RuneScape releases the next quest in its year-long Elder God Wars storyline on PC and mobile

Today sees RuneScape take yet another step in the year-long Elder God Wars questline. The City of Senntisten quest has officially launched, arriving to both PC and mobile players of the MMORPG, and bringing with it the promise of a wealth of challenges and rewards. "The Elder God Wars is a year-long epic saga that […]

EA is testing transparent lockboxes in a FIFA game

Remember two years ago when the ESA announced an optional new policy for the US games industry that would theoretically encourage games companies to catch up with the then-already-present trend to disclose the odds of items hidden in gambleboxes, lootboxes, and lockboxes? We were all pretty skeptical that anything would ever come of it, since […]

Elyon recaps its first closed beta and plans its second for mid-August

The first closed beta phase for Elyon has passed, and the team is now recapping how that test went and what player feedback was like. One of the first things that the developers noticed was that there was a significant faction imbalance in favor of the Ontari, which is something that the second closed beta […]

Not So Massively: First impressions of Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance

I'll admit I had low expectations for the new co-op action game Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance. The graphics looked a bit dated, and the trailers made it seem a pretty campy. But I play a heroic amount of D&D IRL, and I like action games, so how bad could it be? "How bad could […]

Six months later, Sony is finally putting Cyberpunk 2077 back on the PlayStation store

When Cyberpunk 2077 crashed and burned at launch last Christmas, one of the more surprising side-effects was Sony's decision to not just refund purchases but pull the game from the PlayStation storefront altogether. That decision has held for just a hair over six months now, and CD Projekt Red even cited it as a reason […]

Wisdom of Nym: Things to do in Final Fantasy XIV while you're waiting for Endwalker

At the time I am writing this sentence, there are 151 days until Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker kicks off early access. That's not all that many! That's also a very, very long time. Especially considering that up until this year, we'd currently be staring down the expansion coming out in just a couple weeks at […]

Obituary: Prominent Secret World Legends community leader HolloPoint

I'm sorry to report some devastating news out of the Secret World Legends community today: Prominent community member Mark "HolloPoint" Innes has apparently passed away. The news comes via his friends on the official forums and the Zero Point Report twitter feed. If the name HolloPoint sounds familiar, it should. In fact, we recently joked […]

Legends of Aria dev Citadel Studios will publish CODEX, a 'seasonal shared world adventure' MMO

It would appear that Citadel Studios, the developers of sandbox MMORPG Legends of Aria, has its fingers in a new pie. Readers will recall that the studio announced it was making a multiplayer Viking-themed survival RPG known as The End, and now there's word of the company entering the publishing realm with the announcement of […]

Blizzard surveys World of Warcraft players about their Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker intentions

"A rising tide raises all ships," or so the axiom goes, which is appropriate when one considers how healthy competition is between bigger MMORPGs. And while it's made very clear that there's no animosity-filled feud between Final Fantasy XIV and World of Warcraft (and people should stop beating tribal war drums over it), it's very […]

Lost Ark KR showcases the Sorceress class and some summertime fun in a preview video

Now that we know for certain that the MMOARPG Lost Ark will be heading to the west this fall, preview footage and announcements from the Korean version of the game have a little bit more excitement to them. While we're all going to likely miss out on the contents of this summer update from Korea, […]

World of Warcraft fan animator releases a video that summarizes the current player experience

Are you ready to have your heart torn out by a cute animation, World of Warcraft fans? That seems to be the wide reaction to a recent video released by YouTuber Carbot, who readers will recall is widely renowned for his wide variety of Blizzard game cartoons, including the WowCraft series; he even made an […]

Lord of the Rings Online Q&A talks classic server, progression servers, and legendary item revamp

Lord of the Rings Online's newest producer happily sat down into the hot seat this past weekend for a round of community questions and answers posed to him on the forums. While Raninia said that he couldn't announce upcoming dates, he was more than game to talk about a variety of subjects including cosmetic slots, […]

The Daily Grind: Do you like PvP battlegrounds in MMOs?

I know it's cool to hate on battlegrounds in MMOs, but I kinda don't. I cut my teeth on scrappy open-world gankbox PvP, and then eventually migrated through an RvR phase and TEF PvP before landing on a PvP server for that big game everyone played. And… well open PvP there sucked; it was basically […]

MMO Week in Review: WoW's Chains of Domination and Black Desert's Corsair

Topping off the MMORPG headlines this week was the news that World of Warcraft has finally picked a date for patch 9.1, Chains of Domination: June 29th. So you haven't got long to wait now, though at this point, y'all will have waited over 200 days. Meanwhile, Heidel Ball saw the announcement of the Corsair […]

Diablo III's upcoming Ethereals season is available for testing on PTS

For those who still wish that Diablo III was more like Diablo II, you might want to hop into the game's PTS and kick the tires of the latest season, which is bringing back Diablo II's Ethereal items. The PTS opened this past Thursday as announced, offering up the seasonal return of Ethereals along with […]

The MOP Up: Rogalia says goodbye, farewell, and amen

It may not have been an MMO you heard of — and that's the problem, because it seems like nobody else heard of Rogalia either. Because of this, the MMO sandbox announced that it has to close up shop by the end of July. "This has been a difficult decision but one that was coming," […]

Destiny 2's $85 toaster that was created thanks to charity donations is apparently not very good

Today in "weird-ass philanthropy" news, we take a look at Destiny 2: The Official Toaster. While that might read like a Spaceballs merch gag, there's a little story going on here. In June 2020 during a charity livestream to benefit St. Jude's Children's Hospitals, Bungie challenged its fans to raise $777,777.77 in exchange for the […]

Massively on the Go: Revisiting Star Wars Galaxy's Edge's ARG

A former coworker and I recently went to Disneyland, incidentally on the same day. We were talking about our days there, and she wondered whether the Disney Play app that contains the Galaxy's Edge Datapad AR game is worth getting for people who aren't into Star Wars. I thought about that for a moment and […]

Swords of Legends Online offers a video preview of fishing

It's been a pretty well established fact by this point that Swords of Legends Online is a game that loves to share videos, and while the videos published by this point have been primarily about combat, the latest one would like to reel that back and reel in some fish. The fishing preview video doesn't […]

One Shots: Bro just wants to hang

I think it's beyond unfair that because a creature or person is suffering from gigantism that they have to be pigeon-holed into the role of a raid or world boss. Sometimes giant monsters just want to hang, binge some Game of Thrones, and play fantasy football, you know? Maybe we can make friends with this […]

The Daily Grind: What do you do to be social in an MMO?

People have been saying to me for years that MMO are less social these days. I've never really understood why; I'm still as social as I ever was. But I think that's part of the equation right there. What you get out of a game is in some ways representative of what you put into […]

New World's Edengrove tempts you to take a bite of its apple

Who's ready for some sweet eye candy? New World continues to serve that sort of thing up in spades in its zone tour videos, the latest of which is up and featuring the gorgeous region of Edengrove. As the name implies, Edengrove is a bright and bustling northern zone with a garden theme (and a […]

Blade & Soul teases Dual-Blades class in new trailer

Blade & Soul certainly isn't hurting for character classes that wield a sword, or even classes that dual-wield, but what if there's a class that dual-wields swords? That's what's coming when the game releases its UE4-powered Revival update in the third quarter of this year: the rather on-the-nose Dual-Blades class. "The 14th class coming to […]

Lord of the Rings Online's Midsummer Festival has returned

Lord of the Rings Online's newest holiday, the Midsummer Festival, has returned for another bout of wedding-themed events. While Standing Stone Games isn't bringing back the Midsummer Hobbit Presents (this year, at least), the studio has introduced a whole bunch of pets, outfit pieces, steed cosmetics, housing decor, and even summer-themed musical instruments. If you […]

The Stream Team: The other side of ARK Genesis 2

One thing that is very different about ARK's Genesis 2 map compared to the previous ones is that it doesn't hide the fact it is a space ship hurtling through the universe. And that means the whole set up is quite different. In fact, the ship is separated into two very distinct sides. Massively OP's […]

Heidel Ball 2021: Black Desert announces summer season server, shows off new Corsair class

Earlier this morning, Black Desert held its digital Heidel Ball event, which was stuffed to the rafters with announcements and reveals. At the top of the list is the new Corsair class, which is arriving on June 29th and can be pre-created starting on June 23rd. As with other classes in BDO, this one has […]

Ship of Heroes calls one and all to its July beta event, postpones launch to 2022

Ship of Heroes isn't going to launch this year, fam, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to play it. In fact, the studio would like you to start getting read for a July summer beta event that will be free and open to everyone. This will be the first time that testers will […]

WRUP: It's only slightly used edition

Ah, I see what you have your eyes on. No, don't let yourself give up so quickly, look closer. The container is what's still holding it together, you see. It's been through quite a lot over its time here, but that doesn't mean there isn't still something ineffable about it, wouldn't you agree? Look here, […]

The Daily Grind: Do promotional server rulesets hurt or help MMO communities?

I was reading some interesting chatter on the Lord of the Rings Online forums following last week's announcement that SSG is rolling out two new progression servers (after closing an old one down). Some players are predictably excited about starting over and experiencing these faster and slower progression shards, but there was a bit of […]

The Stream Team: Taking on AQ3D's new Pyramid of Crocos Challenge

AQ3D is always adding to the game, and this latest content update unveiled the new Pyramid of Crocos Challenge. Massively OP's MJ is ready to test out the new mechanics in this continuation of the Sandsea story dungeon. Word is the all-new water breathing potions will come in handy! Along with a challenge and rewards, […]

Betawatch: Swords of Legends Online opens up the doors for everyone

Eager to try out Swords of Legends Online but haven't had any luck getting into the game's beta testing so far? No worries, now everyone can get in to test for a little while as part of the Steam Next Festival. So you can see what people are talking about, if you're so inclined. More […]

Battle Bards Episode 195: In the mountains

Attempting to summit the very best of MMO music, the Battle Bards head up, up, up into the mountains with this episode! What musical motifs do the ranges hold in online games? The crew of Steff, Syl, and Syp are going to try to find out — if the yeti doesn't eat them first! Battle […]

Warframe devs post schedule for this year's digital TennoCon 2021

You might have been bummed about Digital Extremes' April announcement that TennoCon 2021 would once again be an all-digital event instead of an in-person one, but take heart: You can watch all the Warframe goodies from the comfort of your couch. DE has posted a schedule of what to expect from this year's event, including […]

Blade & Soul: Revolution adds the Blade Dancer, the Blackram Supply Chain, and a new story act

Do you like the Blade Dancer in Blade & Soul but hate its relative lack of presence in a mobile version of the game? Good news, then! Blade & Soul: Revolution's most recent update has added the Blade Dancer into the mobile version, so now you can dance with sharp things to your heart's content […]

SMITE has added Morgan Le Fay to the roster and unveils a Stranger Things crossover for its July Battle Pass

It's one half Arthurian legend and one half the Upside Down in SMITE as the MOBA has made a couple of distinct reveals recently. First on deck is the Dark Enchantress update, which introduced the Arthurian villainess Morgan Le Fay this past Tuesday. Le Fay is a potent mage character that brings plenty of dark […]

SEED writes blogs about Seedling design and emotions, production gameplay, and delicious algae

Followers of the colony creation MMO SEED have borne witness to an absolute deluge of dev blogs out of the game over the past several days, but if you happen to have missed out on any of them, allow us to do a quick rundown of the past six(!) posts. First, we get a look […]

Grab a closed beta key for Gamigo's new MOBA, Skydome

If you've missed out on Skydome's stress test this month, then you're in luck: We've got keys to get you into the ongoing closed beta even after the stress test closes this weekend. Readers will recall that Skydome is Gamigo's latest title; it's a 4v4 multiplayer hybrid MOBA/tower defense title that's expected to hit early […]

Life Beyond unveils plans to introduce MMORPG-like roles in the near future

It's time to once again bring another MMO title that might have fallen off of the radar back into focus. This time around, we're circling back to Life Beyond, the SpatialOS-powered survival MMO being developed by French studio Darewise, the same studio behind the other space survival title ROKH that saw development stall in 2018. […]

Whatever happened to Atlas Rogues?

We all sort of collectively realized that we hadn't really looked back at Atlas Rogues, the PvE co-op rogue-lite respawning of the original turn-based team PvPer Atlas Reactor. Our last report on the game was about a patch that arrived in January, while our first impressions piece found the initial early access release to be […]

Rumor: IO Interactive's Microsoft-backed Project Dragon might be an MMO

Clever Redditors caught an interesting snippet from the Xbox Two podcast that portends some intriguing news for MMO players. Back in April, there were rumors floating around that IO Interactive's next game – Project Dragon – was going to be a Microsoft-backed fantasy RPG that took the studio in a totally new direction. It didn't […]

The Game Archaeologist: Anarchy Online, from development to beta

We all have stories of our very first MMORPG experiences, and the one that I often share is that my initial dip into this genre happened with Anarchy Online. I was intrigued at the scifi angle of this online MMO and already was fond of Funcom due to The Longest Journey, so I took my […]

Star Citizen outlines improvements to the Xenothreat event and offers a peek at the Ninetails event

If you're among those who believe that dynamic events in Star Citizen have room for improvement, know that folks in CIG agree with you. Thus, this week's episode of Inside Star Citizen talks about plans for improving the Xenothreat event; expect clearer objective details and informative dialogue, better friendly fire recognition and penalties, the opportunity […]

Swords of Legends Online offers a free limited-time demo on Steam

Steam Next Fest, the marketplace's big showcase of upcoming titles from a wide variety of genres, is being used as a platform for Swords of Legends Online to stir up some hype for itself. Between now and Tuesday, June 22nd, players can take a free peek at the upcoming martial arts MMORPG by way of […]

World of Warcraft's patch yields another cinematic… but there are more still encrypted ones to find

There's a new cinematic that's been discovered for World of Warcraft's upcoming patch 9.1, Chains of Domination. It's a spoiler. That much you can probably guess just from context. But what is contained within that's so spoilerific? Well, telling you that would just be more of a spoiler. Suffice it to say, though, that if […]

The Pokemon Unite MOBA launches on Switch in July and mobile in September

Even though the best tortoise tank won't be there at launch, Pokemon Unite will be releasing sometime in July 2021 on the Switch as a "free to start" game, followed by a mobile release sometime in September 2021. Don't worry if your friends have a Switch and you don't, as this will be a crossplay […]

Chronicles of Elyria talks rebuilding trust in backer Q&A as the consumer lawsuit continues

If talk could be spun into gameplay, then Chronicles of Elyria would be an impressive MMORPG these days. Unfortunately, talk is just that — talk — until results are seen, and in greater abundance than the recent video of Kingdoms of Elyria. In the meantime, the creator of the Elyria universe, Jeromy Walsh, fielded a whole […]

Fallout 76 devs preview this summer's Steel Reign storyline

Forget falling for uranium fever — investing in some serious steel is where it's at in 2021. At least that is the case for Fallout 76, as the post-apocalyptic RPG is in the midst of a Brotherhood of Steel story arc that began last year and is set to continue with July's big content update. […]

The Daily Grind: Should Bethsoft add multiplayer to Starfield?

Starfield is not going to be a multiplayer game, let's just say that upfront. Bethsoft's expertise is in single-player RPGs, if you ask me, and I can understand wanting to stick to what you're good at. With apologies to Fallout 76 fans, that game is probably the best example I can think of for why […]

The Stream Team: Making merry with Neverwinter Mindflayers

Massively OP's MJ is partying with the Mindflayers of Neverwinter's Underdark. And by partying, she means slaughtering them all (except for her personal minion, Ackbari) and foiling their evil designs in Whispering Caverns. Hey, it will be a fun and merry time for her assassin! Her path today leads her to entering the Iron Heart. […]

Massively Overthinking: Is 'layering' tech actually MMO community poison?

MOP reader ACuriousTanuki left a brilliant comment on a Palia article earlier this month that I thought deserved more discussion. Tanuki wondered about how the game reconcile instancing and layering with its plans for community, given similar situations in World of Warcraft where layering ensures that we seldom meet the same players twice. This isn't […]