Fight or Kite: Sea of Thieves made me feel like a pirate
In the long running debate between who would win in a fight between pirates and ninjas, I've always fallen on the side of the ninjas. Ever since I was a young lad running through my home with a turtle mask on while donning a sword and nunchaku (you can't tell me I can't be Leoangelo!), […]
SuperData December 2020: World of Warcraft is dethroned again, and people still love Among Us
While SuperData has already put a bow on the entirety of games earnings in 2020, there's still the December 2020 breakdown to cover, which offers a couple of shifting standings at the top of the sales charts and some newly broken records. Surprising nobody that follows the PC gaming universe, Cyberpunk 2077 was the top […]
Wisdom of Nym: Oh, the places left to go in Final Fantasy XIV
There's a lot of stuff on the Source in Final Fantasy XIV. (It feels faintly wrong to call the place Hydaelyn now, for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who has cleared through the Shadowbringers story.) And with the announcement of the next expansion happening in less than two weeks, now seems like a fine time to […]
Guild Wars 2 game designer Keaven Freeman announces his departure from ArenaNet
It looks like ArenaNet is losing yet another member of its team. Guild Wars 2 game designer Keaven Freeman unveiled on his personal blog that he will be leaving the studio after nearly five years, which includes a long body of work on Living World updates from Jormag Rising to A Crack in the Ice. […]
Fallout 76's bumps STASH size by 50%, improves inventory features
The first Fallout 76 patch of the year is coming on January 26th, and while it won't be a groundbreaking content dump, it will impact all players by improving their inventory. The STASH is getting increased from 800 to 1200 pounds, the Pipboy is getting three new tabs (New, Armor, and Food/Drink) to help sort […]
RuneScape studio Jagex has been sold for the third time in six years against the backdrop of a… RICO lawsuit?
We're going to play a fun new game today. It's called Who Owns Jagex Now! As we chronicled last summer, RuneScape studio Jagex's ownership became a bizarre mystery in 2019 and 2020. It was sold to a Chinese mining company in 2016, then to a new holding company in 2019, which Jagex initially denied but […]
Star Trek Online's 11th anniversary update on PC will eliminate faction restrictions on starships
Klingons flying Federation ships? Romulans tooling around in a Section 31 Battlecruiser? What sort of madness is this? It's Star Trek Online shrugging at the IP's canon and letting players have fun, or more specifically, it's the end of factional restrictions on starships that will let characters that play the MMO on PC fly any […]
Neverwinter's combat rework on PC lights a bonfire of player complaints
Last week, Neverwinter released a major update on PC that applied a far-reaching rework to combat, changing the way stats, item level, and ratings applied throughout the entire MMORPG. Almost immediately, there were reactions from players pointing out problems with the patch, which has been a rolling theme from the game's community over the course […]
Blade and Soul Revolution will release worldwide this year, opens pre-registration January 28
It's been a while since this one came across our desk, so allow us a moment to refresh everyone's memory: Blade and Soul: Revolution, the mobile MMO being released by Netmarble that was first revealed in November 2017 and promised to stay true to the PC game, has been slowly rolling out details over the […]
The Daily Grind: Do you make use of votekicking in MMOs?
Not long after Shadowlands released, there was a heavily upvoted thread on the World of Warcraft subreddit in which a player related a story about an awful dungeon run. He'd been in a group with a new player who had weak damage but who was otherwise competent and hadn't caused any wipes or serious problems […]
MMO Week in Review: Guild Wars 2's Power, KingsIsle's acquisition
This week in MMOs, Guild Wars 2 showed its true Power with… its Power episode. Chapter. Thing. Plus, KingsIsle got bought by Gamigo's parent company, Star Trek Online is going all out for its anniversary, Pantheon scored some welcome investment, we got a tease for a new MMO on the way, and SSG went ahead […]
Battle Bards Episode 185: Taking Flight
Flying has always been both beloved and controversial in MMORPGs, but no matter what your stance on it, at least you can agree that when you slip the surly bonds of earth, you need an amazing soundtrack for that moment. Thankfully, captain Steff, co-pilot Syl, and navigator Syp are here to point out some of […]
Fortnite adds the Terminator T-800 and Sarah Connor as latest in long list of S5 cash shop cameos
Sheesh, we look away from Fortnite for just a few minutes, diverted by Epic Games buying shopping malls and continuing to fight Apple and Google, and find out that the game's turned into the Smash Bros. of battle royales. This realization arrives thanks to the addition of the Terminator T-800 and Sarah Connor to the […]
Make My MMO: Temtem turns one, Elyria marches onward, and Pantheon scores fresh investment
We're off to a good 2021 for MMO crowdfunding: Pantheon got a nice infusion of investment, Chronicles of Elyria posted a second video on its development progress, Temtem is celebrating a year in early access, Crowfall plans big customization upgrades, Albion Online announced the return of the Crystal League competition with the Season 11 Crystal League […]
Jukebox Heroes: The best of Wurm Online's original soundtrack
When is a soundtrack not quite a normal soundtrack? When it's Wurm Online, of course. This cult sandbox has one of the most unusual scores that I've ever heard paired with an MMO. It's made up of sparsely used incidental music that just so happens to be folksy blues songs (with lyrics), composed by Joss […]
Genshin Impact celebrates the Lunar New Year and adds a new character in its February 3 update
It's a new year and a new upcoming update arriving to Genshin Impact on Wednesday, February 3rd. Specifically, the Lunar New Year, which in-game is celebrated in Liyue as the Lantern Rite and brings an event with sidequests, a variety of food stalls in Liyue's streets, activities unique to the holiday like an all-new tower […]
One Shots: A good day to respawn
You'd think it would be mentally exhausting to be a Klingon, what with waking up every morning fully expecting to die and looking for every possible opportunity to throw yourself into the jaws of the Grim Reaper (or whatever the Klingon equivalent is). I'd say that Hikari settled on a good solution here in Star […]
The Daily Grind: What's your dream MMO cross-promotion?
I've always been amused by the fact that Naoki Yoshida has specifically said he'd love to have Final Fantasy XIV do a cross-promotional event with World of Warcraft. It's both wholesome and a sign that the rivalry players sometimes establish between games is not mirrored on the development side. Plus… let's be real, it would be pretty awesome […]
The MOP Up: Gran Saga's big Korean launch
NPixel's cross-platform Gran Saga is finally going live this week — albeit in Korea, for now. The attractive-looking mobile and PC title is supposed to make its way to the west some time next year, however, so it's always good to take a tour of its offerings to see if this is a title you'd […]
Cyberpunk 2077's latest patch 'lays the groundwork' for a better game
With massive player dissent, mismanagement, horrible console performance, and filed lawsuits against it, Cyberpunk 2077 has seen one of the rougher high-profile launches in video game history. But CD Projekt Red is hoping that hard work and incremental improvement will change the game's fortunes — and the company's battered reputation. Hence, this past week's Patch […]
Blizzard absorbs 200 Activision employees following merge of rumored Diablo II remaster team
The Blizzard family got a whole lot bigger this past week. Games Industry reported that the World of Warcraft developer absorbed 200 employees from the Activision side, thanks to a restructuring of the larger firm. The new staff comes with the Albany-based Vicarious Visions studio, which previously worked games like Tony Hawk Pro Skater and […]
The Stream Team: Horse racing in Black Desert Online
Black Desert has introduced horse racing, and Massively OP's MJ has been totally snookered into trying it out thanks to the super cute black spirit on horseback. How could she possibly resist that?! Now, whether or not she'll be able to afford to race in the Old Moon Grand Prix is another story, but she's […]
Into the Super-verse: Will we ever get a Marvel MMORPG?
While DC Universe Online is coasting high on its success in Year Ten, it feels a shame that there's no Marvel MMORPG to match it. Marvel is still a blazing hot IP as it moves into Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it's sad that MMO players who love that universe don't have […]
Microsoft walks back its previously announced price hike for Xbox Live Gold subscription
Much of the online multiplayer gaming world was lit on fire by Microsoft earlier this week when the company attempted to raise the cost for Xbox Live Gold subs, ramping up the one-month, three-month, and six-month subs by $1, $5, and $20 respectively. Microsoft attempted to rationalize the price change by pointing out the sub […]
WRUP: Advantages and Disadvantages edition
Advantages: Double-jointed (5 points) Triple-jointed (10 points) My limbs are covered in joints like one of those snakes you could get at a carnival booth (15 points) Really crappy code of behavior (5 points) Edgelord (10 points) Can clear those appearing-disappearing block sections in Mega Man without using Rush Jet (5 points) Smell nice (10 […]
The Daily Grind: What's the worst maze in an MMO?
It's been clinically proven [citation needed] that no RPG player has ever, at any time, under any circumstance enjoyed a run through an in-game maze. In truth, players tend to loathe these sections for their confusing layouts and non-enjoyable interaction. Yet developers keep putting them in because mazes lengthen the overall gameplay clock and because […]
The Stream Team: Needing a personal Warframe Necramech
After running the special Necramech event, Massively OP's MJ determined she needed her own personal machine in Warframe sooner rather than later. It is sure to take a bit of work, but she's willing to put in the time. (Anything to not have to rely on "found" necramechs in an event ever again!) Tune in […]
Betawatch: Pantheon gets a funding runway
The big news this week for Pantheon wasn't really about the game's beta exactly but about a seven-figure investment that supposedly set the game on a runway to launch with further development. Still, you can't have a proper beta without a proper pathway to launch, right? Right. You need both of those things, and now it […]
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds adds a new reputation system with patch 10.2
There's a lot of stuff that's been added in the latest patch for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. For example, there's a new coupe for players to drive around the battlefield within, and new tricks you can pull whilst riding around on dirtbikes. There are changes to ranked play, to boot. But what's going to grab the most eyes […]
Smash Legends is a multiplayer arena brawler on mobile and PC that promises a variety of colorful modes
Who's ready to PvP against others for things like higher fruit totals, point captures, or simply being the last cute little thing standing? Then you're ready for Smash Legends, a multiplayer arena brawler that's headed for a soft launch on mobile and Steam Early Access on PC sometime in the first quarter of this year. […]
Shadow Arena offers compensation, flips hero Venslar from offense to support
Shadow Arena isn't letting its low population counts stop it: Pearl Abyss is plunging on with updates anyway. Earlier this month, we covered a major update to the Black Desert battle royale spinoff that actually appeared to be a de-battle-royalification of the game, as the 40v40 matches were replaced with 3v3 arena matches with the […]
Skyforge is selling new Nintendo Switch founder pack bundles prior to launch
Skyforge is getting a nice boost of coverage and publicity thanks to its imminent launch on the Nintendo Switch. My.com is taking advantage of this increased interest by putting a trio of founder's packs up for sale on the Switch store. While you'll have to go to the Switch store to see the actual pricing, […]
Destiny 2 adds a Hawkmoon catalyst quest, discusses seasonal activity length and Umbral Engrams' return
Bungie's latest weekly update is once more full of information about what's new and incoming for Destiny 2. In this week's post, we're getting a look at the addition of a new quest line to unlock a catalyst for the Hawkmoon exotic weapon (provided you're a Season of the Hunt owner) as well as another […]
The Stream Team: Swaying the werewolf senators' to silence in AQ3D
If she's going to help end the war between the werewolves and the vampires in AQ3D, Massively OP's MJ has to ensure the current werewolf leader is deposed and replaced by the vampire queen's brother. To do that, she needs to convince the remaining senators of the pack to not challenge Constantine's challenge. Can she […]
RIFT's Typhoon of Doom battle pass goes live
Since RIFT has long since traded in actual content updates for seasonal battle passes, the start of a new cycle is as much a call for celebration as anything this MMO is getting these days. So wake up, Ascended, because the sixth season is now live in the game and will run through March 18th. […]
Final Fantasy XIV schedules the next live letter on February 5
The next letter from Final Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida is taking place on February 5th at 10:00 p.m. EST. If the timing on that sounds at least somewhat familiar, congratulations! You remember that this is the same date as the game's announcement showcase that technically is announcing something as of yet unknown but […]
Following Gamigo buyout, Wizard101 keeps monetization and Pirate101 might resume development
Earlier this week, we covered the surprising news that Media and Games Invest, whose chief subsidiary is Gamigo and which is run by Gamigo's CEO, had bought out Wizard101 and Pirate101 studio KingsIsle Entertainment for a total of $126M with an additional potential $84M in earnouts for the owners. At the time, KingsIsle Lead Producer […]
Star Citizen shows off some new planet modification tools and lays out general plans for space combat
Star Citizen's weekly video series has come back online once again, and this week's episode moves from showing off yet another tool to discussing broad-stroke plans for ship-to-ship combat moving in to 2021. The first half of the video grants a look at some new toys that let the devs modify the surfaces of planets, […]
World of Warships was reprimanded by advertising regulators over misleading lockbox promo
We're 22 days into 2021 and we haven't had a gaming lootbox mess yet, but that ends today. As MMO Fallout first reported, the Cyprus Advertising Regulation Organization is apparently cracking down on Wargaming's World of Warships, which over the holidays ran a lootbox event whereby players could pay to spin a wheel to grab […]
WoW Factor: Does Blizzard have a messaging problem or a message problem?
A recent post over at Kaylriene's blog got me originally thinking about this one. The original posting here is actually about a different issue in the broadest strokes, pointing out the number of problems Blizzard has when it comes to effectively communicating changes being made in the game, why they're being made, and what players […]
Neverwinter's latest update on PC introduces a major rework to ratings, item level, and stats
The big-scale combat rework for Neverwinter has officially gone live on PC, bringing with it some major changes to how ratings, item levels, and stats work on characters, along with some patch notes that are probably the most number-heavy and deepest the game has ever seen. This rejiggering is meant to improve scaling, make it […]
Crowfall seeks to make attributes more meaningful and customizable in its next update
Strength. Dexterity. Constitution. We all know attributes like these are the hallmarks of RPG characters. Most of the time they're just numbers with varying but arguably mediocre effects on gameplay, but the devs of Crowfall are hoping to make those attributes more impactful with the arrival of update 6.400, as outlined in the first dev […]
Path of Exile broke its own player concurrency records with Echoes of the Atlas
So it looks as though Grinding Gear Games' decision to delay Path of Exile's Echoes of the Atlas from December to January was a pretty smart one after all, as the studio has announced this morning that Echoes did exceptionally well. In fact, it's apparently "its most successful expansion to date" with "new player number […]
Star Trek Online's overhaul of the Klingon starting experience concludes with improvements to Grethor
It's going to be a little while longer until the current major story arc in Star Trek Online wraps up, but before that happens you can have the conclusion of the Klingon starting experience revamp, as a treat. The latest development entry talks about the revamps coming to the missions set in Grethor, with new and […]
The Daily Grind: Do you reroll the same MMO classes over and over?
There's a whole group of MMO players who have always fascinated me: the type who keep rerolling the same characters over and over. For example, in Guild Wars 2, there's a slice of the population with dozens of character slots unlocked specifically so they can roll one character of every race and class combination, so […]
The Stream Team: Wrapping up the Blood Tide Pirate adventures in Dungeons & Dragons Online
The Blood Tide pirates in DDO just don't want to give up! They've apparently got some wild notion that they can become the most powerful military force in the Straits of Shargon. Well, MJ is not about to let that happen! While the pirates try to fortify their base on Mistral Island, she'll work on […]
Massively Overthinking: Retaking Quantic's survey to determine our 'gamer type'
Five years ago – yes, it's been that long! – we did an Overthinking in which our staff all took Quantic's survey to see our results about what type of gamer we are through the lens of the Gamer Motivation Model, a sort of a modern spin on the MMO-centric Bartle test by long-time gaming […]
Dauntless adds new Slayer's Path nodes, new equipment chases, and a named Skraev hunt in latest update
There's been a fresh patch applied to Dauntless, and while it doesn't have the weight of a new Escalation, it does have a number of activities for players to strive towards, especially those on the endgame side of things. Heading off the update list are some new Rumors that lead to two new pieces of […]
Closers takes aim at new accounts with bonus currency
The team behind Closers wants some new blood joining the game, and that means a new pair of events are now running for new accounts from now until February 16th. And what events might those be? What could help entice new players to try out the game? Bribery. Yes, these two new events are just for new […]
Drake's Odds: Survive is a multiplayer survival sandbox where you're an alien on Earth
We've got plenty of survival sandbox games where players are a human trying to live on a hostile alien world, but what if instead players were the alien invaders arriving to Earth? That's the basic premise of Drake's Odds: Survive, an upcoming new multiplayer survival title that effectively is what happens when Rust or DayZ […]
