MMO Week in Review: Wildwood, Dark Descent, and EverQuest's 22nd
It wasn't a bad week for MMOs at all, we're happy to report, as LOTRO launched the Wildwood patch, EverQuest kicked off its 22nd anniversary, New World updated its alpha with an Eastern-inspired zone, Black Desert released the Sage, Albion Online posted its Call to Arms update, and SWTOR announced Dark Descent. Plus, we got […]
OrbusVR plans a beta for its hard mode raid, new quests, and balancing for tanks and healers in next updates
Whether it's taking on harder content, exploring new farms, or tanking and healing, OrbusVR has plans for the game's next couple of patches, all of which were laid out in the game's latest dev blog. The post kicks things off with content arriving on April 6th, which is headlined by a week-long beta test of […]
The MOP Up: The Day Before's romantic apocalypse
Massively OP reader Lily tipped us off that The Day Before's devs recently sat down with WCCFTech for an interview about this upcoming survival MMO. It definitely sounds as though those making the game have a love affair with the setting. "The Day Before features a large open world that you can freely navigate both […]
PvP sandbox MMO Profane shares details about its new combat skills
Being a PvP sandbox about territorial domination, it would stand to reason that Profane would be creating plenty of combat skills. Information about those skills was outlined in a Twitter thread, offering curious fans a glimpse into the way developer Insane does things as well as illustration of why Twitter is bad for making blog […]
Battle Bards Episode 189: Spooky and Magical 3
Is that a chill creeping down your spine? Did your ears just perk up at the hint of fae music in the trees? Is Tinkerbell blasting you with a cannon full of musical confetti? Then you must be in a good place to listen to some more spooky and magical music from MMORPGs with the […]
A3: Still Alive introduces a cross-server battleground and a new equipment dungeon in latest update
Mobile MMO A3: Still Alive, as its name suggests, is about staying alive through challenges meted out by the game's environment and others in PvP, but perhaps you've found staying alive a bit too easy. Perhaps, then, you're ready to take on the Velangort Fortress, a new cross-server battlefield added in the game's latest update […]
One Shots: Past your curfew
One lesser-known fact about the life of adventurers is that they all have to submit to a daily curfew. By the time the sun's setting, they need to be home so that they can wash the gore off of their armor, the mud off of their boots, and sit down with the family to enjoy […]
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite mount in an MMO?
In a lot of MMOs, the way to get from place to place as fast as possible is by riding something. You sit on the back of an animal and you go. There are a lot of mounts in MMOs as a result, covering everything from actual stuff human beings ride realistically (like horses) to things […]
Warframe's new and improved Railjack blasts out of spacedock
Grab a friend or three and board the completely revamped Railjack spacecraft in Warframe for some galactic fun. Digital Extremes' March patch for the game focused on retrofitting the previously subpar Railjack experience and lowering the barrier to entry for the ship. "Take on new missions and battle new enemies in Railjack, or take to […]
Daybreak's Z1 Battle Royale is enjoying another renaissance
Remember last year when Z1 Battle Royale — the retitled version of H1Z1 that Daybreak still appears to operate — saw an astonishing increase in player concurrency thanks to the attention of some high-profile streamers? It's happening all over again: Z1 has enjoyed a higher user count over the past month-and-a-half, not because of anything […]
Magic Legends starts open beta pre-loading for next Tuesday's test
Are you ready for the beta? Magic Legends is cracking open its boosters and shuffling its decks in anticipation for this coming Tuesday's open beta test. And while you can't play until then, you can at least go ahead and download the title right now to be ready to go when the servers flip from […]
The Stream Team: Finding piece(s of yourself) in the mountains of Valheim
Ahh, the serenity of the mountains. Massively OP's MJ goes there to find peace. But in Valheim, she's likely to find pieces of herself! That's because there are wolves and drakes mixed in with the trolls. Not that any of those will deter her, of course. Tune in live at 2:00 p.m. as MJ's friends […]
The Game Archaeologist: The online world of Diablo II
Most of us probably weren't expecting to see Diablo II once again propelled into the spotlight in the year 2021, but the BlizzCon announcement of that classic game's remaster had a whole lot of fans salivating at the thought of diving back into this action RPG. For a game that came out two decades ago […]
Chronicles of Elyria outlines the basic gameplay beats of the colony sim Kingdoms of Elyria
Soulbound Studios CEO Jeromy Walsh would like you to ignore the elephant in the room and instead take a look at the overall gameplay cadence of Kingdoms of Elyria, the standalone colony management sim title that is being developed in parallel to MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria. In a recent development vlog, Walsh provides a look […]
WRUP: Talking about how much I specifically hate Kyle edition
Please note, the following is to be read if you are not Kyle only. If you are Kyle, do not read beyond this warning note. Only non-Kyle reading past this point! Kyle is stupid and dumb. He thinks we are friends but we are not friends because I don't like Kyle. His fashion sense is […]
The Daily Grind: What's the most recent milestone you've crossed in MMOs?
It's only natural to want to celebrate when you reach a certain milestone in an MMORPG. Maybe it's reaching the level cap, making your first large sum of money, getting that first purple item, or crossing off that rare achievement you've been chasing. I hit two such milestones this past weekend, thank you for asking. […]
The Stream Team: Checking out Warframe's big Corpus Proxima Railjack update
Warframe's big Corpus Railjack update is live, and Massively OP's MJ can't wait to check it out! She can finally get her own railjack, and now she can even hire crew. There are also new railjack missions to run with Corpus to cull, so join us live at 8:00 p.m. to launch into some new […]
Betawatch: Dual Universe gets better graphics in its biggest beta update
This is the biggest update for Dual Universe since it was first playable, according to the studio itself. That's sizable! This update is big (yeah, yeah, yeah)! And it includes not only better graphics but better jet packs, if you felt yourself previously weighed down by poorer graphics and less enjoyable jet packs. More beta […]
Frozen Flame introduces a prologue, a new starter location, and an updated combat system
While the axiom says you never get a second chance to make a first impression, the opening hours of multiplayer survival RPG Frozen Flame would beg to differ as the game's latest early access update has made a number of changes to the starting experience. First off, the update has added a prologue that tells […]
Wild Terra 2's newest patch adds criminal status, more farming crops, and a new combat skill
Good news to all innocent players who don't want your stuff ruined in Wild Terra 2: The game's latest patch has added something to help you! This sounds like good news until you notice that it's just flagging people who do untoward things as "criminals" and give them a risk to lose items even in […]
Dauntless outlines plans to make Trials 'more accessible, more fair, more fun' in the next two patches
For a while now, the developers of Dauntless have been promising that Trials mode would be getting some attention, and it looks like the next couple of patches will be when that promise is kept. An official Reddit post has outlined what these two patches will do to Trials as Phoenix Labs seeks to make […]
Crowfall player demonstrates how fast it is to reach max level via the new tutorial progression system
Crowfall's latest update made a number of changes to the game that our PvP columnist found to be extremely beneficial, but one of those adjustments — the new player progression and tutorial — has a video spotlight to showcase just how far its come as well as to demonstrate how quickly a new arrival can […]
Among Us will launch The Airship patch at the end of March
Don't tell my kids, but Among Us is getting a juicy free update this month. It's called The Airship, and studio Innersloth says it constitutes the game's largest map ever. "This free update will have all new tasks, the ability to pick the room you start in, ladders, a basic account system for moderation and… […]
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Online takes the single-player sandbox and turns it into an MMO
If you enjoy the sandbox nonsense you can get up to in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord but wish that you had other people to share in your shenanigans, we've got good news for you. Bannerlord Online is a mod for the game that lets up to 800 people at once stomp around the medieval sandbox, meaning […]
Champions Online hosts a costume contest to make a player action figure
Costume contests and superhero games go together like Blizzard Entertainment and layoffs. However, in most of them you don't get a chance to immortalize your character in the game itself. That's what the upcoming contest in Champions Online is going to change. On March 26th, a contest hosted by the developers will take place at […]
GDC 2021: What attracts – and motivates – mobile and MMO gamers?
GDC 2021 has been running this week, but sadly there aren't a lot of relevant panels for MMO or online game enthusiasts. However, it hasn't been a total wash for industry watchers. One nice thing that GDC does that other cons don't is focus on developers and their strategies, and that means we can see […]
PlanetSide 2 announces delays for PTS testing and release for Chapter 3
For those players of PlanetSide 2 who are eager for Chapter 3's release, there's some bad news. The game's lead designer has reported that the new update is being pushed back in order to "hit the quality bar" that the devs want. This means that the PTS launch of the update is obviously not meeting […]
GDC 2021: Intel and Spirit AI's Bleep aims to filter live audio – and toxicity
At Intel's GDC 2021 panel "Billions of Gamers, Thousands of Needs" this week, Intel and Spirit AI announced a new end-user application designed "to detect and redact audio" based on a list of preferences. Called Bleep, the application seems to be a kind of Windows overlay, though the details were scant and there was no […]
Final Fantasy XIV schedules its next producer letter for April 2
Final Fantasy XIV fans do not have some of the usual mysteries to answer about patch 5.5 at this point. It's a well-known fact that the patch will arrive on April 13th, since that's also the start of the game's PlayStation 5 beta testing. However, there are still plenty of details yet to be revealed […]
WoW Factor: The long wait for patch 9.1 in World of Warcraft
We don't yet have a date for patch 9.1, but considering that patch 9.0.5 just released recently and the patch isn't even up on the test server, I'd say it's probably still a while off. Most of the people whose predictions I trust suspect it will be some time between late May and early July. […]
Sea of Thieves celebrates third birthday with 20M total players
Sea of Thieves is celebrating a birthday this week as the multiplayer title hits three years old – and 20 million players. Total, not at the same time, but that's not shabby at all, given that this is a buy-to-play title and those sales all add up. There isn't much by way of actual content coming […]
ArcheAge welcomes spring with the Cherry Blossom Festival
Is there a more welcome sign of spring than the mass blooming of cherry blossom trees? Such flowering doesn't just occur in real life; it happens in our virtual ones as well. Yesterday, both versions of ArcheAge kicked off their annual Cherry Blossom Festival, which will continue all the way until April 1st. Players will […]
Star Citizen plans additional Theaters of War testing, discusses FPS tools and asteroids in video
Back in May we highlighted a Reddit thread that linked up some business connections between CIG and Liverpool, UK, game studio Firesprite, and further pondered a few outcomes for what the partnership could mean for Star Citizen. We now have an answer, as a press release has announced that the two companies are working in […]
World of Warcraft fundraises for Doctors Without Borders by offering pet incentives
Everyone loves a good vanity pet, right? Well, what about donating money toward a very good cause? Both pet and human lovers can find something pleasing in Blizzard's latest charity initiative, as the studio is challenging its community to donate toward Doctors Without Borders' COVID-19 Crisis Fund. Blizzard said that it'll be tracking player donations […]
The Daily Grind: Are you a fan of ice physics and mechanics in MMOs?
RPS had a fun headline a while back that made me let out a laugh while I was strolling through my feeds: We must end the tyranny of sliding ice puzzles. Apparently, people really hate sliding physics mechanics! I'd never thought about this before. We've talked about winter events and snow zones and water maps, […]
The Stream Team: Dungeons & Dragons Online anniversary, hard mode
There's celebrating a birthday, and then there's celebrating it hard mode! With violins! And one serious gingerbread giant. More than that, DDO lets you run the anniversary missions at higher levels, and Massively OP's MJ and her team want the increased rewards! Make the dev bosses a little stronger, what could go wrong? Tune in […]
Massively Overthinking: Are MMO social hubs overrated?
MMO reader Random recently winged us an article from Kotaku arguing for the abolishment of pointless social hubs in video games. "Here's a radical idea," it begins, "Turn every social space in a video game into a menu." It suggests that many social hubs are wastes of time and space and we'd all be better […]
Starbase discusses the creation of new tools and new devices in latest updates
We're back with another peek into the ongoing development of Starbase, the building-focused space sandbox being crafted by Finnish studio Frozenbyte. First up, the past couple of weekly updates have the usual extremely specific development alerts like work on Ship Diagnostic Scanner and Salvage Collector tools, continued work on easy build mode, the end of […]
Multiplayer survival shooter Scavengers touts the features of SpatialOS and how the tech changes gameplay
Stop me if you've heard this before: Improbable's SpatialOS is going to be leveraged by the developers of Scavengers in a way that other multiplayer games are incapable of thanks to the scales it can work with. That's part of the message in a recent interview with Improbable chief technology officer Lincoln Wallen and developer […]
Star Wars The Old Republic announces The Dark Descent update with new flashpoint and 'galactic seasons'
Remember when Star Wars The Old Republic's last update fell a little flat and we said we hoped that the promised influx of updates for the game in the wake of Anthem Next's cancelation really brought the goods? You can be the judge of whether that's the case, as as BioWare announced 6.3: The Dark […]
Former Halo Wars game designer talks about the Halo MMO we never got to see
How do you think an MMO in the Halo universe would have played out? Would it just be like a really large multiplayer deathmatch? Would it work like the open-world single-player portion of Halo Infinite at scale? Or would it just be another Destiny 2? We don't necessarily need to wonder, as game designer Sandy […]
DreamWorld promises an 'infinite open world MMO,' seeks $10K on Kickstarter
DreamWorld Realities, Inc. says its new MMO, DreamWorld, is "the last game you'll ever play," and we're not sure whether that's a threat, but it's definitely a slogan. In its new Kickstarter, the game is billed as an "infinite open world MMO" with "millions of players" in "one single world" made up of "thousands of […]
The Stream Team: Dancing with the Bad Luck Sneevils for AQ3D's Lucky Day
Silly and St. Patrick's Day fit perfectly together, so Massively OP's MJ is delighted to find the two combined for AdventureQuest 3D's Lucky Day festivities. There's definitely silliness afoot: She'll be dancing with Bad Luck Sneevil and Cloverzards while collecting the best in shamrock attire. Join us live at 2:00 p.m. to see Sneevils, stay […]
Darkfall: Rise of Agon introduces buff-granting Obelisks in its latest update
Ready for a bit of capture the flag in Darkfall: Rise of Agon? No, it's not a separate game mode, but the Dayar update has introduced Obelisks that grant buffs to players so long as they bring them back to their clan cities. So it's a bit like CTF except the match never really ends. […]
Magic Legends outlines the regional reputations system and previews each area's rewards
Yes, Magic Legends will have a rep grind according to the game's latest preview post. Specifically, the multiplayer ARPG's reputation system won't be with a particular faction so much as a specific region, unlocking 100 levels of reputations and daily quests once players have completed that region's specific story missions. So why go through this […]
Past Fate's new video series shows off the alpha's new dynamic combat and gloomy New Harbor
This week, Icy North Games began a new series of dev videos that give players a glimpse into the current state of Past Fate's development – this first one in particularly showing off the latest alpha patch. The walkthrough starts in an area called New Harbor, which is gloomy and dank and has apparently been […]
Crayta is a newer, Fortniteyer Roblox, and it's now live on the Epic Games Store
If Roblox hasn't already permanently taken the "games-within-a-game" spot in your heart – or on your kids' devices – then you might want to take a peek at its most likely competitor: Unit 2 Games' Crayta. Launched last summer as a Stadia exclusive, the game looks like a Roblox and Fortnite mash-up; it essentially allows […]
EVE Online's upcoming March 23 patch adjusts Jump Clone installation, Burst Jammers, and wormholes
If we're judging by the contents and the literal title of EVE Online's next update, there's some quality-of-life improvements coming to the internet spaceship sandbox on Tuesday, March 23rd. This update will introduce the ability to install multiple Jump Clones in the same station or structure, as long as it has a Clone Bay facility; […]
Torchlight III hoists the sails (and upgrades the engine) for its next update
Hope you got everything done with Torchlight III's Snow & Steam contract because Echtra and PWE disabled that content in preparation for the next phase of the game. "The update this afternoon turns off the Snow & Steam contract and includes an engine update which further prepares us for the next upcoming content patch," the […]
Final Fantasy XIV posts the first iteration of the special site for patch 5.5, Death Unto Dawn
The next major patch for Final Fantasy XIV arrives in just under a month, and that means it's high time for players to scope out some of what's coming next with the first iteration of the patch's special site. It's a bit bare-bones at the moment, but it does show off the key art for the […]
