blade & Soul opens a 'Revival' landing page touting visual upgrades, engine changes, and dungeon updates
Blade & Soul is very excited about its upcoming Unreal Engine upgrade to the point that a newly opened landing page is calling it a Revival. The page not only touts the overall engine's visual abilities but also outlines how the upgrade will improve things for the game overall and how the devs plan to […]
Take a look at 25 minutes' worth of Aliens Fireteam gameplay
Now that we know that Daybreak and Cold Iron Studios is finally launching that co-op shooter Aliens: Fireteam, there are likely more than a few folks that are curious about just what this game looks like in motion. Luckily, there's a whole mission preview video now online to sate that curiosity. Along with a look […]
Legends of Aria indefinitely delays patch, works on experimental server instead
We've certainly been wondering what's happened to Legends of Aria, which went really quiet in the early part of 2021 here. The last we heard, Citadel Studios had promised some sort of update or announcement for this fantasy MMO while working on a survival RPG called The End. Well, wait no longer: Citadel just posted an […]
The Stream Team: Doing the swamp thing in Valheim
Once Massively OP's MJ started trying to build in Valheim, she couldn't stop! But there is so much more to the game to see, so today she'll toss her tools aside and head into the swamp with her friends to explore. Tune in live at 2:00 p.m. to do the swamp thing in… What: Valheim […]
LOTRO Legendarium: How much value does a VIP subscription offer these days?
Probably the biggest question any Lord of the Rings Online player has to ask him or herself is whether to go subscription or free-to-play while making a way through Middle-earth. It's not as simple as you might suspect, as LOTRO's business model is a little on the convoluted side. Also, it really depends on your […]
The Division 2 is getting a new game mode late 2021, reruns of Year 2 season content in the meantime
Ever since Ubisoft Massive made the announcement that The Division 2 would be getting another content update this year after TU12, which was intended to be the game's last update, players have likely been wondering approximately when that new content will arrive. A recent post detailing the road ahead has that answer, along with word […]
WRUP: 101 uses for a hammer edition
Birds Big birds Small birds Nuthatches Fish Birds Fish Bats bats batty bay avast ye, this be the bay of bats hearken ye to my words, ye scurrilous nope this bit is dumb forget it Birds Again Titmice Titmouses Multiple Birds named "Titmouse" Geese Goose Glue Fish Tuna Fish Salmon Fish Salmon Tuna Two Salmon […]
The Daily Grind: Where would you live in an MMO if you could?
Sometimes MMO developers and artists are so very good with creating welcoming and gorgeous zones that I think that I wouldn't mind moving there. You know, if the taxes and school systems were good and I wasn't in imminent danger of being eaten by a Level 3 Grue whenever I went for a hike. There […]
The Stream Team: Making music with Warframe's Octavia Prime
Once a music-making frame was introduced in Warframe, Massively OP's MJ has knew she had to have it. And now she has the Prime Frame! Will MJ be able to make sweet music with Octavia Prime, or will all her notes fall flat? Join us live at 8:00 p.m. to check this new addition out. […]
Betawatch: Zenith plans its alpha for April 16
Playing a game on a VR headset already feels kind of futuristic, but the upcoming Zenith is a bit more futuristic than even that. And the game has now set the alpha preorders for March 10th and beta for April 16th, meaning it's just over a month away. Hopefully that means the bits of radio silence […]
ArenaNet promises to fix the Guild Wars 2 GeForceNow account lockout issue
If you swapped to playing Guild Wars 2 through GeForceNow thanks to the deprecation of the game's old Mac client – or if you just wanted to play through GeForceNow for any reason at all – you might want to pay a bit more attention to the status of your game account. That's because multiple […]
