Dungeons and Dragons Online activates its fourth permadeath server season
You've only got one life to live in Dungeons and Dragons Online — so make it a good one. The doors to DDO's permadeath server is open once more, as the MMO is running the fourth iteration of the Hardcore League from March 31st to June 29th. So why would you want to play a […]
EverQuest II dives into the Plane of Shadows with this week's content drop
The days may be getting longer, but that only means that the shadows are increasing in force. Yesterday, EverQuest II dared its players to return to the Plane of Shadows to face off against Emperor Ssraeshza — but only with the help of a Feral Spirit ceremony to bolster their power. Game Update 117: Whispers […]
CDPR says it's 'reconsidering' Cyberpunk 2077's planned multiplayer
Covering Cyberpunk 2077 has been an exercise in frustration here on multiplayer-focused MOP as CD Projekt Red has been stringing along promises of a distant multiplayer for ages now. Last we heard, it was likely several years away and probably going to be a "standalone product" rather than some sort of mere multiplayer component. That […]
The Daily Grind: What MMO content is perfect for short gaming sessions?
Lately I've been exploring Lord of the Rings Online's new(ish) mission system, which is essentially a smaller version of skirmishes that scale to a player's level. While these missions aren't anything mind-blowing in terms of activities or lore, I do appreciate that they offer the option to get something meaningful done in 10 to 15 […]
The Stream Team: A pre-Easter egg hunt in Guild Wars 2
There can be only one Highlander, but there can be many griffon eggs in Guild Wars 2's Desert Highlands. And Massively OP's MJ will gather them all! She's hoping things go so well she can even start her search in Elon Riverlands. Tune in live at 8:00 p.m. for this pre-Easter egg hunt! What: Guild […]
Closers celebrates April Fools' day with limited-time skins and high school-themed event dungeons
Somehow, I think the idea of April Fools' day was lost in translation between the publishers of Closers and the West. Or maybe the idea of April Fool's is being shoehorned in as part of the game's latest event. Perhaps it's best not to ponder these things and just enjoy the event. Which is based […]
Final Fantasy XI plans a variety of bonus events throughout April along with the usual egg hunt
Final Fantasy XI is going to make you hunt eggs in April. This is familiar to any long-time player of the game, naturally. Starting on April 5th, you will be hunting letter-bearing eggs that spell various things like the first three letters of your character name, alphabetical sequences starting from your first letter, or seven-of-a-kind […]
RIFT's 10th anniversary event gets some small new surprises
Gamigo may not be in the business of making new content for RIFT these days, but at least the company has the ability to flip the switch that activates the game's annual events. And considering that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the fantasy MMO, it's a good thing that players are able to […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 315: The Wrath Baby strikes back
Justin, Bree, Chris, and Tyler discuss Magic Legends' soft launch, World of Warcraft's price hikes, WoW Burning Crusade's beta, Elite Dangerous' Odyssey alpha, Raph Koster's virtual world manifesto, and Monster Hunter Rise's launch, with mailbag topics on when subs aren't worth it and why MMO currencies are just the worst.
Path of Exile's latest patch improves the game engine in preparation for the Ultimatum expansion
Path of Exile's engine is getting a little upgrade in patch 3.13.2, promising a variety of improvements like better texture streaming for faster loads, added automation to remove old minimap and shader data, an updated patcher to eliminate some file fracturing, and renderer system updates that have made them roughly 15-20% faster. As one might […]
Sony confirms that the PlayStation 3, PSP, and Vita stores will shut down this year
It turns out that the rumor was true, unfortunately. Sony has confirmed that the online stores for the PlayStation 3, PSP, and PSP Vita will all be shuttered this year, with the former two shutting down on July 2nd and the Vita store remaining open for a little longer until August 27th. Past this point, […]
The Soapbox: Would Asheron's Call make a good battle royale game?
With the recent announcement of Crayta coming to PCs, I was reminded of some discussions on the Asheron's Call subreddit about making a battle royale fan server. While I've always hoped fan would generate AC-themed projects, I also wonder whether recycling assets might be a cost-effective way for WB Games (which still owns the franchise) to test […]
RuneScape restores its first wave of accounts and applies combat changes, OSRS talks next steps for equipment balance
After a March that the devs of Jagex and the fans of RuneScape would likely love to forget, the process of bringing back locked-out accounts is officially underway, with the very first wave of affected players being welcomed back to the world of Gielinor. As reported earlier, players will be coming back to messy bank […]
Guild Wars 2's Super Adventure Festival returns… next week
You know what would've been awesome? If Guild Wars 2's Super Adventure Box were reopening this week, when April Fools' Day actually is and when my kids are off cyberschool for spring break. Alas, it's not this week – it's next week, as ArenaNet has just announced. "This year's Super Adventure Festival begins on April 6 […]
Final Fantasy XIV updates the digital fan festival and patch 5.5 sites
Patch 5.5 is just around the corner for Final Fantasy XIV, and that means more updates to the special preview site for the patch. The latest update includes a section about the open beta for the game's PlayStation 5 version, starting on patch day (April 13th), along with a preview of the fight against Diamond Weapon. […]
Choose My Adventure: I think I accidentally turned my Cleric into a Necromancer in RIFT
One of the big selling points in RIFT has always been the ability to combine three of the game's Souls into a custom class. Granted, the Souls in question were tied to a Calling (aka class) and were a bit limited in that regard, but for the most part the game's class customization allows for […]
Playable Worlds' hiring page suggests Raph Koster's upcoming MMO is a AAA sandbox
We're assuming that we're destined to hear a lot more about Playable Worlds' incoming MMORPG in the near future, what with Raph Koster's promise to do just that this year on top of his "premanifesto" last week. But while we wait for the hype machine to start cranking back up, we can poke around in […]
Casually Classic: In defense of a good 'looking for group' tool in World of Warcraft
While World of Warcraft certainly made a number of questionable design decisions over the years, for my money one of the absolute best moves Blizzard ever did was institute the looking for dungeon tool (or LFG tool) back in Wrath of the Lich King. Players who found it too frustrating or stressful to get into […]
Mortal Online 2 extends its stress test a few more days and checks in with a tech report
A Discord post shared on Reddit has provided an update regarding Mortal Online 2's ongoing beta stress test, announcing that the test will be extended "a few more days" as a result of the discovered technical difficulties. According to the post, the test saw an "enormous" number of players laying into the game's servers over […]
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen begins selling NFT-minted artwork to fund development
You either believe that NFT-minted artwork is the wave of the future, a brick in an impossibly tall pyramid scheme, or techbros turning the idea of card collecting into an environmental hazard. Or perhaps you're curious, in which case this Reddit thread does a pretty good job of explaining the scheme. However you feel about […]
Albion Online's daily pop rises to 140K players ahead of summer mobile launches
2020 was good for Albion Online and its studio Sandbox Interactive: We've been reporting over the last year how the game has continued to rise in population, notably reaching 125K players a day last fall. No doubt that's a large part of why the company allowed itself to be bought out by a Swedish mobile […]
Burning Crusade Classic's beta bumps the level cap to 68
WoW Classic's Burning Crusade beta took another step toward release last night, as Blizzard expanded the test's scope and made a few crucial fixes along the way. Now, the level cap has been increased from 64 to 68, a good sign that the beta is making progress. Other changes with the beta include making sure […]
The Daily Grind: What's the oldest MMORPG character you still play?
Every year or so we'll do a conversation topic about the oldest MMO we still play. But realistically, the same couple of MMOs always come up, and it's not the most interesting discussion. Old things are old. But MOP reader Doug gave us some great inspiration in a tweet the other day about his oldest […]
The Stream Team: Undead frolicking at Path of Exile Ritual altars
It's odd to Massively OP's MJ: Ritual is not her favorite Path of Exile league, but it sure keeps pulling her back! That tantalizing lure of maybe getting something good in the ritual loot again is just too enticing to resist. On the plus side, at least she also gets to enjoy her zombie army. […]
In-development MMO Profane outlines how dungeons might work in its PvP sandbox
You'd be forgiven for believing that a PvP sandbox like Profane wouldn't really be big on having dungeons in it, but that doesn't appear to be the case thanks to details shared by the devs in another Twitter-based info dump. The way the devs at Insane see it, dungeons could be done in three different […]
AdventureQuest 3D adds a new level cap, new dungeon, and new gear with the Sandsea Saga
It's time to get your feet in the Sandsea in AdventureQuest 3D as the MMORPG's latest update introduces a whole lot of desert-based goodness for players to explore. The whole update takes place in the titular Sandsea and the town of Bastion, where level 31 characters can now level themselves up to the new level […]
EVE Online outlines plans for a major manufacturing shakeup in April and beyond
Some big changes are coming to the industry side of EVE Online starting in April. The current plan is to reorganize and change the requirements needed for manufacturing ships of all types, with particular focus being paid to Tier I ships in this reorganization, as well as the resource requirements of battleships, capitals, and supercapitals. It's […]
Albion Online brings back the Rites of Spring Easter celebration
It's time once again to mark the Easter holiday and spring season in Albion Online with the return of the Rites of Spring event. There will be eggs. There will be goodies. And there will be the Eggsecutioner. That's right, the two-handed Eggsecutioner weapon skin, which "uses Heretic magic to fire three different types of […]
Ascent The Space Game is back from stasis with a big client update on Steam
Five or six years ago, indie MMO players were enthralled by Ascent: The Space Game, a sci-fi sandbox made by a solo developer. It was never the prettiest MMORPG, nor did it have boatloads of players, but it was incredibly ambitious and offered systems and mechanics AAA wouldn't dream of adding – plus it's been […]
EverQuest II's producer talks up incoming events, TLE progression, the PvP server, and GU 117
Spring is slowly arriving to our hemisphere of the globe. Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, pollen counts are rising, and the producer of EverQuest II has put out her letter to talk about what's growing in the MMORPG. What a lovely season. Except for that pollen bit; my condolences, allergy sufferers. The spring producer's […]
Ramen VR CEO talks about Zenith's combat, social features, world scale, and potential to 'set a tone'
With "early bird" alpha set to arrive next month for the VR MMORPG Zenith, there's plenty for Ramen VR CEO Andy Tsen to talk about, and talk he does in a VR-powered interview with UploadVR. The beginning of the interview talks about how Zenith is a standout title thanks to its active combat model and […]
Project Gorgon swaps in new animation system, lays foundation for VIP program
Despite not being officially launched yet, Project Gorgon is already tossing out one system to replace with another. This week, the team announced that it swapped in a brand-new animation system that allows for more additions and improvements to how game characters move — and dance. You can even collect new dances during your adventures. […]
Fallen Earth's revival has been held up by a project backlog, Little Orbit CEO says
After its shutdown in the fall of 2019 for rebuilding and recoding under new management, Fallen Earth – and its revival – is still in development limbo. Players hoping to hear word from Little Orbit over the status of this project might be disappointed to hear that it still will be a while yet due […]
Wisdom of Nym: The experimental nature of Final Fantasy XIV's Blue Mage
One of my half-serious predictions during the initial batch of predictions for Final Fantasy XIV's big reveal showcase was that we'd learn about a new limited job. Obviously, that didn't happen. This in and of itself is not exactly a shocker; I hadn't seen it as a certainty by any means, but it did get […]
Elite Dangerous launches phase one of its Odyssey alpha test on PC today
Today is the first step of many for PC players of Elite: Dangerous in something of a literal sense, as the Odyssey expansion has officially kicked off its alpha test, granting Commanders their new pair of space legs to try out. As readers will recall, alpha testing will roll out in phases, with this first […]
PAX East 2021 has been canceled and replaced with PAX Online 2021 in July
PAX East has effectively been canceled for 2021, to no one's surprise, I'm sure, given the continuing global COVID-19 pandemic. "While we hoped PAX East could safely take place, we remained realistic and did not sell any tickets or space to exhibitors to avoid significantly inconveniencing our friends and partners. As we have shown via […]
Not So Massively: Magic Legends is messy, deep, and more of an MMO than you think
I can't remember the last time I struggled so much deciding whether I like a game or not. I'm a fan of ARPGs, and while I haven't played Magic: The Gathering since elementary school, I remember finding the world and lore really neat, so I've had no small amount of hype in my heart for […]
Ashes of Creation discusses the process for combat changes, promises up to eight dungeons for alpha
This past Friday saw another livestream from the devs of Ashes of Creation and you'll never guess what they were talking about. Go on, guess. Wait, you saw the headline and probably knew coming in here that they had a lot to say about the upcoming alpha one test. Or you've been following along and […]
Cyberpunk 2077's latest patch features a lengthy list of improvements and fixes
Cyberpunk 2077 has had yet another significant patch applied to the beleaguered RPG, with another wide swath of targeted improvements and bug fixes for a variety of missions and scenarios as the devs at CD Projekt Red build upon the foundation that the game's January patch laid. Readers will recall that this patch was delayed […]
Chronicles of Elyria espouses the purposes and mechanics of the fog of war in Kingdoms of Elyria
To read the latest dev blog from Chronicles of Elyria's side project-cum-parallel dev title Kingdoms of Elyria, you'd think they invented the fog of war. That's effectively what this post is all about, elaborating on how it works and why it's important to the game's overall feel. "In KoE, 'fog of war' is the way […]
Former Anthem director Jonathan Warner ejects from BioWare
Players aren't the only ones leaving in droves after BioWare effectively killed the future of its multiplayer sci-fi title Anthem. Perhaps after putting on a jetpack of his own, former Anthem Director Jonathan Warner announced on March 26th that he was leaving the studio "for new things" but said that the Dragon Age, Mass Effect, […]
The Daily Grind: What are some MMOs where 'bringing the player not the class' really works?
Back during BlizzConline, I wrote a piece on Overwatch 2 that mentioned offhandedly that it sounded like Blizzard was creeping toward a "bring the player not the class" attitude in the game. The way I phrased it, I made it sound like a bad thing, and I think what was going through my head at […]
MMO Week in Review: Betas for Magic Legends and WoW Classic Burning Crusade
Magic Legends soft-launched on PC this week with an open beta that attracted a lot of attention and lot of grouching too, culminating in a weekend promise from Cryptic meant to pacify the grumbling. Meanwhile, MMO players were enraptured by WoW Classic's Burning Crusade beta, the stress test for Mortal Online 2, Raph Koster's latest […]
RuneScape will begin returning accounts next week, outlines compensation and events arriving in April
The road to this point for RuneScape has been a long and bumpy one that we've been highlighting over the past few weeks, but now it looks like normalcy is coming to the fans and the devs. A lengthy post on the game's website has confirmed that wider account restoration is now set to begin, […]
The MOP Up: Red Dead Online is off to the races
Whether you head off to the horse races or play in a posse in Red Dead Online, you're going to get extra rewards for the next few days. Additionally: "Frontier justice is a fickle thing, cold and ruthless when applied out in the open. Whether you're helping the widowed Jessica LeClerk and her right-hand man […]
Mortal Online 2 adds tutors, fixes mount murdering guards, and makes several Haven adjustments
One of my new favorite pastimes when looking through update notes for Mortal Online 2 is trying to pluck out some of the crazy-sounding edge case issues that have been fixed; it's a lot like reading Sims 3 patch notes sometimes. This latest set of beta patch notes offers a fun gem in that regard, […]
Global Chat: Giddy over SWTOR's Dark Descent
For MMO blogs that only cover a single game, an announcement of an upcoming content release is like a mini-Christmas all to itself. This was definitely the case for Going Commando, which got to peel back all the delicious layers of Star Wars: The Old Republic's reveal of Update 6.3: The Dark Descent. "Update 6.3's […]
Fallout 76 promises more PvP elements, details legendary crafting, and confirms aliens returning in AMA
As we covered previously, this past Tuesday saw Fallout 76's project lead Jeff Gardiner and design director Mark Tucker take to the game's subreddit for an AMA, and while some of the larger points were touched on previously, a recent update post on the game's official site has shared a few more tidbits about what's […]
One Shots: Dearly beloved
If you gotta get married in an MMORPG and don't want to spare any expense, Final Fantasy XIV has the most luxurious and extravagant setting for you. The flowers alone will set you back six years' wages, but it'll be worth it when your dearly beloved dies of pollen overdose. "So I got married in-game," […]
The Daily Grind: What informs your cosmetic choices in MMOs?
The days in which it was an active debate whether or not a given MMO should have a system of cosmetics have passed us by, thankfully. Now, it's just a question of how your game of choice handles matters of cosmetic outfits. It varies from game to game, but no matter the title, you can play dress-up […]
