The Stream Team: Live first impressions of Bless Unleashed on PC
After some beta testing and some delays, Bless Unleashed has arrived to the PC, and it's time for MOP's Chris to dive in for really real this time and see whether the weeks spent refining the game has made any significant changes to his initial beta impressions. Just us today at 12:00 p.m. EDT and […]
Diablo community manager recounts low pay, a sexually threatening culture, and mistreatment at Blizzard
Back in March 2020, we reported on the departure of Diablo III community manager Brandy "Nevalistis" Camel, who noted in her statement that she was not leaving "for any ill reasons." However, she has now joined myriad others in calling out Activision-Blizzard for its now unveiled culture of sexual harassment and sexual discrimination by way […]
One Shots: Eye love you
While giant floating eyeballs always seem imposing, I can't help but feel bad about their life situation. Eyes are vulnerable enough when they're tucked into a protective skull, but when you make them a huge floating target, you must assume that their entire life is a living hell of cornea infections. "My misadventures in ArcheAge […]
The Daily Grind: Are there any MMOs you know are good that just didn't grab you?
There are friends I know who didn't enjoy City of Heroes. Not that they think the game was bad; it's pretty easy to agree that while the game had its weaknesses (mitten hands!), it was always a good game. But for various reasons the game just didn't click for them. Little things about it were […]
Global Chat: How New World and Star Wars Galaxies are linked
New World and Star Wars Galaxies aren't often mentioned in the same sentence together, unless you're reading MMO blog Unidentified Signal Source. The author recently tried out the New World beta and came away with an intriguing comparison point. "In the most general sense, it feels like a very different flavor of Star Wars Galaxies […]
Star Citizen opens up the landing zone of Orison, adds new ships and ship features in alpha 3.14
Last night saw the Stanton system of Star Citizen expand by one more planet as the gas giant Crusader, and by extension the landing zone of Orison aka the city in the clouds, is now a destination in the release of alpha 3.14. The new landing zone is a primary feature of this new alpha […]
Bless Unleashed's PC launch is marked by 61K arrivals, server issues, region block, and rough Steam reviews
So, how did the PC launch of Bless Unleashed go? I guess we'll say "bumpy" to start off with. The action MMORPG's launch certainly saw a lot of early interest, with SteamDB recording over 61,000 players hopping in initially and just about as many in-game at the time of this writing. However, this hasn't happened […]
Ariana Grande performs in Fortnite this weekend as part of her Rift Tour
We're betting that social media has already blasted the fact that Grammy-winner Ariana Grande is rocking the Fortnite scene this weekend as she performs multiple shows for the game's murderous population. "Building on and incorporating other celebrated Fortnite moments, the Rift Tour will begin with experiences that pair popular tracks with moments based on elements […]
The Game Archaeologist: Defining the eras of MMORPG history
With MMO history stretching back to the early 1980s (and even before), this genre has accumulated a whole lot of history over the years. Taking a bird's eye view of this history is interesting, because you can see the outlines of several distinct (and many more muddled) eras that defined certain years. For a while […]
Activision-Blizzard: Frances Townsend steps down from one studio post, Jeff Kurtenacker departs
It's a day that ends in "y," which means there's another new development in the ongoing Blizzard sexual harassment and sexual discrimination scandal. This time the story revolves around Frances Townsend, the company's president for corporate affairs, who readers will recall sent out a spectacularly combative internal memo that drew a letter of condemnation from […]
WRUP: Directions for homemade almond milk edition
Ingredients: Almonds, milk Directions: In a large saucepan, pour in your milk. Then pour in the almonds. See, it's almond milk! Isn't that clever? See, everyone laugh. Also, it's now crunchy, because almonds are crunchy. Yes, this was all a setup for this joke. Oh, Aidan, now's the time you have to bring up your […]
The Daily Grind: What's the most impractical-looking MMO weapon?
As a long-time purveyor of MMORPGs, I totally get that visuals and style are the true game and all else supports that. We love to get new armor and weapon models, and the spiffier, the better. Yet what starts as a gradual increase in quality — a chipped wood sword upgrading to a battered tin […]
Betawatch: New World gets delayed once again
What's that? New World with another delay? All right, look, it's not funny any more, folks. This game has been delayed so many times that we all expected this to happen, and even then it was meant to be a joke rather than another actual thing that happened. Seriously, at some point you need to […]
Destiny 2 outlines changes coming to sandbox PvE in season 15 and Crucible PvP in future seasons
The devs of Destiny 2 are looking far forward into the future with regard to the shooter's PvE and PvP experiences. In the game's weekly newsletter, combat gameplay designer Eric Smith took a close look at sandbox changes that are coming, which include a separate melee action button, ability changes for Stasis and class-specific skills […]
PSA: Rhino Prime and Nyx Prime return to Warframe on August 10
The Prime Vault could only hope to contain them for so long. Or something like that. That's probably just a bit more flavor than Warframe's latest announcement needed, but the fact remains that both Rhino Prime and Nyx Prime are going to be coming out of the Prime Vault and back into the game starting […]
Ashes of Creation gives rapid-fire answers to dozens of community queries
There's never enough time in any studio AMA or livestream Q&A to address all of the questions that players put out there. This is why Ashes of Creation followed up its recent stream with a forum post answering dozens of questions from fans that didn't get covered. The weird thing is, this forum post is […]
ArcheAge and ArcheAge Unchained tout an August full of events and a list of returning ArchePasses
Are you eager for some new content in ArcheAge and ArcheAge Unchained? Too bad, it's leftovers month as this August is mostly about returning events and promotions. That might be unfortunate news for players looking for something new, but it also might be welcome news for those who missed out on certain things. Headlining the […]
Inside Star Citizen casts a spotlight on a dev, previews bombs, flying while drunk, and a new star system
The latest episode for Star Citizen's regular video digest is, by its own admission, taking the opportunity to do a little something different as the devs at CIG are heads down for presentations and reveals for this year's digital CitizenCon. The video first starts off with a segment Cloud Imperium is calling Origin Stories, highlighting […]
Skyforge prepares players for a month of invasions and a summer event in August
What's the true meaning of summer? Fighting off snake monsters. No, wait, maybe it's fighting off demons. Depending on your platform for playing Skyforge, it's going to be one or the other. Players on the Xbox, PlayStation, and PC are still dealing with the Gorgonide invasion and fighting off snakes, but players on the Nintendo […]
New exposé reveals still more layers of sexual harassment and discrimination at Blizzard
Bloomberg has yet another piece up on the ongoing Activision-Blizzard sexual harassment and discrimination scandal, this one interviewing "more than 50 current and former employees" at the company and opening with the story behind the 2018 departure of CTO Ben Kilgore, Mike Morhaime's then-"heir apparent." When Kilgore's replacement was asked what happened, he apparently told […]
Book of Travels focuses on roleplaying choices for its character creation
How often do you start a character creator and think about your character's backstory beyond what the stats say? If you're a dyed-in-the-wool roleplayer, the answer is probably "most of the time," and that means you're going to be delighted by the character creation in Book of Travels. Far from being focused solely on your […]
X-Treme sports romp Riders Republic plans a beta for late August
Grab your virtual wingsuit, mountain bike, skis, or snowboard and give nature a good thrashin' when Riders Republic's beta test lands later this month. The extreme sports playground is opening up to everyone from August 23rd through the 25th prior to its September 2nd launch. This NDA-bound beta will let you join up to 50 […]
Final Fantasy XIV readies itself for a cool Moonfire Faire on August 13
It's time for Final Fantasy XIV to kick off its annual summer celebration very soon, but this year's celebration is going to just hit a bit differently. How so? Well, this year the goal isn't giving you a new swimsuit; it's getting you in the mindset of being chill. You know what's the chillest conceivable […]
Enter to win mounts, keys, and even a physical treasure chest in our Neverwinter Jewel of the North sweepstakes
In celebration of the launch of Jewel of the North last week on PC, Neverwinter has granted Massively OP a huge stack of goodies for our readers. This is a multi-part giveaway with both physical and digital items, so hang with us while we explain! One gold-prize winner will receive a Neverwinter Swashbuckling Bard Treasure Chest […]
For Science: Men roll more female characters than women roll male toons, new survey shows
Do you play MMO characters who reflect your gender in real life? Apparently, the answer depends a bit on which gender and how old you actually are. That's according to a new report out of Quantic Foundry, whose Gamer Motivation Profile we've covered extensively over the last few years. Nick Yee and his fellow academics […]
WoW Factor: The ethics of playing on private World of Warcraft servers right now
There's a problem to be found when it comes to World of Warcraft, and that problem is Blizzard Entertainment. That is a known fact at this point. You either don't need me to reiterate the problems with the studio at this point or you're willfully ignoring those problems, and in either case re-linking the articles […]
Pokemon Go players intensify boycott over COVID rollbacks as Niantic offers only minor concessions
Anyone who follows our Massively on the Go column and its long-running Pokemon Go coverage knows that Niantic has faced years of criticism from everyone from accessibility advocates to non-urban players. Over the global pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the company wisely tweaked the game to reduce its potential for pushing players out into the […]
Lost Ark KR provides a more in-depth look at the Sorceress class in new video
While we got a brief look at the Sorceress class that's coming to the Korean version of Lost Ark earlier this year, developer Smilegate has put out a second video that shares a more finely detailed look at this new caster. While the video is obviously in Korean, there are plenty of context clues that […]
Bless Unleashed formally launches on PC today, counting 40K players in final test
It's launch day for Bless Unleashed – the PC version, that is – and it's been a long, long time coming. Readers will recall that Bless Online originally launched in the west on PC back in 2018. It didn't go well, and after several server closures and a corporate merge, Bless Online itself was sunsetted […]
Activision-Blizzard sexism scandal day 17: More esports sponsors consider abandoning Overwatch League
In the course of our reporting on the ongoing Blizzard sexual harassment and sexual discrimination scandal that's now prompted multiple lawsuits, we noted that T-Mobile had apparently pulled out of sponsoring Activision-Blizzard esports leagues, including leagues for Call of Duty and Overwatch. It may not be the only one, as The Washington Post reported last night […]
The Daily Grind: What's the worst content addition for an MMO that cost money?
If you played Final Fantasy XI, you either think that Chains of Promathia was a pretty weak expansion pack or you're wrong. If you never played the game, well… it was a pretty weak expansion pack. It had a good story and some new areas, but it lacked any new jobs or much in the […]
Massively Overthinking: Are there any 'blue oceans' left in the MMO market?
Level Up Labs' Lars Doucet recently penned a blog post practically begging people not to try to compete with ROBLOX by remaking it as ROBLOX-but-with-one-special-thing, like better graphics or higher maturity. I'm glossing over a really detailed article here, but that's because I want to get to the part that sparked my attention: the part […]
Frozen Flame adds its first dungeon along with a revamped ability tree and straw styles
If your video game doesn't involve going into a dark hole to kill a monster and take its stuff, what's even the point? Don't answer that; it doesn't matter because Frozen Flame knows it's the truth and thus the game has added a dark hole for exactly that purpose. The most recent patch adds the […]
CCP Games is sponsoring a 'long overdue' games industry event in the UK
CCP Games, the studio behind EVE Online and several attempts at games that weren't EVE Online which never materialized, is apparently very pleased indeed to have an office in London; readers will recall the company's announced intention to run itself from London back in 2016. CCP's so pleased with its London office, and with the […]
Lineage II celebrates summer by growing and smashing watermelons
The true meaning of summer, according to Lineage II, is smashing watermelons. Not eating watermelons, but smashing the heck out of them. See, you can get a watermelon seed as part of the ongoing event taking place right now, use it to instantly grow a watermelon, and then smash it for nice buffs and some […]
Dauntless adds in a random Escalation queue, new hairstyles, and a free hunt pass in latest update
Let's say you're firing up Dauntless and you want to jump into an Escalation, but you're not really sure which one you want to play. Thanks to patch 1.7.2, you can let the game pick for you with the addition of Escalation Patrols, which will place you into a queue for a random level 1-13 […]
VR MMORPG Ilysia navigates its first alpha, secures investment funding, and seeks a senior game developer
It's been nearly two months to the day that we checked in on Ilysia, the Kickstarted VR MMORPG that promised to let players "experience the glory days of MMORPGs again" with climbing, pet battling, exploring, fighting, and crafting. Readers will recall that the game soared along its crowdfunding drive, ending in over $150K raised and […]
Old School RuneScape's new round of client feature updates improve the minimap, draw distance, and more
This past June saw Old School RuneScape begin the work of applying Steam client updates to make life in Gielinor a little better. As of yesterday, more of these types of improvements were added, improving the game's performance and quality-of-life in a couple of notable ways. Among these new updates is a reorganization of the […]
EVE Online dishes out skillpoints for Amarr Foundation Day, EVE Echoes celebrates first birthday
If you're a bit bummed by the de facto end of the World War Bee 2 in EVE Online, CCP Games is offering a more structured event for your entertainment. "Today the holy Amarr people come together to honor the sanctity of Amarr Foundation Day, celebrating the construction of the first Amarr church by Prophet […]
TERA Console adjusts dungeon monsters and applies several crafting updates in new patch
The newest patch out for TERA Console isn't a particularly large one, but it does apply a number of adjustments that players of the action MMORPG are going to want to know about. For one thing, the update makes balance tweaks to several of the game's dungeons, beating on boss and monster HP pools with […]
Black Desert tweaks stance animations, weekly quest resets, and conquest wars on PC
Black Desert's PC patch this week is a bit of a hodge-podge, but it's still gonna make you download a whole gig of content. So what the heck is in there? Well, one of the big changes is in animations, as Pearl Abyss says it's "simplified the basic movements" of Archers, Guardians, Hashashins, Novas, Sages, […]
Guild Wars 2 teases logograms and elite specs as End of Dragons speculation escalates
Guild Wars 2 players have been busy debating the teases ArenaNet is dropping for End of Dragons. Last week, of course, we got the deets on the Mesmer Virtuoso, alongside what looks to be some sort of Necromancer shadowhuntery thing. This week, we've got a teaser pic for another elite spec; it looks to be […]
Massively on the Go: Niantic ditching Pokemon Go's COVID benefits was a dangerous mistake
Recently I was forced into isolation since an untrustworthy family member hid COVID symptoms from the household and our vaccinated guests who were going above and beyond to stay safe. Don't worry, the tests came back negative for all, but it was a strong reminder that life is not yet back to normal. And it's […]
Nexon drops videos and details for Project HP, Project ER, Project Magnum, and more
Nexon is taking the wraps off of multiple projects this week, and before we leap in, just know that we don't know whether all of these will make it to the west, and in fact some of the older Nexon projects destined for the west never made it out the door at all, so don't […]
Perfect Ten: The top 10 non-traditional MMO fantasy races
Elves. Dwarves. Humans. Halflings. Gnomes. Hobbits. Dark elves. High elves. Half-elves. Wood elves. Keebler elves. Elvish impersonators. Are you as tired as I am of the endless regurgitation of stock fantasy races in our MMOs? It seems inconceivable (I do not think that means what you think it means) for a new fantasy title to […]
Star Citizen's July report touches on hospital design, Pyro development, and several unannounced vehicles
CIG has once again checked in with its regular monthly progress report for Star Citizen's July development, and a great deal of the month appears to be in preparation for new ships and vehicles, the addition of hospitals, and the Pyro system, among other things. Hospitals are continuing to move through their respective greybox, whitebox, […]
Square-Enix Q2 2021 financials: Final Fantasy XIV's subs are up
Square-Enix has released its second quarter financial report for 2021, and it paints a rather middling picture overall. Net revenue for the quarter YOY was up only 1.8%, with YOY declines in operating income and profits, in spite of the launch of Outriders and the NieR remaster, which were apparently unable to keep up YOY with […]
Blade and Soul to unleash Hongmoon Resurgence events next week
Have more time on your hand this summer than previously anticipated? Blade and Soul wants to fill up some of those long days with Hongmoon Resurgence events during the month of August. Kicking off on August 11th, these events include the return of Fortune's Favor, the climb to a "supernatural" pet aura tier, and daily […]
Destiny 2 on PvP: 'The ultimate goal here is consistency'
Writing what probably should have been a full dev blog in its own right, Destiny 2 Assistant Game Director Joe Blackburn put out a lengthy Twitter thread yesterday about the current state and future direction of PvP in the game. Calling PvP modes "part of what makes this game special," Blackburn said that Bungie is […]
The Daily Grind: Do you engage in 'parallel play' in MMORPGs?
Thanks to a random Tweet in my timeline a while back, the term "parallel play" has been rattling around in my brain lately. According to Wikipedia, "Parallel play is a form of play in which children play adjacent to each other, but do not try to influence one another's behavior. Children usually play alone during […]
