MMO Week in Review: The Dual Universe disturbance
I can count on one hand the number of prominent MMORPG studios that aren't forthcoming with customers about who is actually in charge, and I'm afraid that's a bad list to be on, as Dual Universe seems poised to find out: This past week, the game's backers discovered that its founder had been relieved of […]
PvP Sandbox MMO Profane updates its alpha roadmap
We've been watching the emergence of Profane with some interest, especially considering that this PvP sandbox has eye-catching graphics and an aggressive development schedule. It also doesn't hurt that the dev team is all over Twitter, chatting up the game and keeping fans in the loop as to what's coming down the pike. Speaking of […]
The MOP Up: Neverwinter's April Fools dungeon
April Fools Day may be past, but its spirit lives on in Neverwinter! This past week's small patch opened up a mini-dungeon for goofy explorers to enjoy. It sounds like this one is poultry in motion. "Players level 40 and above may now queue for the Sewers Most Fowl in the Events category of the […]
Elyon hints that previous air combat mechanics from Ascent Infinite Realm may still be used
Before the MMORPG Ascent: Infinite Realm decided to pivot away entirely from its former airships and steampunk vibe and move to a different style altogether (as well as rename itself to Elyon), we were being teased with a whole lot of airship-centric gameplay features, promising things like single-player training airships, massive multi-crew ships, mechs, and […]
Global Chat: Dealing with Magic Legends
Now that Magic Legends is out, you can best believe that a lot of MMO gamers are checking out Cryptic's latest offering. Among those is Nogamara of Battle Stance, who shares a few first impressions. "The game looks OK, but I wouldn't call it overwhelming. I'm usually not one to criticize non-flashy graphics, but it's a […]
Temtem highlights new content coming April 13, still has no new launch window
It's been quite a busy year for Temtem, especially when fans take into account all of the updates made to the Pokemon-esque MMO during its early access… and how far the game slid off its roadmap after that whole PS5 launch pitstop and price hike. Undaunted, the devs at Crema Games have put together a […]
One Shots: The voyage home
When you've spent a whole lot of calories burning, pillaging, and looting villages, it's a welcome sight to see the rest and shelter of home on the horizon. Until, of course, another ambitious Norseman comes along to burn, pillage, and loot the homestead. "Three tired Vikings return home with a hold full of silver after […]
The Daily Grind: What mount type do you wish more MMOs would offer?
Here are some of my mounts in Final Fantasy XIV: a sheep. A flying pig. A giant moss-covered sneezing monster. A drifting stalk of a plant. An entire bed. All of these mounts are wonderful because there's nothing like the sheer impact of storming into battle whilst lying back and relaxing on a bed that somehow […]
Corepunk Q&A discusses the launch window, guilds, mounts, and more
If you're the type of person who respects short, direct, and to-the-point answers to specific questions, then you're going to like the first part of Corepunk's community Q&A session. Artificial Core posted fan-asked questions about this cyberpunk-themed MMO along with the studio's brief answers on each subject. The biggest question, clearly, was the issue of […]
Dual Universe is asking players to 'wreak havoc on planets' soils' in its latest PTS build
If you're among the backers of Dual Universe who are somehow not unnerved by the silent ouster of Novaquark's president and continuing lack of information on what's going on at the company, then you've got a new PTS build to play around with. Also, you should probably be a little concerned by those business matters. […]
Chronicles of Elyria, now back up to five devs, examines its development achievements and shortcomings
As work on Kingdoms of Elyria (and by extension Chronicles of Elyria, according to claims made by Soulbound Studio CEO Jeromy Walsh) continues to press forward, the latest dev blog from the game has decided to look back at what's happened over the course of what it's called Milestone One, which readers will recall is […]
The Stream Team: Bring on a Valheim Bonemass boss beatdown
The bosses in Valheim are the measure of story progression; you work your way up the bosses for Odin. Your reward? More dangerous spawns raid your homes. Massively OP's MJ has yet to face Bonemass, and that boss is on the docket for today. Join us live at 2:00 p.m. for the Bonemass boss beatdown! […]
The Game Archaeologist: Lifestorm, Japan's first MMORPG
In comparison to how widely that China and Korea's game development studios embraced MMORPGs right from the beginning, Japan's been curiously low-key in creating for this genre. Oh, don't get me wrong: The country's produced several notable MMOs, but it's not been quite the obsession with dev studios the way it is with its neighbors. […]
Playable Worlds' Raph Koster shares the secret of good social design in MMOs
Raph Koster, the game designer behind Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, and Playable Worlds' upcoming project, has posted yet another essay about MMORPG design, all meant as preamble for the new game. In this latest piece, he challenges MMO players to re-examine and understand what social design is in games — and why it's so […]
WRUP: Insulting highways edition
Interstate 84: Hey, you! You're fat. You're stupid and fat. No one likes you. You smell like reclaimed caulk. Fat. Fat. Fat. Route 66: Ooh, look at me, a song was named after me! It was a different 66, you arrogant piece of turkey leavings. Everyone just pretends to like you when you're in the […]
The Daily Grind: What MMOs should be adapted to mobile?
Sometimes the success or failure of a game may come down to its availability on certain platforms and systems. Sometimes an MMO that didn't work that great on PC may be a smash hit on console, and sometimes a MMO may do way better on mobile than otherwise. I've long thought that there is a […]
Betawatch: Who in the heck is running Dual Universe's Novaquark?
Who is running Novaquark? Well, we know one person who is not, as the Dual Universe developer has finally admitted JC Baillie is not in charge. But who is? Could it be someone else associated with the company? Could it be me? Could it be you? All of those possibilities are equally likely! (They are not all equally likely. It's […]
The Stream Team: Stepping into AQ3D's Sandsea desert
AQ3D just opened up the vast Sandsea desert outside of Bastion, and Massively OP's MJ can't want to go explore it — be it by foot or by skiff! She also gets to know some of the NPCs better and help them out. Tune in live at 7:00 p.m. too see the largest area yet […]
Wizard101's spring update arrives to the test realm with new social features, balancing, and events
Players of Wizard101 are now able to kick the tires of the game's spring update, which will be adding a number of new features and updates to the game to help players make friends or fight foes. One of the main attractions in this patch is a couple of social-centered features like a new Friendly […]
Icarus is a session-based PvE co-op survival title on a dangerous Earth-like planet
We've got another PvE-centric co-op survival game on our hands, but this one trades a land of Viking myth for a deadly Earth-like planet instead. The game is called Icarus, which is described by developer RocketWerkz as a "session-based PvE survival game for up to eight co-op players." Players are tasked with surviving hostile wildlife, […]
AdventureQuest 3D continues the Sandsea Saga with a new area, new quests, and sand sharks
Did you really think that a desert realm in AdventureQuest 3D would be without its own version of a land shark? That's just one of the many things added to the MMORPG as the Sandsea Saga continues. The latest update has brought a new level cap to 33, some new main quests involving a search […]
ArcheAge tasks players with healing baby animals as the Pawesome Festival returns
ArcheAge has once more brought back its annual celebration of all things tiny animal friend. The 2021 Pawesome Festival is here, granting players the opportunity to heal a variety of doe-eyed digital animal babies for goodies and even the chance to take one home. The event area is located at the Windscour Savannah, where players […]
TitanReach previews character models, chat, and its WoW-esque UI
The TitanReach developer team has been pumping out blog posts all week, with two fresh one just since our last article. The first is stuffed with eyecandy that actually makes the game look damn appealing – and very WoW-like, or maybe more like "WoW but better." There's a flip through concept art of desert armor, […]
Skyforge turns six years old this week as the Aelion Day celebrations begin
My.games' Skyforge is having a big birthday this week: It's officially six years old, which means it's time once again for Aelion Day. Players can expect the usual round of activities and rewards. "You must be used to rescuing mortals by now, but this time it's a little different," My.games says. "During the celebrations, they […]
Elementia is an upcoming classless MMORPG planning a F2P alpha
Polygonal-style MMORPG Elementia popped up on our radar out of nowhere last month, and while it's clearly very early days for the game's development, it's pretty enough that it's worth bringing to your attention. According to the official website, the MMO promises a classless, weapon-based progression system that is fluid as you level up, with […]
Outriders offers players a care package to compensate for server outages and bugs
The launch for Outriders was messy because at this point it's just apparently de rigeur that every online launch is filled with connectivity issues and players angry about same. The developers appreciate the players having stuck it out through the launch problems, however, and as a show of appreciation a care package will be sent out […]
Neverwinter's second episode of Sharandar opens the Mended Grove to PC players on April 13
Players of Neverwinter on PC won't have long to wait for the next portion of Sharandar content, as the devs have announced on Twitter that the next episode is coming on Tuesday, April 13th. This next episode, subtitled The Soul Keeper, takes players to the Mended Grove, where some dire happenings can now be addressed […]
World of Warships announces still more reworks to its controversial captain skills
Naval warfare arcade World of Warships has certainly been busy lately, but not all of the recent changes nor announcements have been well-received. The naval MMO is in an interesting position in that Wargaming is trying to continually develop new ships with distinguishing features without completely upsetting the balance of a PvP-centric game. Easier said […]
Crowfall unveils a 10 event Hunger Dome PvP tournament, talks up new features in April ACE Q&A
We're still not quite sure when Crowfall will be making its official launch, but the fact that the game feels fit enough to showcase itself in a PvP tournament seems to suggest that it's probably close. That's right, ArtCraft's throne war MMO will be hosting the 2021 Eternal Champions Series, a 10 event-long PvP tournament […]
WoW Factor: Why WoW Classic players are mad about the Burning Crusade character boost
I'm not going to lie to anyone here: When the World of Warcraft: Classic team first announced the idea that you could boost a character up to be ready to go into The Burning Crusade right away, my reaction was a shrug and a big fat "so what?" But boy, if that didn't turn out to […]
Gamigo's next big thing is a 4v4 MOBA hybrid called Skydome
Gamigo's parent company's last investor report promised "an increased number of game launches […] on the roadmap for 2021," and now we know what at least one of them is: Skydome. Announced yesterday, Skydome is a Kinship Entertainment-build 4v4 MOBA-slash-tower-defense game – multiplayer, but not an MMO. Gamigo is publishing the title in North America […]
Final Fantasy XIV posts its patch notes for patch 5.5, Death Unto Dawn
Final Fantasy XIV's next major patch arrives in just four days, but it's time to find out exactly what's in the patch right now. Yes, as is tradition, the game has posted its preliminary patch notes for the update today, which means that players can get a good sense of most of the important additions […]
WoW's Burning Crusade Classic beta tops out level cap, gets into raiding
Another week, another big step forward for Burning Crusade Classic's test cycle. The beta finally raised the level cap to 70 for testers and opened up both the Eye of the Storm battleground and the arena to put PvP through its paces. Additionally, heroic dungeon modes are open for business. Come next week, testers are […]
Dungeons and Dragons' Festival of the Traveler breezes through town
If you haven't had your fill of eggs this week — plastic, hard-boiled, or virtual — then Dungeons and Dragons Online has an activity for you. The Festival of the Traveler has once again drifted into town, bringing with it an egg hunt to end all egg hunts. In this event, players rush to find […]
The Daily Grind: Do you usually pick low-pop or high-pop servers in MMOs?
The other day, MOP's Carlo posted a pic of Black Desert's server selection screen, showing a ton of servers flagged "crowded" even at a time in the day when you'd expect the servers to be a bit dead. I kinda miss the days when most MMOs would display that kind of info. Personally, I used […]
The Stream Team: A clucking fabulous April Fowls day in Neverwinter
A celebration of chickens? Oh heck YAH! Massively OP's MJ is ready to fly into that kind of feathery goodness. Neverwinter's April Fowls Day is a holiday made just for her. The event has a special new quest and a mount along with other limited-time chicken items. There's even a PvP option. (Please oh please […]
Massively Overthinking: Self-imposed 'rules' for MMOs
I have a couple of rules of thumb when it comes to MMOs. When I start thinking about watching a video while playing an MMO, it's boring enough to be over and I should move on. I don't buy gambleboxes, ever, no matter how much I want the foozle. I turn off toxic general chats […]
Dauntless adds a reward cache, Primal Behemoths, reworks to war pike mechanics, and trials goals
The multiplayer monster slaying RPG Dauntless has had a pretty sizeable update that applies adjustments to a variety of the game's systems, whether it's for the war pike, for trials, or even for the Hunt Pass. One of the marquee features of this update is the addition of a reward cache, which runs about the […]
Blade and Soul launches its third Summoner specialization with its next patch on April 14
Sometimes, you want a new specialization for a class in Blade & Soul that's grounded in something like a deep reflection on martial arts and secret techniques handed down through generations. Other times, you want cats flying UFOs and shooting neon star lasers across the sky. Those who want the latter will be very happy by […]
Everything we know about Path of Exile's Ultimatum league launching next week
Now you've done it: Path of Exile in giving you an Ultimatum… and you'll probably like it! It's time again for the big reveal of POE's next big league, with its new goodies, new systems, and new single-word moniker. And like the last time, Grinding Gear Games has been sharing its announcements globally on its […]
Wandering Wraeclast: Grinding Gear has finally taken the wraps off Path of Exile 2
"Like clockwork": I wouldn't be surprised to see an icon of Grinding Gear Games and Path of Exile in the dictionary when you look up that idiom. You can count on the studio to provide information on its next update and league every three months (pandemic notwithstanding). What you don't see regularly is information about […]
Fallout 76 details a new Daily Op mode, new mutations, and new rewards
Good news for Fallout 76 players: The next update is dubbed Locked & Loaded, and it expects you to handle loading and/or locking accordingly because you'll be fighting some new stuff in Daily Ops. Players will be facing off against Mothman Cultists, Scorched, and Mole Miners now, possibly while taking part in the new Decryption mode […]
World of Warcraft preps a new 'one-off' dungeon tournament
While World of Warcraft's competitive PvP scene is the backbone of its esports program, the MMO's Mythic Dungeon Invitational has grown in popularity and engagement over the last few years. This spring, the MDI is getting a "one-off tournament" that'll challenge the best of the best teams to conquer dungeons on their toughest difficulties. The […]
Working As Intended: There is no good reason for MMO gamers to fund Dreamworld
Not quite a month ago, we covered the Kickstarter for a wildly ambitious MMORPG, Dreamworld. We were, uh, pretty skeptical about the game's chances. As we noted, the game's 2.5 developers demonstrated no outreach in the MMORPG industry, no MMO dev pedigree or experience, and no understanding of modern Kickstarter failures. The website and Kickstarter […]
Magic: Legends updates fans on performance tweaks, tutorial progress, and the mid-April build
The soft launch of Magic: Legends doesn't mean the game isn't still in testing, and a new letter from executive producer Steve Ricossa to the community is all about the work still being done to bring the game through its current beta phase. Progress is being made on the game's performance issues and bug fixes, with […]
Pac-Man 99 is a real battle royale and it's really on the Switch now
Let's just stipulate that nothing is sacred and everything from your childhood, your parents' childhoods, and your kids' childhoods is going to be trotted back out and made into a weird video game at some point, usually in a genre that peaked three years before. Then we can safely move on to our subject here, […]
Final Fantasy XIV updates its patch site for Death Unto Dawn one more time with exploration and deliveries
Do you enjoy Explorer Mode in Final Fantasy XIV but wish that you could use it in a few more dungeons? You'll be able to do just that in the upcoming patch 5.5, as a new update to the special patch site promises that level 70 dungeons will become available for Explorer Mode ventures along with […]
The Soapbox: Lies I was told about World of Warcraft
A few months back, I was feeling restless in my MMO routine. Guild Wars 2 is my MMO "home," so I'm always in that one, but I like to have one or two other MMOs to play on the side. For a while, that had been The Elder Scrolls Online, but the Greymoor expansion was […]
Star Citizen plans more persistence, outlines dev on alpha 3.13 as CIG buys new office space
Yesterday, we reported that Star Citizen was going to have a lot to say this past Wednesday, and sure enough the devs at CIG certainly did. We'll begin with the alluded-to 'highly requested' features added to the roadmap, which sees development focus on persistent hangars (which also feeds into changes to the cargo gameplay loop […]
Vague Patch Notes: The myth of the days before MMO datamining
For those of you who don't know, this column was named after Final Fantasy XI. Specifically, it was named after the practice that particular game had for many years of making its patch notes vague to the point of uselessness, which included one of my favorite lines of all time as a bullet list entry discussing […]
