MMO Synergy: The Offspring, NERF, Monopoly, and Evangelion
Who doesn't love a good round of corporate synergy? No, no, don't answer that, just cruise on to the next sentence. Today we're going to round up a few interesting crossovers and promotions between online games and other entities. We'll start with the relatively new Dragon Raja, an Archosaur title that's hoping to ride the […]
The MOP Up: Apex Legends racks up 100 million players
For some games, the key metric to brag by is the total number of players that have come in through one's doors. And if we're to look at this number alone, then Apex Legends has a great reason to boast this month, as the title just crossed 100 million total users. More plans for the […]
Perfect World Games unveils Perfect New World, a new PC, mobile, and console MMO set to launch globally
Apparently, there's going to be a lot more Perfect World going on sometime in the near (or distant) future. During a Perfect World Game Strategy press conference, Perfect World Games announced the release of Perfect New World, a new MMORPG based on the Perfect World IP that's coming to consoles, PC, and mobile internationally. The […]
Global Chat: Is fast travel a boon or a bust for MMORPGs?
While I let you chew on that slightly clickbaity title there, I urge you to check out an essay on Bits & Pieces about the history of fast travel in video games (which, of course, includes MMOs). "Certainly the languid pace of travel in a game like World of Warcraft before its expansions, as well as other […]
Former designer for WoW, StarCraft II, and Diablo IV announces his departure from Blizzard
If you're a fan of live or developing Blizzard titles like Diablo IV, World of Warcraft, or StarCraft II, you were also perhaps a fan of developer David Kim, who worked as a lead systems designer, principle game designer, and game balance designer of those titles respectively. With that in mind, Kim's 14-year tenure has […]
One Shots: Spring is sprung
You seriously are not prepared for the onslaught of pure spring colors waiting for you after the break, so just make sure you have a loved one ready to catch you as you fall backwards in shock. Spring is sprung, and Vincent has captured its full glory in Final Fantasy XIV as part of what […]
The Daily Grind: Which MMO suffers the worst patch-day issues?
So Final Fantasy XIV's latest patch literally broke the ability to visit players on other servers, which is sort of an inauspicious start when the game is literally planning to make that feature even more far-ranging with the next expansion. Still, this is by far the unusual outcome, not the standard one. And the days […]
Corepunk's second Q&A session reveals a strange take on PvP design
The questions keep coming for fantasy-scifi MMORPG Corepunk, and the devs keep dishing answers back. For a second week in a row, Artificial Core compiled a whole bunch of fan questions for the upcoming MMO and answered them to varying degrees of satisfaction. Topics with this Q&A included guild size limits, enchanting, backpack sizes, cross-server […]
TERA and PUBG publisher Krafton files for preliminary approval of its IPO in South Korea
At the beginning of the year, we pointed out that Krafton, the games publisher that handles titles like TERA and PUBG, was getting ready to go public soon. The company has since moved one step closer to that reality as it has filed for its preliminary approval in South Korea. The new IPO stands to […]
Amazon and Leyou have canceled that unfinished Lord of the Rings MMO
For the last few years, we've been covering a new Lord of the Rings MMO that was a collaboration between Tencent's Leyou Technologies and Amazon Game Studios. Back in November, leaked documents showed that the game was meant to be in playable prototype form by this coming June, with a closed beta in the fall […]
Path of Exile addresses messy Ultimatum launch, says giving streamers queue priority was a mistake
In a week that should be full of heady excitement for Path of Exile players, thanks to the release of the Ultimatum league, the mood has taken a turn for the worse due to a messy rollout and a decision to cater to prominent streamers over the rest of the playerbase, which has royally ticked […]
The Stream Team: Sidetracked from AdventureQuest 3D's Sandsea story
A new area for Massively OP's MJ to explore? You better believe she got sidetracked with that! That means there's still more to the AQ3D Sandsea story that MJ needs to do (she didn't get far, after all!), and she aims to keep herself from being pulled away from it this time. Really. Nothing will […]
Lord of the Rings Online addresses performance issues, LIs, and custom difficulty
Lord of the Rings Online decided to put together a Q&A with the executive producer Rob "Severlin" Ciccolini this past Friday, offering up a chance for players to get answers on pretty much any general questions they had regarding the MMORPG. A number of questions discussed technical and performance issues such as loading lag, chat […]
WRUP: The rest of the year of meme trends in advance edition
May: Pictures of eggs that have caught fire with captions about why the egg is on fire, ranging from "my clothes are still wet" to "my cat dislikes me." June: A new viral app that makes your face look like a goat's face takes the internet by storm for one week until it turns out […]
The Daily Grind: What key advice would you give to first-timers in your MMO?
I know that whenever I head into an MMO for the first time (or after a long absence), I always make it a priority to look up threads and lists that players have made along the lines of "Things I wish I had known" or "Tips for new players" or "Hey dummy, don't do this […]
The Stream Team: The atmosphere of Warframe's Call of the Tempestarii
There's a new quest available just for Railjack captains in Warframe, called Call of the Tempestarii. In it, Massively OP's MJ gets to take on the role of Sevagoth, the dark helmsman. How could she pass that up?! Luckily, she now has her own Railjack, so she'll be embarking on this very atmospheric story quest […]
Betawatch: Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis plans a global beta for May
For ages, Phantasy Star Online 2 was in the province of games that simply didn't exist on these shores, but now last year those fortunes were reversed, and now the New Genesis update/sequel/reboot is getting a global beta test on May 14th. Around the world, indeed. Other beta news: Last week, we first heard about […]
Siege Survival: Gloria Victis gets a new trailer and developer-narrated gameplay footage
Remember Siege Survival: Gloria Victis? Well, you should; it's the spinoff to the eponymous Gloria Victis that focuses on managing your way out of a siege scenario (by surviving it) that's en route to early access. And there's some tasty new tidbits for the game in the form of two new trailers, with the first […]
Sea of Thieves introduces trade routes, Forts of Fortune, and new cosmetic rewards in season two
The second season of Sea of Thieves officially launched yesterday, bringing with it a variety of new cosmetics to chase after, new events, and some new gameplay elements for pirates looking to do a little more honest work in the form of Merchant Alliance Trade Routes, which sees players purchasing Commodity Crates, finding out where […]
Fallout 76 brings back Armor Ace for Season 4 and shares its latest community calendar
While the next Fallout 76 update will require some locking and loading according to its name, there's also a little something more coming when the update arrives on April 27th: a new season featuring everyone's favorite G.I. Joe standees, Armor Ace and the Power Patrol. Dubbed Cold Steel, season 4 will offer up a fresh […]
Star Wars Galaxies Legends finally puts a date on the City in the Clouds expansion: May the fourth
Rogue server Star Wars Galaxies Legends has been teasing its Bespin expansion, called City in the Clouds, for literally years now. It was supposed to launch in early 2021, and you could definitely argue that early 2021 is almost over since we're already in the second quadrant and fast approaching the middle third. In any […]
No, Square-Enix is not looking to be bought out
Time to relax a little, people. A report last night had the internet in a tizzy after it suggested that Square-Enix had multiple other firms looking into acquiring the company, but Square-Enix shut that rumor down this morning by stating outright that the company has not been involved in any talks about selling, has no […]
Guild Wars 2 players are having a Toga Party on April 24 to raise MS awareness and charity funds
Time for a bit of feel-good philanthropy with Guild Wars 2 as the stage. On Saturday, April 24th, players are invited to an MS Toga Party in Divinity's Reach being held by Gamers Giving Back, with the goals of raising awareness of multiple sclerosis and raising funds for the MS Society of Canada, with all […]
Swords of Legends Online's latest class preview video features the Summoner
Whether it's wielding the mystical power of an extremely aggressive fox friend or healing allies with the power of sparkle butterflies, the latest class preview video from Swords of Legends Online has it all as it offers a look at the Summoner class in action. A class that's attuned with the natural world, the Summoner […]
Path of Exile Ultimatum league is now live
Path of Exile friends, I hope you have blocked off your weekend and stocked your fridge because Ultimatum is very definitely happening to you tonight. As this post goes live, the servers have just come down to begin patching and preloading. They're expected to be back up around 4 p.m. EDT with the update. Our […]
Black Desert offers a sneak peek at the Sage's Awakening arriving to PC April 21
If you thought the Sage class that was recently introduced to Black Desert did some damage using magical cubes, just wait until you see what it can do with some magical lightning. That's the general thrust of the Sage's Awakening, which trades in a magical box for a lightning-infused spear known as a Kibelius and […]
Stick and Rudder: Elite Dangerous Odyssey's second alpha phase had more FPS goodness and even more bugs
The whole that made up the second phase of Elite Dangerous Odyssey's alpha testing could easily be broken up into two parts: Frontline Solutions and the related combat zone gameplay, and being able to join friends for whatever other things we wanted without the use of Holo-Me. In my experience, the former felt a little […]
DC Universe Online's freebie World of Flashpoint episode is live for all players
After a hefty downtime yesterday, DC Universe Online pushed its latest episode, World of Flashpoint, live – for everyone – allowing even free-to-play players a crack at the new daily and weekly missions as well the capped-off raid. "Inspired by the iconic Flashpoint storyline, World of Flashpoint opens a window into this altered timeline. The […]
Raph Koster expounds on MMO fun, retention, and cynicism in the genre
MMORPG developer Raph Koster has been having words about the MMO industry ahead of the reveal of the MMO that his new studio Playable Worlds is working on. Really, kind of a lot of words. This latest piece is all about ensuring that you're having the fun. Koster notes the conflict between what players want […]
World of Warcraft details exactly how adjustments to drops and mechanics will work in The Burning Crusade Classic
So, if you were wondering how exactly WoW Classic would handle the changes implemented over the course of The Burning Crusade, your questions have now been answered officially. The short version? It's a lot like the original WoW Classic in that various stages of attunement, mechanics, and reputation requirements will remain as their launch version […]
Tamriel Infinium: Previewing The Elder Scrolls Online's Blackwood and companion system
While fans of the Elder Scrolls series patiently await any scrap of information pertaining to TES6, players of The Elder Scrolls Online continue to enjoy vast and persistent amounts of content on a highly predictable schedule. Fresh on the heels of the Flames of Ambition dungeon update, ZeniMax Online Studios has begun to release a […]
SWG Galaxies Restoration III's CU/NGE blend rogue server says launch is 'imminent'
If you follow the Star Wars Galaxies emulation community at all, you're probably waiting on a very big announcement from a certain rogue server today. So are we. But this post is actually about a different emu, and its press release – yes, a real press release from an emu, gotta love it – is […]
City of Titans recaps efforts on music, powers, multiplayer, and more
MMO superhero fans have been watching a slew of Kickstarted and fan-funded MMO ventures ever since City of Heroes was sunsetted – City of Titans among them. Funded back in 2013, the game was once widely considered the best hope for the subgenre. But a lot has changed in the ensuing years, including and perhaps […]
The Daily Grind: What was the last thing you built in an MMO?
MMO builders, this Daily Grind is for you. And I don't mean people who build MMOs; I mean people who build in MMOs. And with a few prominent exceptions, that's actually a ton of MMOs – so many online games allow you to build houses or cities or spaceships. At minimum, you can probably at […]
The Stream Team: Hunting eggs and adventure in Dungeons & Dragons Online
If you thought only Christmas liked to assert itself as dominant over many weeks, you haven't met Easter! Also dissatisfied with only one day of celebrating, Easter events keep coming in MMORPGs, and Massively OP's MJ is just fine with that. Tonight, she gets to leap across rooftops in DDO on the hunt for colorful […]
Massively Overthinking: The 2021 MMORPG outlook is good, actually
Early this week, I saw a mainstream gaming headline in my feeds about how we should all just give up on 2021 since it's obviously going to be a year full of fails and catch-ups and delays. But over here in the MMORPG genre itself, I'm actually feeling pretty good about it – we have […]
Occupy White Walls introduces gallery music, grid snapping, and a new plaza in the CloudSound update
I haven't peeked in on the multiplayer art gallery builder Occupy White Walls, but I always sort of assumed it had music of some sort happening in there. Apparently, there's going to be a lot more music with the CloudSound update, which has the tentpole feature of letting players pipe in music from SoundCloud into […]
ArcheAge brings back the Hereafter Festival to mark the in-game sacrifice of goddess Nui
One of the chief lore points of ArcheAge's story is the sacrifice of the goddess Nui when the realm of Auroria fell to Kyrios, so naturally there's an associated in-game event known as the Hereafter Festival. This holiday of remembrance is back once more, offering rewards for players who complete some steps to honor Nui. […]
The Warcraft movie twitter shares some deleted scenes from the film
You may not have thought about the fact that there was a Warcraft movie for years, bu it turns out that there's still a bit left in the vault for that particular cinematic outing. After years of dormancy, the film's official Twitter account came back to life to share a collection of about 14 minutes' […]
Final Fantasy XIV restores the world visit system after technical outages
Good news for people trapped on other world servers in Final Fantasy XIV, these prison bars shall jail you no longer. The development team has announced that following the game's emergency maintenance, the issue appears to be fixed and world visit will be turned back on, with housing timers to be turned back on in […]
Dual Universe adds self-support features, posts dev letters on live game challenges and costs
Dual Universe has taken to the belief that players of the game should be allowed to help themselves and one another instead of coming to the game's support team for things like stuck characters or constructs. With the most recent update, players can now utilize features like an /unstuck slash command for when their characters […]
Activision launches lawsuit against indie game dev over Warzone trademark
RPS has a juicy piece up this week on a lawsuit Activision is waging against an indie game developer that should probably prompt Activision to graciously move on. But it's Activision, so of course instead it's turning into a big lawsuit and articles that make it look like a jerk stomping all over indie developers […]
Elder Scrolls Online's new Endeavors dailies offer a new path to lockbox loot
If dailies aren't your thing in MMOs, you can probably keep on scrolling. But if they are, or if you're planning to return to Elder Scrolls Online when Blackwood rolls out in June, then you should probably point your eyeballs over at ZeniMax's latest dev blog, as the studio has today revealed full details on […]
Grab a free set of Magic Legends Crusader Armor courtesy of PWE and MOP
With the April beta patch for Magic Legends now under the devs' belt, Cryptic and PWE are eager to get player eyeballs back on the free-to-play game, and if you're going to jump in, you're going to want to look spiffy doing it, right? The studios have granted Massively OP a stack of keys for […]
Magic Legends drops April patch, says work on console and performance continues
While the latest patch for Magic Legends is light on new content, it's absolutely laden with fixes and improvements for the multiplayer ARPG, addressing a wide swath of problems with the game. Players are now effectively ghosts in the game, as character collision has been removed. Those with low-end machines should benefit from further performance […]
Scan plants for fun and profit in Elite Dangerous' Odyssey alpha phase three, which is live today
While there are certainly no shortage of ways to rake in the space cheddar in Elite: Dangerous, the newest phase of alpha testing for the Odyssey expansion will grant players their first opportunity to try out a new form of money-making: exo-biology. Taking part of this new gameplay loop involves wearing the newly-added Artemis suit, […]
Vague Patch Notes: Playing MMOs as an introvert
I've heard people say that the idea of "extroverts" and "introverts" isn't really all that accurate to the way that human beings actually behave, and let me tell you something: We'd have words if any of us would ever leave our homes to talk with another human being. I mean… more than usual right now […]
Ashes of Creation promises to sell more alpha keys, heads back to the studio
Like bees spying a honey buffet, Ashes of Creation fans are buzzing about this coming June's non-NDA Alpha One test. In this month's creative director's letter, Intrepid Studios' Steven Sharif updated followers on the development of this test — and how you might still gain access to it. Sharif said that additional keys are likely […]
More World of Warcraft Update 9.1 discoveries: glasses, bonus rolls, and a mega-dungeon
One has to imagine that World of Warcraft putting a patch on a test server these days must feel like a studio inviting someone over to its house only to have a horde slam through the door, barge through every room, and poke around every cupboard, vent, and closet looking for additional hidden details. Such […]
Elyon answers more player questions about PvP, cash shop items, and PvE plans in Reddit AMA
The community manager for Elyon seems to be hard at work. Following a Q&A session held on a fansite's Discord, Elyon CM Yukimura took to Reddit to open an AMA, fielding a variety of questions from the MMORPG subreddit community. Many of the questions answered touched on PvP, noting that players can look forward to […]
