Century: Age of Ashes preps for its next March 12 closed beta and showcases gameplay in new trailer
Curious to ride on the back of a dragon and blow the smithereens out of others in aerial PvP dogfights? Then you're going to want to get your toes into the upcoming closed beta test for Century: Age of Ashes, which is due to begin on Friday, March 12th, and run through Sunday, March 21st. […]
Vendetta Online enhances Mac support, unifies KoS timers, and preps for further graphical improvements
It's been a little while since we last peeked in on the internet spaceship MMO Vendetta Online, so we suspect it's about high time to catch up, particularly since the game has seen a pretty steady stream of updates since our last report. Looking back over the past couple of months, we note the game […]
MMO Business Roundup: Germany, lockboxes, Distintegration, and CCP vs. the bots
Welcome back to another quick rundown of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news. German lockboxes: We've gone through two full cycles of lockbox backlash in the last decade, and I thought we might be about to embark on a third, as yesterday headlines lit up around the industry about Germany's plan to reform abusive monetization in […]
Dauntless introduces private Hunting Grounds and addresses performance issues in latest patch
In terms of content, the most recent patch to Dauntless doesn't add much, but what it does add is still pretty important on the performance and quality-of-life side. The one major feature of the update is the addition of private Hunting Grounds, letting players run through the area solo or with a team of their […]
Final Fantasy XI rolls out new Voracious Resurgence content and a new Odyssey foe
The March version update has arrived for Final Fantasy XI, and that means players can face off against a new foe in Sheol: Gaol as part of the game's Odyssey content. It's a tough battle to enter, as you need to be in a party of players with non-overlapping jobs and everyone needs three jobs at […]
Dark Age of Camelot's leveling event draws 'thousands' of characters
It's Fast Times at Dark Age High these days, as DAOC is in the midst of a 10-day "Catch Up in Caledonia" event to help players pump out those levels as quickly as possible. Broadsword said that the event has been a "huge hit" so far with "thousands of characters" sprinting through the leveling process. […]
World of Tanks Console's Season 5 lets all players earn a heavy Polish tank and a bear tank commander
There's a fresh season in World of Tanks Console and this one is a doozy, as all players, whether they have a Season Pass or not, have the opportunity to get a Polish Tier VIII 50TP Prototype heavy tank. Granted, it's waiting at level 100 so it's likely not going to be a cakewalk to […]
Leaderboard: Are you hyped for WoW Burning Crusade Classic?
I don't think I've ever seen people fight over the details of a classic server as hard as they do for WoW Classic. Dipping into the comments of our WoW Factor and Casually Classic columns shows an incredible array of opinions on the right way to move Classic forward and the motivations behind those preferences. […]
Indie space sandbox Avorion celebrates first anniversary – and 300K sales
Avorion's been on our radar for the last year, almost to the day: It's a "procedural co-op space sandbox where players can build their own space ships out of dynamically scalable blocks" that launched back in March of last year. Yes, I said launched. A real launch. A real MMO launch. Wild. The indie space sandbox […]
Not So Massively: Outriders' demo teases a decent but unremarkable looter-shooter
Outriders, the new co-op shooter from publisher Square Enix, is not a game I've followed super closely, but with Anthem consigned to eternal purgatory, I could use a new sci-fi shooter in my life, and developer People Can Fly has been kind enough to provide a free public demo prior to the April 1st launch, […]
Gamigo has laid off an unspecified number of RIFT devs, says MMO will continue
Yesterday, we learned through a trusted tipster that multiple Gamigo developers situated in the US and working on RIFT had been laid off from the company. The layoffs reportedly included both Kerilar and Acalos, long-running developers on the game, with the assumption that RIFT's development is being shifted overseas. We reached out to Gamigo for […]
Perfect Ten: Ten things that killed me in Final Fantasy XI
In many ways, Final Fantasy XI was a designed copy of EverQuest. It did, however, remove a lot of the elements of that game in particular. You no longer purchased training for all of your abilities, for example, just spells. You could no longer fall to your death from a treetop city. You could no longer accidentally […]
Black Desert players vote on next GM events as latest PC update brings new quests and plump pufferfish
What sort of GM-led events will PC players of Black Desert be seeing next? Well, if the results of a player poll are any indication, there's gong to be lots of treasure and a concert with the GMs, with an overwhelming 38% of players wanting a Treasure Hunt and 13% of players asking for a […]
Lord of the Rings Online's 2021 roadmap includes Wildwood, Bilbo, Blood of Azog, Gundabad, and the LI revamp
Lord of the Rings Online's Rob "Severlin" Ciccolini just posted a new letter from producer for the community, through if you've been watching the game's streams (and reading MOP's Justin's excellent recaps), you probably already know most of what's coming. In the immediate future, players can expect the formal release of the in-development Wildwood area […]
The world is vanishing, and only DC Universe Online heroes can help
No matter what your level of stoic cynicism is these days, I think we can all agree that having the world vanish is a net loss for all of us. So vote for superheroes as world saviors in 2021 and keep the Earth from disappearing altogether! These are the stakes for DC Universe Online's April […]
EU MechWarrior Online, RUST servers go offline following French data center burning to the ground – no one hurt
Well, this might be a first for the MMO industry: The data center in Strasbourg, France, that housed MechWarrior Online's servers was partially destroyed in a major fire overnight. Here's the message from Piranha Games just after midnight early this morning: "There has been a fire at the EU datacenter that hosts the Game Servers […]
The Daily Grind: Where's the love for MMO Engineers?
If you announce that your MMO is going to have an Engineer class of some kind, then congratulation: I'm going to play it. In fact, I'll be first in line with a wrench in one hand and a remote control for my killer robot in the other. I can't help it; I love me a […]
The Stream Team: Barrels of beer (and fun) in EverQuest II's Brewday
Having already missed Erollisi Day, Massively OP's MJ is not going to miss out on EverQuest II's Brewday! Who knows how much beer her tiny Ratonga can hold, but today is the day to find out. She'll be barhopping to work on her drinking achievements as well as buying fun rewards. And there's always that […]
The Realm Online prepares to launch 'radical, disruptive' seasonal server
If you haven't stepped back in time and visited The Realm Online lately, you might want to see what fascinating things this rebooted 2-D MMORPG is doing. Specifically, the dev team is testing a "radically new ruleset" called Elphame's Arena. This seasonal server, which is currently in beta, is a way to introduce "new disruptive […]
MMO game studio comedy Mythic Quest debuts its second season on May 7
Back in January of last year, we reported on the comedy series Mythic Quest, which comes from many of the creators and writers of It's Always Sunny and Modern Family. The first season of the series released a month later to some generally favorable reactions from many of our readers. Evidently, it was a strong […]
MapleStory previews the upcoming Spring Blossoms update, complete with cafe and Mechanical Hearts
Spring has not yet quite sprung into MapleStory, but it's soon to spring away with the game's upcoming Spring Blossoms update coming in the near future. There's even a whole preview page showing off everything coming to the game with the new update, including all three seasons of Mechanical Hearts being available at once. That coincides […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 312: Written in the stars
Justin and Bree discuss Elder Scrolls Online Flames of Ambition and Update 29, WoW Classic, Daybreak's Aliens Fireteam, and City of Heroes, with listener mails and recordings on MMOs that are more fun to play than watch, a 2010 time capsule, Blizzard's Mac thing, and out-of-touch pockets of MMO fans.
Titan Reach has officially kicked off early access
To hear the story of Titan Reach, you might not believe the game would have gotten this far. The MMO from Australia-based Square Root Studios first tried its hand with Kickstarter in September 2020, which ultimately failed and caused the devs to plan a shift to Indiegogo instead but ended up ultimately eschewing that plan […]
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 – with some 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 […]
