Blankos Block Party moves out of open beta and into 'early access soft launch'
When is a launch product not a launch product but is also sort of a launch product? When it moves from open beta into a self-described "early access soft launch," of course! Such is the case for Blankos Block Party, which began its next phase of kinda-release as of yesterday. In terms of gameplay, the […]
Final Fantasy XI heads to Aht Urhgan for the next step of the Voracious Resurgencce
It's time for players in Final Fantasy XI to head back to the Near East with the upcoming June version update for the game. What's in Aht Urhgan? Why, the next stage of the ongoing Voracious Resurgence story content, naturally! This will see players dealing with the infamous mercenary leader Naja Salaheem, a familiar face to […]
Closers holds a number of gift-giving events and plans to reset unused character names
It appears that Closers is very eager to hand out free stuff to its players as the multiplayer action title has a few gift-giving events on tap. Starting today and only running for 24 hours, players who login can get a celebration box in honor of the character Seha's birthday. Also starting today is another […]
Star Wars The Old Republic lists dates for a number of returning events in June
For those who have already made the Dark Descent in Star Wars: The Old Republic, perhaps you're looking for a few events to zest up your June playtime. Lucky for you, there's a calendar of events. Unlucky for you, they're pretty much all reruns. Unless you missed out on previous event goodies, in which case, […]
V Rising is an upcoming multiplayer survival sandbox with a vampiric twist
We all just sort of assume that being a vampire isn't easy, what with the need to regularly drink blood from live prey, avoid the sunlight, and amuse yourself through the burden of eternal life. With the advent of the multiplayer survival title V Rising, however, we can all perhaps appreciate just how hard vampiric […]
EVE Echoes' Exploration update launches tomorrow with new CONCORD pass after a slight COVID delay
EVE Echoes has some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the Exploration Update is big and still coming. The bad news here is that the patch was delayed from its launch yesterday to Friday thanks to the pandemic that continues to wreak havoc around the world. "Due to the impact […]
World of Warcraft updates Torghast mechanics and some soulbinds on the 9.1 test server
The Empowered mechanic added to World of Warcraft's Torghast was not the most beloved mechanic added to an already not-beloved bit of content, so it's been changed with the most recent patch. Where previously the mechanic worked more like a hot streak bar with timing, players will now have the mechanic work more as an accumulated […]
Vague Patch Notes: The specter of MMO burnout and what it means
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about burnout. This is due in no small part to the fact that I am majorly burnt out in a few areas, most notably here. Yes, I said here. Lately, I've been going through a phase where it's harder to find the inspiration to write and find something new […]
Bless Unleashed pushed back its PC launch for further polish improvements
If you've been eagerly waiting for the full launch of Bless Unleashed on PC, you're going to have to wait just a little bit longer. A new letter to the community from head of development Koven Park reveals that the game is delaying the full launch to make further improvements and adjustments to the PC launch, […]
Desert Oasis: Why Black Desert Online is my favorite MMO
It's crazy how fast two years go by, but it's how long I've been running this column. I've interviewed the lead producer Jaehee Kim, provided a sneak preview to popular (and profitable) content, and showed some love to the game's beautiful server chat. Heck, I even pushed to give it the 2020 MMO of the […]
Crowfall officially launches July 6 – here's your code to get into the beta
It's official: Crowfall is finally launching. July 6th is the big day. The MMORPG was Kickstarted back in 2015 and has been on quite a ride; it was meant to soft-launch many years ago and has been delayed repeatedly, but the last year in particular has seen the game boost both its genre profile and its content offerings […]
Palia is a new 'community simulation MMO' from former Blizzard and Riot devs
A few weeks ago, I attended a press event for a new game assuming I would not be impressed by the offerings. Instead, I came away thinking that not only do I want this game, but my kids are going to want this game, and a lot of our readers are going to want this […]
Elite Dangerous Odyssey's second fix-filled update addresses UI issues, occlusion culling, and more
Another fix-loaded update for Elite: Dangerous has been released today, tackling another round of game-wide fixes primarily for Odyssey but also with some adjustments to Horizons. The update touches on a wide variety of portions of the game once more, whether it's rendering, lighting and visual effects, and sound among others. Some of the larger […]
Guild Wars 2 has made both chunks of The Dragon's Reach freely claimable for a week
Let this serve as your weekly reminder to log yourself right on into Guild Wars 2 and get some free stuff. Specifically, ArenaNet is handing out more free episodes from the long long ago, so if your account doesn't have 'em, you should go scoop them up. On deck this week are The Dragon's Reach […]
The Daily Grind: Do you get impatient with new MMO content?
The advantage to having a job that takes place at home and centers around video games is the fact that it's pretty easy to not just take time away from that job to blow through new content but actually justify it as work. "Sorry, I couldn't do the dishes, I had to level up this […]
MMO Business Roundup: Chicken Drumstick, 9000 zombies, Valorant Mobile, Pantheon hiring, Secret World's novels
Welcome back to our semi-regular roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent gaming industry news. Chicken Drumstick: Yes, I'm afraid this is a real thing. Vice's Motherboard blog has a massive piece of reporting up on the video games cheat empire dubbed Chicken Drumstick that apparently made as much as $70M ruining PUBG Mobile. The news itself […]
Minecraft Dungeons releases the Hidden Depths DLC and introduces a Raid Captain enemy for all players
You know what Minecraft Dungeons needs? More underwater terrors to threaten players because the deep sea is full of horrible eldritch-like life. Enter the Hidden Depths DLC, which went live this past Thursday and brought along with it all of the awfulness of the deep ocean in the form of new monsters lurking in three […]
Genshin Impact adds a new island area and hits the Epic Games Store on June 9
This coming Sunday, June 9th, will see players of Genshin Impact hit the waves to take on a threat to Klee's stuffed animal charm. There's also probably some other wider dangers, too, but the upcoming Midsummer Island Adventure update is effectively kicked off by that threat. In this next version update, players will be able […]
Dual Universe talks up patch 0.25 improvements, discusses docking revamps, and shows off a massive player ship
The month of June is now upon us, which means that Dual Universe's May newsletter is available for reading in case anyone missed any features from the space sandbox over the past 31 days. The bulletin leads off with a nod towards the optimizations applied in patch 0.25 while also offering up one player's 4K […]
Old School RuneScape proposes ranged meta changes and delays its next update as RuneScape unveils a new Yak Track
It's yet another loaded week of news for both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape. We'll start with OSRS' proposal for ranged weapon meta changes, which feature a heavy focus on several adjustments to the Toxic Blowpipe and several varieties of darts, as well as the Crystal Bow, the Bow of Faerdhinen, and a number of […]
Skyforge's Hunters of Terra update is live now for PC players with imminent console rollouts
The latest update for Skyforge that unlocks the new Bounty Hunter class is here… sort of. There are a few caveats, you see. For one thing, it's only here for PC players, with Xbox players waiting until June 3rd, PlayStation players waiting until June 4th, and Switch players waiting for an as-yet-undetermined length of time. For […]
Book of Travels shares a preview of its tiny Omin spirits
The entire idea of Book of Travels is roaming a wide world, which would certainly leave some to look at wide vistas and potentially large dangers, but the latest Kickstarter dev blog invites players to think small as it previews the tiny spirits known as Omin. These little spirit beings take their inspiration from a […]
Enter to win a Star Trek Online Klothos and Klingon Personnel Package key and Bat'leth No Touch Tool
Star Trek Online fans are surely busy with their captains in the game's House United patch that just rolled out last week. But maybe we can tempt them away for a minute, as Cryptic and Perfect World have put together an epic set of giveaways for our readers in honor of the release. For our […]
Neverwinter's first new class since 2016 is the Bard, and it hits the test server tomorrow
Trove isn't the only MMORPG showing off its new Bard class this week: Apparently, Neverwinter's got one on deck too. According to IGN, the class will launch "later this year" as the first new class since 2016 (that was the Oathbound Paladin). "For players that choose the Bard class, they will become a stylish fighter […]
Champions Online holds a player Q&A session about serials, archery, and more
It's been a relatively busy period over in the world of Champions Online, with the game's first serial story, revamps to the archery powerset, and updates for Therakiel's Lair and Eidolon. As one might expect, there are some player questions that have come up after all of these updates, and the devs at Cryptic recently […]
NetEase launches new cross-platform sci-fi multiplayer online title Infinite Lagrange
NetEase is launching a new online game today: It's called Infinite Lagrange, and it's a multiplayer sci-fi strategy simulation title with a noticeable EVE Online-esque aesthetic. It game rolled out in Europe earlier this spring, but today's launch is for the Americas. The game boasts territorial expansion, ship unlocks, massive battles, exploration, and treasure hunting. […]
Eight major unannounced MMO projects that are in the works
There's nothing more tantalizing nor frustrating than knowing that an MMO or MMORPG is in the works but hasn't been formally announced yet. We see many of these cross our paths here at Massively OP and thought that today might be a good time to compile them together. What upcoming projects are still under wraps […]
The Division 2 puts a rerun of its third season back into rotation
Seasonal content is fun and all, but it does run into the small problem of being somewhat less fun when you miss out on the season and have to live without getting all of the fun perks and rewards associated with it. If you're in precisely that situation with The Division 2, you'll be happy to […]
Black Desert announces the upcoming co-op dungeon Atoraxxion
It's time to team up in Black Desert this summer. Players on both PC and console will be able to take part in exploring the game's new co-op dungeon, Atoraxxion. It's a dungeon nearly the size of a whole new region of the game, complete with puzzles to be solved, ancient weapons to be fought, and […]
No Man's Sky launches the Prisms update to make the whole game look prettier
There are times when No Man's Sky can be a remarkably beautiful game. It gets even prettier with the new Prisms update, which adds in a whole lot of visual enhancements to make the game even more lovely to behold. New shafts of light, fur technology, reflections, more details in various biomes, rain getting the surface […]
Albion Online mobile launches June 9 – here's how to get some free loot
Yesterday, our team was joking about how just about everything was happening on June 9th. Here's one more to add to the pile: Albion Online's mobile version. If you're currently thinking to yourself, hey didn't that game already have a mobile version, then you're right because it did and we've even played it. But it […]
Phantasy Star Online 2 introduces players to New Genesis, has Conan O'Brien preview the game
With Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis officially confirmed for a June 9th release, it's time for Sega to start winding up the hype for the open world multiplayer RPG with some new videos. First, there's an introductory video available in 4K 60 FPS resolution, talking up the game's story and features, including its character […]
WoW Classic Burning Crusade's launch successfully navigated queues and DDOS attacks
Were you prepared? Can we stop making are-you-prepared jokes now? I sure hope so since Blizzard pushed Burning Crusade live for WoW Classic fans yesterday afternoon as promised. And someone was apparently really mad about it since the service was almost immediately slammed with a DDOS attack. Just for old times' sake, I suppose. Likely […]
The Daily Grind: How long can you grind content in an MMO?
It might seem kind of odd, but part of my problem with playing Final Fantasy XI back in the day was just about the time spent grinding in any given zone. Now, I've mentioned before how a bit of grind can be a good thing in its own right, but the thing is that speaking personally […]
The Stream Team: Teaching a Guild Wars 2 skimmer to swim
Now that Massively OP's MJ has her griffon mount in Guild Wars 2, she only needs the warclaw, skyscale, and the roller beetle to complete her collection. She also needs to teach her skimmer to swim! Today's goal is to turn the skimmer into a swimmer, and if there is enough time, try and acquire […]
Shroud of the Avatar's Release 90 introduces stat-boosting Imbued Gems and Jewels
Do you like slotting watered-down Infinity Stones into your equipment as a means to incrementally adjust your character's stats by the barest of measurements, granting you the illusion of character build customization? Then you're going to love the Imbued Gems that were added to Shroud of the Avatar in Release 90. The latest update has […]
Final Fantasy XI ups equipment drops and brings back Sunshine Seeker
Dang, your gear in Final Fantasy XI leaves something to be desired. You should get some better gear. If only the game would run some sort of campaign in which you could get better gear more easily! Say, an event where various sources of gear from BCNM fights to Vagary to Voidwatch would have increased rewards, and […]
Blue Protocol debuts the new Heavy Smasher class, lets players hold hands, and adjusts to beta feedback
It's been a little bit of time since we'd heard much out of Blue Protocol. Up until now, we knew the game was going to feature a photo mode and a customizable radial menu, but otherwise the MMORPG from Bandai Namco has been in closed beta testing in Japan, starting as late as April of […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 324: All-mail revue
Justin and Bree answer a whole ton of your mailbag questions on WoW retention, MMO disillusionment, MMO oldies, development hurdles, EG7 and Daybreak, MMO world exploration, guild perks, and underwater zones.
Crowfall cuts together a highlight reel for its recent Eternal Champions esports event
Who has time to watch an esporting event from start to finish? Some of us work during the weekends. Some of us have other things to do. And there are those who would just rather have the whole affair summarized for the sake of convenience. Whatever your reason, Crowfall has made it easier for fans […]
Final Fantasy XIV reveals patch 5.55's new items and goes on sale
Patch 5.55 for Final Fantasy XIV has been out for just about a week now, and that means players have had a chance to get a sense of what's in the patch by this point. (Relic weapons, for one thing.) Still, just in case you had been waiting on it, the official site has updated the […]
Jagex Interview: Everything you need to know about RuneScape's mobile edition
With the insane response to Old School RuneScape's mobile launch back in 2018, the pressure was on for Jagex to deliver an equally deserving product for RuneScape proper. It looks like those efforts are about to come to fruition with this summer as RuneScape Mobile's going through its beta paces on both Android and iOS […]
The Wagadu Chronicles recaps progress on biomes, UI, and tabletop RPG
Have you been keeping up with what's happening in The Wagadu Chronicles' development? No? Well that's OK because the devs at Twin Drums have put together a helpful Twitter thread and an update blog on Kickstarter that summarize the moves made in the studio and the game over the course of this past May. In […]
Choose My Adventure: The slow setup for adventure in Star Wars Galaxies Legends
This week's Choose My Adventure probably had more preliminary preparation than any other game I've had. Most of the time I tend to fly by the seat of my pants to varying levels of success (read: failure), but it was impressed upon me early on that my time in Star Wars Galaxies Legends would be […]
Elder Scrolls Online's Blackwood is officially live on PC, Mac, and Stadia – here's the launch trailer
As promised, The Elder Scrolls Online has gone live on PC, Mac, and Stadia with its Blackwood chapter and sideloading update 30. Console players will be waiting until June 8th to leap in and until June 14th for the Console Enhanced version. The highlight of Blackwood, of course, is the new companion system, which essentially […]
Stick and Rudder: Elite Dangerous Odyssey is not bad, but it is broken
All right. I get it. I understand. The Elite: Dangerous community is pretty rancorous right now, and I can't say that I blame them. The Odyssey expansion arrived with all of the grace of a comet's strike, and people absolutely have a right to be upset about that. I don't know that I'm in that […]
CD Projekt Red sees profits plummet in 2021 thanks to Cyberpunk 2077 woes
We reported yesterday that Cyberpunk 2077 had lost its top director, Adam Badowski, but as it happens, the latest news from the game is even grimmer: Apparently, while the game performed well in its launch quarter at the tail end of last year in spite of all its problems, sales have plummeted to the degree that […]
The Burning Crusade is live today for WoW Classic
No more preparation allowed for the WoW Classic crowd because it's time to once again dive headlong into the broken realm of Outland as The Burning Crusade releases today! Everything old is new again, indeed. Yes, there's even a helpful recap of global release times available for players who are already enjoying the pre-patch and are […]
Swords of Legends Online begins CBT 2 this week with faction PvP, English VO, and harder dungeons
As of 8:00 a.m. EDT today, the second closed beta test round for Swords of Legends Online kicked off, and there has been a wide swath of changes applied to this round. A number of new features are available for testing, while existing features have seen several tweaks. One of the bigger additions is the […]
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online's Rich Lambert on Blackwood, companions, lore, and more
Elder Scrolls Online PC fans are in for a treat today as the MMORPG is dropping its biggest content blast of the year in the form of the Blackwood chapter and update 30. The highlight, of course, is the new map and companion system, but there's loads more to the updates. We had a chance […]
