Swords of Legends Online shares a launch trailer and video snippets of post-launch roadmap and battle pass previews
Did you happen to miss out on the pre-launch livestream from Swords of Legends Online? Then you can read our synopsis for the details. Would you rather see those details in video form with your own eyes and not have to watch over an hour's worth of video? The game's YouTube page has you covered. […]
Guild Wars 2 brings back the Twisted Marionette next week, teases End of Dragons voice actor
Way back in April, ArenaNet dropped its summer 2021 roadmap for Guild Wars 2, and among the planned updates was the return of the Twisted Marionette boss from 2014. In fact, the date given was precise: July 13th. As it turns out, ArenaNet's going to nail that date, as it's just revealed that next week's […]
Amazon makes its Lumberyard game engine open source, and it's already supported by 20 companies
Is it possible that Unity and Unreal Engine have a new contender? The potential is there as Amazon has elected to make its Lumberyard 3-D game engine open source. The engine is now known as the Open 3D Engine, and it already has the backing of 20 companies including Niantic, Huawei, Amazon Web Services, and […]
Crowfall's launch is marred by DDOS attacks and login problems
Crowfall's launch didn't entirely go to plan yesterday. While early on in the day, the servers were apparently handling the load just fine, by evening that was not the case as – if you'll permit me to quote MMO Fallout's Connor here – the servers "pooped the poop." "We are continuing to work on the […]
The Daily Grind: Where's the weirdest place you've ever played an MMO?
A few weeks ago, I logged into WoW Classic and was chatting with my guild when one of our community made a startling confession: She was raiding while going through labor in the hospital. Hey, anything to distract from the discomfort and pain, eh? That got me thinking about weird places that I've played MMOs. […]
Neverwinter's Sharandar trilogy is now complete on console with the launch of the Odious Court
A month after dropping on PC, Neverwinter's Odious Court, the third and final episode's of the Sharandar arc, is finally live on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 as well. As we've noted, Sharandar itself is a nod to the game's first module, Fury of the Feywild. "In Episode 3: The Odious Court, adventurers travel to […]
Starbase continues working on its Easy Build mode and improves explosions
So what's going down on the development side of Starbase? Well, you know. Shooting at ships with a sniper rifle, making parts explode, that sort of thing. No, really; the latest notes for development include working on particle effects and electrical effects, and that includes explosions roiling off of ships that have been damaged. You […]
Osiris: New Dawn gets to work on squashing bugs and improving ship camera controls in recent patch
Now that the Fires of Industry update is out the door, the devs of survival sandbox Osiris: New Dawn can get to work on attacking issues and bugs, which is the focus of the latest patch. The patch itself is full of fixes to a wide variety of things and a smaller list of changes […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 329: Sith happens
Justin and Eliot discuss Magic Legends and the Cryptic layoffs, SWTOR's Legacy of the Sith, Guild Wars 2's End of Dragons delay, with adventures in FFXIV and WoW Classic, plus a mailbag topic on FFXIV as the potential WoW killer.
Chimeraland is an open-world cross-platform MMO with a focus on taming critters
Chimeraland is a relatively new MMO on the scene that's looking to bring a unique-looking PC and mobile game to market. The game is inspired by an ancient Chinese epic called The Classic of Mountains and Seas and will be feature a massive world in which players can build homesteads, tame creatures, and even play as […]
The Sabotage is a multiplayer co-op title where one person tries to stop other players from digging up gold
It's time for another deceive-em-up game to hit the collective radar! Allow us to take a moment to nod in the general direction of The Sabotage, a multiplayer co-op title that sees players take up two roles: diggers who are exploring and excavating a mine to find gold, and one saboteur whose job is to […]
Blizzard retools World of Warcraft's Mythic Dungeon International, offers $380K prize pool
Scoff all you want at MMORPG esports, but Blizzard has a nice chunk of change on offer for World of Warcaft's Mythic Dungeon International. The company announced this week that it's changing up the format of its raider esports tourney, with $380,000 up for grabs. "Over the last few years, we've been consistently improving upon […]
Elite Dangerous applies fixes related to missions, commodities, and faction influence in new patch
It's not a big honkin' patch like the game has previously gotten, but the fact that Elite: Dangerous has released a little server-side patch to address a few matters is probably nice to see. Unless you're the sort of person who is unconscionably bitter at the whole Odyssey launch to the point that no comfort […]
Guild Wars 2 offers Rising Flames for free, previews next week's legendary armory launch
Guild Wars 2 fans are still reeling from the revelation that End of Dragons has been delayed into next year and that Colin Johanson is back at the creative helm, but ArenaNet isn't stopping its summer rollout. Today, for example, season three episode two is back for a retour, as players can pick up Rising […]
Red Dead Online is revealing Blood Money tomorrow
It's been a long wait for major new content in Red Dead Online, and the game can really use it, but now it's finally en route. Readers will recall that back in May, Rockstar promised a summer update that would take players into the criminal underworld, and that's exactly what's on the way in Blood […]
Choose My Adventure: Space combat is yet another vast and interesting layer to Star Wars Galaxies
What even is this game? This is a question I seem to be asking myself a lot as I continue to scrape at the surface of Star Wars Galaxies. I arrived to my task of checking out space combat wholly anticipating it to be a tacked-on and underwhelming experience and came away pleasantly surprised. As […]
Nintendo unveils the Switch OLED model, which is definitely not a 'Pro' model
Good news, Nintendo Switch fans; the rumors about a Switch Pro model turn out to have been sort of true! But also bad news, Nintendo Switch fans, because those rumors led everyone to expect something very different than what the Switch OLED model is offering. The new model definitely offers a bigger screen, a better […]
Launch impressions: Crowfall won me over, but it's not for everyone
So Crowfall's beta has finally ended and launch is upon us. As someone who backed the game but has played alphas of many games that never even launched, I only played a few of this one's alpha and beta builds, and only very lightly. I tried to trust not only ArtCraft Entertainment but my fellow backers. But […]
Path of Exile's next expansion arrives July 23 as the devs prepare with a livestream and an engine update
Grinding Gear Games is starting to spin up the hype drives for the next expansion to Path of Exile, which readers will recall was first alluded to in the beginning of June. The devs will be holding another livestream that's all about the new expansion this coming Thursday, July 15th, at 4:00 p.m. EDT, which […]
Final Fantasy XIV breaks its Steam concurrency record
Odds are pretty good that even if you're a Final Fantasy XIV fan, you don't devote a whole lot of your brainmeat to the game's Steam concurrency record, since the game exists off of Steam first and foremost. Still, it is interesting to note that the game surpassed its previous concurrency record of 41,000 players […]
LOTRO's Classic server 'wouldn't work' with current tech, SSG says
Standing Stone Games is probably getting sick of being asked all of the time about a Lord of the Rings Online classic server. Despite the studio not officially taking such a discussion off the table, SSG's Rob Ciccolini said this week that it's most likely too difficult and ambitious a project for the resources on […]
Kickstarted MMORPG Crowfall officially launches today
It's been a very long road, but Crowfall is finally launching today. Yes, a crowdfunded MMO with a real launch! MMO readers will recall that we've been covering this game since its original Kickstarter back in 2015. It's undergone multiple delays along the way, but those have come with big boosts in investor funding and major […]
The Daily Grind: How important are invisible zone lines in your MMO?
A while back, Pantheon promoted a player thread about zone lines, in which a Visionary Realms developer is paraphased as saying that the zone lines in the game will basically be present but invisible to the player, such that the team can "stream the entire world around the player as they walk around." There's still […]
Final Fantasy XI adds a new high-tier battlefield with its next version update
Bad news for anyone hoping that the next update for Final Fantasy XI would continue the story arc of the ongoing Voracious Resurgence, as the preview of the next update explicitly notes that this month is taking a break from the story. But good news for people who want new challenges to face, as the […]
Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem adds quality-of-life in latest patch and outlines updates for the rest of 2021
Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem is continuing to introduce quality-of-life updates with the ARPG's most recent update, which now allows health, rage, and willpower potions to be used at any time without any delay or breaking a channeled skill, scales items sold by Havar and Mohabi up to the maximum unlocked expedition level, and introduces a […]
Wild Terra 2 developers outline plans for the new continent, healing, and horses
Development on Wild Terra 2 is ongoing, but where are the development resources going at the moment? The team behind the game is glad you asked, because that's literally the focus of the latest dispatch explaining the current state of development. On the top of the list is a whole new continent for players to […]
Profane provides a closer look at cloth creation in latest Twitter thread
Making cloth in video games seems like hard work, so there's perhaps some interest in Profane's newest development Twitter thread that's all about the challenge of making "a viable way for two people to be able to create hundreds of different fabrics with the least amount of time possible while maintaining quality." The need for […]
OrbusVR is going fishing for the game's summer festival as the devs fix bugs and improve voice chat
It's just virtual you, your virtual fishing pole, and the virtual bounty of the virtual sea in OrbusVR's summer festival, which recently went live. As one would expect from the lede, there's plenty of fishing to be had as players are being tasked with helping the Fisherman's Guild bring in its haul. Players will naturally […]
Star Citizen talks about upcoming medical gameplay, FPS hacking and radar, and inventory updates
This past episode of Calling All Devs was primarily about planned updates to the core gameplay loops of Star Citizen — primarily, injury and death mechanics, hacking terminals, and personal inventory features. A lot was made about the game's planned health, respawn, and death mechanics that CIG discussed previously. In essence, each individual limb will […]
Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore talks about the challenges and benefits of its newly installed weather system
It's not always sunny in Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore. Namely because the game now has a day/night cycle, but also because the devs introduced a weather system and they would like you to know that putting it in the game was really hard work, you guys. The developer's blog admits that Ethyrial's weather system is […]
Lego Universe rogue server pushes out huge update with beta still on the way
If you don't even recall LEGO Universe, don't blame a faulty memory. The short-lived MMO was only on the scene from 2010 to 2012 before NetDevil shut it down. However, there are those who have kept the plastic torch lit by diligently working on a revived version of the game called Darkflame Universe. Back in […]
Space Punks is a top-down multiplayer looter shooter that promises a 'living, breathing, ever-changing game world'
Two things struck me when I was watching the reveal trailer for Space Punks: One, the game basically looks like a Borderlands ARPG; and two, I hadn't heard that particular Offspring song in a long while. Oh, also, the game looks like a pretty good time. Space Punks comes to us from developer Flying Wild […]
Shroud of the Avatar fixes 'several mount issues' and closes an overly lucrative item sale loop
There are some bug fixes that have been applied to Shroud of the Avatar, which normally wouldn't really be something that lands in our news rotation, but these recent patches are at least a little interesting or amusing. Ideally, anyway. As of this past Sunday, July 4th, the game should now have less mount issues […]
Wisdom of Nym: What will Final Fantasy XIV add to its tanks?
So we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Endwalker will add new tricks to every job in Final Fantasy XIV. We don't know what just yet, but it's a given that we're going to get another slate of new abilities, and it's probably going to be a grand total of five for each […]
TitanReach answers questions about development, items, and future content
The devs of the indie MMO TitanReach decided that it was time to pluck a few player questions and provide some answers to those questions, which cover a pretty wide arrangement of specifically selected topics. A number of the early questions are related to how developer Square Root Studios builds the game, from software tools […]
Not So Massively: Magic Legends had all the right ideas and all the wrong choices
This is the worst kind of column to write. Not only am I reporting on the closure of a game, but it's a game I enjoyed. I can't pretend to be too shocked by the news, of course. Even as I appreciated it, I have to admit Magic: Legends was a deeply flawed game. This […]
Mortal Online 2 adds new enemies and improved PvE AI behaviors in newest patch
If the preview video from Mortal Online 2 got you excited at the prospect of being smashed by a giant troll, your moment of thrills is now here as patch 0.1.3.9 has introduced what are being called "tier 2 encounters," which will require player groups to take down. In addition to the troll, the patch […]
Swords of Legends Online's AMA addresses monetization, content, and name reservation SNAFU
At the tail end of June, Swords of Legends Online threw out a whole bunch of event dates including a livestream and an AMA, and since we've covered the livestream, reason would stand that we would also cover the AMA that took place bright and early this morning. Several of the very first questions were […]
U.S. Department of Justice investigates Overwatch League over salary concerns
While Blizzard wants as many eyes as possible on its Overwatch franchise, the studio could probably do without the recent gaze of the U.S. Department of Justice. According to a Kotaku report, the DOJ is probing the studio's handling of its esports scene — in particular, how it pays its players. While the DOJ isn't […]
Zenith now lets players wave to NPCs in order to start dialogue with them
If you're going to be playing Zenith, the VR MMO being developed by Ramen VR, you'd better make sure you have your controller straps tied to your wrists because the game now lets players start NPC dialogue by waving at them. As in literally flapping your paws in a back-and-forth greeting motion. The feature was […]
The Daily Grind: Do you plan your MMO play around bonus experience mechanics?
Rested experience mechanics are actually one of my favorite systems in online games. They've taken many forms over the years, from Ultima Online's power hour to City of Heroes' patrol experience to what is now the genre standard in the form of World of Warcraft's rested experience. Essentially, these systems grant accelerated experience or skill […]
MMO Week in Review: Delay of Dragons
Any other week, the news that Magic Legends is closing down and laying off the team before it launches, SWTOR is getting a Christmas expansion, and LOTRO has launched two new progression servers would've dominated the MMO new cycle, but this week, Guild Wars 2 delayed End of Dragons into next year, which rather took […]
Legends of Runeterra releases Rise of the Underworld expansion as Riot Games offers free music for streamers
Legends of Runeterra is inviting its players to the seedy underworld of the game's fiction with the launch of its new expansion. Rise of the Underworld went live this past Wednesday, bringing with it a number of new cards and introducing the Lurk keyword, which grants new Lurker followers a boost when allies attack and […]
The MOP Up: PUBG Mobile snaps its fingers and bans millions
This may well be one of the largest banhammer strikes we've ever seen: PUBG Mobile announced that over the course of a week, it kicked 3,884,690 accounts to the curb for cheats and hacks. Impressive, but that's not a good sign that a game had nearly four million cheaters infect its landscape before being caught. […]
Iron Harvest lore interview sheds light on Usonian history
A new interview at VentureBeat delves into the lore of multiplayer RTS Iron Harvest 1920. In the interview, game designer Elliott Verbiest talks about the history of Usonia, the America-inspired faction added in the recently released Operation Eagle expansion. Like much of Iron Harvest's lore, it parallels real world history closely, but with some fascinating […]
The Stream Team: Continually crashing into the Chronovore in Dauntless
It's been a while since MOP's resident monster slayer has been live with some Dauntless gameplay, but this time Chris is on a mission: try to beat up on the recently added Chronovore monster and make pants out of its skin. Will he succeed in getting the wing tips he needs to finally fashion some […]
Frozen Flame's latest update adds angry ghosts, mystical cubes, more spells, and Ancient Valley changes
The multiplayer survival RPG Frozen Flame has put together another new update and it has a little bit of everything for players. Especially those who like ghosts, airdropped cubes, new spells, and infested forests. And if you are that kind of person, you have some very unique tastes. Back to the update: The Ancient Valley […]
One Shots: Fantasy splash pad
I'm oddly fascinated with water effects and physics (what little there is) in MMOs, especially when games try to portray large lakes or oceans. So often it feels very fakey when you really examine it, but some games — like Elder Scrolls Online — get passing grades in this area. Water's probably not what Lethia […]
The Daily Grind: How much does freedom to experiment matter to you in an MMO?
I admit that I was never a huge fan of how easy resetting talents was after a point in World of Warcraft, but I will definitely say that being able to swap them in any rest area meant that you could almost always have a ready chance to try out new things. Unfortunately, this also […]
LOTRO producer talks Gundabad, Brawler, and LI revamp in new stream
Lord of the Rings Online's new producer, Oleg "Raninia" Brodskiy, is helping SSG make big strides toward becoming more communicative and transparent ever since his hire. As part of that effort, this past week Raninia appeared on an hour-long video interview with LOTRO YouTuber Louey7 to talk about the state of the game — and […]
