The Daily Grind: Where do you stand on cutscenes in MMOs?
Truth time: I am not the kind of person who honestly enjoys cutscenes in video games. I really want to be the kind of person who Appreciates The Art and gets immersed in the story, and maybe I can think of a rare few games that actually grabbed me and made me feel something with […]
The Stream Team: Going after fire giants and dragons in Neverwinter
Massively OP's MJ is (sadly) almost done with her Neverwinter adventures in the hot spot Mount Hotenow. But she does get to volcano dive one last time to go after the more fire giants like Gommoth, who was causing all the trouble! It's time for the big end dungeon (and dragon!), so tune in live […]
Massively Overthinking: How much are you spending on MMOs every month right now?
A while back, MOP's Justin joked that his wife, who loves econ PvP in MMOs, was funding a year of his play on Classic and Retail World of Warcraft through her skilled trading, by way of the WoW Token system. Obviously not every game offers something like this; some games don't charge anything at all, […]
Whatever happened to Kickstarted sci-fi MMOFPS Pantropy?
Way the heck back in 2017, we covered a sci-fi MMOFPS called Pantropy. The pitch was that it was a sci-fi faction-based MMO shooter with "mechs and focus on building and crafting." The game ran two Kickstarters, one that was canceled and a reboot that pulled in almost $90,000 US to fund development. By early […]
Old-school MMORPG Ravendawn has a whole lot in common with Tibia
If you've been reading the MMORPG subreddit lately, you'll know that the mods there are making an attempt to feature indie MMO developers and games. But the first game highlighted through this new initiative, Ravendawn, has already sparked controversy. It's apparently been in development since 2017 for PC with mobile support, and if you like […]
Dauntless introduces a new cell and adjusts the reward cache in latest update
When Dauntless put out its last update, it adjusted the way wounding works (and arguably made the war pike weapon that inflicts wounds extremely valuable). With the most recent update, wound-hunting players have a new reason to cheer thanks to the addition of the Relentless cell, which increases the duration of the aether charged buff […]
Fallout 76's Locked and Loaded update lands April 27 – here's the new trailer
It feels as if we've been covering Fallout 76's Locked and Loaded patch for a really long time, and I guess it kinda has, since we knew the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. loadouts were supposed to have launched in March according to the post back in December when the feature was pegged to the roadmap, and we previewed […]
Black Desert's companion app, Black Desert+, is available now
If you play a lot of Black Desert, you might wish there were a way to get a little bit more of the game even when you're not playing it. Good news, then, because the game's companion app, Black Desert+, is now available for players on iOS and Android devices. After a bit of setting up […]
World of Warcraft opens up pre-orders for the Sylvanas novel
Are you a World of Warcraft fan eager to get some more Sylvanas content? Really? Well, you're an odd one, but you're going to get what you want with the next tie-in novel for the game that's now available for pre-order. World of Warcraft: Sylvanas is written by Christie Golden and as the title implies explores Sylvanas' […]
Final Fantasy XIV posts the full event schedule for its digital fan festival
It's just a little more than three weeks until Final Fantasy XIV holds its digital fan festival, and if you'd forgotten it in the wake of the game's most recent patch, perhaps a bit of event scheduling will pique your interest yet again. The full schedule of digital events is now available on the official site, […]
Fractured invites you to test its spring alpha. Yes, you.
As we noted yesterday, indie MMO sandbox Fractured is in the middle of its spring alpha run, with several big patches under its belt already. Chief among the tweaks have been a full pass on PvP, new character and city respecs, and a big upgrade for client performance that everyone should notice. Wanna play? Dynamight […]
Albion Online confirms summer mobile launch, opens preregistration and German test
RuneScape isn't the only MMO with major mobile news today: Sandbox Interactive has opened registrations for Albion Online's mobile version too. If you follow the game, you already know that the global mobile launch is coming out this summer. The studio said just that in March! "This latest milestone will fulfill the studio's long-standing promise […]
Neverwinter announces the end of PvP seasons as the devs 'explore ways to evolve PvP'
It looks like there's a paradigm shift to PvPing on the way to Neverwinter. While Season 14 is still coming — specifically between now and May 20th — it will be the last PvP season while the devs plot out where to take PvP from here. "PvP Queues will continue to be available but no […]
Almost four years after its first announcement, RuneScape is finally hitting mobile this summer
We've been eyeballing RunesScape mobile for a really long time, folks: We covered the original announcement for a mobile client all the way back in the fall of 2017. Old School RuneScape rolled out to Android and iOS a year later and has done very well for itself there with over 2M installs just in […]
Swords of Legends Online showcases a cosmetics-filled cash shop in livestream
There's been a lot of show and tell coming out of Swords of Legends Online over the past week or so, first with trailers for all six of the game's classes, then the release of pre-orders and beta buy-in details, and now with a developer livestream that's offered a few more peeks at the western […]
Lord of the Rings Online rings in its 14th anniversary
It was 14 years ago that the shadowy forces of evil in Middle-earth faced an incoming horde of intrepid adventurers who were dedicated to fighting for the Free Peoples. And every year since Lord of the Rings Online's launch, the MMO has marked its anniversary with gifts and a festival. The 14th anniversary celebration is […]
New World talks up recently added PvP features, repeats desire to make PvP and PvE gameplay coexist
"New World offers both PvP and PvE gameplay, and balancing these two modes is as important to us as it is to many of you," opens a dev blog shared by the devs at Amazon Games Studio, which then moves in to a synopsis of recently introduced PvP gameplay features and the overall vision for […]
Elite Dangerous Odyssey confirms a May 19 release date on PC
It looks like the progress being made in the Elite: Dangerous Odyssey alpha is moving at a predictable enough pace that Frontier Developments can announce when the expansion will release. A recent tweet confirms that the PC version of the Odyssey expansion will land on Wednesday, May 19th, to Steam, the Epic Games Store, and […]
Phantasy Star Online 2 will launch New Genesis globally in June, closed beta signups up are live now
Just a week ago, SEGA announced that it was planning to open the global beta test for Phantasy Star Online 2's New Genesis sequel soon, with a beta starting March 14th. You had to know we'd be getting harder dates, and now we have, as signups have kicked off. "Experience the vast open world of […]
Diablo Immortal is testing endgame content and the Crusader class in alpha
As you continue your grand quest to secure a phone to play the upcoming Diablo Immortal, Blizzard has moved the mobile game into its next phase of closed alpha testing. Lead Designer Wyatt Cheng popped in for a short update on the alpha, saying that the team is starting to push into endgame content. This […]
The Daily Grind: Are you worried about Blizzard in the wake of all of its high-profile departures?
In some ways, Jeff Kaplan leaving Blizzard after 19 years is not a stunning event, what with the ongoing process of people leaving the company lately. But then, that's kind of the point. A lot of high-profile people have been leaving the company over the past few months (and years), with a slow trickle of […]
The Stream Team: Guess the deaths in The Shroud's lair in SWTOR
How many deaths does it take to get to the center of The Shroud's lair in SWTOR? Massively OP's Larry says many! And he doesn't mean just MJ's deaths, either. Can you guess? Come on, take a wild stab at it. After all, Larry and MJ will be stabbing (and shooting and slicing). In fact, […]
Early access title Craftopia patches in a new biome, new gear, and new skills for spring
The latest Craftopia patch has arrived for the game's early access, and it contains what may be the greatest patch note of all time within its larger list of changes: – The new enemy "Cassowary" has been added. They will kick you so hard, for real. Sure, you might not being kicked so hard, but you […]
TitanReach hints at a new area, opens a wiki, and showcases better animated chickens
As early access for TitanReach rolls on, so too do the development update blogs from Square Root Studios. The latest post offers another round of previews for what's next, such as a look at new party UI designs, new textures, new props, a number of new animations for character crafting and chickens, and a list […]
Starbase showcases easy build mode in new video, outlines progress on mining backpacks and new tutorials
Followers of the building-centric sandbox MMO Starbase know that the past few progress notes posts have made a lot of noise about the game's developing easy build mode. Now, we finally have a look at this feature in action by way of a new video. This new mode lets players clap together pre-built modules into […]
Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore is a new 'high risk-reward' old-school MMORPG, now in alpha
Let's have a peek today at Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore (formerly Blocky Ages), which is listed on Steam as an early access alpha MMO, though the only way to get in right now appears through alpha. Three-person developer Gellyberry Studios says it's inspired by old-school MMORPGs from the late '90s, which pretty much means games […]
Elder Scrolls Online's Blackwood is ready for you to break it on the PTS
If you're so eager to see Elder Scrolls Online's Blackwood and update 30 aka ESO 7.0.0 that you're willing to test it out, it's your time to shine, as ZeniMax has opened the PTS with all the bells and whistles, including max-level copied test characters. You'll be poking around the new companion system, new 12-person […]
Open Perpetuum players mark three years by blowing each other up as Patch 21 content is promised for April
Cast your minds back to about three years ago, when Perpetuum Online, aka EVE Online but Robots, was being shut down by developer Avatar Creations only to be resurrected by the players with the original devs' blessing in the form of the Open Perpetuum Project. Now the players and devs are marking the anniversary of […]
Black Desert PC unleashes the Awakened Sage, launches new events, and introduces rare hunts
Can't you hear, can't you hear that thunder? No, it's not Men at Work calling to you; it's the arrival of the Awakened Sage to Black Desert on PC as the headlining part of this week's update, letting players trade in their Doctor Strange-like spellcaster for a more Thor-like one. As evidenced in last week's […]
Lord of the Rings Online players hits level cap by baking millions of pies
If you thought that you were super hardcore because you have raided all the things and are so drenched in purple that other colors might as well not exist, then meet your superior: A Lord of the Rings Online player who leveled to 130 by doing little else than baking pies for experience. A lot […]
Sandbox MMO Fractured has rebalanced PvP and added respecs in its spring alpha
MMO sandbox Fractured has been busy this past month as its spring alpha continues. Early on in the month, Dynamight Studios dropped its first patch of the season, with the nine world "Legends" bosses and their summoning altars, plus a full rebalance of PvP in accordance with feedback from PvP players, plus tweaks to jails […]
Dual Universe shifts launch window to mid 2022
After Dual Universe put out its series of dev blogs discussing the game's future, followers of the sci-fi sandbox had a number of questions. A few of those were pulled by Novaquark and answered in their own separate post. Leading off, the devs don't believe that a 2021 release is feasible right now, eyeballing instead […]
Four Winds: Why are Asian MMOs monetized the way they are?
Welcome to Four Winds, Massively OP's newest column, dedicated to Asian MMOs and the culture around it. As the resident Black Desert columnist, I'm a fan of the game as well as the subgenre it belongs to. There's something special about Asian MMOs, and I'm eager to explore and uncover what that special sauce is […]
Star Wars The Old Republic is handing out guild commendations due to a Conquest Invasions bug
While Star Wars: The Old Republic continues to get set for the release of Update 6.3, which as of right now is still hanging out on the PTS and due to arrive this spring, things in the current build of the game are a bit dicey for guilds that are running Conquest Invasions, which are […]
Perfect Ten: Here is the stuff you can have when I quit this MMO
Paul Simon once said that there had to be at least 50 ways to leave your lover. Back in the day, however, there was considered to be one appropriate way to leave an MMO, and that was to proudly announce that you were leaving in some public forum. And so when you had gotten past […]
Dungeons & Dragons Online adds the Perils of the Planar Eyes and spikier damage calculations
The latest update for Dungeons & Dragons Online is adding some spikes. No, not with the game's newest set of adventures that are available to purchase in the game's store or free to VIP members; the Perils of the Planar Eyes adventures should probably be kept free of spikes. Spikes don't go well with eyes. They do […]
Elite Dangerous plans to remove minigame aspect of exo-biology, promises to fix planet scanning bugs
The primary feature of Elite: Dangerous Odyssey's third alpha phase has been the exo-biology gameplay loop, where players have to scan plants to earn a sample that can be sold to a station NPC for cash. That process has, at the brass tacks level, two parts: scanning a planet for life using the Detailed Surface […]
Discord ends talks with Microsoft, remains independent – for now
Considering how popular and heavily used Discord is to MMO players, there were plenty of concerned and interested eyes turning to a proposed deal by Microsoft to buy the chat application for a paltry $10 billion. Did we say "paltry?" We meant "astonishing and why didn't I think of doing this." Well, if that possible […]
The Survivalist: Conan Exiles' Isle of Siptah expands tomorrow with sunshine and a spitting spider god
The Isle of Siptah, Conan Exiles' first major expansion, is now itself expanding — in size, scope, sunshine, and spiders! Sorry arachnophobes! If you thought the large list of improvements in patch 2.3 was all that we'd be getting before the upcoming official launch set for June, you'd be mistaken. And it's nice to be […]
The Daily Grind: Which MMOs are still on your bucket list?
The other day I was running through our full list of MMORPGs and taking note of titles that I've never played at least once. It was a surprisingly small list, much smaller than I would have assumed, since I'm usually open to trying out anything. You know, at least once. That said, there are still […]
YouTube video series hilariously lampoons MMORPG tropes
If we're being frank here, we have to admit that a whole lot of the structure and interactions of MMORPGs are quite silly if they were applied to real life. Closely examining the skewed logic of these games is a rich field for parody, and fortunately there is one man who is up to the […]
Project Gorgon brings out its Attack of the World Bosses event with new signposts and fewer adds
Eager to go fight some world bosses in Project Gorgon? The Attack of the World Bosses event is kind of the time to do that, with players tasked with running around and killing a quintet of bosses spawning across the game world. But the latest version of the event has some changes, starting with boss respawn […]
The Feast of Swords returns to Final Fantasy XI
Despite its name, the Feast of Swords in Final Fantasy XI does not actually allow you to eat any swords. You will be given no opportunities to much on delicious brined sabers, slow-cooked scimitars, or country-fried claymores. If you consequently decide not to take place out of deep protest, your actions will be respected, but it […]
Warframe rolls out free skins and four weeks of 8th birthday celebrations
Even MOP's MJ did a doubletake when Warframe announced its eighth anniversary celebrations last night. That's because Warframe's launch month is March, not April. Then again, Warframe is still technically in beta and never had a launch. Eh, dates are hard and who really cares when it's an excuse for a party? Yes, Warframe is […]
Amazon's New World adds achievements and updated faction PvP to the alpha
As if to reassure everyone that Amazon Game Studios really is planning on launching New World rather than canning it like everything else, the team has launched another alpha patch today. At the heart of this update is a new ice-themed gauntlet for casters, new expeditions called Lazarus Instrumentality and Dynasty Shipyard, updated milestone rewards, […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 318: Middle-earth no more
Justin and Bree discuss Amazon's Lord of the Rings MMO's cancelation, LOTRO's Bilbo patch, FFXIV's 5.5, and SWG Legends' Bespin expansion, with adventures in WoW Classic, Guild Wars 2, Albion Online, and Cozy Grove, plus mailbag topics on ugly duckling MMOs, reconciling immersion, and superhero MMOs.
EVE Online highlights how industrial players provide the fuel for the sandbox MMO's wider wars
As any player of EVE Online will tell you, waging galactic-sized wars in the game requires a lot of resources — especially when those wars rage on for 41 weeks. It's the job of the industrial players of EVE to keep that war machine fueled and chugging, and those efforts were highlighted by CCP Games […]
Jeff Kaplan leaves Blizzard Entertainment and his position as director of Overwatch
Everything is going super great at Blizzard Entertainment, and the proof of this can be found in the newest announcement of employment shakeups. Jeff Kaplan, a veteran of the studio who was until today serving as game director of Overwatch, has apparently departed Blizzard after 19 years. Given that this is not even the first time this […]
Interview: Mortal Online 2 CEO on stress testing, persistent plans, and the MMO market
It's not every day that I actually get an answer, let alone a number, when I ask an MMORPG developer how many people showed up for a stress test. But that's exactly what Mortal Online 2's Henrik Nyström offered up in response to our candid interview with him this past week, and now it's got […]
City of Heroes' Homecoming buffs travel powers and adds tour guide missions in today's i27p2 update
Back in March, we covered a new patch that had just gone in testing for the test server for City of Heroes' Homecoming rogue servers. (Yes, emulators with proper test servers. It's a weird period in the MMO genre.) Anyhow, that patch is finally live for all Homecoming players today, and it includes some hefty […]
