Betawatch: Elyon and Diablo II Resurrected kick off beta events
More closed beta for Elyon? It's more likely than you think. It's actually certain, in fact. The game has showed off its rune attributes system as well as all six classes as the closed beta helpfully hums onward. A lot of people wanted to check this one out, so we're curious what people thought about […]
PWE's Remnant: From the Ashes turns two with a new trailer and sale
PWE's co-op shooter Remnant: From the Ashes hasn't gotten much press lately, in spite of being just two years old, but that's to be expected as the game got its last real DLC back in 2020, and a few other things happened that year that might have stolen your attention. In any case, it's back […]
Hi-Rez's Paladins is adding a new trickshot champion and 'urban' map rework
Hi-Rez's shooter Paladins is getting playtime in my house again thanks to the dumpster fire still raging over at Blizzard that's made Overwatch persona non grata, so the preview of a new champion has a sliver of my attention. Her name's Saati, and she's a bounty hunter with some gunslinger and drow vibes. "No expense […]
Conan Exiles PC launches server transfers, adds small animal pens, and balances weapons in latest patch
The latest update to survival sandbox Conan Exiles on PC doesn't really come with any expansion-level updates or content additions, but what it does feature is a lot of little additions and quality-of-life improvements that are still likely very welcome to players. One of the top features of this new patch is the introduction of […]
Project X is a mobile 'social sandbox MMO' full of resource gathering and house building in closed beta
This one will need a little bit of context because the name Project X carries a tiny bit of history here. Back in 2018 we got a look at a tactical shooter MMO called Project X, which was being built for SpatialOS and developed by UK studio Automaton Games; the shooter later changed its name […]
EverQuest II's player-run Festival of Unity is back this weekend with a variety of games and events
The self-described longest running player event in EverQuest II history has returned for another year of in-game summer fun. It's the Festival of Unity, an event that promises song, dance, and plenty of games for players to take part in, and it runs all the way until this coming Monday, August 23rd. The festivities already […]
Final Fantasy XIV brings back The Rising for its eighth anniversary on August 27
Another year of operation is moving into the rear-view mirror for Final Fantasy XIV, and that means another iteration of The Rising coming around once again starting on August 27th. This year's celebration has a faintly ominous tone to it from the preview that we've gotten so far, although considering that Endwalker is just around […]
Mortal Online 2 announces 'savage' September 6 stress test
After a goodly while in closed alpha combat testing, Mortal Online 2 thinks that it's ready for the next best step and is proposing that you join it in holy betamony. On September 6th, this hardcore PvP MMORPG will kick off a stress test for those fortunate enough to get a key. During the beta, […]
Star Citizen showcases hospitals and hints at related gameplay mechanics coming in alpha 3.15
Generally, nobody wants to visit a hospital, but the location's arrival to Star Citizen with the upcoming alpha 3.15 release will make going to a hospital on various planets something of a necessary matter, at least according to the reveals from this week's episode of Inside Star Citizen. The next alpha build will feature four […]
Grab a Conqueror's Blade Aswaran Hero Attire key from My.Games and MOP
We're deep into Conqueror's Blade's eighth season, Dynasty, with the Sun Dragon Festival at its height. In celebration, My.Games has granted MOP a bundle of keys for our readers! The keys unlock the Aswaran Hero Attire Pack, which includes Aswaran Hero Attire, Radiant Sun Banner, and Optimal Cannon, with an approximate value of $20 US.: "Donning […]
Pantheon recaps new hire and pre-alpha, outlines to-do list before alpha
Pantheon's August producer letter has arrived this week with a bunch of good news for fans of the game: Visionary Realms has hired a new associate content creator straight out of the community, and it's still riding high from the pre-alpha session held earlier this month. "It was 33 straight hours of testing and it […]
Global Chat: Hitting that endgame wall in MMOs
MMO blogger Digital Visceral recently wrote about a situation that many of us encounter in our games: Hitting that max level and feeling at a loss as to where to go from there. In this case, it was maxing out in Fallout 76. "In Fallout 76, 50 is the last meaningful character level threshold. Crossing 50 […]
Roblox's shameless exploitation of child labor is why we can't have nice things
I didn't think I'd be back so soon writing "Roblox" and "this is why we can't have nice things" in the same post two days in a row, but here we are. People Make Games has put out a video confirming everything you already suspected about the game: that it's overvalued and grotesquely exploitative. Quintin […]
Perfect Ten: My top 10 MMO pet peeves
In general, I try to be an optimistic fellow. When it comes to MMO gaming — you know, that hobby we apparently love and enjoy — I'd rather look on the bright side than the angry, cynical, disgruntled dark side most days of the week. There needs to be balance between such outlooks to be […]
Former RuneScape composer sentenced to 22 months in prison for sexual assault
Ian Taylor, the former composer for both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, has admitted to the sexual assault of a young girl and has been sentenced to prison for 22 months for the crime. The assault apparently took place in December but wasn't reported to family and police until early 2021; according to Taylor's confession, […]
QuakeCon 2021: Skyrim's anniversary edition, Elder Scrolls Online Waking Flame, Fallout 76's Fallout Worlds
While most gamers are preoccupied with the big Skyrim news out of QuakeCon – that Skyrim is getting its 14th edition, the Skyrim anniversary edition, on November 11th, with some solid mods packaged in – our audience is going to be laser-focused on the announcements for Bethsoft's multiplayer titles. Elder Scrolls Online hyped up the […]
CODEX, an MMO based on the Shards engine, launches early access today after a brief delay
Just last week we first reported on CODEX, a project that licensed Legends of Aria's Shards Engine for the purpose of creating an MMO. This title's hook is that players will encounter "seasons" of the game with a beginning, middle, and resolution before the almighty reset button is hit. While CODEX's early access prologue was […]
World of Warcraft reverses course on player customization and promises more
Back in February, Blizzard reversed its stance on player customization options for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. Originally, players had been told that further customization options for the various races would be added throughout the expansion, but during BlizzConline it was instead stated that there would be no further customizations added. Apparently, some combination of recent […]
The Daily Grind: What do you think about taxes in MMORPGs?
Today I want to talk about everyone's least favorite thing: taxes. I snagged the idea from a Reddit thread a while back that was complaining about the tax system in Albion Online. The way it works is that guilds with built-up islands and territories and players who rent and outfit crafting stations in base-game cities […]
Massively Overthinking: The MMO roadmaps worth following
This week's Massively Overthinking comes to us from longtime reader KenFromChicago. "As MMO reporters covering the MMO field, having some idea what to look for coming down the pike seems beneficial," he writes. "As such, what 'roadmaps' do you like from MMOs, and what qualities do you like about the best of them?" I thought this […]
Swords 'n Magic and Stuff promises housing, mod support, world events, dungeons, and more in roadmap
There's plenty of things to come for the cutesy cubic multiplayer RPG Swords 'n Magic and Stuff, at least according to a roadmap update shared by the devs of Kindred Games. The map itself, which is embedded below, promises a wide variety of items in progress like housing, in-game mail, and a detailed stats panel, […]
EverQuest II's ongoing server hardware upgrades should produce results by September
EverQuest II has suffered some legendary outages in the last year – one even kept players offline for over a week, and there were additional incidents in April and June. Daybreak has been tackling the issues with hardware upgrades, which it says is going well – so well that it's going to keep at it […]
PlanetSide 2's NSO faction revamp arrives to PlayStation 4 on August 25
If you've been following along with the news coming out of PlanetSide 2, you know that it's been mostly about the Nanite System Operatives faction revamp. You also know that most of those updates have been arriving to the PC version of the game. But fear not, PlayStation 4 robot friends, because the devs at […]
PSA: Star Citizen is holding another free fly event until August 27
You want to hop into the 'Verse of Star Citizen but you also don't feel like investing in a starting package for a game that is taking years to leave alpha. Or maybe you've read all the grumbling or the effusive praise and want to know what things are like for yourself. Whatever your reason, […]
Roblox sees net losses for Q2 2021, struggles with toxic player-generated content
We've got a bunch of Roblox news on deck today. First, there's the Q2 2021 investor report. Readers will remember that in Q1, the company behind the game had just gone public and was just issuing its first earnings report, which was eye-opening, as it reported gross revenues of $387M but net losses of $134.2M. […]
Fallout 76 doubles its experience ahead of this weekend's QuakeCon
It's just about time for QuakeCon, an event wherein every Bethesda game gets a seat at the table. Yes, even Fallout 76 is getting to show off what's coming next and what's happened recently, and the team is eager for you to check out the various panels over the weekend. But you'll also have a […]
Starbase plans to amend its stance on stream sniping citing language that is 'too encouraging'
We're not sure exactly what Starbase developer Frozenbyte thought would happen when the game's griefing policies outright read "stream sniping is allowed," but apparently there's been enough of a whirlwind reaping that the devs have acknowledged on Twitter the policy was "currently too encouraging" to the behavior, leading to an incoming amendment to the policy. […]
SOE's Jeff Butler gives an epic three-hour interview on EverQuest, Vanguard, and EverQuest Next
If you're going to interview one of the most notable names behind EverQuest and Vanguard, it helps if you also worked at SOE back in the day. Therefore, it's great to see former EverQuest Game Designer Shawn Lord interview former EverQuest Producer Jeff Butler on his time with the MMO. In this dense and fascinating […]
LOTRO producer interview talks more about legendary item and monetization revamps
You'd barely even know that there's an expansion on the way for Lord of the Rings Online if you only took in the current pulse of the game's community. That's because everyone is downright eager to hear what SSG is doing in regards to two problem areas in the game: the obtuse legendary item system […]
Final Fantasy XIV plans a stress test for the Japanese data centers… but not North America or Europe
Ahead of the release of the Endwalker expansion, Final Fantasy XIV's staff wants to make sure that the game's servers are up for the imminent strain they'll encounter. This is both a reasonable and understandable plan. As such, a stress test will be run on the Mana data center, one of the game's Japanese centers, […]
Wisdom of Nym: What will Final Fantasy XIV add to its healers in Endwalker?
Here's an interesting facet to consider: Unlike most of the other entries in this Wisdom of Nym series about Endwalker speculation, this one isn't relying on the benchmark trailer, as there's nothing distinct to be said about what any of the healers are getting in Final Fantasy XIV's next expansion. Scholar, White Mage, and Astrologian […]
Pokemon Go's New Zealand rollbacks show Niantic is more concerned with local law than actual safety
Good news: New Zealanders have had their Pokemon Go PokeStop and Gym radius restored to 80 meters, exactly what the community has been asking for in its demands for the return of COVID-19 changes to the game that would keep players safe and boost the game's accessibility for rural and disabled gamers. The bad news […]
Cyberpunk 2077 patches in further improvements, balance changes, and free cosmetics
If it's been some time since you fired up the single-player RPG Cyberpunk 2077 or you've been on the fence about buying in owing to all of game's release problems, perhaps this latest patch will offer enough incentive to return to Night City. The patch itself features a variety of improvements aimed at increasing stability, […]
Elyon deep-dives its rune attributes system as CBT2 progresses
If there's one thing that seems to be a major feature of Elyon, it's the variety of systems that let players customize their character. Whether it's the skills system or the effects of gear and gear enhancement, there are a number of ways for players to craft their character, and now the game is showcasing […]
NCsoft says Lineage W will launch this year for PC, mobile, PS5, and the Switch
Last week, we covered NCsoft's initial reveal of Lineage W, yet another entry in the long-running Lineage franchise. Lineage W, however, was initially pitched as a mobile MMO, which didn't have our audience especially enthused, especially since we've been waiting for Lineage Eternal aka The Lineage for seven years. That might change today, NCsoft has […]
Guild Wars 2 brings back its fourth season of living world play next week
We're sure you're all pretty busy playing Guild Wars 2's End of Dragons first beta right about now – and if you're not, then you might want to, since it's free and our own columnist has already written how much fun he's had with the Virtuoso, Willbender, and Harbinger. However, if you're already tiring of […]
EverQuest designer's throwback MMO rebrands as Monsters & Memories
You may recall that earlier this year we reported that former EverQuest and DCUO developer Shawn Lord was working on a "throwback" MMO, which was operating under the codename of "Project_N." Well, as of now this game has a proper title, which is Monsters & Memories. "The name is a reference to the nostalgia we […]
The Daily Grind: What MMO delay has annoyed you the most?
Sometimes things get delayed. It happens. It's generally not a desired outcome by any of the people making an MMO, but you just need to make the game go through a bit more iteration or refinement before players get their hands on it. Or you've found a couple of horrible bugs that will absolutely crash […]
The Repopulation says it's been 'quite the adventure' as it gives a fall development roadmap
Many people may have written off sandbox MMO The Repopulation a long time ago (especially when it changed hands), but perhaps decision was a little premature. The current owners seem dedicated to improving the game by taking what they were given and guiding it along with their vision. "This has been quite the adventure, however, […]
ARK Survival Evolved shares new critters, wipes beginner servers, dates Genesis Part II server transfers
It's been a fair bit of time since we caught up with the latest goings-on for dinosaur-ish survival sandbox ARK: Survival Evolved, so allow us a moment to round up some of the various smaller updates that have been made since the 2021 Summer Bash event. First off, it's all about those fresh new beasties – […]
Pokemon Unite gets mobile release date, Sword and Shield to remain competitive center
Today's Pokemon Presents wasn't the most exciting for fans of multiplayer online gaming, but there were a few kernels of information for us nonetheless. While the new information on the upcoming Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl shows off some neat stuff, like customizable bases returning, simple online lobbies, non-combat pokemon contests, and digging mini-games that can be […]
Continent of the Ninth Seal is moving over to Valofe from Webzen for publishing
If you had some deep attachment to Webzen because the company was behind the publishing of Continent of the Ninth Seal, today's news will be sad, as it has just been announced that Valofe will take over publishing duties for the title soon, with a specific date of transfer to be announced later. No progress […]
Bless Unleashed brings around a summer event of tracking down salamanders
Swimsuits! Weapon skins! The satisfaction of scooping up adorable lizards that happen to be blue and on fire! All this and more can be yours in Bless Unleashed with the game's summer event, which asks players to go around scooping salamanders for rewards. This probably sounds almost trivially easy until you note that the salamanders […]
Black Desert PC adjusts potions and ramps up skill XP earnings, Black Desert Mobile releases the Lahn
It's a tale of two updates for the same IP as Black Desert on PC and Black Desert Mobile both have some updates arriving this week that players of either game will want to know about. Starting with the PC version of the game, this week's update makes some changes to potions that include reducing […]
Book of Travels attempts to elaborate on the TMORPG sub-genre
The question of what a tiny multiplayer online RPG (or TMORPG) is was touched on by Book of Travels developer Might and Delight before, but the studio felt that the new sub-genre needed a little bit more elaboration, which brings us to this video featuring game designer Roberta Alves to talk about the concept. As […]
The Stream Team: Taking a live first look at the closed beta test of Elyon
Today is the day that Elyon — aka the MMORPG formerly known as Ascent: Infinite Realm — is heading to its second closed beta, and MOP's Chris is going to be there to hop in, try things out, offer some initial impressions, and hopefully look pretty good while doing it. Join in today at 2:00 […]
Playable Worlds' lead designer: 'We're in the game industry because we love games'
Earlier this month, Playable Worlds' Greg Costikyan, the lead designer for Raph Koster's upcoming unnamed sandbox MMORPG, opened up about the way games get made. (In fact, if you're a TTG fan, you should read the comments – our TTG folks were positively squeeing about his involvement, and he even swung by to chat.) Costikyan's […]
Lord of the Rings Online progression server moves forward into the Mordor expansion
If you're among those playing on the Lord of the Rings Online Anor Legendary World (aka progression server), then your time has come to face the dark of Mordor. As of today, the server has added the Mordor expansion and all of its bright and happy little delights. Like volcanic worlds, ash-choked land, and lots […]
EVE Online's July economic report may have unveiled the number of active subscribers
EVE Online has kicked out its monthly econ report for July, which has plenty to snare the interest of the industrious Capsuleer, but it's a particular section of the report that may have cast a light on how many subscribers the internet spaceship sandbox has. The section in question is the ISK Sinks and Faucets […]
Elder Scrolls Online is delaying the console arrival of Waking Flame and update 31 an extra week
Console folks, you're going to be waiting some extra time for your crack at Elder Scrolls Online's next DLC and update. ZeniMax made the announcement that it'll be delaying as of this morning. "To ensure a smooth and stable launch, we have made the decision to move back the release date of The Elder Scrolls […]
