Osiris New Dawn's Discovery update adds new biomes, flora investigation, and space station building
Most of the time in games, a discovery system usually involves aiming a scanner at something and hitting a button. In the Discovery update for sci-fi survival title Osiris: New Dawn, discovery involves players hitting multiple buttons — as well as actually finding out more about the plant they're testing. The discovery system in question […]
Gear and house deco await Oblivion portal plunderers in Elder Scrolls Online's Blackwood
Elder Scrolls Online players might be buzzing about Blackwood's companion system and the chance to drag an NPC all over Tamriel to keep them alive, but the chapter is a lot more than that. To wit: ZeniMax Online Studios has dropped another dev blog today, this one focused on the actual Oblivion portals that gave […]
WoW Factor: What would it take for big changes in World of Warcraft?
The last time I wrote an installment of this column, it was in specific response to an interview that contained no small number of tone-deaf and kind of community-enraging statements, the sort of thing that doesn't really seem like a good idea. Today, as I'm writing, we're just on the edge of another interview, containing […]
Bless Unleashed's final PC beta has begun, and yes you can play right now
If you've got a Steam account and played an older version of Bless (ahem), you might have noticed that your account has been flagged for PC Bless Unleashed beta access on the platform. Go on and check because that final beta begins today and runs the whole weekend, open to everyone with a Steam account […]
Four Winds: Final thoughts on Elyon's first closed beta test
Elyon's closed beta test came and went, and boy am I happy with what I played. It was unfortunate that the test fell on Mother's day weekend, since I couldn't play as much as I wanted. But in the time I did get to play, I was thoroughly impressed. In my initial impressions, I argued […]
Neverwinter's Sharandar module wraps up in June with The Odious Court
Just in case you haven't been tracking it, Neverwinter has been rolling out its Sharandar module not as a all-in-one package but rather in multiple patches. With two such "episodes" under its belt, the D&D title is getting ready to unleash Episode 3 in "early June." The third episode, called The Odious Court, will take […]
Blade & Soul's Winds of Rage is live with new heroic dungeon and events
As promised, Blade & Soul's Winds of Rage update is live this week. The 12.1 patch includes the titular 6-perspon heroic dungeon Thornwind Cavern in both easy and hard modes, as well as a quartet of new events, the new daily perks login calendar system, updated dailies and weeklies, and new accessories from the Dragon […]
Destiny 2 brings the Season of the Splicer online with unintentional cross-play functionality
A funny thing happened on the way to an update in Destiny 2. As the game's Season of the Splicer went live this past Tuesday, it arrived with some server-based bumpiness, an error that prevented players from accessing the new content, and oh yeah, the addition of cross-play features. Several players reported the ability to […]
WoW Classic will re-enable character transfers after Burning Crusade Classic's pre-patch goes live
WoW Classic players scrambling to get ready for Burning Crusade Classic's release in a few weeks may be feeling some anxiety over being locked down on their current servers. The good news is that Blizzard confirmed character transfers are going to come back next week — and that players will be able to take 5,000 […]
The Daily Grind: What's your ideal play session length in an MMO?
One of the things that always strikes me as interesting is the different opinions regarding what an MMO play session should look like. Some people are upset if a game doesn't offer a good reason to log in and stay logged in for a couple of hours every night. Other people are upset if you can't […]
Valheim gets a mod to bring the World of Warcraft landscape into the game
If you've ever found yourself playing World of Warcraft and wishing that it were a little bit more like Valheim, or (perhaps more accurately) wandering around in Valheim wishing that your character was up in Southshore, this mod is for you. A user by the name of Kromek has brought the WoW map into Valheim, allowing players to explore, craft, […]
The Stream Team: SWTOR's Shroud, the sequel
Massively OP's Larry and MJ finally beat SWTOR's The Shroud… nope! After finally completing the lair, it turns out the only defeated a double. Now, the duo will be doing the Shroud of Memory bonus chapter. Join us live at 7:00 p.m. for Shroud, the sequel. What: Star Wars: The Old Republic Who: Larry Everett […]
Overwatch 2 plans to discuss PvP gameplay in a livestream on May 20 and host an AMA on May 24
If you've been worried by the abject silence coming out of Overwatch 2, then your worries may be eased starting later next week. The shooter's new game director Aaron Keller has hosted a brief development update video announcing a PvP-focused livestream on Thursday, May 20th, and an AMA shortly after on Monday, May 24th. During […]
Profane delays a couple of alpha roadmap features thanks to a player movement bug
When bugs attack, they can upend a few things in game development. That sort of fate has befallen Profane, the PvP sandbox MMO that has been awash with Twitter updates, including this most recent thread that talks about a few shifted items in its alpha roadmap because of a bug, marking the second such time […]
MMO Business Roundup: Q1 2021 financials for Roblox, Nexon, and Star Stable
Welcome back to another quick roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news. Star Stable: I'm frankly just as surprised as anyone to be starting this roundup with a dive into the financials of Star Stable Entertainment – you know it as the company that runs kid-friendly horse MMORPG Star Stable, which is actually pretty dang […]
Legion: The Eternal War promises a medieval-style sandbox MMORPG, offers a demo to backers
Care for another medieval-themed fantasy sandbox MMORPG that's in development? Well you're getting one in the form of Legion: The Eternal War, a new game being put together by Canada-based Nexus Division Entertainment, which we first highlighted back in 2018. Things have updated a bit since then, though the game promises features we've all heard […]
Black Desert prepares for a 'comprehensive balance patch' on PC, adds a treasure system to mobile
It's time for another gaggle of Black Desert news, and while mobile updates are on the radar, easily one of the more impactful stories coming from the game is an incoming update on May 26th, which is bringing a "comprehensive balance patch that will make improvements (major and minor) to every class in Black Desert." […]
Ubisoft's Skull and Bones has been delayed for at least the fourth time
Ubisoft's Skull and Bones isn't dead, but it may as well be, given how long this thing has lingered in development. It was announced and demo'd at E3 in 2017 (yep we liked it), but it's seen one delay after another, putting to rest any worries we might have had about butting up against Sea of Thieves […]
Elite Dangerous Odyssey and Horizons PC players won't be able to share a game session until console launch
If you have friends who are buying in to the Elite: Dangerous Odyssey expansion and you're going to remain playing in the Horizons base game, you might want to consider coordinating your time together, because when the Odyssey expansion launches on May 19th for PC, Horizons players will effectively be locked out from playing with […]
The Stream Team: The birds and the bees in Trove's Spring Fling
Why should spring events be relegated to bunnies? Trove knows the real deal: ducks! The spring fling is underway and Massively OP's MJ gets to start it all off by talking to a Sir Dapper Duckington. How couldshe ever pass that up?! She'll even bring out her Chloromancer! Join live at 1:00 p.m. to chit […]
Amazon's New World posts big May alpha update, plans July 6 alpha end
Amazon's New World is heading into a transition period this summer as the company shifts from alpha to closed beta and then to launch. Game Director Scot Lane explains in a new dev blog today that following the May alpha update, the alpha will run until July 6th as the developers are "focused on bugs, […]
Choose My Adventure: How guidance made all the difference in MapleStory
Boy, am I glad I read the comments. That's not an admission that I very often make when it comes to my online life, but it certainly held true this week as I continued on in MapleStory. Specifically, a comment from reader Michael Kossyrev, who suggested that I watch some guides by YouTuber Coppersan. And […]
Swords of Legends Online previews its first five dungeons in new video drops
Gameforge has already dropped a ton of trailers for Swords of Legends Online, but today's batch might be the clearest look at what you'll actually be doing in the game, as Wangyuan Shengtang and Aurogon preview the game's first five dungeons. The dungeons include Yemo City in Wuzhao, Frostbitten Path, Nightmare Temple of Mercy, Chou […]
Perfect Ten: 10 places you visit in every MMORPG
MMOs are places of great imagination, where developers take fantastic concepts and make them real (in a sense). MMOs are also places of great copycatting because tropes are so strong and it's really dang hard to be 100% original. Plus, consciously or subconsciously, devs draw upon other games when they make their own because that's […]
World of Warcraft's lead system designer Morgan Day talks about Torghast, raid design, and class tuning
When is patch 9.1 arriving for World of Warcraft? According to a new interview with lead system designer Morgan Day, the answer is still "soon." The recap of the interview covers a lot more ground than that, though, starting with the fact that there are no plans to allow leveling or add more non-cosmetic rewards to […]
Elder Scrolls Online offers Blackwood backstory in a dramatic new lore trailer
Blizzard might be trying to horn in on its launch window, but Elder Scrolls Online is marching onward anyway with hype for the Blackwood chapter. Today, ZeniMax Online Studios has dropped yet another trailer, this one beginning with a dramatic and painterly peek into the second era lore that explains the foul daedric pact that […]
EverQuest II has launched its new PvP time-locked progression server
Always an MMO that's up for experimenting with different server rulesets, EverQuest II has a brand-new offering that may excite the competitive players in its fanbase. The Tarinax shard went live yesterday, combining both time-locked expansion progression with the constant strife of PvP. The Ancient Gaming Noob notes that Tarinax marks a notable return to […]
Lord of the Rings Online ends Windows XP support
If for whatever reason you're playing Lord of the Rings Online and still running Windows XP, you may want to consider the following news strong incentive to upgrade. Standing Stone Games announced this week that it's just about ready to end its support of the ancient operating system in the MMO. "The Lord of the […]
The Daily Grind: Why won't World of Warcraft add player housing?
Out of all of the many frustrating decisions that Blizzard has made, its stubborn refusal to add a proper player housing system to World of Warcraft ranks up there as one of the most infuriating. To me, it seems like such a no-brainer: It's a system that could last beyond a single expansion, it's quite […]
The Stream Team: Daring The Desolation during the Guild Wars 2 griffon search
After wrapping up the last of the Elon Riverlands griffon egg hunt in Guild Wars 2, Massively OP's MJ is moving on to the Desolation. It sounds like a lovely place to look for eggs, no? Join us live at 8:00 p.m. as MJ gets even closer to her own mount to soar the skies […]
Reborn Promisance is a fan-operated version of a turn-based multiplayer strategy MUD from 26 years ago
If you're looking for retro, it doesn't get more retro than a rebuilt version of a text-based multiplayer online empire strategy game. That's what Reborn Promisance is offering: a fan-operated version of the original open-source Promisance game originally created by the late Paul C. Purgett, which itself is a concept inspired by the similarly-styled Earth: […]
Final Fantasy XI brings back Mandragora Mania for its 19th anniversary
After 19 years of operation, Final Fantasy XI no doubt finds anniversary celebrations just a little bit tedious. It's been 19 years! There's a ton of game to explore already! On some level the game is supposed to be in maintenance mode, even though it's still receiving monthly updates and more story content! But an anniversary […]
Path of Exile issues a fix-filled patch, talks about the creation of the Trialmaster and game sounds
Grinding Gear Games is just chock-full of information related to Path of Exile. In terms of game-related details, the game's next upcoming patch will apply a ream of fixes to general gameplay and microtransactions. It will also increase the size of the in-game cursor, which is always nice for those of us (read: me) who […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 321: Bespin and Burning Crusade
Justin and Bree SWG Legends Bespin, WoW Classic Burning Crusade's launch date, Blizzard's financials, Elyon's beta, Elder Scrolls Online's Blackwood, Corepunk, and adventures in DDO, plus a mailbag topic on why people leaving MMOs.
World of Warships introduces a limited-time event and special ship packs to celebrate Godzilla vs. Kong
So what would happen if Godzilla and King Kong didn't slug it out kaiju-to-kaiju and instead joined their country's respective navies and commanded battleships instead? This is, effectively, the scenario that sets up the latest limited-time event in World of Warships. Because Wargaming will enter into a transmedia contract with pretty much everyone and somehow […]
Old School RuneScape outlines the next steps for its upcoming clan creation system
Bad news for Old School RuneScape players that were hoping to register their clan name: That process is now closed. The good news, however, is that means things can move forward to the next steps. Unless the bad news is so bad you don't care about the next steps, in which case, sorry. First off, […]
Grab a free Super Squad key for this weekend's closed beta test event
Is there room in the MOBA genre for one more? Indie devhouse Bad Fox Studios hopes so because it's brought Super Squad to play, though technically, this game's a MOSH aka a multiplayer-online-shoot-'em-up pitting two teams of five against each other. Bad Fox says it hopes to fill a more casual and cutesy MOBA "niche […]
Monster Hunter Rise fan crafts 1000 items for charity while wishing for ducks from the 2019 MMO
What drives a man to craft 1,000 Origami Switch Axes in Monster Hunter Rise? Is it for the challenge? For the laughs? Insanity? In the case of one fan and livestreamer, it's for the ducks. And for charity. This is the saga of a streamer by the name of Ceph0rend, an avid Monster Hunter fan […]
Casually Classic: Yeah, those Burning Crusade Classic prices are stupid high
If there's anything that Blizzard excels in doing these days, it's taking a slam-dunk publicity announcement and turning it into a hurricane of poop. As a fan of MMOs in general, I hate it when I see studios totally botching what should be a moment of shared excitement. I mean, hey, we have a date […]
Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis opens up client downloads for its beta test via the Windows Store
Eager for the Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis closed beta? The good news is that it's just around the corner, with invites already going out to people and the client available for download. The bad news? Well, remember that store front that everyone disliked because it made installing the basic game a nightmarish exercise in […]
Guild Wars 2 memorializes Stan LePard in-game in today's big balance patch
Back in February, we shared the sad news that composer Stan LePard had passed away. LePard was a renowned musical artist who'd penned music for a whole roster of video games, including more than 40 tracks for Guild Wars 2 over the last decade. For MMO players, his crowning achievement was surely the Metal Legion […]
Project Gorgon pops up on Nvidia GeForce NOW's supported games list
Sharp eyes with plenty of time to spare enjoy looking over different lists on the internet. And one particular pair of eyes happened to spot a familiar name pop up over on Nvidia's website: Project Gorgon. Indeed, the beloved indie MMORPG appeared as one of the new games that was added to Nvidia GeForce NOW's […]
Hands-on with Amazon's New World first expedition, Amrine Excavation
The funny thing about our ongoing pandemic is that it didn't really change the way video game previews are done. It turns out that the problem with preview events wasn't the travel expenses, the noise of the crowds, the limitations of a new PC setup, or the exhaustion of the developers. The problem is just […]
Here's how animals in Kingdoms and Chronicles of Elyria will work
Soulbound Studios is back once again this week with a devblog about the animals of both Chronicles of Elyria and Kingdoms of Elyria, the latter of which has been getting most of the company's attention since it said it resumed work on the crowdfunded game at the end of 2021. Today's post explains that animals […]
Free access codes to Crowfall's closed beta begin popping up across the internet
Looking to try out the beta version of Crowfall but don't want to pay for guaranteed access? Then you might be interested in knowing that an access code is floating around out there, offering players the chance to play the beta build of the game for free. The code in question has popped up in […]
WoW Classic begins one final massive Burning Crusade test tomorrowday
With just three weeks to go until the launch of WoW Classic's Burning Crusade jaunt, Blizzard is firing off beta invites like mad. If you're getting in, this is the big one, folks. Then again, this expansion is over 14 years old, so did you really need to test it again? "On Wednesday, May 12, […]
Ashes of Creation delays alpha because of ESO Blackwood and WoW Classic Burning Crusade
Oh no! You've got a big band-aid on your knee! Let's quickly rip that puppy off and see what's underneath it… yeah, just a quick yank and… oh. Bummer. Ashes of Creation just delayed its big Alpha One test from June to July. That's got to sting. "Some recent developments have caused me to reevaluate […]
The Daily Grind: What's the best age-agnostic MMO?
A while back, GamesIndustry.biz ran a piece from game dev Raj Pathmanathan discussing age-agnostic games. While the littlest kids are still happy in fluffy cutesy games aimed squarely at them, slightly older kids are gravitating toward titles that are made for, well, adults. I assume they can see "kid games" coming from a mile away […]
Ragnarok Online dev studio begins hiring for new 3-D mobile Ragnarok title
For those who are eager for a new Ragnarok Online title, we also hope you're eager for it to be on mobile. Gravity Neocyon, the subsidiary company under the game's original developer Gravity that developed mobile titles like Puzzle and Dragon, is reportedly beginning a hiring blitz for a new mobile MMO based on the […]
The Stream Team: The madness of Elder Scrolls Online map completion
After discovering that she was missing nearly all the many achievements in the various Elder Scrolls Online Zone, Massively OP's MJ knew she had to step it up and start completing some! But with so many, where does she start? Should she aim to complete all delves, find all the crafting stations, or just go […]
