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 […]
Player-run Open Perpetuum goes fully free-to-play on Steam
Care for a little free-to-play sandbox gaming? How about one where you are a robot in an open world? If you've been curious about the game Open Perpetuum but didn't want to buy in, you'll now no longer have to do so as the devs have announced (in a rather brusque manner) that the game […]
Elite: Dangerous asks for player assistance to pin down some top-voted issue tracker bugs
Bug squashing can be a sort of team effort between game devs and game players, and it's in that spirit of cooperation that Elite: Dangerous is asking players for some help with pinning down some of the highest voted bugs in the game's issue tracker. There are three specific issues being targeted by Frontier Developments […]
Lineage II's casual friendly version includes an action-packed solo dungeon
Hopefully you didn't miss the word that Lineage II is about to launch a brand-new version of the game that's far more casual-friendly than anything the MMO has had in the past. And it's not just a decrease in difficulty that's happening with Lineage II Aden; this version includes two more classes, a new pet […]
PlanetSide 2 brings back its summer weapons, introduces new vehicle engine cosmetics
It's time once again for players of PlanetSide 2 to trade in their lethal firearms for some squirt guns as the shooter's summertime even is back once again. From now until August 25th, players will have access to a squirt gun sidearm, faction-specific water balloons, and a variety of summer-themed directives to fulfill for cosmetics […]
Final Fantasy XI prepares a Ramuh-filled update for August
The developers of Final Fantasy XI really hope you like everyone's best-known avatar of lightning, Ramuh, because he's going to be featured a lot in the August update. First and foremost, he's got a starring role in the newest installment of the Voracious Resurgence, which continues the Aht Urhgan portion of the storyline. There will […]
Playable Worlds' lead designer: 'Our industry does not thrive on ideas'
Raph Koster's startup Playable Worlds is working on an MMORPG. A big one. A big one we don't know much about yet, in spite of all the words the company has spilled on it so far. We're getting more words this week, though this time, they're from the game's lead designer, Greg Costikyan, whose name […]
SMITE's next god is Charybdis, the Ceaseless Whirlpool
I'm actually a bit surprised that it's taken SMITE this long to add this character, particularly since Scylla is already a playable option. Regardless, it's a bit of better late than never when Charybdis, the Ceaseless Whirlpool arrives to the game soon. Information about this new character is a bit sparse, but the initial announcement […]
The Stream Team: Causing some trouble in Space Punks' early access
A fair number of new games cross our desk over the course of any given news week, but the whole vibe of Jagex-published Space Punks strikes a little differently and has caught the attention of MOP's Chris enough that he's willing to buy in to early access, fire up the game live, and give it […]
Amazon Games just delayed New World again, now to September 28
Amazon Games has just announced on Twitter that it's postponing the launch of New World. "[W]e're going to take a few extra weeks to smash bugs, improve stability, and polish the game," the studio writes. "New World's new global launch date is September 28, 2021. This was not an easy decision to make. We know […]
Dungeons and Dragons Online invites players to discover the Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh today (for money)
Today is the day for Dungeons and Dragons Online players to get their boots mired in water, mud, and secrets. Today marks the launch of the Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh update, bringing with it a marshland full of enemies, a haunted manor, 10 new dungeons for players to plumb, and the Horizon Walker enhancement tree. […]
Aliens: Fireteam Elite previews its soundtrack and difficulty modes
Beneath the sudden sparks of gunfire, the hissing of something hiding in the dark, and the sound of a team slowly stepping through infested corridors, Aliens: Fireteam Elite is going to be relying a lot on the music of the game to sell its atmosphere. Will it succeed at that? Well, we can't tell you […]
Vague Patch Notes: Blizzard may live on, but it will never be Blizzard again
If you want to chart the moment when Blizzard stopped being Blizzard, you got a really nice data point when J. Allen Brack stepped down yesterday. His replacements are not "Blizzard people." These are not people who have been with the company for years on end and have ultimately been a part of the structure […]
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen talks limited action sets, traits and dispositions, and other MMO launches
It's time once more for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen's VIP developer roundtable podcast for the month of July. In this episode, Ben Walters shares the table with creative & programming producer Chris "Joppa" Perkins and associate game designer Adam "Tehom" Moste to talk about Pantheon's design, production, and other related matters. Here are a […]
Book of Travels teases the groundwork of how cooperative play will work with Endeavours
It goes without saying that the point of Book of Travels is that you will not be grouping up with other players to descend into a hole and go smash some orcs in the face. For one thing, there might not be orcs to smash. But that doesn't mean you won't ever expect to be […]
EverQuest II plots Toil and Trouble for next week, teases dinosaur/centaur expansion
Daybreak's Jenn Chan has surfaced with a letter to the EverQuest II community this week that spills a few beans on the game's next update: It's dubbed Toil and Trouble, and it launches August 10th. What's in it? Oh my sweet summer child. Chan is not telling you that in spite of the fact that […]
Crowfall plans scoring and reward changes for Conquest campaigns
Earlier this week, ArtCraft elevated Crowfall's first big patch since launch to the live servers, bringing the 3v3 faction PvP fully online and opening the larger Dregs campaigns as the original campaigns wound down. But the rollout hasn't been without challenges. "Players identified an issue in the Conquest scoring system late in the campaign and […]
Elder Scrolls Online shores up its Waking Flame dungeons
As Elder Scrolls Online focuses on its Waking Flame DLC this month, ZeniMax is working to make sure that the associated dungeons aren't falling down around players' ears as they explore them. As such, Patch 7.1.3 is going through its paces on the test server. This patch "includes several more fixes for the Waking Flame […]
RIFT quietly retires free subscription trial from Steam
Fans of RIFT haven't seen a lot to give them optimism about the MMO's future this year, especially following team layoffs and transfers back in March. While the title continues to roll out sale promotions and the odd event, it hasn't put out a patch since February or seen meaningful dialogue with Gamigo in months. […]
The Daily Grind: What MMO expansion feature instantly had your money?
Every time an MMORPG expansion is announced, the very first thing that I look for is the big hook — that tentpole feature that is a gotta-have, totally want, shut-up-and-take-my-money. It's the feature that has everyone buzzing about it the day (or week) afterward, and if an expansion can pull off more than one of […]
Activision-Blizzard Day 14: Brack and Meschuk exits, fraud lawsuit, proto-union, and Q2 financials
It's been a helluva Tuesday in the swamps of the Activision-Blizzard sexism scandal: The day opened with the departure of J. Allen Brack from Blizzard and closed with the Activision-Blizzard Q2 2021 investor call, which showed Activision revenues up but Blizzard revenues and monthly active users down, in spite of the release of WoW Classic's […]
Apex Legends adds a new character, updates its map, and kicks off ranked arenas in Emergence update
The battle royale shooting of Apex Legends has gotten a little bit more artistic. That's according to the general vibe of the title's latest roster addition at least, which is a tentpole feature of the overall Emergence update that has gone live today. The new character is named Seer, a man who brings "microdrones and […]
Corepunk delays its beta testing until December
Bad news to anyone who was heavily anticipating Corepunk's previously planned first beta test happening this month. The developers made a short video today announcing that technical issues made it unavoidable that the team would have to delay, and while the team is optimistic and targeting October internally, the beta test has been pushed back […]
Q2 2021: Activision revenues are up, Blizzard MAUs are down amid sexism scandal
Back in May, we got quite a bit of unexpected attention here at MassivelyOP as the headline for our coverage of Activision-Blizzard's Q1 2021 financials – Blizzard has lost almost 29% of its overall active playerbase in three years – went viral across social media and Reddit. We, like many journalists and gamers, had been […]
Massively OP Podcast Episode 333: Dragon us back to Guild Wars 2
Justin and Bree discuss Guild Wars 2's End of Dragons, Pathfinder Online, Crimson Desert, and Week Two of the Blizzard Scandal, with adventures in LOTRO, FFXIV, Albion, Guild Wars 2, and SWG Legends, plus a mailbag topic on boycotts in the MMO space.
Pokemon Go skips multiple generations and trash pokemon to land on Sword/Shield legendaries
Players once thought that Pokemon GO's third Ultra Unlock from GoFest 2021 was just a simple release of Giratina, or perhaps Gen 4's Mythical god-status pokemon, Arceus. We thought it would be a nice time to rest. Apparently, that's not the case. Whether it's a way to reward players or distract from the PokeStop/Gym radius nerf […]
Guild Wars 2's One Path Ends is free for all players this week as game perks hit Amazon Prime Gaming
End of Dragons may have everyone buzzing, but Guild Wars 2 has stuff going on right now that won't require you to wait until next February. For starters, One Path Ends is this week's freebie episode; originally released in 2017, it was the capstone episode for season six, which led into Path of Fire itself. The […]
The Soapbox: Pokemon Unite's monetization is gross and threatens a competent game
By now, you've probably seen several articles about the poor monetization in Pokemon Unite, often based on Reddit posts or streamer hot takes. Most talk about pay-to-win play, though the better ones note that it should eventually even out. Few mention that the gacha loot boxes are problematic as well. While I think most of us […]
Dual Universe launches beta patch 0.26 'Apollo' today with shield, asteroids, and chairs
Are you sitting down? Because that's a thing you can do in Dual Universe with the game's most recent patch. Beta patch 0.26, known as "Apollo" to its friends, has added new elements to the game like actual chairs you can sit in for all the luxury and enjoyment you would ask for from a […]
Tencent reacts to Chinese state media calling online games 'spiritual opium' by adding new restrictions
Young online game fans in China are going to be facing some new restrictions from Tencent-operated games. That's in response to an article from the Chinese newspaper Economic Information Daily (EID), an affiliate of the country's state-run Xinhua news agency, which called the company's mobile MOBA Honor of Kings "spiritual opium." "'Spiritual opium' has grown […]
Choose My Adventure: Tearing through the colorful world of Trove at breakneck speeds
The idea to play Trove this month ended up being something of a needed breath of fresh air for me. With all of the miserable news surrounding the industry recently as well as my general distaste for last month's game, I'm delighted to be able to play something so colorful and cheerful and fun. I […]
Enter to win a Star Trek Online Klingon Personnel Package in honor of today's House United console launch
Console players of Star Trek Online are in for a treat today with the launch of House United on Xbox One and PS4. "Starting today, console players can log into the free-to-play MMORPG based on the Star Trek universe and experience the long-awaited finale of the Klingon Civil War. The game's newest season features some of […]
