Four Winds: MassivelyOP's guide to getting started in Swords of Legends Online
It's a strange trend whenever new MMOs launch that there's a deluge of tutorial videos on a bunch of topics but a shortage of written guides. Sometimes I just need a quick question answered without having to skip the 30-second intro and repeating the video a few times because the speaker was talking too fast. […]
Final Fantasy XIV posts Endwalker benchmark trailer
Let's be realistic: Anyone who can currently run Final Fantasy XIV is probably going to have no problem running Endwalker when it releases in November. The upcoming benchmark for the expansion is mostly something players look forward to for the hint of new job abilities, the character creator with new hairstyles and male Viera, and […]
WRUP: Reasons I knocked down the statue in the front of your yard edition
The homeowners association says "no statues" and I take those rules very seriously, up to and including renting construction equipment to knock over statues when it is necessary. History will vindicate me. The statue in question memorialized the 1984-1992 situation comedy Who's The Boss?, which is morally reprehensible to me and left me with no […]
The Daily Grind: What is the most annoying MMO music track in existence?
As a fan of MMO music, I'm always in tune (har!) with how particular tracks can add or detract from certain zones and cities. A great piece makes you feel at home, excited, or invigorated, while a bad track… well, we don't like the bad tracks. But those are the ones I want us to […]
Betawatch: Launchapalooza
After last week's rather dismal opening, it's nice to know that this week we get to celebrate two games leaving our list because they've both launched for real, no fooling, absolute launch version. Both Crowfall and Swords of Legends Online are now entering the wilds of a full launch, so hey! That's super neat and […]
Genshin Impact is bringing the city of Inazuma and its surrounding region on July 21
The world of Genshin Impact plans to have seven major cities but currently only two of them are accessible right now — Monstadt and Liyue. That's about to change on Wednesday, July 21st, when the city of Inazuma and the islands that are part of the area will become available to players. The new update, […]
Apex Legends kicks off its Thrillseekers event starting on July 13
Looking for a few thrills in Apex Legends above and beyond the normal thrills of dodging bullets and returning fire? The upcoming Thrillseekers event might be perfect for you, with the inclusion of a brand-new area map (Overflow) featuring distinct lanes and a whole lot of molten rock for players to deal with. It's dangerous […]
AdventureQuest 3D adds more to the Sandsea Saga while changing up boss rotations
Feel like having some meat between two pieces of bread? The idea might occur to you as you're playing through the content added with the latest update for AdventureQuest 3D, and that's entirely natural, as the newest part of the game's Sandsea Saga has you taking on the Sand Witch and our brains can only […]
Riot runs a huge multi-game summer event called Sentinels of Light
When you have a growing roster of games under your umbrella, why not take advantage of this fact to throw an ambitious multi-title event that spans the summer season? That's what Riot Games is thinking, at least, because it's just kicked off Sentinels of Light, a story-driven event that's popping up in all of its […]
The Stream Team: Party time for Trove's sixth birthday
Trove turned the big six today! The adorable game is ripe for fun festivities, and Massively OP's MJ is ready to party. Maybe she will even find all the six elements for the Trove birthday screenshot contest! Tune in live at 3:00 p.m. as Massively OP's Stream Team brings you… What: Trove Who: MJ Guthrie When: […]
Diablo III kicks off Season 24 with a throwback to its predecessor's Ethereal Weapons
This is probably not going to come as an enormous shock to anyone, but the team behind Diablo III also would like you to check out the re-release of Diablo II that's coming in September. This is part of the reason the main theme of the upcoming Season 24 starting on July 23rd will feature […]
KingsIsle actually updated Pirate101 with new content after a period in maintenance mode
Wizard101 and Pirate101 have had quite a year in 2021 already, what with KingsIsle being bought out by Gamigo's parent company and all. Not only did the new owners promise that KingsIsle would continue to update Wizard101 – which it did – but they also hinted that Pirate101 might get some love, after quite a […]
EVE Online has added an early test version of its Opportunities system for new characters
One of the most basic problems of starting new in EVE Online is simply dealing with the fact that there's a whole lot to do and the path from "finding out what you can do" to "figuring out how to do that reliably" isn't always clear. That's the goal of the Opportunities system, then: Give […]
Dual Universe highlights an asteroid tracker and a landing pad for character butts, holds a Q&A session
Walking around in the world of Dual Universe has got to be tiring, but up until now the only seat your poor avatar could have would be in the cockpit of whatever spacecraft you built or purchased. With the game's upcoming Apollo update, that's going to change with the intervention of the "chair surface element," […]
Ravendawn pegs first alpha phase to July 27 for top-end supporter pack buyers
Over the last few seasons, we've been keeping an eye on Ravendawn, a new MMORPG built on Open Tibia. It's meant as an homage to the art styles of classic isometric MMOs, but with a mix of modern mechanics. "Our mission with Ravendawn is to reignite a nostalgic isometric art style focusing on depth of […]
Lawful Neutral: Defining toxicity in the MMO industry
One of my earliest memories from World of Warcraft isn't really a positive one. It was in back in the Wrath days. My guild had just recruited a new member, who jumped into Ventrilo (heh) to hear us chat. One of my guildies was a woman. When this new member heard her speak over Vent, […]
Mortal Online 2 shares its new roadmap and answers questions about crafting, combat, and player politics
The devs of Mortal Online 2 have been pretty active recently, even without taking into account the sandbox's most recent content patch. Take for example a series of three Q&A videos from YouTuber Wolfszeit during the tail end of June, when Star Vault CEO Henrik Nyström fielded questions about a wide variety of topics. Here […]
The Game Archaeologist: Why 2008 was one of the wildest years for MMORPGs
In the relatively short history of MMORPGs so far, there have been a few years that I would say were watershed moments for the genres. And while I'm sure we could quibble over which year was the most significant, the one period of time that I keep coming back to in my mind as the […]
Star Citizen's June development report outlines work on alpha 3.14, standalone tools, and AI behaviors
As we slowly move through the early days of July, it's time for CIG to check in with the development report for June for Star Citizen. With alpha 3.14 making its way to the Persistent Universe soon, a lot of the month's tasks were in service of getting the update ready, with work on the […]
PSA: Final Fantasy XIV is hosting another two week-long free login campaign for lapsed accounts
If a lot of the recent buzz around Final Fantasy XIV has you itchy to return to Eorzea but you don't have the money for a subscription right now, then today is the start of your next lucky two weeks as the game has once again started a free login campaign, allowing lapsed players a […]
Swords of Legends has officially launched today – and it's already spun up a new server
It came all but out of nowhere this spring, and now it's live in the west: Gameforge's AAA MMORPG import Swords of Legends Online aka SOLO is up, out, and playable. "Based on the legends that inspired the multi-award-winning television series, several movies, novels, and a series of games including the recent MMORPG Gu Jian […]
'Non-traditional' DC Universe Online episode coming next month
When DC Universe Online's next patch arrives in August, don't expect the same-old, same-old. Daybreak is going a bit of a different way with Episode 41: House of Legends, billing it as a "non-traditional" update. "With this episode, we have taken a significant departure from the more traditional episode formats to focus on new features […]
The Daily Grind: How do you stay in touch with your MMO friends outside of the game?
For some people, the answer to the question asked in the header is very simple: "I don't." And that's totally valid. Some people make friends in a game and then treat those friendships as ultimately temporary. We're both here doing a thing for now and having fun, when we stop doing the thing we stop […]
Massively Overthinking: Which of the summer MMO launches captured your time and attention?
OK folks: We're in the thick of summer now, a summer that's seen an endless parade of MMO launches, mobile ports, expansions, classic servers, console ports, progression servers, major updates, and still some big launches left in the year. The big question is this: Did any of it actually capture your attention? Or did you […]
SEED's latest dev blogs discuss ghost homes, noisy neighbors, clouds, and persistence
It's becoming something of a regular task for us to keep pace with the deluge of dev blogs coming out of colony management MMO SEED, so in the interest of keeping up with that task as well as following along with the game's development, here are some of the latest posts: We first start off […]
Bungie Day 2021 is being marked with a charity drive, a free emblem, and a Destiny 2 preview event on August 24
Yesterday, July 7th, was the start of Bungie Day, the fan-crafted celebration that was born from the publisher/developer's fixation with the number seven, and this year's Bungie Day is promising plenty to celebrate especially in regards to the studio's looter shooter Destiny 2. Top of the list is word that there will be a preview […]
Conqueror's Blade begins its eighth season, this one focused on China's Tang Dynasty
MY.GAMES has pushed out a new season for hybrid action MMORTS Conqueror's Blade today as promised – its eighth to date. It's called Dynasty, and it offers a new map, new Pike weapon class, and new units, all set against the backdrop of historical Chinese warfare. "Inspired by the real history of the Tang Dynasty […]
The Cycle's next alpha opens up player quarters for the first time
We've had our eye on The Cycle since at least 2018 now – it's a PvEvP survival shooter MMO-like that was meant to hit Steam last year. It didn't. But it did get a new release window of Q3 this year, and this week, it opened sign-ups for another closed alpha (labeled as closed alpha […]
Sea of Thieves makes several updates to A Pirate's Life as the Flags of Friendship event is nearly ending
Have you been enjoying your time adventuring with the Pirates of the Caribbean crew in Sea of Thieves? Perhaps your experience will be a little more improved by the game's most recent patch, which primarily focuses on fixes and adjustments to the latest Tall Tale. These fixes range from smaller things like other crewmembers seeing […]
Final Fantasy XI launches a new website for its upcoming 20-year anniversary
It's not long now before Final Fantasy XI manages to hit its 20th anniversary. Sure, it's going to be a little while longer, but it's less than a year away. And to celebrate, the game has received a new special site entitled We Are Vana'diel. The bad news is that this particular site is (currently) […]
Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis continues its ninth anniversary with weekly events and contests
Did you think the initial anniversary goings-on in Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis were all that's happening? You'd be wrong, friend, because Sega has put out a special event website that has details on additional celebration events and contests. The prime attraction is a set of weekly challenges that task players with completing anniversary […]
Blade & Soul's Endless Night update adds the third Warlock spec and a new instance on July 14
Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. Take for instance the next incoming update to Blade & Soul, which is called Endless Night — we're pretty confident that this particular update won't have soft candy-colored sheep to snuggle and tea parties to manage. Though that would be nice, honestly. What this update will […]
Dauntless introduces Omnicells, the Heroic Escalation, and new battle pass in today's Heroes of Ostia update
Today marks the official launch of the latest Dauntless update, which is bringing with it a couple of new tools to let Slayers customize their playstyle thanks to the use of a new craftable item. The main feature of the Heroes of Ostia update is the addition of Omnicells, which are crafted items that allow […]
Elite Dangerous threatens to ban players over toxic behavior toward devs
Elite Dangerous has drawn a line in the sand on toxicity – toxicity against its staff, that is. Frontier's lead community manager, Arthur Tolmie, posted a missive to the forum telling players that while feedback on the game is fine, harassment of the Frontier devs isn't acceptable. While Tolmie doesn't mention a specific incident, it […]
First impressions: Monster Hunter Stories 2's demo raises new multiplayer questions
When Monster Hunter Stories 2 was first announced, I ignored it. The original had no appeal to me whatsoever. I actually felt bad when a friend tried to tell me how excited she was about it. Then came the announcement of multiplayer, and I thought, "Well, I should at least give it a look," as I know MH series […]
World of Warcraft deploys hotfixes and plans for improving the zone bonuses of Shards of Domination
Hotfixes! Do you like them? They've arrived in World of Warcraft for patch 9.1. They're hot and they're fixing things. For example, your packaged soul ash is now bound to your Battle.net account rather than your WoW account. Defeating bosses on level five will now appropriately count for the Touring Torghast achievement. Fleshwing will no […]
Vague Patch Notes: Playerbase size doesn't have to be everything in MMOs
I'm already worried about Crowfall. Not because of personal experiences, mind you; I haven't yet played it or anything, and all I have to go by are Andrew's anecdotal experiences in the game. But those anecdotal experiences reminded me of a thing that happens an awful lot with new MMOs, and that's when the designers […]
Black Desert talks up a rather vague 300% increase in daily players
Fair warning: The information in this article is going to frustrate you. That's because Pearl Abyss has released relative numbers for Black Desert, claiming that daily players have surged by over 300%. Over 300% of what, you ask? Hey, look over there! "Pearl Abyss announced Black Desert Online has seen an over 300% increase in […]
Lost Ark unwraps the Warrior as westerners wrangle with the Korean battlepass
The latest Korean patch notes for Lost Ark have dropped, sending hopeful western players into a tizzy. The Korean patch adds a new public prologue and a planned progression revamp, but it's the battlepass – Ark Pass – that has some gamers concerned. In Korea, the battle pass will be split into three mutually exclusive […]
Chinese gamers beware: Tencent's games now tattle on minors using facial recognition
Tencent, the company that owns like half of the world's online titles at this point, is doing the Chinese government a solid by taking up the role of tattle-teller and babysitter for that country's youth. Indeed, the long-debated facial recognition tech that blocks access to games if it spies kids playing them late at night […]
Elyon expands its gear system, fights RMT with new market mechanics
Where would an MMORPG be without a gear system? Lost. Alone. Frightened. Clinging to the side of an iceberg of indifference, adrift in the vast sea of purposelessness. Or it'd totally be OK, because games don't always have to conform to the standard. But in the case of Elyon, it most definitely has gear — […]
The Daily Grind: How do you go about choosing your class in an MMO?
Friends, years ago I used to be the kind of MMO player who pored over every class description and skill layout. I'd wiggle into betas and test everything to find exactly the right class for me. I'd been burned by enough bad class choices that I didn't want to invest any time into the "wrong" […]
Blizzard teams up with Z-Man Games for a Pandemic-style World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King game
We all know that if there's one thing people still love about World of Warcraft, it's Wrath of the Lich King. It makes a certain amount of sense, too; it was a beloved expansion with solid writing, positive game mechanics, and an immersive setting. So it makes sense that this is where Z-Man Games is […]
Hackers who disrupted Apex Legends to complain about Titanfall issues 'achieved nothing of value'
Over the Independence Day weekend, Apex Legends players were subjected to a very specific hacking attack headed by disgruntled players of Titanfall's online modes, with playlist notifications modified to advertisements for a Save Titanfall website that claims Respawn Entertainment and EA are ignoring an ongoing hacking problem with Titanfall. While this attempt at raising awareness […]
Warframe releases its Sisters of Parvos update on all platforms
Warframe promised that the update was coming and sure enough it has. Yesterday marked the official release of the co-op shooter's Sisters of Parvos update, bringing plenty of new goodies to players on all platforms at the same time. Hurray for update parity! In case you missed it, the Sisters of Parvos update features the […]
Black Desert PC adds a buff-granting otter pirate and details the summer season server
Have you ever been the recipient of a sea shanty as sung by a piratical otter that grants you some XP buffs? No? Well with the latest patch for Black Desert on PC, that's a thing you can say you've experienced. Just imagine how generations will look upon you with awe. Or confusion. Or awed […]
Red Dead Online pushes you into a life of criming with next week's Blood Money
Following Rockstar's announcement about an announcement yesterday, we finally have the real story on what exactly is in Red Dead Online's first big content update in ages, Blood Money. Essentially, you'll be working for a crime boss doing Crimes. That's what they're called, literally, caps and all. "Crimes will range from cloak-and-dagger coach holdups to […]
Fallout 76's Steel Reign arc and fifth season are live today
It's patch day for folks still marching through the Wasteland, as Fallout 76's Steel Reign, season five, and update 28 have officially launched. "This update brings all-new quests to Fallout 76 with the Steel Reign questline, which picks up right where you left off with the Brotherhood of Steel at the end of Steel Dawn," […]
New World previews its 20v20 PvPvE battleground, Outpost Rush
Ahead of the beta later this month, Amazon has posted a new video on New World's PvP – specifically, on Outpost Rush. This mode is essentially a 20v20 PvPvE battleground, though you can join it solo or in small groups. "Teams must coordinate and balance their time upgrading outposts, gathering resources, capturing objectives, and defeating […]
The Stream Team: Running into the wild unknown of Crowfall
After several years of development, the time has come for Crowfall's launch, and MOP's Chris hasn't played the game's test version in about as many years, so it's very likely a brand-new run at this point. Join him today at 2:00 p.m. EDT as he explores this throne war MMO to see what life as […]
