Animal Crossing: New Horizons announces content-light updates until June
Nintendo just announced that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is expected to get some new content for the next several months, starting with a May Day event from April 29th through May 7th, followed by International Museum Day events and the June Wedding Season Events. Sound familiar? That's because as it did with Bunny Day, Nintendo is bringing […]
Survival shooter Vigor adds a new weapon and more loot events in Season 8 update
The multiplayer survival shooter Vigor continues to cross our news desk like a whack-a-mole. This time around there's word of a new season for the game, bringing with it a couple of updates like the PH M82 sniper rifle, a new battle pass, the addition of two loot events to every encounter, and the addition […]
RuneScape player's huge history book goes on sale for charity
The full history of RuneScape, which spans two decades of development and operation, is far more than can fit in any one book. That's why July, the self-proclaimed "RuneScape History Nerd," wrote three such tomes as an exhaustive account of this MMORPG. This History of RuneScape trilogy, which clocks in at over 1,000 pages in […]
Neverwinter will reopen the Hell Pit for PC players to test their mettle on April 29
With Neverwinter on the precipice of war and the legions of hell looking for strong souls to join their ranks, now seems as good a time as any for the game to invite players to see if they're worthy with the Hell Pit event, which is coming back on Thursday, April 29th and running until […]
Rise Online is a two-faction MMORPG inspired by Knight Online currently in open alpha
If you were looking for a new MMORPG that's similar to the 2004 title Knight Online but is designed by someone else (and you somehow missed out that game's arrival to Steam in 2016), then Turkish developer Rokosoft would like to introduce you to Rise Online, a new game that's like that old game but […]
Profane previews its sound design by focusing on a tropical beach biome
While the developing PvP MMO Profane will obviously feature the sounds of fighting between players and the sounds of combat in general, a new development preview Twitter thread is taking players on an audio journey to a serene tropical beach while also talking about how head of audio Marlon Kroth crafts the soundscape for the […]
Star Wars: The Old Republic to launch update 6.3, The Dark Descent, on April 27
Earlier today, we made a snarky joke about how the next Star Wars: The Old Republic patch has had plenty of its content teased but not yet gotten a hard release date. It turns out that we should have waited just a little bit longer, because the release date for patch 6.3 has just been revealed […]
Not So Massively: Checking up on multiplayer RTS Iron Harvest 1920
Last fall, this column covered Iron Harvest 1920, an alternate history RTS with a strong multiplayer emphasis and surprisingly poignant story-telling. Once I got into the full game, it only continued to impress, and I've been following it since. I thought now might be a good time to take stock of how Iron Harvest has […]
New Eden is a pixel graphics Souls-like MMORPG that's in open early alpha testing
This one's for the MMORPG fan that likes a more hard-bitten challenge in their game and doesn't mind some old school visuals to go along with it. Introducing New Eden, an in-development 2-D MMORPG that pairs pixel graphics with Soulsborne-esque combat to create a game that the devs at Wanderwolf Studios hope will "push the […]
Stick and Rudder: The frustrating and unsuccessful search for life in Elite Dangerous Odyssey alpha phase 3
I should have been more capable. If I were a better exploration pilot in Elite: Dangerous, I suspect I would have had a better time. Or would have had more fun. As it stands, this past phase of alpha testing for Odyssey left me a bit more frustrated than I would have liked. But then, […]
Old School RuneScape announces plans for story mode and hard mode versions of the Theatre of Blood
While the devs at Jagex are keen to follow player feedback and introduce more endgame content to Old School RuneScape, the team hopes that some plans for the Theatre of Blood encounter will fill the gap before then. Assuming player polls guide the team's steps. The proposed updates seek to introduce a story mode version […]
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV's patch 5.5 stories have some issues
All right, I'm just going to spoil this column up front. Out of this patch's stories… well, one is kind of a wisp of a thing, one is admirable in attempt but doesn't quite land right, and one is just straight-up bad. And if you've played through all of them, you can probably guess which […]
Final Fantasy XIV confirms that there will be no in-person attendance for the digital fan festival
Here's the good news for Final Fantasy XIV fans: The digital fan festival scheduled for May 14th and 15th is still going to go forward as scheduled, with new information and fun events for players around the world to watch. The bad news, especially for fans in Japan, is that none of the fans will be […]
World of Warcraft's director Ion Hazzikostas has no plans for Legendary refunds but does promise catch-up systems in 9.1
Apparently, you should have an entire collection of Legendary items in World of Warcraft. That's one of the takeaways from an excerpt from a recent interview with Ion Hazzikostas from LingHunFuSu in which he discusses the current approach to Legendaries and dealing with refunds or re-arranging secondary stats. Hazzikostas stresses that while players should probably have […]
Star Wars The Old Republic talks about the upcoming Secrets of the Enclave Flashpoint
It's time once again for another de facto dev blog from Star Wars: The Old Republic! BioWare has once more brought forth world designer Allison Berryman to talk about the new Secrets of the Enclave Flashpoint that's arriving to the game in Update 6.3, offering up a couple of lore and location hints for the new […]
Chronicles of Elyria developer offers a look at Milestone 2 features coming to side game Kingdoms of Elyria
Soulbound Studio CEO Jeromy Walsh is back once more with additional update details for Kingdoms of Elyria, the side piece standalone strategy title that claims to be driving development of the studio's originally planned MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria. In the dev blog, followers get a look at some promised features for the next phase of […]
The Daily Grind: Which non-MMO developer should make an MMORPG?
I've been playing a bit of Cozy Grove lately, and I have to say, I'm incredibly glad that the company behind it, Spry Fox, is working on an MMO too. I haven't always loved the company's business models, but it makes superb games with adorable graphics. I'm really curious to see how well its varied […]
MMO Week in Review: Like butter that has been scraped over too much bread
The good news is that Lord of the Rings Online got its Bilbo adventures update out this week, not all that long after its last update. The bad news is that even MOP's Justin found it a bit of a drag: "If I may spoil it for you, these 10 missions can be summed up […]
Genshin Impact talks up its upcoming PlayStation 5 release in dev video
As we noted last week, there's an update coming to the multiplayer RPG Genshin Impact on April 28th that is adding a variety of things including the launch of the game to the PlayStation 5. It's that portion that has been focused on by a recent developer video that talks up the benefits of playing […]
The MOP Up: Why did Fortnite go dark for a day?
Earlier this month, the ever-popular Fortnite went dark for the better part of April 6th. So what happened? We finally have the full scoop thanks to a blog post by Epic Games. "On April 6th, 2021, an issue with an expired certificate caused an outage across a large portion of internal back-end service-to-service calls and […]
SMITE introduces Gilgamesh to the roster, elects to shut down Southeast Asia and Latin America North servers
This past Tuesday saw a new update arrive to the MOBA SMITE, featuring a new Babylonian god, Gilgamesh the King of Uruk. Gilgamesh is a melee warrior character with a variety of abilities that dish out AoE damage, while his ultimate ability creates a whirlwind that can trap enemies in place. The latest update also […]
Elyon's bonus AMA talks about shifting metas, endgame gearing, and a Russian client
What's better than getting a big fat AMA about an upcoming MMO that you're interested in playing? Two AMAs, of course! Krafton said that last week's Elyon question-and-answer session generated so many questions that a lot of them got overlooked, hence a follow-up AMA for this week. It's not the biggest AMA, but there are […]
Heroes of the Storm players lament Blizzard's neglect and slow development
While Blizzard's all-star character-filled MOBA Heroes of the Storm isn't shuttered or being completely ignored yet — in fact, there have been a couple of balance adjustments in January and March — the ongoing lack of Blizzard presence on the game has initiated more worry than usual since the collapse of the game's dev cadence […]
One Shots: Playing chicken
If your MMORPG ever expects you to take it super-seriously, then you need to follow Minimalistway's example and rebel by wearing a ridiculous costume to undercut the tension in cutscenes. This, I approve. "Now I didn't mean to do this," Minimalistway said. "While doing silly Hildy quests in FFXIV with the chicken suit, the duty […]
The Daily Grind: How important is an MMO's combat to you?
Today, we don't want to talk about whether you prefer tab-targeting gameplay or action combat. It's not important if you prefer harder fights or easier ones, and it's really a tangent if you want to talk about the ideal kinds of content you should be fighting through. No, today we're just asking you how important […]
Make My MMO: Crowfall's GvG tourney is dishing out $50K in cash and prizes
This week in crowdfunded MMOs, you could win a slice of $25,000! Or you could if you're a badass in crowdfunded beta MMO Crowfall, which is in the midst of its Eternal Champions Series event. There's still a few days left for teams to apply for the 3rd through 6th qualifiers, with cash and prizes […]
The Stream Team: Fireworks and friends for LOTRO's 14th birthday
Who parties better than Hobbits? And there is reason to party today: LOTRO turned 14! Massively OP's MJ is ready to celebrate in her favorite Middle-earth with her friends. There'll be fireworks, horse races, and even a new Bilbo quest (although it is apparently a very small one). Join us live at 6:00 p.m. for […]
Humble Bundle's charity donation caps cause an uproar among donors and subbers
The folks at Humble Bundle decided to light a tinderbox yesterday with an announcement that outlines a shift in how sales of its game charity bundles will work: It's removing the slider that determines how much of a bundle's purchase is donated to charity and replacing it with an "extra to charity" toggle, which places […]
The Stream Team: Exploring the new biomes of Conan Exiles' Isle of Siptah
Conan Exiles' expansion Isle of Siptah got a huge update that expanded the map by 20%. That means there's more island for Massively OP's MJ to explore! And explore she will, in her quest to also rescue thralls and vanquish evil doers. Tune in live at 2:00 p.m. for this first look at the new […]
LOTRO Legendarium: Bilbo's further adventures are anything but adventurous
It is certainly not a quiet week around Lord of the Rings Online, as we got both a mid-tier content update and the 14th anniversary celebration. I don't have a lot to say about the anniversary, other than a regret that SSG isn't continuing to expand the rather excellent scavenger hunts, but I do have […]
Destiny 2's proposed transmog system is out to punish you for looking fine
Close your eyes and imagine a cosmetic transmog system for a looter shooter like Destiny 2. Not too complicated, right? Now open your eyes and behold the convoluted and grindy system that Bungie is proposing. In a perfect example of a studio over-complicating what should be an engaging and streamlined, Bungie has come up with […]
WRUP: Unpopular Mario games edition
Super Mario's Underwhelming Adventure (Super Nintendo, 1991) Mama mia! Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach… sort of! She's actually already free and said that Bowser seems kind of depressed, like his heart's not really in this one. Hop very occasionally and sort of bop through 64 levels of ambivalent enemy placement, too much generosity with power-ups, […]
The Daily Grind: What's the last positive encounter you had with a random stranger in an MMO?
We all know that MMO developers seem to think that "socialization" means "shoving players into raids together," but the reality is more varied and widespread than that. For me, I tend to treasure more those random encounters with strangers that end up being a positive experience. It's the sort of thing that only can happen […]
Betawatch: Skydome offers closed beta signups ahead of April 27
Remember Skydome? You should; we just talked about it earlier this month! It's a new sort of MOBA and tower defense hybrid from Gamigo. Anyhow, the game is starting its first closed beta test later this month on April 27th, and players can register now for a shot at getting into the closed beta. Don't […]
The Stream Team: Sandsea side quests in AQ3D
AQ3D's Sandsea isn't all about the story quest — there are side quests, too! And while last time, Massively OP's MJ was finally able to stay focused enough to wrap up the available main story, she left side ones undone. Let's see, after scrubbing down some statues, she forgot to fetch some water bottles. Now […]
Battle Bards Episode 191: Digging up the past
Today's episode of the Battle Bards was phoned in — phoned in with 2800-baud modems from the 1990s, that is! Steff, Syl, and Syp return to the early era of graphical MMOs to see what video game music existed in that time. From the bleeps to the bombastic, this show digs deep into the past […]
Wild Terra 2 adds in dungeon difficulties and solo dungeons with its latest patch
Ready to go dungeon diving in Wild Terra 2? What do you mean no? The developers gave you a whole patch just for that! See, there's even a difficulty selection option that lets you move between five different settings, with harder settings rewarding better loot! Heck, there are even solo iron mines and a mysterious hideout to […]
ARK Survival Evolved merges its classic PvP clusters, announces a new Conquest season on April 27
PvP-loving players of ARK: Survival Evolved are seeing some fresh things to their portion of the game according to an announcement post on the game's forums. Earlier this week, the A and B clusters of the game's Classic PvP Clusters were merged, and next week will see the end of the current PvP season and […]
Atlas is bringing faster boat travel, railing modules, and a new map in the Tradewinds update April 28
This coming Wednesday, April 28th, is bringing some new features to the early access pirating sandbox of Atlas with the Tradewinds update, which is being touted by the developers at Grapeshot Games as a patch that's bringing big changes. While deeper details on what these changes are weren't shared, the announcement post did showcase some […]
Apex Legends brings its Legacy season online and announces plans for a mobile version
Now is the time for Apex Legends players to build their legacy. Or at the very least leap in to the Legacy season of the battle royale shooter, which features a new character by the name of Valkyrie and her rocket-powered jetpack, a new bow and arrow weapon that promises high medium-range damage for those […]
Cozy Grove studio continues hiring for upcoming 'non-violent' MMO, suggests mobile and PC/console play
Back in January, we covered a tiny announcement from games developer Spry Fox. It's a studio best known for Road Not Taken and a slew of other games, most recently the adorable Cozy Grove – not games we would normally cover as they aren't multiplayer. But earlier this year, the company revealed through job postings […]
Conan Exiles' 2.4 update is live on PC with map expansion and new biomes
As promised, Funcom dropped Conan Exiles' 2.4 update on PC yesterday, expanding the size of the Isle of Siptah, adding new boss-summoning tools, a new religion, and even a way to engage in combat while swimming. "The Isle of Siptah expansion is getting another great set of improvements with a big increase in its map […]
Classic Guild Wars is about to turn 16 years old and the party has begun in Shing Jea
If you want to get absolutely technical about it, Classic Guild Wars doesn't officially turn 16 years old until Monday. But if we waited until Monday to remind you, you'd miss this weekend of festivities because ArenaNet has already turned them on and the party has already started its annual rollout in Shing Jea Monastery. […]
Magic: Legends is looking ahead to the endgame amidst another patch of bug fixes
How's stuff going for you in the endgame for Magic: Legends? The bad news is that the game's latest patch is not going to address that, so if that's what you're currently most unhappy about, it's not going to be fixed with this particular update. The good news is that the developers indicate directly in […]
World of Warships adds the real Leroy Jenkins as a playable ship commander
Not gonna lie, when I first saw the subject line for the press release, the first thing that leaped to my mind was who asked for this – assuming, incorrectly, that it referred to Leeroy Jenkins of World of Warcraft fame. But nope! In fact, World of Warships has added Leroy Jenkins as a playable […]
Warframe's Tennocon 2021 will again be digital-only, benefiting homelessness relief
It won't come as much of a surprise, given the pandemic still raging across the globe, that Tennocon is going digital again in 2021. Digital Extremes announed this week that the Warframe con will broadcast on all the usual streaming platforms on Saturday, July 17th, with no in-person option. Cue MJ's sadness. "TennoCon 2021 is […]
Vague Patch Notes: What we mean when we talk about MMO maintenance mode
I've mentioned before that this column's title was inspired by the vague patch notes of Final Fantasy XI, and here we are diving into that game all over again because it turns out that it screwed something else up. No, not its patch notes; those are still a bit vague, but not like they used to […]
Elite Dangerous announces Odyssey alpha phase 4 start date and details of character snapshot timing
The final phase of Odyssey's alpha is coming a lot sooner than maybe some players of Elite: Dangerous expected. Shortly following the announcement of the expansion's May 19th release on PC, Frontier Developments offered some dates and details for the final phase of alpha testing. The test itself will kick off on Wednesday, April 28th, […]
Star Citizen brings alpha 3.13 online with new vehicles and features, talks with devs at Turbulent in video
Last night saw Star Citizen add a fresh layer to its alpha build with the release of 3.13, otherwise known as Underground Infamy. The new update brings new larger caverns to explore with ships and vehicles, ship-to-ship docking features, new visual effects for ship shields, a reputation system, new mining components, and two new land […]
Valheim could be modded into a 1,000-player MMORPG
While Valheim seemed content to populate its online worlds with a bare handful of brave Vikings, some players are working on a mod that could turn the game into a proper MMORPG. According to PC Gamer, there's a project out there called VaLNGOS that is working to turn the 10-player worlds into realms that can […]
