Elite Dangerous touches on Odyssey alpha feedback regarding taxis, on-foot NPCs, and mission details
With the alpha test of Elite: Dangerous Odyssey continuing to press forward, players of the expansion's test build have already provided a lot of similar feedback judging by a feedback response posted on the testing forums. In the post, Frontier Developments call out several pain points in the current alpha and outlines some promises to […]
Multiplayer shooter Outriders officially releases, is added to the Xbox Game Pass on day one
Today is the day that Outriders, the multiplayer action shooter RPG from publisher Square Enix and developer People Can Fly, is officially a launch title. Not only that, it's an official launch title added to the Xbox Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate right from the off, granting members of the service their chance to […]
Here's how Final Fantasy XIV players will access the game's PlayStation 5 beta
When the next major patch for Final Fantasy XIV arrives on April 13th, the open beta for the PlayStation 5 version starts as well. If you've already got the console and you're playing away happily on the PS4 version, it's time to upgrade, since the beta is open for everyone playing on the console version. But […]
Vague Patch Notes: Template
The other day, I was in the middle of a humanizing anecdote when something happened that was tangentially related to MMOs. This prompted me to start thinking about this particular tangential issue, by which I actually mean that this was a column I wanted to write for a while but finally had an excuse to […]
April Fools' Day 2021 across the MMOverse
Love it or hate it, April Fools' day is a Thing, and MMO companies seldom miss an opportunity to get in on The Thing. Let's take a peek into what they've brought us for 2021, shall we? Have you ever wanted to date your ship in Star Trek Online? No? Well you can anyway. Star […]
Stick and Rudder: Five potentially stupid yet fun Elite Dangerous spaceship builds
Even though I've logged a total of 112 hours of Elite: Dangerous at the time of this writing, I'm still pretty much a noob in the grander scheme of things. I've only just recently gotten into core mining. I've slowly started to crawl up the Trader ranks towards Elite status. I still haven't really gotten […]
Camelot Unchained showcases work on alchemy, movement, Ériu updates, and a video of the Verdant Forest
With the month of April just beginning, there's a lot to look back on in terms of development progress made in March for Camelot Unchained. First off, the latest Top-Tenish provides some updates on getting the alchemy system working in-game; some new movement updates that include increased movement speed, work on caravans, and promise of […]
Nielsen is closing down SuperData and its monthly gaming revenue peeks
I think I might have been the only person on the planet who noticed that March had slipped by without a monthly report on the relative earnings of the game industry from SuperData. As it turns out, it wasn't an error or a delay: It's because SuperData is being closed down. And that's not an […]
Blizzard is surveying WoW Classic players on character clone pricing
While the mere confirmation that Burning Crusade Classic will feature a level boost option, prompted a whole lot of debate in the community, another upcoming paid service seems to have escaped such controversy. Blizzard is going to be offering an option for player to shell out money to clone their characters so that they can […]
Magic Legends doubles spell drop rate, gives a week of free battlepass XP
Cryptic Studios is listening to — and acting upon — player feedback regarding Magic Legends following its recent soft launch. In the ARPG's second State of the Game report, Executive Producer Steve Ricossa shared many of the big changes that are coming to the game in today's update and in the near future. The most […]
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite April Fools' day MMO gag?
This year, we have elected not to do an April Fools' joke because we found ourselves with something more pressing to do. It turns out that copyright crackdowns in various places such as Twitch have become super aggressive, so from this point onward we'll be using gorgeous in-house artwork for our header images for all […]
The Stream Team: Droid party at Nar Shaddaa in SWTOR
Massively OP's Larry and MJ are closing in on the Shroud in SWTOR. Next up in the hunt: Nar Shaddaa, the big party planet (moon, whatever). It's certainly possible the duo will get sidetracked and start talking about favorite foods, funny foibles, and who knows what else while wandering among all the neon lights. Since […]
Runes of Magic celebrates 12 years with login rewards and a series of quests
Runes of Magic seems to be one of those MMO titles that continually flies under the radar but keeps on truckin' despite that. Case in point, the title has been operating for 12 years and is eager to celebrate the milestone with its players. Between now and Thursday, April 22nd, players can follow a new […]
New World discusses the 'vision' behind its alpha dungeons
"Expeditions" turns out to be a pretty popular concept right about now, but New World's might be a bit different from what you're expecting, as that's Amazon Game Studios' term for basic three-to-five-person dungeons. The studio penned a dev blog today detailing what players can expect from the content, specifically from the Amrine Excavation and […]
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen dates next pre-alpha test for next weekend, plans to talk balance and progression in April 1 livestream
Today's Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen news is all about the near future. As in the next couple of weeks or so. For those who are eager to kick the game's tires, the devs have put out an announcement that the game's next pre-alpha test will be running next weekend, Saturday, April 10th, and Sunday, […]
Agony of a Dying MMO is an atmospheric narrative game about players' final hours in a sunsetting MMO
How do you cope with the closing hours of an MMO as it shuts down? We all have a variety of answers to this question, but there's a narrative-driven horror game that seeks to touch on a few of those feelings. It's called Agony of a Dying MMO, a game that's part of a bundle […]
Elder Scrolls Online drops Blackwood trailer, announces next-gen 'Console Enhanced' edition
Among the most interesting announcements made during today's Elder Scrolls Online Blackwood preview stream was ZeniMax's revelation that it's releasing an "enhanced" edition for the newest-gen consoles. The Elder Scrolls Online: Console Enhanced will launch for the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, free for all owners of the game on Xbox One and PS4. […]
Fly on a donkey with Black Desert's April Mules' Day prank
Black Desert's PC version is rolling out its April Fools' day prank early, but given the context and adorableness rating on this one, we don't think you'll be sad. "April Mules' Day" is live today and runs for the next two weeks, allowing Shai characters to literally ride a flying donkey. I mean, I don't […]
Massively on the Go: Why Nintendo and Pikmin make sense in Niantic's hands
With the recent news that Nintendo and Niantic will work together for more AR games based on Nintendo IPs, I thought it might be time to revisit an old conversation we all had the last time Niantic was grappling with a major popular IP. As readers may remember, soon after Pokemon Go launched, Niantic was tapped […]
Elder Scrolls Online is about to stream Blackwood – come getcha flame atronach pony
Hear that noise? It's the sound of ZeniMax's hype machine for Elder Scrolls Online's Blackwood cranking up. Yes, Blackwood is only a couple of months away now, which means that the studio is prepping players with teasers – including a gameplay stream today. We don't always cover these kinds of announcement streams ahead of time, […]
The Wagadu Chronicles explores jungles, architecture, and more spirits in concept art, showcases new UI
The developers of The Wagadu Chronicles MMORPG continue to churn out Kickstarter updates, and the latest one features another round of fabulous concept art and in-game creations as the team at Twin Drums continues to flesh out its world. In this update, we have a look at even more lush rainforest vegetation, an exploration of […]
Elyon opens closed beta test signups with English website overhaul
Back in December, just as Elyon (fka Ascent Infinite Realm) was launching in Korea, we were left to get excited over the opening of the game's western website. However, as we noted at the time, that website consisted of a slide image and five sentences of lore and explanation for how MMORPGs work. There wasn't […]
Perfect Ten: Top 10 annoying things you hear in MMORPG global chat
General chat, sometimes called "Barrens chat" or "zone chat" or "the party line," is both the bane and the secret fixation of my existence. It's like a text-based reality show that plays out in real-time whenever I log into an MMO. If — for some rare reason — I'm bored of playing the game or […]
Elite Dangerous patches in faster system map loading and several fixes for the Odyssey alpha
With phase one of the Elite: Dangerous Odyssey alpha well underway, there have been a few more pressing matters that have cropped up that require the application of hotfixes. After all, while this is and alpha and broken things are to be expected, some things can be a bit too broken. The day of the […]
No Man's Sky adds a multiplayer-focused mode and improved multiplayer missions in the Expeditions update
Remember when No Man's Sky woefully underdelivered with regards to its multiplayer offerings? That seems like so long ago and the new Expeditions update is going to make that flub feel even further away as the survival sandbox has added a new limited-time multiplayer-focused mode known as Expedition mode, the first of which, known as […]
World of Warcraft will start testing patch 9.1 soon, unveils a world buff storage device for Classic
It's been an unusually long time since the launch of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands for the game to have not released its first major patch for the expansion, and it's going to be a while longer yet until the patch is released, but the good news is that it's at least been dated. The PTR is […]
Dungeons and Dragons Online activates its fourth permadeath server season
You've only got one life to live in Dungeons and Dragons Online — so make it a good one. The doors to DDO's permadeath server is open once more, as the MMO is running the fourth iteration of the Hardcore League from March 31st to June 29th. So why would you want to play a […]
EverQuest II dives into the Plane of Shadows with this week's content drop
The days may be getting longer, but that only means that the shadows are increasing in force. Yesterday, EverQuest II dared its players to return to the Plane of Shadows to face off against Emperor Ssraeshza — but only with the help of a Feral Spirit ceremony to bolster their power. Game Update 117: Whispers […]
CDPR says it's 'reconsidering' Cyberpunk 2077's planned multiplayer
Covering Cyberpunk 2077 has been an exercise in frustration here on multiplayer-focused MOP as CD Projekt Red has been stringing along promises of a distant multiplayer for ages now. Last we heard, it was likely several years away and probably going to be a "standalone product" rather than some sort of mere multiplayer component. That […]
The Daily Grind: What MMO content is perfect for short gaming sessions?
Lately I've been exploring Lord of the Rings Online's new(ish) mission system, which is essentially a smaller version of skirmishes that scale to a player's level. While these missions aren't anything mind-blowing in terms of activities or lore, I do appreciate that they offer the option to get something meaningful done in 10 to 15 […]
The Stream Team: A pre-Easter egg hunt in Guild Wars 2
There can be only one Highlander, but there can be many griffon eggs in Guild Wars 2's Desert Highlands. And Massively OP's MJ will gather them all! She's hoping things go so well she can even start her search in Elon Riverlands. Tune in live at 8:00 p.m. for this pre-Easter egg hunt! What: Guild […]
Closers celebrates April Fools' day with limited-time skins and high school-themed event dungeons
Somehow, I think the idea of April Fools' day was lost in translation between the publishers of Closers and the West. Or maybe the idea of April Fool's is being shoehorned in as part of the game's latest event. Perhaps it's best not to ponder these things and just enjoy the event. Which is based […]
Final Fantasy XI plans a variety of bonus events throughout April along with the usual egg hunt
Final Fantasy XI is going to make you hunt eggs in April. This is familiar to any long-time player of the game, naturally. Starting on April 5th, you will be hunting letter-bearing eggs that spell various things like the first three letters of your character name, alphabetical sequences starting from your first letter, or seven-of-a-kind […]
RIFT's 10th anniversary event gets some small new surprises
Gamigo may not be in the business of making new content for RIFT these days, but at least the company has the ability to flip the switch that activates the game's annual events. And considering that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the fantasy MMO, it's a good thing that players are able to […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 315: The Wrath Baby strikes back
Justin, Bree, Chris, and Tyler discuss Magic Legends' soft launch, World of Warcraft's price hikes, WoW Burning Crusade's beta, Elite Dangerous' Odyssey alpha, Raph Koster's virtual world manifesto, and Monster Hunter Rise's launch, with mailbag topics on when subs aren't worth it and why MMO currencies are just the worst.
Path of Exile's latest patch improves the game engine in preparation for the Ultimatum expansion
Path of Exile's engine is getting a little upgrade in patch 3.13.2, promising a variety of improvements like better texture streaming for faster loads, added automation to remove old minimap and shader data, an updated patcher to eliminate some file fracturing, and renderer system updates that have made them roughly 15-20% faster. As one might […]
Sony confirms that the PlayStation 3, PSP, and Vita stores will shut down this year
It turns out that the rumor was true, unfortunately. Sony has confirmed that the online stores for the PlayStation 3, PSP, and PSP Vita will all be shuttered this year, with the former two shutting down on July 2nd and the Vita store remaining open for a little longer until August 27th. Past this point, […]
The Soapbox: Would Asheron's Call make a good battle royale game?
With the recent announcement of Crayta coming to PCs, I was reminded of some discussions on the Asheron's Call subreddit about making a battle royale fan server. While I've always hoped fan would generate AC-themed projects, I also wonder whether recycling assets might be a cost-effective way for WB Games (which still owns the franchise) to test […]
RuneScape restores its first wave of accounts and applies combat changes, OSRS talks next steps for equipment balance
After a March that the devs of Jagex and the fans of RuneScape would likely love to forget, the process of bringing back locked-out accounts is officially underway, with the very first wave of affected players being welcomed back to the world of Gielinor. As reported earlier, players will be coming back to messy bank […]
Guild Wars 2's Super Adventure Festival returns… next week
You know what would've been awesome? If Guild Wars 2's Super Adventure Box were reopening this week, when April Fools' Day actually is and when my kids are off cyberschool for spring break. Alas, it's not this week – it's next week, as ArenaNet has just announced. "This year's Super Adventure Festival begins on April 6 […]
Final Fantasy XIV updates the digital fan festival and patch 5.5 sites
Patch 5.5 is just around the corner for Final Fantasy XIV, and that means more updates to the special preview site for the patch. The latest update includes a section about the open beta for the game's PlayStation 5 version, starting on patch day (April 13th), along with a preview of the fight against Diamond Weapon. […]
Choose My Adventure: I think I accidentally turned my Cleric into a Necromancer in RIFT
One of the big selling points in RIFT has always been the ability to combine three of the game's Souls into a custom class. Granted, the Souls in question were tied to a Calling (aka class) and were a bit limited in that regard, but for the most part the game's class customization allows for […]
Playable Worlds' hiring page suggests Raph Koster's upcoming MMO is a AAA sandbox
We're assuming that we're destined to hear a lot more about Playable Worlds' incoming MMORPG in the near future, what with Raph Koster's promise to do just that this year on top of his "premanifesto" last week. But while we wait for the hype machine to start cranking back up, we can poke around in […]
Casually Classic: In defense of a good 'looking for group' tool in World of Warcraft
While World of Warcraft certainly made a number of questionable design decisions over the years, for my money one of the absolute best moves Blizzard ever did was institute the looking for dungeon tool (or LFG tool) back in Wrath of the Lich King. Players who found it too frustrating or stressful to get into […]
Mortal Online 2 extends its stress test a few more days and checks in with a tech report
A Discord post shared on Reddit has provided an update regarding Mortal Online 2's ongoing beta stress test, announcing that the test will be extended "a few more days" as a result of the discovered technical difficulties. According to the post, the test saw an "enormous" number of players laying into the game's servers over […]
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen begins selling NFT-minted artwork to fund development
You either believe that NFT-minted artwork is the wave of the future, a brick in an impossibly tall pyramid scheme, or techbros turning the idea of card collecting into an environmental hazard. Or perhaps you're curious, in which case this Reddit thread does a pretty good job of explaining the scheme. However you feel about […]
Albion Online's daily pop rises to 140K players ahead of summer mobile launches
2020 was good for Albion Online and its studio Sandbox Interactive: We've been reporting over the last year how the game has continued to rise in population, notably reaching 125K players a day last fall. No doubt that's a large part of why the company allowed itself to be bought out by a Swedish mobile […]
Burning Crusade Classic's beta bumps the level cap to 68
WoW Classic's Burning Crusade beta took another step toward release last night, as Blizzard expanded the test's scope and made a few crucial fixes along the way. Now, the level cap has been increased from 64 to 68, a good sign that the beta is making progress. Other changes with the beta include making sure […]
The Daily Grind: What's the oldest MMORPG character you still play?
Every year or so we'll do a conversation topic about the oldest MMO we still play. But realistically, the same couple of MMOs always come up, and it's not the most interesting discussion. Old things are old. But MOP reader Doug gave us some great inspiration in a tweet the other day about his oldest […]
The Stream Team: Undead frolicking at Path of Exile Ritual altars
It's odd to Massively OP's MJ: Ritual is not her favorite Path of Exile league, but it sure keeps pulling her back! That tantalizing lure of maybe getting something good in the ritual loot again is just too enticing to resist. On the plus side, at least she also gets to enjoy her zombie army. […]
