Revelation Online is getting a new area, new dungeon, and more this summer in the Demonic War update
It's not a candy war. It's not a pillow war. It's not a man o' war. It's a Demonic War, and it's arriving to Revelation Online this coming summer, but first it's getting a preview now. Yes, new content is coming to this MMO soon. Will wonders never cease. What new content, you might ask? […]
Old School RuneScape soft-launches clans, prepares for A Kingdom Divided, and announces Jad Challenge winners
This week in Old School RuneScape is a pretty busy one if you consider the the weekly update newsletter coming out of Jagex. As noted last week, the new clans feature has soft-launched with the process of setting up pre-registered clans underway, a wiki entry that outlines clan ranks and titles, and some new chat […]
Multiplayer-optional cyberpunk RPG shooter The Ascent launches July 29
The Ascent is happening! No, not that one. No, not that one either. The Ascent – it's the cyberpunky multiplayer-optional shooter from Curve Digital and Neon Giant, and it's just gotten a release date: July 29th. "A solo and co-op action-shooter RPG set in a sci-fi cyberpunk world, The Ascent is the first title from […]
Wakfu is rolling out unique ID numbers and two-factor authentication to all Ankama accounts
Wouldn't it be nice if your account identification in Wakfu weren't tied to a unique name but instead to a specific ID number so you could change your nickname if you wanted to? Good news, then, because that's exactly what's happening starting on May 25th. Player ID numbers will be granted for all accounts on that […]
Atlas addresses Armored Docks and other balance issues in its latest Q&A session
Armored docks in Atlas: Are they a good thing or a bad thing? The latest Q&A acknowledges that the answer is kind of both, and while they produce some interesting elements of play they're also not where the team wants at the moment. However, as the game's economy is shifting and the gold costs and gold […]
DreamScapes Dimensions is an early access first-person medieval MMORPG that comes from a 'single indie hobbyist developer'
MMORPG development is hard for some of the largest studios out there, but then again a single person also made a phenomenal multiplayer life sim RPG, so stranger things can certainly happen under the sun. With all of that in mind, consider DreamScapes Dimensions, a new first-person medieval MMORPG that comes from studio AHDS, whose […]
The Vault of Glass raid returns to Destiny 2 on May 22 with a race to world first
The starting gun will sound in Destiny 2 this coming Saturday, May 22nd, as the looter shooter will reintroduce the Vault of Glass raid, an encounter that was in the original game, as well as start the race for a world first clear. When the Vault of Glass arrives, it will do so in a […]
PlanetSide 2 celebrates 18 years on PC with double XP, a returning weapon, and store items on May 20
It's time to mark another anniversary as PlanetSide 2 will celebrate 18 years of the original multiplayer shooter's release with a new update that features some in-game goodies. Top of the list is a double XP event that will run between May 20th and May 23rd, while the original NS Scorpion rocket launcher will also […]
Book of Travels previews its explorer-oriented spell reagent system
If you thought Book of Travels would retreat with its tail between its legs after admitting last week that it would be delaying its early access launch for the second time, you were very much mistaken. Might and Delight has a new dev blog up homing in on regents – yes, regs, reags, reggies, whatever […]
So Mythic Quest is a TV show about a fictional MMO studio – how well does it represent actual MMO issues?
As an avid MMO gamer and big fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I was extremely excited to watch Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet when it released last year. The idea that we might get a TV show with some major talent that may also represent MMO and gamer culture in a positive way was […]
Lord of the Rings Online's Fall of Khazad-dûm raid and update 30 class balancing are now in testing
Delays are behind it now: Lord of the Rings Online has opened up its test server with update 30 in tow as promised, so you can copy over your toon and give it a whirl. The update includes the 12-man Fall of Khazad-dûm raid, a handful of housing and quest tweaks, and of course, class […]
Perfect Ten: Everything in MMOs that is pay-to-win
I have stated before that I have a complex relationship with the term "pay-to-win." On the one hand, it tends to refer to something that isn't actually winning but is gaining some kind of advantage, which means that by definition it's kind of a ridiculous term to be using in the first place. On the […]
Overwatch celebrates five years as Heroes of the Storm finally releases a hero-rework update
Blizzard's had its hands full with WoW Classic this week, but not so full that it hasn't been able to crank out content for some of its other games – including Overwatch and even Heroes of the Storm. Really. Overwatch is celebrating its fifth birthday (can you believe it's been five years because I cannot); […]
Preloading for Swords of Legends Online's first western beta has begun
If for some reason you're not all tuckered out from the absolute deluge of beta tests and launches we're having this May, then Swords of Legends Online would like to pencil you in for its beta too. Pre-downloading for this weekend's test event began last night, regardless of whether you're using Gameforge's client or the […]
Magic Legends' May update adds streamlining, newbie QOL, and monetization changes
Magic Legends is gearing up for a big beta update tomorrow, but before it drops, Perfect World and Cryptic have posted a dev blog to explain what's in it – and more importantly, why what's in it is in it. "The feedback from the majority of our open beta testers is that while the collection […]
Mike Morhaime's new company teams up with other ex-Blizzard studios for mutual support
The story of Blizzard's most notable leaders doesn't end the moment they walk out of that studio's doors forever. For example, former Blizz president Mike Morhaime is up to some pretty big stuff over at his new company, Dreamhaven — stuff that includes partnerships with other studios run by Blizzard's former devs. In a post […]
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey launches today on PC after an 11 hour-long maintenance
Today is the day that Commanders in Elite: Dangerous can climb out of their spaceships, stretch their space legs, and gain feeling in their space butts again. The Odyssey expansion is releasing today on PC, though it will do so after an estimated 11 hour maintenance window that started at 3:00 a.m. EDT today. As […]
WoW Classic's Burning Crusade pre-patch was held hostage by player mail
If you were one of the many hoping to jump into the first minutes of the Burning Crusade Classic era of WoW Classic last night, undoubtedly you experienced a whole lot of frustration at a maintenance window that grew longer and longer… and longer. In fact, it wasn't until the wee hours of this morning […]
The Daily Grind: What should Guild Wars 2 do beyond Cantha?
I know that a whole lot is riding on Guild Wars 2 sticking the landing for End of Dragons. It's not just that Cantha is one of the most-requested destinations for the MMO; it's the fact that the recent content offerings haven't been blockbuster affairs and the studio really needs a huge hit to restore […]
The Stream Team: Hatching Guild Wars 2 griffon eggs
After scouring the lands for griffon eggs in Guild Wars 2, Massively OP's MJ is ready to deliver them to the roosting griffons so they can be cared for and hatched. And once all that is completed, she'll be able to glide through the skies with her own feathered friend. Join us live at 8:00 […]
Which Star Wars Galaxies rogue server is for you? Here's the best list we've seen
The MMORPG rogue server industry is booming lately, you might have noticed, particularly for much-loved MMOs that were sunset for dumb reasons in the first place – and that includes Star Wars Galaxies. Just this month, we've been covering the Bespin expansion for SWG Legends and the impending launch of SWG Restoration III coming up […]
Survival management game Siege Survival: Gloria Victis officially launches
What would you do if you were responsible for managing a keep and its people during a siege? You can now more accurately answer that question thanks to Siege Survival: Gloria Victis, the standalone game set in the universe of sandbox MMORPG Gloria Victis that sees players trying their best to keep themselves alive long […]
Path of Exile promises its graphical improvement patch is coming this week
There isn't a way for Path of Exile to fix every graphical and display issue the game has with a single patch, but the team is certainly hoping to make some notable headway with the game's next major patch that's due out in the very near future. The officialy notes specify that the game will now […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 322: New World, old problems
Justin and Bree discuss New World, FFXIV Endwalker, WoW Classic's backtrack, and City of Heroes streaming, with adventures in WoW, New World, and SWG Legends, plus mailbag topics on guild housing and MMO economies.
Guild Wars 2 starts its return to Living World Season 2 on May 25
The overall Guild Wars 2 story has been moving through a lot of Living World content since the game's initial launch, and so it's possible you might have missed certain installments along the way. Considering that all of this is pretty important to understanding where the game is now, it can be a bit of a problem. […]
The Elder Scrolls Online confirms that the 12-person group limit is about performance
Some people are not terribly happy about the 12-player group limit in The Elder Scrolls Online for understandable reasons. It makes anything you'd want to do with more people pretty well impossible, including more social experiences like housing tours. So what's the reasoning behind it? A lot of players had speculated that it was based on […]
MMO Business Roundup: Discord, Ubisoft, Twitch, WB Games, Starfield, and more
Welcome back to another quick roundup of MMO- and MMO-adjacent games industry news! First, let's talk about Clyde. He's got a bit of a makeover. Discord: The platform that pretty much everyone in the western world uses for organized gaming is seeing a birthday and a branding overhaul this week. The company has changed up its […]
GTA Online and Red Dead Online unveil new content updates as GTA Online arrives to PS5 and Xbox X/S on November 11
Rockstar dropped a big 'ol announcement from the top rope onto fans of both Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online, unveiling some new content for each game's multiplayer open worlds and confirming a launch on the current crop of consoles for GTA. In GTA Online, players can look forward to eight new stunt […]
The Stream Team: Taking care of Star Trek Online's Tholian Trouble
The Tholians have brought more trouble to Star Trek Online. This time, they are launching a two-pronged attack: capturing a Romulan flotilla in the Azure Nebula and assaulting the the Vault. Massively OP's MJ is joining in the rescue efforts and to neutralize the Tholain threat. Tune in live at 1:00 p.m. to take on […]
NCsoft Q1 2021 financials: Overall revenues are down 30%, but Guild Wars 2 is perking up
NCsoft is not having the best couple of quarters. According to the company's first quarter 2021 report, its revenue has fallen 30% compared to this quarter last year, which was clearly buoyed a bit by last year's lockdowns and massive mobile launches in the preceding period. How about some good news, then? Guild Wars 2's […]
Casually Classic: Fondly looking back at World of Warcraft's Burning Crusade beginner zones
Whenever discussion about Burning Crusade turns to which zones players like the best, it's almost always focused solely on the seven additional Outland regions (for the record, I'm a big Zangarmarsh fan). But let's not forget that when Blizzard released this pack back in 2007, it came with 11 zones, as four new areas were […]
World of Warcraft: Classic launches The Burning Crusade pre-patch today
Today's the day for WoW Classic players to start leveling their Blood Elves and Draenei because the game's pre-patch ahead of The Burning Crusade is going live today. That means the two new races are available for players to make and play, along with all of the talent and mechanical changes going live, with two weeks […]
Flameseeker Chronicles: The disappointing second half of Guild Wars 2's Icebrood Saga
Welcome to part two of this overview of Guild Wars 2's The Icebrood Saga. Last time, I talked about how the first half of this Saga was largely about readjusting expectations. Not so much about disappointments, but about feeling out what was and wasn't going to be included in this new brand of Living World […]
EVE Online adjusts nullification and warp core stabilizers, tests a tool to counteract cloaked campers
Capsuleers of EVE Online that like to be sneaky out in space are going to want to take notice of some changes to the game. The latest update has made changes to nullification and warp core stabilizers, turning them from passive features in certain ships to active modules that run for a very short time […]
Elite Dangerous adds further clarity on what features players of Odyssey and Horizons can and can't share
Earlier this month, the devs of Elite: Dangerous announced that PC players of the game would not be able to share the same instance with friends if one player owns Odyssey and the other owns Horizons. Apparently, it wasn't quite so black-and-white as that, as Frontier Developments have put out a new forum post that […]
Ashes of Creation drops verbal NDA, triggering deluge of public tester feedback
Ashes of Creation may have delayed its Alpha One test until later this summer, but the upcoming MMO isn't surrendering its voice until then. In fact, Intrepid Studios lifted the verbal NDA for the May alpha test, allowing players to talk about — but not show — their experiences in the game. Probably the biggest […]
Lord of the Rings Online starts testing Update 30's 12-player raid
Oh, Azog, will you never change? That long-running adversary is a naughty chap indeed in need of stern discipline. A preview of that spanking is happening this week, as Lord of the Rings Online is testing Update 30 on the Bullroarer server. While there are some balance changes and other adventures to check out with […]
The Daily Grind: Do you play MMOs as the designers intended, or do you go your own way?
Today's Daily Grind topic comes courtesy of MOP's resident meme-maker, Schlag Sweetleaf, who urged me to write about this after the piece we did on the player-organized Crashcog Cup in World of Warcraft, which relied entirely on player "dungeon masters" to guide the race along. In other words, it was basically players looking at the […]
Final Fantasy XIV puts out a survey about the digital fan festival experience
This year's Final Fantasy XIV Digital Fan Festival was a new thing for the game to try. It was filled with a lot of stuff, including big reveals of new content and big emotional reveals that made everyone cry on stage. And now Square-Enix wants to know how it worked for you with a new survey […]
The Stream Team: Another Path of Exile Atlas run
Even with new Path of Exile leagues every three months, Massively OP's MJ can't help but look back longingly on many of her previous characters. (OK, Witches. And a Ranger!) So she has to break away and go back to standard once in a while. Today is that once. There is much more of the […]
Leafling is an indie 2-D action MMORPG that hopes to provide 'a nostalgic, old school RPG feeling'
This one crossed our news desk by way of a call for other players on Reddit. It's called Leafling, and it's a 2-D action MMORPG styled in a 16-bit aesthetic that wants to "deliver a nostalgic, old school RPG feeling" while also providing some modern gameplay beats. Leafling comes from the team at Celtaria Productions […]
Profane talks about the Primordial Elements of Life and Instinct
Yep, it's another tweet thread from Profane all about its in-development game's systems. This time we have a look at Primordial Elements — magic by any other name. The elements showcased in the thread are Life and Instinct. Life, as one would expect, can be a beneficent force that can heal or restore someone from […]
Netmarble announces release plans for several mobile titles, including new MMOs
For those out there that get their gaming through mobile (and there a lot of them out there, whether any of us wants to admit it or not), there's a lot of good news coming out of Netmarble. The publisher has put out an announcement confirming several game release windows, all of which are mobile […]
Final Fantasy XI celebrates 19 years and promises new job progression and storage options
It's been 19 years since Final Fantasy XI first launched, and yet the game is still going strong with an update cadence the envy of titles not in alleged maintenance mode. Producer Akihiko Matsui took the opportunity to pen a thank-you letter to the community, noting once again that a big part of why the game has […]
Dungeons and Dragons Online will also end support of Windows XP
In news that will likely be not all that surprising considering Standing Stone Games already confirmed this move for LOTRO, the devs of Dungeons and Dragons Online have announced that support of the Windows XP operating system will also be ending, specifically on Wednesday, July 21st. For those who are affected by this change and […]
RuneScape starts spooling hype for the next Elder God Wars chapter, promises to grant wishes soon
When you wish upon a star in Gielinor, Jagex will eventually hear you. For realsies. That's part of RuneScape's weekly newsletter content, which confirms that the devs will be granting wishes as part of promised recompense for login server issues soon. These wishes will be locked inside of a Guardian's Gift that will be distributed […]
The Elder Scrolls Online characters can now be found in the Call to Arms miniature tabletop war game
Care to have a little bit of The Elder Scrolls Online in your meatspace? How about as part of a tabletop miniature war game? That's precisely what's being offered with the launch of a new set of miniatures that integrates characters from the MMORPG's cinematic trailers into the Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms tabletop minis […]
Lord of the Rings Online resets neglected account passwords
For those of you who haven't logged into your Lord of the Rings Online account for quite a while, the next time you head back into the MMO, you're going to face a small obstacle. That's because Standing Stone Games announced that it's resetting all passwords for accounts that haven't been touched for two years […]
Roblox is now referring to its 'games' as 'experiences' in light of Epic v Apple trial arguments
It would appear that Roblox is undergoing something of a branding shift, the timing of which is interesting to say the least. Apparently, the game has silently started to change parts of its verbiage, renaming "game" to "experience" and renaming the "Games" tab of the browser to "Discover" instead. According to a Roblox spokesperson, this […]
First impressions: Even in beta, New Genesis is the quantum leap forward the aging Phantasy Star Online 2 needed
Now this… this is more like it. When I was last spending time with Phantasy Star Online 2, I found it to be a fun game that was mired in a whole bunch of old console MMORPG nonsense. All of the fun was buried in menus and poorly laid-out pathing. After my time with the […]
