Epic v Apple: Australian antitrust case allowed to resume thanks to an overturned ruling
While a lot of our previous reporting has naturally been focused on the antitrust case unfolding between Epic Games, Apple, and Google here in the US, that's not the only legal battlefield for the matter, as Epic Games leveraged a similar complaint in Australian courts to the one brought forth in California this past November. […]
Ubisoft doc suggests toxic management has contributed to loss of talent and image
That headline might read like "water is wet" news, but the actual statements made are part of Ubisoft's own Universal Registration Document, a mandatory document for public companies that identifies risks as well as results to the firm they come from. This particular document was published in June, with Ubisoft affirming in the "risks and […]
Wisdom of Nym: Looking at lost actions as a key to more job customization in Final Fantasy XIV
Let's talk a little bit about the Save the Queen content in Final Fantasy XIV, but perhaps not in the way you might be expecting. I come here not to review the content or to offer guides to playing it, but to look at this content as a potential path forward for the game offering […]
RuneScape's latest update applies a quality-of-life Ninja Strike to various combat matters
Fights happen in RuneScape. It's just the way of things. As of this week's patch, fighting in the MMORPG is getting some likely helpful quality-of-life updates and new adjustments thanks to the latest Ninja Strike. The new patch adds several new boss fight features including a boss instance timer, a display under a boss' health […]
Hands-on with Monster Hunter Stories 2: Teasing out the multiplayer content
So Monster Hunter Stories 2 is out in the wild now, and to be honest, the demo does the game no justice for MH fans, and worse, it hides essentially everything for multiplayer fans, which I'd argue have been the core of the series fans at the start. That being said, I stand by my feelings that […]
Final Fantasy XIV contends with full servers and wait lists for its digital version
It's possible you're tired of hearing about Final Fantasy XIV, but the influx of players the game seems to be getting is pretty notable. As of yesterday, players were reporting that nearly every server in the game was being closed to the creation of new characters due to an influx of players. That doesn't appear […]
Final Fantasy XIV prepares to Make it Rain and sports a new benchmark and expansion site
So the content for Final Fantasy XIV is going to be light on the ground for the next four months and change. What can you do to entertain yourself? Well, you can take part in the Make it Rain campaign that starts up July 19th, which increases the rate at which you earn MGP while […]
Elite Dangerous' David Braben delays Odyssey on console to 'reprioritise the core PC experience'
Elite Dangerous' Odyssey expansion has been a bit of a bungle, all told. While players initially embraced the new content, even we noted it felt rushed and unfinished, and players have since been complaining bitterly about bugs and issues and dropped features the slow pace of fixes and the perception of poor communication from the […]
Fight or Kite: Crowfall's launch is a struggle, but I'm ready to play
It's been just under a week since Crowfall officially launched, and the game's more alive than ever before. It's been what has felt like an eternity since Crowfall was initially announced as a Kickstarter back in 2015. I recall sitting on the sofa, coffee mug in hand, reading about the initial core concepts, and I […]
Shroud of the Avatar's Richard Garriott is joining an expedition to locate a sunken ship
He's been to the North Pole. He's been to space. He's been to the depths of the ocean. He's been everywhere but in the development studio in his role as creative director for Shroud of the Avatar. Now MMO developer Richard Garriott is going on yet another adventure in the real world as part of […]
Blade and Soul tosses free level 60 character boosts your way
Blade and Soul is gearing up for a big week as it prepares to roll out its Endless Night content patch on July 14th. The centerpiece of this update is a third specialization for the Warlock class, offering players the ability to adopt a Reaver stance and swing an oh-so-practical scythe around the battlefield. But […]
Swords of Legends Online's NA server runs into some technical issues during launch
This past Friday saw Swords of Legends Online arrive to our side of the world, but as is the way of pretty much all MMORPG launches from here to forevermore, there were some technical snarl-ups that publisher Gameforge had to navigate, specifically for the NA server. The problems were noted just after 10:30 a.m. EDT […]
Ashes of Creation briefly lifts NDA for last weekend's test, resulting in a slew of new gameplay footage
As if this past week wasn't crazy enough, Ashes of Creation was running an Alpha One preview weekend to drum up some interest from content-starved MMO players. It was clearly a promotional effort, because Intrepid Studios lifted the NDA for the three days and made suggestive head nods to YouTubers to, you know, check it […]
The Daily Grind: Do you *really* want MMOs to be constantly changing and evolving?
On Napyet's podcast last year, I talked about the differences between SWGemu and SWG Legends, both Star Wars Galaxies emulators with very different goals. I argued that while I loved SWGemu for its preservation goals, it was by design a server that was never going to march forward in time or see major changes. Legends, […]
MMO Week in Review: The week when we got two new launched MMORPGs
I joked on Twitter that it's not every week when we get to graduate a Kickstarter MMORPG to launch, but it's also not every week when we have not one but two major MMORPGs launching, and that's exactly where we are right now with the launch of Crowfall and Swords of Legends Online – the […]
RuneScape prepares for Elder God War and a summertime event, Old School RuneScape makes smaller updates
Soon, players of RuneScape will have to face the ominous approach of both a realm-defining war and a summery celebration event. Whichever poison players choose, there will be consequences. Fun will be had. Prepare thyselves. The war in question, of course, is the ongoing Elder Gods War, which is reaching its zenith soon with an […]
The MOP Up: Pokémon Go's astounding multi-billion dollar haul
It is wild to think that it was just five years ago that Pokemon Go became the summer gaming phenomenon, sending waves of gamers crisscrossing cities and rural regions looking for elusive creatures. In those five years, the game has proven to be highly profitable, as Niantic reported a $5 billion haul so far. Out […]
Global Chat: Exuberant over SWTOR's combat styles
The recent announcement of this fall's Legacy of the Sith expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic has (as expansion announcements tend to do) reinvigorated the game with a lot of interest. One talking point that seems to be on many gamers' lips is that of the new "combat styles" that allow players to mix-and-match […]
The Stream Team: Spaceship shenanigans in Star Wars Galaxies Legends
Ever since his first-ever adventure in Star Wars Galaxies for Choose My Adventure, MOP's Chris has been eager to continue working his way through this classic MMORPG, and while his focus is on crafting, he's also found a new delight: space missions! Join him today at 12:00 p.m. EDT as he takes to the not-so-friendly […]
WoW Classic shares insights on same-faction battleground testing, plans more tests soon
Last week Blizzard raised more than a couple of eyebrows with its plan to test same-faction battlegrounds in World of Warcraft: Classic. Now that those tests are over, the devs are sharing some insight into how things went. According to a dev forum post, the same-faction testing did precisely what it was meant to do; […]
One Shots: Fight for your right to party
When a Star Wars: The Old Republic player wants to party — and with an expansion on the way, it's as good an excuse as any, you're going to want to head to a planet where giant space slugs operate garish casinos floating in mid-air. That's where you'll find Minimalistway at any rate: "Nar Shaddaa […]
The Daily Grind: How do you style your characters in MMOs?
Not every game has housing, usually for bad reasons. But the vast majority of games at this point do allow you to design your character however you want, either through various cosmetic systems or just the City of Heroes-style approach letting you look however you want. All well and good. But when presented with a […]
Make My MMO: Crowfall is one of the biggest crowdfunded MMOs to ever fully launch
This week in crowdfunded MMOs, we celebrate the official launch of one of the biggest crowdfunded MMOs: Crowfall, which originally raised $2.3M between Kickstarter and Indiegogo but with investors pulled in over $35M in total funds by our count. So far, while its population is on the low side and its launch was marred by […]
SWTOR starts testing Legacy of the Sith combat styles
All of the excited chittering and utinnis for the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic expansion haven't really been about the new planet or storyline — it's been about the ability to mix-and-match class playstyles with class storylines. Called "combat styles," this feature is sure to inject some life into alts when Legacy of the […]
Magic Legends introduces three-color deck features and ramps up currency earnings
Even though Magic Legends is shuttering, the devs at Cryptic are still apparently going to try new things with the ARPG. For instance, the latest update has introduced a way for players to put together three-color decks, provided they have unlocked two-color decks and a rank 2+ Aetheric Core. If players have met those requisites, […]
Crowfall's community frets over low population, but ArtCraft isn't panicking
One of the biggest MMO Kickstarters of all time and a long-awaited PvP game launched this past week… but you might not know it if you look around at what others are playing. While some people are indeed playing and enjoying Crowfall, it's not that many: Some players tallied up the server count and came […]
Four Winds: MassivelyOP's guide to getting started in Swords of Legends Online
It's a strange trend whenever new MMOs launch that there's a deluge of tutorial videos on a bunch of topics but a shortage of written guides. Sometimes I just need a quick question answered without having to skip the 30-second intro and repeating the video a few times because the speaker was talking too fast. […]
Final Fantasy XIV posts Endwalker benchmark trailer
Let's be realistic: Anyone who can currently run Final Fantasy XIV is probably going to have no problem running Endwalker when it releases in November. The upcoming benchmark for the expansion is mostly something players look forward to for the hint of new job abilities, the character creator with new hairstyles and male Viera, and […]
WRUP: Reasons I knocked down the statue in the front of your yard edition
The homeowners association says "no statues" and I take those rules very seriously, up to and including renting construction equipment to knock over statues when it is necessary. History will vindicate me. The statue in question memorialized the 1984-1992 situation comedy Who's The Boss?, which is morally reprehensible to me and left me with no […]
The Daily Grind: What is the most annoying MMO music track in existence?
As a fan of MMO music, I'm always in tune (har!) with how particular tracks can add or detract from certain zones and cities. A great piece makes you feel at home, excited, or invigorated, while a bad track… well, we don't like the bad tracks. But those are the ones I want us to […]
Betawatch: Launchapalooza
After last week's rather dismal opening, it's nice to know that this week we get to celebrate two games leaving our list because they've both launched for real, no fooling, absolute launch version. Both Crowfall and Swords of Legends Online are now entering the wilds of a full launch, so hey! That's super neat and […]
Genshin Impact is bringing the city of Inazuma and its surrounding region on July 21
The world of Genshin Impact plans to have seven major cities but currently only two of them are accessible right now — Monstadt and Liyue. That's about to change on Wednesday, July 21st, when the city of Inazuma and the islands that are part of the area will become available to players. The new update, […]
Apex Legends kicks off its Thrillseekers event starting on July 13
Looking for a few thrills in Apex Legends above and beyond the normal thrills of dodging bullets and returning fire? The upcoming Thrillseekers event might be perfect for you, with the inclusion of a brand-new area map (Overflow) featuring distinct lanes and a whole lot of molten rock for players to deal with. It's dangerous […]
AdventureQuest 3D adds more to the Sandsea Saga while changing up boss rotations
Feel like having some meat between two pieces of bread? The idea might occur to you as you're playing through the content added with the latest update for AdventureQuest 3D, and that's entirely natural, as the newest part of the game's Sandsea Saga has you taking on the Sand Witch and our brains can only […]
Riot runs a huge multi-game summer event called Sentinels of Light
When you have a growing roster of games under your umbrella, why not take advantage of this fact to throw an ambitious multi-title event that spans the summer season? That's what Riot Games is thinking, at least, because it's just kicked off Sentinels of Light, a story-driven event that's popping up in all of its […]
The Stream Team: Party time for Trove's sixth birthday
Trove turned the big six today! The adorable game is ripe for fun festivities, and Massively OP's MJ is ready to party. Maybe she will even find all the six elements for the Trove birthday screenshot contest! Tune in live at 3:00 p.m. as Massively OP's Stream Team brings you… What: Trove Who: MJ Guthrie When: […]
Diablo III kicks off Season 24 with a throwback to its predecessor's Ethereal Weapons
This is probably not going to come as an enormous shock to anyone, but the team behind Diablo III also would like you to check out the re-release of Diablo II that's coming in September. This is part of the reason the main theme of the upcoming Season 24 starting on July 23rd will feature […]
KingsIsle actually updated Pirate101 with new content after a period in maintenance mode
Wizard101 and Pirate101 have had quite a year in 2021 already, what with KingsIsle being bought out by Gamigo's parent company and all. Not only did the new owners promise that KingsIsle would continue to update Wizard101 – which it did – but they also hinted that Pirate101 might get some love, after quite a […]
EVE Online has added an early test version of its Opportunities system for new characters
One of the most basic problems of starting new in EVE Online is simply dealing with the fact that there's a whole lot to do and the path from "finding out what you can do" to "figuring out how to do that reliably" isn't always clear. That's the goal of the Opportunities system, then: Give […]
Dual Universe highlights an asteroid tracker and a landing pad for character butts, holds a Q&A session
Walking around in the world of Dual Universe has got to be tiring, but up until now the only seat your poor avatar could have would be in the cockpit of whatever spacecraft you built or purchased. With the game's upcoming Apollo update, that's going to change with the intervention of the "chair surface element," […]
Ravendawn pegs first alpha phase to July 27 for top-end supporter pack buyers
Over the last few seasons, we've been keeping an eye on Ravendawn, a new MMORPG built on Open Tibia. It's meant as an homage to the art styles of classic isometric MMOs, but with a mix of modern mechanics. "Our mission with Ravendawn is to reignite a nostalgic isometric art style focusing on depth of […]
Lawful Neutral: Defining toxicity in the MMO industry
One of my earliest memories from World of Warcraft isn't really a positive one. It was in back in the Wrath days. My guild had just recruited a new member, who jumped into Ventrilo (heh) to hear us chat. One of my guildies was a woman. When this new member heard her speak over Vent, […]
Mortal Online 2 shares its new roadmap and answers questions about crafting, combat, and player politics
The devs of Mortal Online 2 have been pretty active recently, even without taking into account the sandbox's most recent content patch. Take for example a series of three Q&A videos from YouTuber Wolfszeit during the tail end of June, when Star Vault CEO Henrik Nyström fielded questions about a wide variety of topics. Here […]
The Game Archaeologist: Why 2008 was one of the wildest years for MMORPGs
In the relatively short history of MMORPGs so far, there have been a few years that I would say were watershed moments for the genres. And while I'm sure we could quibble over which year was the most significant, the one period of time that I keep coming back to in my mind as the […]
Star Citizen's June development report outlines work on alpha 3.14, standalone tools, and AI behaviors
As we slowly move through the early days of July, it's time for CIG to check in with the development report for June for Star Citizen. With alpha 3.14 making its way to the Persistent Universe soon, a lot of the month's tasks were in service of getting the update ready, with work on the […]
PSA: Final Fantasy XIV is hosting another two week-long free login campaign for lapsed accounts
If a lot of the recent buzz around Final Fantasy XIV has you itchy to return to Eorzea but you don't have the money for a subscription right now, then today is the start of your next lucky two weeks as the game has once again started a free login campaign, allowing lapsed players a […]
Swords of Legends has officially launched today – and it's already spun up a new server
It came all but out of nowhere this spring, and now it's live in the west: Gameforge's AAA MMORPG import Swords of Legends Online aka SOLO is up, out, and playable. "Based on the legends that inspired the multi-award-winning television series, several movies, novels, and a series of games including the recent MMORPG Gu Jian […]
'Non-traditional' DC Universe Online episode coming next month
When DC Universe Online's next patch arrives in August, don't expect the same-old, same-old. Daybreak is going a bit of a different way with Episode 41: House of Legends, billing it as a "non-traditional" update. "With this episode, we have taken a significant departure from the more traditional episode formats to focus on new features […]
The Daily Grind: How do you stay in touch with your MMO friends outside of the game?
For some people, the answer to the question asked in the header is very simple: "I don't." And that's totally valid. Some people make friends in a game and then treat those friendships as ultimately temporary. We're both here doing a thing for now and having fun, when we stop doing the thing we stop […]
Massively Overthinking: Which of the summer MMO launches captured your time and attention?
OK folks: We're in the thick of summer now, a summer that's seen an endless parade of MMO launches, mobile ports, expansions, classic servers, console ports, progression servers, major updates, and still some big launches left in the year. The big question is this: Did any of it actually capture your attention? Or did you […]
