MMO Week in Review: Aion Classic is a harsh reminder about monetization and modern nostalgia servers
Aion Classic raised all the eyebrows this week when it launched with a subscription with what is arguably an economic pay-to-win feature baked right into it. It's not entirely clear what if anything will be done by NCsoft to rectify the situation, but it's worth reminding game companies that the people who want a return […]
Astroneer's Jet-Powered update flies into the game with new aerial vehicles
Remember when I first wrote about the Jet-Powered update coming to Astroneer and how it was a big deal because hoverboards? Now that the update is fully live, I can say I stand fully corrected, as the update's other highlight feature — the VTOL vehicle — is even better. And that's all thanks to an […]
The MOP Up: Ultima Online welcomes Treasures of Wildfire
A new event has arrived on Ultima Online's Origin server, bringing with it story and collections galore. Hey, it's something new to do during these summer months! "Following the defeat of Holmes' abomination and the freeing of master artisan Yukio a new an enigmatic figure has emerged – Elidyr," Broadsword announced. "A spellweaver from centuries […]
Swords of Legends Online offers a list of social features to help players come together
Obviously, MMORPGs are better with friends, and while Swords of Legends Online has its fair share of solo-focused themepark questing, there are also a number of social features on offer that hope to get people playing together. Obviously there's a chat system to use and an alliance (guild) system that opens up at level 10, […]
The Stream Team: On the hunt for Cocoons in Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis
Every once in a while, the main quests in PSO2: New Genesis stop and the hunt for character power starts. This means earning levels, fighting monsters, getting resources and gear, and earning skill points in Cocoons — training areas that are littered around the map. Join MOP's Chris today at 12:00 p.m. EDT as he […]
Guild Wars 2 players are celebrating Pride in-game and raising funds for charity this evening
This past weekend is seeing another Pride event being run by the players of Guild Wars 2, and while yesterday's festivities have already come and gone, there's still one more day remaining for the event, kicking off today, June 27th, at 5:00 p.m. EDT for NA players. The festivities will be held this evening at […]
One Shots: Skimming the surface
It's great to see some very pretty pictures trickle in from Swords of Legends Online, but that's not going to stop my eye from twitching every time that I have to write a double plural like that. It's not the worst import MMO title, but… it's up there. In any case, Bereman was having a […]
The Daily Grind: What sort of character options do you gravitate toward in a new MMO?
Look, I consider myself a simple person with straightforward tastes. Give me a new MMO and I am going to go for dual-wielding swords. I like physical classes. I like hacking things apart. I like a little bit of magic sprinkled in there, you know, as a treat. If you give me that as an […]
Make My MMO: Fractured's team is doubling in size thanks to what sounds like new investment
This week in crowdfunded MMOs, MMO sandbox Fractured explained why it's not kept pace with its roadmap, but fortunately, it's all good news: The game's development team is doubling in size, thanks to what at least sounds like fresh investment into the game and the company. Meanwhile, Dual Universe previewed its VFX, TitanReach previewed Glimmermore, […]
Star Stable frolics in the Midsummer Festival and posts its summer road map
As summer soaks into the bones of human and equine alike, Star Stable has a full raft of events and updates to keep the long days full of joy and fun. The studio posted a colorful — if bare-bones — roadmap for the month ahead. Coming up for the game are some riding club updates, […]
Ashes of Creation shows off new areas, new outfits, and passive skills in livestream
Like clockwork, the folks at Intrepid Studios have put together another Ashes of Creation development livestream that's full of previews, updates, and other nuggets for fans of the developing PvP MMORPG. Jumping right into the good stuff, the stream shares a roughly eight minute-long gameplay video from a ruined mage's keep, featuring a look at […]
Neverwinter's upcoming Adventure system promises a streamlined questing experience
Some of the biggest bullet points of Neverwinter's Module 21 update are obviously the new Bard class and the major level squish, but there's one other feature that's important for players of the MMORPG to take note of as well: the Adventure system For all intents and purposes, the Adventure system is a quest log […]
The Game Archaeologist: Anarchy Online, from launch to now
July 27th 2001. On this date, Funcom pulled the trigger on Anarchy Online, launching it in North America with a planned release in Europe a couple of months later. Almost instantly, the game and its support infrastructure buckled and broke under the demand of the 35,000 or so subscribers who ponied up money for this experience. […]
New World wraps up its world tour with Shattered Mountain
With a name like "Shattered Mountain," you kind of know what you're getting into already. It's going to be less of a vacation at a ski resort and more of a terrifying trip through stone, evil, and perhaps a drive-through at Arby's. In New World's final stop on its video tour around Aeternum, the studio […]
WRUP: Come home to a bagel edition
My bagel loves me! This is incorrect. Bagels are not capable of love. Bagels feel only one emotion: contempt. My cat loves bagels! This is correct. Your cat loves bagels. If you do not currently own a cat, purchase one from an animal shelter. There are a variety of cats there which require your love. […]
The Daily Grind: What MMO class sings to you the most?
The other day I was watching a video in which the commenter noted that players should pick a class "that sings to you the most." I loved that turn of phrase because it really cuts to the core of why we tend to like some classes over others. It may very well not be the […]
Betawatch: Swords of Legends Online launches on July 9
It is generally poor form to have the same game get the Betawatch header two weeks in a row, but here we are highlighting Swords of Legends Online as the game is moving out of testing and into the choppy waters of launch on July 9th! That was fast! Feels like it just got here. […]
Vampire survivalbox V Rising highlights its gothic-horror atmospheric feel
Hey, remember V Rising? It's Stunlock Studios' upcoming multiplayer survival sandbox – yeah, the Battlerite folks. The vampire-themed title just got a new dev blog this week focused on the gothic-horror art direction and setting, which is quite different from the cartoony look of Battlerite. "V Rising is a dark and atmospheric vampire-themed game viewed […]
Siege Survival Gloria Victis updates with The Lost Caravan scenario
Siege Survival: Gloria Victis, the survival spinoff off MMORPG Gloria Victis, was fully released only a month ago, but it's already got a big update in store for players. While the press release calls it a content expansion and a DLC, The Lost Caravan is actually a free scenario for game owners. "The new scenario […]
Final Fantasy XI brings back Celestial Nights starting on July 1
Good news, Final Fantasy XI players! Celestial Nights return once more on July 1st, and players can talk to one of the moogles in the three major cities to start the event. What's that? You want to know more about the event, like how to participate or what the rewards will be or what you […]
MMO Business Roundup: EA's executive compensation, Facebook's Oculus shenanigans, KRAFTON's IPO
Welcome back to another quick roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news! Electronic Arts is still awful: Remember how EA shareholders voted against its compensation plan – by a large majority – in 2020? It's responded with a new compensation plan, which lowers pay for some executives, though not for CEO Andrew Wilson, who will […]
Secret World Legends begins official fourth anniversary event, intends to honor HolloPoint in-game
When we first reported on the community's intention to celebrate the fourth anniversary of Secret World Legends themselves without active support by Funcom, we were bummed that it was a sad commentary on the game's overall state. Fortunately, Funcom is having an official anniversary on top of the player-run MEGAversary 4. The reveal post does […]
Shroud of the Avatar's Release 91 introduces crates as daily questgivers
The crates are talking to you in Shroud of the Avatar. Whispering desires into your ear. Compelling you to complete their tasks and promising great rewards in the process. Don't think about how. Don't question why. Just do as the crates command. Do it. Do it. That's right, the sandbox MMORPG's latest release introduces Storehouse […]
Anarchy Online celebrates 20th birthday with new dev retrospective and video
Last week, we covered some of the initial events Funcom was rolling out for Anarchy Online fans to celebrate its 20th birthday. As of today, the studio has done quite a bit more, with a full retrospective on the game, including the Walk Down Memory Lane video. "In its infancy, Anarchy Online began development in […]
Pokemon Go Fest 2021 brings back most legendaries plus new raid achievements
Remember how we reported on Pokemon Go's next Go Fest's reveal, but we had only Day 1 and general information? Well, Niantic's Released Day 2's raid info and new details on raid achievements (out now), awarding an achievement showcased for dealing the most damage or just having the tallest pokemon. Before we break this down, I will […]
Fallout 76 previews season 5 and everything happening in-game this summer
Fallout 76 is gearing up for the Steel Reign update in just a couple more weeks – and that means players are about to embark on a new season to boot. Season 5 promises new post-rank-100 challenges, new legendary gear and cores, power armor displays, power armor paint, new weapon skins, and a washer and […]
The Soapbox: Abusing MMO community reps over design decisions is not only toxic but futile
Recently, an online video game community rep was run off Twitter by "fans." The CM's fellow game dev shared how upset she was that said employee friend had been harassed. It's sadly not uncommon in our industry – and it needs to stop. Social media brings down the barrier between game developers and fans. When […]
Magic Legends ramps up enemy encounters, improves performance, and fixes bugs in latest patch
Having all of those spell cards and no enemies to use them on makes Planeswalkers in Magic Legends very sad puppies indeed. Luckily, those frowns can turn upside-down with the ARPG's latest patch, which promises an increase to encounters in story missions and ordeals throughout the game. Look at how gleefully those mages unleash explosive […]
WoW Factor: Would you like to take a survey?
All right. Yes, I know that World of Warcraft is finally releasing its first major patch for Shadowlands on June 29th. That's a thing to talk about. That should be a big deal. But I'm sorry, that somehow managed to be dwarfed this week by the fact that the developers made a hash out of […]
Dual Universe is officially part of the GeForce NOW games library (but you still need to pay a sub to play it)
Raise your hand if you want to pay for a sub to access a games service and then pay a sub to access one of that service's games. That's partially what's being offered by Dual Universe as the game has officially announced that it's
Star Citizen previews alpha 3.14 features, Orison landing zone, and Railen cargo ship
The latest weekly video from Star Citizen — and the last for the spring quarter — is wholly devoted to alpha 3.14, starting off the first half by talking extensively about the new Orison landing zone and how the devs came up with the area's design aesthetic, from visuals to lighting to cloud tech to […]
Project Gorgon talks Vampirism, player housing, mounts, Orcs, and new hires
Indie sandbox Project Gorgon is exactly a month out from its big May update, which added an optional subscription and perks like an offline leveling system to go with it. So what is it up to now? Transparency. Elder Game has posted a big dev blog answering the top community questions in what sounds as […]
NCsoft acknowledges pay-to-win uproar in Aion Classic, doesn't believe candy is an exploit
Aion's forums are absolutely raging about the Daeva pass and its candy problem afflicting Aion Classic, as we noted yesterday. NCsoft hasn't directly addressed the outcry, but at least one member of the community team has been engaging with players and bringing feedback back to the dev team, which seemingly hasn't made a decision about […]
The Daily Grind: Are you picking anything up in the Steam Summer Sale?
Steam's summer sale is upon us once again, this time with a bit of a choose-your-adventure theme. Steam always has a summer sale right ahead of the 4th of July, and yet it startled me anyway since it feels like we just had a sale at Memorial Day, and of course we did and the […]
Massively Overthinking: What class is missing from your favorite MMO?
I've been obsessed with Albion Online the last few weeks – it really feels so much like Ultima Online to me. Ultima Online but better! And yet it's still missing a few things. I really want to play a bard so badly. That was one of my two favorite things to do in old and […]
Frozen Flame adds rams, killable Titans, and new magic with its most recent patch
Here's the bad news about the Titans in Frozen Flame: Their mechanics and loot drops are still very much a work in progress. But here's the good news: You can definitely kill them with the game's most recent patch. Yes, these gigantic weapons once used for defensive purposes are now decidedly in the "killable" category, […]
Craftopia introduces a pet system, firearms, and 'the concept of the chunk' in latest update
Just as promised, the multiplayer survival sandbox of Craftopia has released another broad and diverse content update that includes the addition of pets, guns, and "the concept of the chunk," which we hasten to point out is different from the concept of the chonk. So just what is a chunk in Craftopia? It effectively is […]
Conan Exiles adds character copy tools, modder quality-of-life extension
Modder friends, today's Conan Exiles update some goodies for you: Funcom's 2.4.6 update today adds improved data table merging. OK, that sounds really tame, but trust me when I say this is a big deal. The team has also implemented character transfers/copies (still in beta for Xbox). "[Patch 2.4.6] focuses on addressing many reported issues, […]
World of Tanks adjusts HE shells and SPG mechanics, War Thunder adds new vehicles and better nuclear blasts
We've got another round of updates for the various multiplayer military vehicle battle games in our genre's sphere to report on. Specifically, World of Tanks and War Thunder are getting some adjustments, updates, or new content to make firing heavy ordinance at one another that much better. In World of Tanks, update 1.13 focuses on […]
Blizzard clarifies that new Legendaries in World of Warcraft's next patch will have sockets automatically
All right. So here's the situation. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is adding a new socketing system for Shards of Domination starting in patch 9.1, Chains of Domination. That's fine. These slots will always be available on very specific pieces of gear. (That's good!) But some of those pieces of gear may already have been crafted […]
Lord of the Rings Online's two new progression servers launch June 30
Not even two weeks ago, Standing Stone Games took the wraps off two new progression servers for Lord of the Rings Online, and as of this afternoon, we have a hard date for their launch: June 30th. The news came via a Tweet from the studio this afternoon. As MOP readers already know, these two […]
Secret Worlds Legends' player-run MEGAversary 4 radio show will pay tribute to HolloPoint
Yesterday saw the Secret World Legends community celebrate the game's legacy with the start of the player-run MEGAversary 4 anniversary event, but the event was also marked by tragedy as beloved community leader HolloPoint passed away last week. In honor of him and the game, Quantum State Radio will once more be running its usual […]
Crowfall posts a recap on its steps ahead to the launch on July 6
Attention, Crowfall fans: The game's beta has ended. Of course, if you bought the game, that's really more like trivia than anything else, as you can continue to play away until the game's official launch on July 6th. A new post on the game's Kickstarter page outlines the steps and changes coming to the game […]
Elyon teases experience curve rebalance coming in August's closed beta test
KRAFTON is back with another update on the state of Elyon as we press onward to the second closed beta test in August. "With our second Closed Beta Test, we want you to be able to play a more updated version," the studio says. "So we will bring you a build that is much closer to […]
Warhammer Return of Reckoning begins its Ranked Season 2 next week
Warhammer Online's Return of Reckoning rogue server has been teasing its second ranked season over the last few weeks, and now it's almost here. Come June 28th, the summer season leaderboards are live, as are their rewards – everything from armor and mounts to trophies and cloaks. The season-accompanying patch also buffs matchmaking and the […]
ArcheAge Unchained hands out a stuffed cow sheriff in latest ArchePass as the Freedom Festival returns
There's a new sheriff in town. A new cowboy. Who also happens to be a cow boy. That's the primary feature of ArcheAge Unchained's latest ArchePass offering, which includes Billy the Moo, a sheriff cow plushie battle pet that does things like taunts enemies, buffs attack, defense, and magic defense, and throws milk bottles at […]
EverQuest II begins Scorched Sky festival this weekend, PlanetSide 2 unveils the Chimera
"Scorched Sky" – is it the weather report for today or EverQuest II's summer festival? Hey, why not both? I'm not sorry. But yep, the festival returns for EQII players this weekend, beginning Friday afternoon and running through July 8th. New additions for 2021 will apparently include new feats, new loot, a new flying mount, […]
Lost Ark sets the scene of the game's world with its lore-filled landing page
Nine times out of 10, the only motivation one needs to play a multiplayer ARPG is "bad enemies explode good and give shiny," and that's totally fine, but Amazon Games would like to direct your attention to the story section of the official Lost Ark website. In synopsis, the game's universe consists of two worlds […]
EVE Online tests out some new color filters, EVE Echoes introduces exploration
Both EVE Online and EVE Echoes are seeing some new things introduced to their respective games. In EVE Online, there's a new test build on Singularity that seeks to bring a little more vibrancy to the game's visuals by way of shader adjustments and lighting changes in order to "remove the grey" from the game's […]
Starborne dev announces new sci-fi MMORPG called Starborne Frontiers
MMO players know Starborne: Sovereign Space as a space MMORTS, but if you wanted something more MMORPG-like, then I have good news for you, as Iceland-based indie dev Solid Clouds just announced a new game in the same universe that fits the pure MMORPG category. It's called Starborne: Frontiers, and the studio bills it as […]
