Grand Chase returns from the dead to soar on Steam
Just about nobody remembers the demise of Grand Chase, a side-scrolling online RPG that shut down all the way back in 2015. But it appears that a whole new generation of players are digging the title now that it's relaunched on Steam. Developer and publisher KOG re-released the game yesterday, and so far, it's done […]
MapleStory M introduces the Angelic Buster as part of its three-year anniversary festivities
What's the best way to celebrate three years of operation for MapleStory M? Is it the addition of a new character with a sugary sweet aesthetic that even gets called out by the official video as such? Because that's what the developers have gone with, and the new Angelic Buster has flapped into the game […]
Post-apocalyptic sandbox Xsyon makes big changes to gathering and crafting
While it may be one of those smaller survival sandboxes that you forgot existed, Xsyon has continued to plug along with the occasional update. In fact, one of the biggest patches of the year for the post-apocalyptic MMO arrived this week to bolster the game's gathering and crafting systems. Dubbed the Workshop and Resources Update, […]
Life Beyond talks about positive co-op gaming, open development, and update phases in Q&A video
Darewise Entertainment, developers of the survival sandbox title Life Beyond, brought on the company's Chief of Staff Nathan Martin to answer a few questions posed by players and share the answers in a Q&A video. Martin pulled three questions about the studio's development ethos, the game's open development, and some broad strokes future update plans. […]
Dual Universe explains changes coming to weapons and structures for PvP balance
Are you still making everything out of gold in Dual Universe? You might want to stop when the game's next update arrives for the alpha, as changes to balancing will make gold honeycombs still have the highest HP but come at a serious price in sheer mass to hopefully make other choices more viable. This […]
Lineage II previews Aden's pet system
Are you tired of your pets following you into battle in other MMOs just to look cute flopping around on the ground? Lineage II's new pet system is about more than that. You bring your cute little baby animal into combat, it's going to get ripped and tear people apart. Just check out the preview […]
Fallout 76 outlines a fix-filled patch for August 3, announces another Gold Rush weekend, and shares radio plays
While many players of Fallout 76 are understandably looking toward the Fallout Worlds custom server feature, there are other things to look forward to in the West Virginian wasteland of the game, all of which is outlined in the latest Inside the Vault news bulletin. Top of the list is a smaller update arriving on […]
Cyberpunk multiplayer shooter RPG The Ascent has officially released on Xbox and PC
Publisher Curve Digital and Swedish indie studio Neon Giant are offering up some twin-stick shooting ARPG goodness for yourself or a few of your friends with the launch of The Ascent, a game we first caught notice of back in January of this year. For those who don't remember, The Ascent drops players into the […]
Finnish sci-fi MMO Starbase has entered early access alpha on Steam
"The long wait is over and early access is here!" Starbase developer Frozenbyte declares this morning, and the studio is not kidding. The MMO-ish space game was announced in 2019 and set to hit early access the same year, but it was delayed no less than four times. Fortunately, the Finnish developer has finally pulled […]
Massively on the Go: The Witcher Monster Slayer shows why Pokemon Go is still the best
Nearly a year ago, Niantic employees did a GDC presentation on Augmented Reality design practices, though it seemed a bit more like best practices than exactly what the company does in reality. While I may complain about Pokemon Go design issues, I wouldn't be playing if the game weren't good. It can always be better, […]
Star Wars: The Old Republic's Jedi Sentinel is the next class getting a combat style testing on PTS
As we've reported on before, the Legacy of the Sith update coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic is slowly going through the testing motions, with particular focus on the combat styles feature coming in the expansion. Earlier this month, the Jedi Guardian was put through its testing paces, and now it's time for the […]
WoW Factor: Why does this latest Blizzard scandal feel so different?
I think anyone who has been a fan of World of Warcraft over the past two decades has been trying to parse out some difficult feelings this past week, and they're difficult feelings that don't entirely make sense. If you're anything like me, you've found yourself feeling bad in unfamiliar ways, feeling like you've lost […]
Elite Dangerous Odyssey gets better planet visuals, rendering performance boosts, and a host of fixes today
Today is the sixth update for the PC version of Elite: Dangerous Odyssey, bringing with it some feature adjustments, performance improvements, the improved camera suite, and a list of bug fixes. A couple of these new features have been discussed by developer Frontier Developments previously, such as better planetary textures and new planet surface types, […]
Guild Wars 2's Flashpoint is free as players welcome WoW refugees and debate End of Dragons
If you need a lil break from the latest Blizzard fiasco, Guild Wars 2 is one of the MMOs that stands ready to welcome you in with open arms. Throughout the spring and summer, it's been unlocking past living story episodes for free so players who missed out can give them a try and veterans […]
Crowfall begins testing The Shadow update, plans capacity testing tonight
Can you believe Crowfall's been live for three weeks now? It has, and ArtCraft is back with another weekly blog – and a tease for the upcoming patch. "Our next major gameplay update, The Shadow, moved to public testing on the Test Server last week featuring a first look at The Shadow (home to our […]
New World beta player snags the name AmazonOfficial, uses game's chat to troll Amazon
As anticipated as the game New World may be, we do have to bear in mind that Amazon, the company that's funding Amazon Games' development of the title, has been behind some pretty egregious labor practices for its rank-and-file warehouse workers (and let's not forget that AGS has been up to some awful practices of […]
Pearl Abyss has delayed Crimson Desert indefinitely
Earlier this month, when Pearl Abyss emerged from over six months of silence on Crimson Desert to post a mocap video, we speculated that the original "winter 2021" release date on PC seemed unlikely. It turns out that assumption was right, as early this morning the studio announced a delay for the upcoming MMO. "We […]
Blizzard Day 9: Ubisoft stands in solidarity, Ashes of Creation buys Blizzard workers lunch
Blizzard Entertainment isn't the only video game studio experiencing backlash from its employees over sexism and abuse. The Division 2 maker Ubisoft has long been weathering its own parallel scandals stemming from years-long instances of misconduct and discrimination. Over 500 current and previous employees of Ubisoft-owned studios signed a letter this week that both proclaimed […]
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite single MMO expansion?
MMO expansions are a wonderful thing. No, seriously, I love expansions immensely. I love the feel of logging into a new expansion and hopefully finding amazing new landscapes, quests, challenges, experiences… you know, all of that fun stuff. It's amazing. And I don't think any long-running MMO with more than one expansion to its name […]
Tower of Fantasy is a new MMO from Perfect World Entertainment with a sci-fi bent
Ah, Tower of Fantasy, a perfect title for a game that actually looks to be more science-fiction inspired than fantasy-inspired. Here, let's get your consternation out of the way up front, as the game is being published by Perfect World Entertainment, it's a Chinese game, and it's on mobile as well as PC apparently. For […]
Thunder Tier One is a multiplayer top-down tactical shooter from a PUBG dev, and you can play test it this weekend
Evidently, one of the developers of battle royale shooter PUBG, the head of action and gunplay unit Pawel Smolewski, has been working on a little passion project since 2016, and now that passion project is being picked up by Krafton Inc. and is headed for its first major public test. Say hello to Thunder Tier […]
Albion Online tweaks several weapon skills and reduces zone skip waiting time
Balance balance balance: That's what Sandbox Interactive is going for with today's Albion Online update aka Call to Arms patch 9 aka the Season 13 balance patch. There are quite a few changes for several weapon lines and some armor pieces too. • Axes: Bloody Reap reworked into AoE execution tool; Rending Rage and Adrenaline […]
Elite Dangerous outlines the changes to the camera suite arriving in the next PC update
While it might not be the highest priority fix needed for the Elite: Dangerous Odyssey expansion, those who love to take screenshots of the game or otherwise join in the #StellarScreenshots feature (or even our own One Shots column) will be happy to know that Update 6 of the PC version is adding a whole […]
Bless Unleashed opens up with its founders packs ahead of launch
All right. So we have a release date on PC for Bless Unleashed (specifically, August 6th). We have a clear picture of any and all changes coming to the game at launch. We have various Q&A sessions in which players have asked for something and been told they will not receive it. What are we […]
The Elder Scrolls Online preview's Waking Flame's Dread Cellar dungeon
As intimidating dungeon names go, "The Dread Cellar" doesn't rank highly. You kind of think your next objectives will be the Pantry of Doom or the Evil Coat Closet. But seeing as how this particular dungeon in The Elder Scrolls Online will see you venturing into this former prison now filled with monsters summoned by […]
Lost Ark reveals all of its 'normalized' founder packs and perks
Amazon and Smilegate have released a detailed blog post this afternoon focused on the upcoming Lost Ark's founder packs. And cats. The cats are the star of the show here. While the game itself is planned as a free-to-play title when it launches in the fall, the founder packs are loaded with cosmetics, beta, access, […]
The Stream Team: Tackling the Thunderdeep Drask and more in Dauntless
MOP's Chris is back once again in the world of Dauntless to take on some fresh foes. This time around, there's a Thunderdeep Drask lurking about and possibly a new Heroic Escalation to take on. Either way, the monster slaying will begin today at 2:00 p.m. EDT! What: Dauntless Who: Chris Neal When: 2:00 p.m. […]
Amazon addresses New World crashes, stability, and approach to exploits post-launch
Amazon Games has penned a letter for New World testers addressing the state of the game and its impending fixes. "[W]e created several test builds over the weekend and discovered the problem with the help of a few servers, so as of Monday morning Pacific Time, we have the entire service running with that updated, […]
Oculus pauses sales of the Quest 2 to address headset foam issue
If you were abut to buy yourself an Oculus Quest 2, you can't. Not right away, anyhow. A new notification from the team indicates that Oculus is temporarily pausing sales of the headset to ensure that instead of the original foam face cover, all units are shipped out with a new silicone face cover. This […]
Activision-Blizzard walkout organizers respond to Kotick, Kotaku exposes 'Cosby suite' attendees
In response to Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick's letter to staff last night, organizers of today's walkout have issued a response arguing that his letter "fails to address critical elements at the heart of employee concerns," including their demands for forced arbitration, worker oversight of hiring and promotion, pay transparency, and third-party auditors not chosen by […]
Stick and Rudder: Trying EVE Online as a new player in 2021
It's not often one has the opportunity to step into a bit of MMO history and do so with a fresh set of eyes and no expectations. Luckily, I've recently had the opportunity to do just that as a brand-new player in CCP's classic space sim/sandbox/gankfest EVE Online. Like most fans of the genre, I've […]
Whatever happened to the Age of Wushu franchise?
This story has something of an interesting progression to it. It began with a dive into whatever happened to Age of Wushu, which then led to a revelation about Age of Wushu 2, which kind of has its own story going on. So with that in mind, we think it's time to run down some […]
The Chronicles of Elyria class-action lawsuit has been split up between two states now
If you can peel your eyballs away from the gaming lawsuit dominating the headlines this week, there's another one you might want to pay attention to: the Chronicles of Elyria class action. Readers will remember that last year, Soulbound Studios ran out of cash, laid off the team, and ended development of Chronicles of Elyria, […]
Black Desert opens the summertime Night Market, tweaks the Atoraxxion dungeon, and updates its TOS
It's time to celebrate the summer season in Black Desert on PC. The Terrmian Night Market is now open, and players are being encouraged to take promotional-styled screenshots of the location for a chance to win in-game rewards and physical goodies. There are a couple of different contests of this sort going on, so players […]
Swords of Legends Online drops first raid, Xuanjiu Jade Palace, tomorrowday
Swords of Legends Online is hoping to pique your interest with its first big raid: Xuanjiu Jade Palace. It's a 10-to-20-player dungeon. "In the inner courtyard of the Vixen Yuzao's lair, the flowers bloom and the brook's waters flow crystal clear, as though spring will never end," Gameforge explains. "Recently, a band of immortals was […]
EVE Online's Grand Heist update goes live as players raise concerns about ISK login rewards for subscribers
Yesterday saw the bank robbing profession come to EVE Online as the Grand Heist update officially went live. Readers will recall that this update is effectively letting players become bank robbers thanks to new gameplay features that let them crack open reserve banks and lift some sweet ISK. Of course, if you're a subscriber, you […]
Book of Travels explains how players will communicate without text chat
One of the many, many factors that will set the upcoming Book of Travels apart from your boiler-plate online RPGs is that the game won't be availing itself of text chat. Rather, as explained in a new dev blog, Might and Delight is taking a cue from its previous Meadow to implement a robust emote […]
The Daily Grind: So are you preordering Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons?
I don't know about you folks, but the past week has been rough, and I needed something happy to take my mind off the stress. Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons' big reveal stream yesterday was a big ol' boost of serotonin. New landmass! Turtles! Boats! Fishing! New specs! Just drown me in petrified trees […]
Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick: 'The leadership team has heard you loud and clear'
As ATVI stock dips and Blizzard employees plan a walkout tomorrow, Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has finally publicly addressed the company's workers in regard to the ongoing sexism lawsuit and fallout. He says that the company's initial responses were "tone deaf" and apologizes for the lack of empathy. "The leadership team has heard you loud […]
Blaugust blog writing initiative returns to challenge bloggers to write for a whole month
Regular readers of MOP doubtlessly know that we're all about highlighting and supporting MMO gaming blogs. Regulars also know that we like to signal boost the Blaugust writing initiative, a blogging community event kicked off by Belghast of Tales of the Aggronaut that seeks to encourage new and returning blog writers back to the writing […]
Perfect World Revolution is available for everyone to play now with one hand
You want to play an MMORPG of some kind, any kind, but you also have a delicious sandwich to eat. What can you do about this situation? Until very recently, you'd have to accept that modern technology had failed you by either eating the sandwich or playing the game. But Perfect World Revolution has finally […]
Aether Story melds 'glory days' of classic JRPGs with the modern MMO
Two tastes that go good together: Peanut butter and chocolate. Strawberry and kiwi. Vanilla Ice and Ninja Turtles. And old school-style Japanese RPGs and… MMOs? If you've ever imagined what an MMO would look like if Final Fantasy III was taken into an online format, then you might be in the vicinity of Aether Story, […]
Pathfinder Online, Kickstarted for $1M in 2012, will sunset in November
I'm sorry to report that Paizo has announced the end of Pathfinder Online. MOP readers know that the MMO was Kickstarted for over a million dollars back in 2012, but its development and staffing struggles led to mass Goblinworks layoffs in 2015, followed by several years of Paizo attempting to salvage the game and find new investors. […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 332: Does every voice really matter at Blizzard?
Justin and Bree discuss the Blizzard sexism lawsuit, with brief stops in New World, Lineage II, and Ship of Heroes.
Massively on the Go: August is recycling month in Pokemon Go
Well, we're finally on the downside of the Pokemon GO rollercoaster this year it seems, but things may still be exciting for some of us, at least until Niantic reveals what the third Ultra Unlock is. We previously mentioned how Part 1 (now live) was focused on fossil pokemon and Dialga, while part 2 starting on August […]
GDC 2021: Biometrics, advertising, and charming communities in video games
While other gaming conventions do big game reveals, the beauty of GDC is that we hear about some of the cool tech and practices going on behind the scenes. It helps devs out, for sure, but it also helps players paying attention better understand market trends and practices that guide our hobby. Oh, and there […]
Blizzard workers plan walkout over sexism scandal, WoW team addresses playerbase
Axios is reporting that Blizzard workers have organized a walkout tomorrow to protest the company's handling of the sexual harassment and sexual discrimination lawsuit that broke last week. According to the report, employees will walk out in-person at 1 p.m. EDT, while virtual workers appear to be invited to join all day. This particular leg […]
Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem releases its Arise update after a brief delay
Multiplayer ARPG Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem has gotten some new content after a short launch delay. Yesterday saw the developers release the Arise update, which brings a variety of features including a rework of summons that features improved visuals, auto-respawning, and summon power levels scaling with player characters, along with new areas, new endgame armor, […]
Grab a MU Online scroll key to buff your new Gun Crusher toon on the speed server
Webzen MU Online is embarking on a new journey today with the release of the first chunk of its 16th season, which includes a brand-new toon and a quick-leveling server. "Season 16 Part 1 brings a special giveaway to celebrate the arrival of a new character, 'Gun Crusher' with the addition of a new Speed […]
Neverwinter's Jewel of the North is live on PC with the new Bard class and level squish
It's a big day for Neverwinter players, as Jewel of the North is live on the platform. This is the big update that's adding the Bard class and squishing and improving the game's entire leveling experience and tutorial. "Along with the new class, Neverwinter: Jewel of the North brings major game-changing improvements that make it […]
