https://massivelyop.com MMORPG news and opinions Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:43:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/12/new-worlds-season-of-the-guardian-teases-new-trial-cooking-revamp-animation-buffs-and-opr-mounts/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/12/new-worlds-season-of-the-guardian-teases-new-trial-cooking-revamp-animation-buffs-and-opr-mounts/#comments Mon, 12 Feb 2024 18:00:13 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479603 Amazon has taken the veil off New World’s Season of the Guardian this afternoon, and it sounds as if it’ll have a little bit of somethin’ for everyone – and no, it’s not just seasonal events, though it’s teasing two of those too. For raiders, the 10-person endgame puzzle-encrusted Winter Rune Forge trial is on […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/12/new-worlds-season-of-the-guardian-teases-new-trial-cooking-revamp-animation-buffs-and-opr-mounts/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/12/the-daily-grind-is-there-an-mmorpg-you-think-shouldnt-be-classified-as-an-mmorpg/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/12/the-daily-grind-is-there-an-mmorpg-you-think-shouldnt-be-classified-as-an-mmorpg/#comments Mon, 12 Feb 2024 13:00:44 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475522 We have the MMORPG subreddit to thank for this morning’s Daily Grind: At the beginning of January, some bright spark over there posted a thread insisting that EVE Online, a long-running sci-fi MMORPG, is not in fact an MMORPG. Now, I didn’t click on the thread; insert the “I’m not falling for that hot take/that’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/12/the-daily-grind-is-there-an-mmorpg-you-think-shouldnt-be-classified-as-an-mmorpg/feed/ 20 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/11/mmo-week-in-review-skull-bones-departs-drydock/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/11/mmo-week-in-review-skull-bones-departs-drydock/#respond Mon, 12 Feb 2024 01:00:25 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479295 Skull & Bones finally drifted into its soft launch open beta after eleventy billion delays and do-overs, and… it’s actually not terrible? And it’s actually somewhat MMO-ish? Huh. Well then. Meanwhile, Scars of Honor is angling for $200K on Kickstarter, Xbox thinks people will pay two subs to play Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox, and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/11/mmo-week-in-review-skull-bones-departs-drydock/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/q4-2023-nexon-krafton-and-roblox-all-posted-soaring-revenues-in-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/q4-2023-nexon-krafton-and-roblox-all-posted-soaring-revenues-in-2023/#comments Fri, 09 Feb 2024 19:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479133 Welcome back to another MMO business roundup – this one all about financials for some of the companies we keep an eye on ’round here. ROBLOX Roblox’s fortunes have been bizarre over the last few years as the company has been making tons of money – and spending it all and then some. According to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/q4-2023-nexon-krafton-and-roblox-all-posted-soaring-revenues-in-2023/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/runescapes-jagex-is-apparently-being-sold-yet-again-this-time-to-a-private-equity-firm-for-over-1b-2/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/runescapes-jagex-is-apparently-being-sold-yet-again-this-time-to-a-private-equity-firm-for-over-1b-2/#comments Fri, 09 Feb 2024 16:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479243 Rumors from earlier this week that suggested RuneScape company Jagex was once again for sale have now been proven correct, thanks to a formal press release from the parties involved. Luxembourg-based private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, Austin-based private equity firm Haveli Investments, and UK-stationed Jagex have indeed announced that CVC has “agreed to acquire” […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/runescapes-jagex-is-apparently-being-sold-yet-again-this-time-to-a-private-equity-firm-for-over-1b-2/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/working-as-intended-a-guide-to-city-of-heroes-homecomings-best-player-crafted-portal-bases/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/working-as-intended-a-guide-to-city-of-heroes-homecomings-best-player-crafted-portal-bases/#comments Fri, 09 Feb 2024 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478317 A few years ago, I was wandering around in City of Heroes when someone advertised a cool base in chat. All I had to do was head over to a supergroup base portal, type in the code flashed in text, and be welcomed into this person’s custom base. I was expecting something akin to the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/working-as-intended-a-guide-to-city-of-heroes-homecomings-best-player-crafted-portal-bases/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/microsoft-insists-activision-blizzard-was-planning-on-mass-layoffs-before-the-merger/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/microsoft-insists-activision-blizzard-was-planning-on-mass-layoffs-before-the-merger/#comments Fri, 09 Feb 2024 15:30:05 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479239 As we’ve been covering, earlier this week the FTC filed a complaint to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, alleging that Microsoft misrepresented itself during hearings before the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. Specifically, in seeking to assuage regulators’ concerns, Microsoft vowed it would “maintain the pre-merger status quo” – that it would run Activision-Blizzard as a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/microsoft-insists-activision-blizzard-was-planning-on-mass-layoffs-before-the-merger/feed/ 41 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/the-daily-grind-have-you-ever-lost-a-house-in-an-mmo/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/the-daily-grind-have-you-ever-lost-a-house-in-an-mmo/#comments Fri, 09 Feb 2024 13:00:28 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478378 Last week, fellow MMO blogger Belghast wrote a blog post that sent a shot of panic through my own heart: He tells the tale of forgetting to log into Final Fantasy XIV for a few months and having his character’s house be repossessed by the game while he wasn’t paying it any mind. Now, the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/09/the-daily-grind-have-you-ever-lost-a-house-in-an-mmo/feed/ 24 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/massively-overthinking-when-the-original-mmo-is-better-than-the-sequel/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/massively-overthinking-when-the-original-mmo-is-better-than-the-sequel/#comments Fri, 09 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478693 A few weeks ago, two lovely gamers I follow on Bluesky were discussing how let down they felt by Diablo IV, less because Diablo IV is particularly bad and more because Diablo III is really good and holding up better over time. It caught my attention because y’all know I really enjoyed the heck out […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/massively-overthinking-when-the-original-mmo-is-better-than-the-sequel/feed/ 18 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/star-wars-galaxies-restoration-rogue-server-launches-schisms-of-heretics-with-new-jedi-content/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/star-wars-galaxies-restoration-rogue-server-launches-schisms-of-heretics-with-new-jedi-content/#comments Thu, 08 Feb 2024 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477580 If there were an award for slick rogue server promotions, Star Wars Galaxies Restoration 3 would win it this month, as the announcement newsletter for its Publish 1.2 The Schisms of Heretics includes not only a video but a welcome-back guide for returning players in a satisfyingly organized layout. Oh, and a full and proper […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/star-wars-galaxies-restoration-rogue-server-launches-schisms-of-heretics-with-new-jedi-content/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/players-rolled-nearly-50k-characters-during-nightingales-stress-test-last-weekend/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/players-rolled-nearly-50k-characters-during-nightingales-stress-test-last-weekend/#comments Thu, 08 Feb 2024 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478798 When Inflexion announced this week that it’s planning to launch Nightingale’s early access two days earlier than originally planned, it casually mentioned that it had seen 48,000 testers during this past weekend’s stress test – perhaps a few more than it anticipated. The Tencent-backed team has now dropped a dev blog to talk more about […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/players-rolled-nearly-50k-characters-during-nightingales-stress-test-last-weekend/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/lunar-new-year-events-around-the-mmorpg-world-2024-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/lunar-new-year-events-around-the-mmorpg-world-2024-edition/#comments Thu, 08 Feb 2024 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478235 Would you believe that this is only our third year with enough MMORPG Lunar New Year events that a roundup is necessary? A decade ago, these events were rare, and twice that, they were almost unheard of – in the west, of course. Now, every multiplayer title is anxious to add another festival to the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/lunar-new-year-events-around-the-mmorpg-world-2024-edition/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/lost-ark-celebrates-its-second-birthday-by-reminding-you-how-many-times-its-killed-your-characters/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/lost-ark-celebrates-its-second-birthday-by-reminding-you-how-many-times-its-killed-your-characters/#respond Thu, 08 Feb 2024 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479017 Lost Ark fans are already swept up in the game’s second anniversary festivities thanks to the patch yesterday, but technically, the formal western birthday isn’t until the 11th, but apparently Amazon and Smilegate mean to start early by celebrating the original headstart, and who’s gonna say no to that? This afternoon, the studios have released […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/lost-ark-celebrates-its-second-birthday-by-reminding-you-how-many-times-its-killed-your-characters/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/skull-bones-soft-launch-is-underway-for-preorder-players-ahead-of-next-weeks-formal-release/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/skull-bones-soft-launch-is-underway-for-preorder-players-ahead-of-next-weeks-formal-release/#comments Thu, 08 Feb 2024 17:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479016 Ubisoft’s long, long delayed pirate “co-op pirate open world action RPG” MMO Skull & Bones has finally set sail with a soft launch into a no-wipe open beta as of late last night. Never again will I have to write a title about a Skull & Bones delay and try to figure out how many […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/skull-bones-soft-launch-is-underway-for-preorder-players-ahead-of-next-weeks-formal-release/feed/ 23 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/world-of-warships-and-world-of-tanks-launch-dueling-lunar-new-year-events-today/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/world-of-warships-and-world-of-tanks-launch-dueling-lunar-new-year-events-today/#comments Thu, 08 Feb 2024 16:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478733 Wargaming’s stable of MMOs are rolling out fireworks and festivities for lunar new year to cap off the week. Over in World of Tanks, the lunar new year event lands today, offering themed chests, the Object 590 (a new Tier IX Premium tank with a reverse autoreloading system), and the Tier VIII Premium tank named […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/world-of-warships-and-world-of-tanks-launch-dueling-lunar-new-year-events-today/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/think-gamemaster-delivered-content-is-dead-multiplayer-helldivers-2-is-trying-it-anyway/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/think-gamemaster-delivered-content-is-dead-multiplayer-helldivers-2-is-trying-it-anyway/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2024 21:00:49 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478984 Approximately a thousand years ago in the lost age of 1997, I remember inching my way across an isometric Ultima Online screen, fighting insane lag and rollbacks to make my way to a player-held castle where OSI gamemasters were holding a custom event just for players. It’s been a long-standing and (almost) unbroken tradition in […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/think-gamemaster-delivered-content-is-dead-multiplayer-helldivers-2-is-trying-it-anyway/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/dungeons-dragons-online-is-giving-away-archetypes-mounts-and-more-for-the-year-of-the-dragon/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/dungeons-dragons-online-is-giving-away-archetypes-mounts-and-more-for-the-year-of-the-dragon/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2024 19:00:55 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479018 Dungeons & Dragons Online teased its Year of the Dragon promotion last weekend, but now it’s here: The D&D MMORPG will be following along in its Daybreak cousins’ footsteps offering a full-year celebration for the Year of the Dragon with monthly promotions. Hey, at least dragon is in its name. “In celebration of Dungeons and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/dungeons-dragons-online-is-giving-away-archetypes-mounts-and-more-for-the-year-of-the-dragon/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/working-as-intended-city-of-heroes-macros-and-popmenus-for-noobs/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/working-as-intended-city-of-heroes-macros-and-popmenus-for-noobs/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2024 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477126 In my first braindump on City of Heroes for this column, I tried to ease superhero fans into the world of modding the 20-year-old newly relicensed MMO, which is actually so easy my 12-year-old can do it. I was tickled to find out a lot of folks didn’t even know you could mod City of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/working-as-intended-city-of-heroes-macros-and-popmenus-for-noobs/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/happy-second-birthday-to-lost-ark-whose-2-extreme-update-arrived-this-morning/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/happy-second-birthday-to-lost-ark-whose-2-extreme-update-arrived-this-morning/#respond Wed, 07 Feb 2024 16:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478890 I half expected to be able to make a “too extreme to launch on time” joke for today’s Lost Ark patch, but actually Amazon and Smilegate have delivered the update without much of a hitch, as servers were back up at 8:30 a.m. EST this morning, only a half hour later than originally anticipated. The […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/happy-second-birthday-to-lost-ark-whose-2-extreme-update-arrived-this-morning/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/new-worlds-4-0-4-update-lands-today-with-cross-world-expeditions/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/new-worlds-4-0-4-update-lands-today-with-cross-world-expeditions/#respond Wed, 07 Feb 2024 14:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478897 Happy launch day to New World’s 4.0.4 patch – let’s not take that number as any kind of sign – as the cross-world expeditions will finally go live as of this morning’s update, which is expected back up around 9:30 a.m. EST today (just as this post is going live). “Your favorite Expeditions will now […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/new-worlds-4-0-4-update-lands-today-with-cross-world-expeditions/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/black-desert-talks-up-300v300-war-of-the-roses-pvp-and-todays-15v15-guild-league/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/black-desert-talks-up-300v300-war-of-the-roses-pvp-and-todays-15v15-guild-league/#respond Wed, 07 Feb 2024 14:00:17 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478932 Black Desert is taking a page out of EVE Online’s playbook and promoting its mass-PvP systems – specifically, the War of the Roses pre-season event that ran last weekend, followed up by today’s 15v15 guild league launch. First, on Sunday, War of the Roses saw a “historic clash” between NA and EU guilds in a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/black-desert-talks-up-300v300-war-of-the-roses-pvp-and-todays-15v15-guild-league/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-is-the-worst-at-balancing-its-classes/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-is-the-worst-at-balancing-its-classes/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2024 13:00:43 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477589 A few weeks back – and before we realized the game was slated for execution – MOP’s Sam wrote a piece about balance in Warhaven, and in it, there was a quote about character balance (more specifically, the game’s lack thereof) that leaped out at me. “There is a large imbalance in the game right […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-is-the-worst-at-balancing-its-classes/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/lord-of-the-rings-online-u39-hits-bullroarer-for-corsairs-of-umbar-instance-and-raid-testing/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/lord-of-the-rings-online-u39-hits-bullroarer-for-corsairs-of-umbar-instance-and-raid-testing/#comments Tue, 06 Feb 2024 19:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478802 Lord of the Rings Online has opened the Bullroarer test server for players’ first look at update 39 as of today. The heart of the update in testing right now is fresh endgame content: the three-person Isle of Storms instance (open to T3) and the 12-person Depths of Mâkhda Khorbo raid (first two bosses, open […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/lord-of-the-rings-online-u39-hits-bullroarer-for-corsairs-of-umbar-instance-and-raid-testing/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/animal-crossing-inspired-cozy-mmo-galactic-getaway-launches-50000-kickstarter/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/animal-crossing-inspired-cozy-mmo-galactic-getaway-launches-50000-kickstarter/#comments Tue, 06 Feb 2024 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477834 Twice last spring, we covered a new-to-us MMO called Galactic Getaway, a game that had been in production already since 2021. We originally binned it under multiplayer, and it clearly shared a lot in common with cozy sandboxes like Animal Crossing New Horizon, promising housing, minigames, pets, farming, space stations, multiple biomes and planets, and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/animal-crossing-inspired-cozy-mmo-galactic-getaway-launches-50000-kickstarter/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/monsters-memories-recaps-player-testing-and-teases-in-game-housing/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/monsters-memories-recaps-player-testing-and-teases-in-game-housing/#comments Tue, 06 Feb 2024 17:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478715 Niche Worlds Cult is back this week with an update on everything the indie studio accomplished in January on its throwback MMO Monsters & Memories – including an art test it’s calling Biome Jam. “The goal of the Biome Jam was to see how quickly we could create new environmental themes,” NWC’s Shawn Lord explains. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/monsters-memories-recaps-player-testing-and-teases-in-game-housing/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/pantheon-rise-of-the-fallen-shifts-to-a-six-week-seasonal-dev-cadence-with-boosted-backer-accessibility/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/pantheon-rise-of-the-fallen-shifts-to-a-six-week-seasonal-dev-cadence-with-boosted-backer-accessibility/#comments Tue, 06 Feb 2024 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478566 Kickstarted MMORPG Pantheon has a big announcement this afternoon: It’s swapping over to a seasonal dev schedule. Visionary Realms presents the plan as a way to lower the cost of access for players significantly as well as keep it on track with content during development – as well as to fund the game and help […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/pantheon-rise-of-the-fallen-shifts-to-a-six-week-seasonal-dev-cadence-with-boosted-backer-accessibility/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/nightingale-counting-nearly-50k-testers-is-launching-early-access-two-days-earlier-than-originally-planned/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/nightingale-counting-nearly-50k-testers-is-launching-early-access-two-days-earlier-than-originally-planned/#comments Tue, 06 Feb 2024 16:30:43 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478876 Hope you didn’t take the original launch date off because Nightingale’s early access release has been pushed up two days. “Inflexion Games announced the launch date of [its] PVE survival-crafting game Nightingale moved up two days, with the title now set to release into Early Access on February 20th on PC via Steam and Epic […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/nightingale-counting-nearly-50k-testers-is-launching-early-access-two-days-earlier-than-originally-planned/feed/ 19 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/runescapes-jagex-is-apparently-being-sold-yet-again-this-time-to-a-private-equity-firm-for-over-1b/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/runescapes-jagex-is-apparently-being-sold-yet-again-this-time-to-a-private-equity-firm-for-over-1b/#comments Tue, 06 Feb 2024 15:30:26 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478840 Stop me if you’ve heard this one: RuneScape company Jagex is for sale yet again. Back in September, we first caught the rumor that Jagex’s current presumptive owner, the Carlyle Group, was considering selling Jagex off, seeking in the neighborhood of $1.2B US in the trade. Apparently, that’s now firmed up to be a lot […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/runescapes-jagex-is-apparently-being-sold-yet-again-this-time-to-a-private-equity-firm-for-over-1b/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/wayfinder-previews-interface-quality-of-life-and-damage-reduction-balancing/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/wayfinder-previews-interface-quality-of-life-and-damage-reduction-balancing/#comments Tue, 06 Feb 2024 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478750 Pay no attention to the rogue sdsds at the top of Wayfinder’s patch notes: This is a real patch and not just the ramblings of somebody’s cat. Airship Syndicate, presumably still smarting from last week’s layoffs, has indeed dropped a preview for its upcoming update, which includes two major components: the UI and a balance […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/wayfinder-previews-interface-quality-of-life-and-damage-reduction-balancing/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/obituary-former-free-realms-creative-director-laralyn-mcwilliams-has-passed-away/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/obituary-former-free-realms-creative-director-laralyn-mcwilliams-has-passed-away/#comments Tue, 06 Feb 2024 14:30:55 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478806 I’m sorry to report this morning that game developer Laralyn McWilliams has passed away at the age of 58. MMO fans will remember her straightaway as the creative director of SOE’s kid-friendly MMORPG Free Realms, though she worked on multiple other influential titles at EA, Bethsoft, Disney, Marvel, and Activision (she even worked on one […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/obituary-former-free-realms-creative-director-laralyn-mcwilliams-has-passed-away/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/myth-of-empires-epic-new-trailer-teases-biomes-building-construction-and-warfare/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/myth-of-empires-epic-new-trailer-teases-biomes-building-construction-and-warfare/#respond Tue, 06 Feb 2024 14:00:48 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478724 Having put its legal quibbles with Studio Wildcard and Smilegate behind it, strategy-sandbox MMO Myth of Empires is heading to its launch this month as planned. This morning, Angela Game dropped a new trailer for the game that shows off everything from its diversity of biomes and construction to farming and siege weaponry. Even the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/myth-of-empires-epic-new-trailer-teases-biomes-building-construction-and-warfare/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/the-daily-grind-when-was-the-last-time-an-mmo-studio-truly-impressed-you/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/the-daily-grind-when-was-the-last-time-an-mmo-studio-truly-impressed-you/#comments Tue, 06 Feb 2024 13:00:34 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478126 Embers Adrift is probably never going to be my MMORPG, but damn I’m proud of Stormhaven Studios. Yes, I have a soft spot for true indie MMORPGs – there’s a reason I’m obsessed with Project Gorgon – but Embers Adrift was already a longshot, having managed to launch after weathering a Kickstarter, development controversies, the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/the-daily-grind-when-was-the-last-time-an-mmo-studio-truly-impressed-you/feed/ 26 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/new-world-details-its-cross-world-expedition-group-finder-finally-launching-february-7/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/new-world-details-its-cross-world-expedition-group-finder-finally-launching-february-7/#comments Mon, 05 Feb 2024 20:00:33 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478709 New World players have been waiting longer than expected for the cross-world expedition group finder, as it was originally meant to launch last year but was held over for more polish and features. That wait is almost over now as the launch is happening this week on February 7th. “Through player feedback, the Activity Finder […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/new-world-details-its-cross-world-expedition-group-finder-finally-launching-february-7/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/dc-universe-online-is-giving-away-sweet-hairstyles-for-black-history-month/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/dc-universe-online-is-giving-away-sweet-hairstyles-for-black-history-month/#comments Mon, 05 Feb 2024 18:30:42 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478698 Valentine’s Day and lunar new year events are flying in MMOs this week, but Daybreak’s DC Universe Online studio, Dimensional Ink, has recognized yet another reason to celebrate: Black History Month. And it’s not just paying the occasion lip service; it’s literally promoting inclusion within the game itself by granting a quad of Black-friendly hairdos […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/dc-universe-online-is-giving-away-sweet-hairstyles-for-black-history-month/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/neverwinters-feast-of-lanterns-celebrates-lunar-new-year-starting-february-8/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/neverwinters-feast-of-lanterns-celebrates-lunar-new-year-starting-february-8/#respond Mon, 05 Feb 2024 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478467 Neverwinter joins the long list of MMORPGs engaging with the Lunar New Year holiday this week, as the Feast of Lanterns returns for the Year of the Dragon. We spy red envelopes and fireworks in your future – along with a quest to comfort the puppers startled by said fireworks. “It’s the Year of the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/neverwinters-feast-of-lanterns-celebrates-lunar-new-year-starting-february-8/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/world-of-warcraft-begins-both-lunar-new-year-and-valentines-day-events-for-2024/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/world-of-warcraft-begins-both-lunar-new-year-and-valentines-day-events-for-2024/#comments Mon, 05 Feb 2024 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478479 World of Warcraft players have not one but two holiday events on deck this week thanks to a quirk of the calendar. First, the lunar new year event known as the Lunar Festival actually kicked off on Saturday and runs through the 17th. Players honor their elders in this event, running ’round the world to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/world-of-warcraft-begins-both-lunar-new-year-and-valentines-day-events-for-2024/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/indie-mmo-sandbox-fractured-online-unveils-its-endgame-changer-patch-coming-february-21/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/indie-mmo-sandbox-fractured-online-unveils-its-endgame-changer-patch-coming-february-21/#comments Mon, 05 Feb 2024 14:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478484 Kickstarted sandbox Fractured has been teasing a big endgame overhaul for a few weeks now, setting the date for February 21st, and now the studio’s explained a bit more about exactly what’s in it. In the new video, Dynamight’s Jacopo Gallelli explains that the patch is the “product of three months of work” for the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/indie-mmo-sandbox-fractured-online-unveils-its-endgame-changer-patch-coming-february-21/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/the-daily-grind-how-do-you-cope-with-losing-someone-in-an-mmorpg/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/the-daily-grind-how-do-you-cope-with-losing-someone-in-an-mmorpg/#comments Mon, 05 Feb 2024 13:00:35 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478569 I have been immeasurably lucky in that I have never lost a close online friend to death, only to drifting away. But unfortunately, you don’t have to tour an in-game memorial to know it’s incredibly lucky and that it eventually touches everyone in gaming. Over the weekend, a Final Fantasy XIV player posted a touching […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/05/the-daily-grind-how-do-you-cope-with-losing-someone-in-an-mmorpg/feed/ 17 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/mmo-week-in-review-blizzards-brand-new-boss/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/mmo-week-in-review-blizzards-brand-new-boss/#comments Mon, 05 Feb 2024 01:00:33 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478270 Meet the new boss, same as the… well, actually we don’t know how samey Johanna Faries is going to be just yet. She’s replacing the controversial Mike Ybarra as the president of Blizzard, and Blizzard was in a rough spot even before his reign, so she doesn’t exactly have a high bar to clear here. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/mmo-week-in-review-blizzards-brand-new-boss/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/heckbugs-in-love-return-to-voxelbox-trove-for-valentines-day-starting-next-week/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/heckbugs-in-love-return-to-voxelbox-trove-for-valentines-day-starting-next-week/#respond Sun, 04 Feb 2024 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477908 It warms my heart to think that a lil tiny piece of Defiance lives on in Trove thanks to the game’s bizarre Valentine’s Day events. Yes, the Heckbugs are returning to the voxelbox MMO by way of the Heckbugs in Love event. “This year the Heckbugs have once again found their way into Verdant Veins […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/heckbugs-in-love-return-to-voxelbox-trove-for-valentines-day-starting-next-week/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/the-mop-up-sun/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/the-mop-up-sun/#respond Sun, 04 Feb 2024 21:00:35 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478118 Bye bye, War Thunder bots! “Over the last month, we’ve blocked 9,569 accounts that were found to be in violation of the rules,” Gaijin told players this week. “Specifically 3.2.3 of the EULA namely in the automation of gameplay (using bots) and cheat software.” And just to cap it all off, the team posted the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/the-mop-up-sun/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/mmos-youve-never-heard-of-sneak-out-manasoul-rise-of-mythos-aka-kings-call/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/mmos-youve-never-heard-of-sneak-out-manasoul-rise-of-mythos-aka-kings-call/#respond Sun, 04 Feb 2024 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478258 Welcome back to another roundup of MMOs you’ve probably never heard of (but we’ll be impressed if you have). Sneak Out Sneak Out is for some reason listed as similar to Terraria on Steam. It’s not like Terraria at all. It’s much more like a game of Among Us mashed together with a wacky game […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/mmos-youve-never-heard-of-sneak-out-manasoul-rise-of-mythos-aka-kings-call/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/03/make-my-mmo-crowdfunding-roundup-2024-feb-3/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/03/make-my-mmo-crowdfunding-roundup-2024-feb-3/#respond Sun, 04 Feb 2024 01:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478268 Welcome to another blast of MMO crowdfunding news from the last few weeks! It’s been pretty hoppin’ for Kickstarted MMOs lately, as Elite Dangerous is back from its deathbed, Ashes of Creation dropped a PvP preview video, Dual Universe is actually shipping Kickstarter physical rewards, Embers Adrift has big noob-onboarding plans for 2024, Fractured Veil […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/03/make-my-mmo-crowdfunding-roundup-2024-feb-3/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/mmos-youve-never-heard-of-under-a-rock-farworld-pioneers-cyborg-immortal/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/mmos-youve-never-heard-of-under-a-rock-farworld-pioneers-cyborg-immortal/#comments Fri, 02 Feb 2024 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477909 Welcome back to another roundup of MMOs you’ve probably never heard of (but if you have, awesome!). Under a Rock If you’re not living under a rock, well, you should be… Gameforge’s Under a Rock, that is. It’s a multiplayer survival title from Nordic Trolls, published under the Gameforge banner and sporting online co-op. It’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/mmos-youve-never-heard-of-under-a-rock-farworld-pioneers-cyborg-immortal/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/kickstarted-solarpunk-mediumly-multiplayer-loftia-picks-up-investor-seed-funds-and-support/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/kickstarted-solarpunk-mediumly-multiplayer-loftia-picks-up-investor-seed-funds-and-support/#comments Fri, 02 Feb 2024 19:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478193 Loftia was easily one of the biggest MMOs to fund on Kickstarter last year: The self-described “mediumly multiplayer” sandbox pulled in $1.27M US for Australian outfit Qloud. And it’s apparently pulled in more than that, if the game’s latest message to players through Kickstarter is any indication. Qliyd says its dev staff have been tapped […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/kickstarted-solarpunk-mediumly-multiplayer-loftia-picks-up-investor-seed-funds-and-support/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/everquest-and-everquest-ii-are-giving-out-new-gifts-for-february-under-the-year-of-darkpaw-banner/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/everquest-and-everquest-ii-are-giving-out-new-gifts-for-february-under-the-year-of-darkpaw-banner/#comments Fri, 02 Feb 2024 18:30:42 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478315 As the Year of Darkpaw aka the Year of EverQuest continues forward, Daybreak is marking the top of each month, all in celebration of EverQuest’s 25th and EverQuest II’s 20th anniversary in 2024. In EverQuest, this month the studio is giving away a Northern Desert Outlook Device, which if we’re reading through the lines correctly […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/everquest-and-everquest-ii-are-giving-out-new-gifts-for-february-under-the-year-of-darkpaw-banner/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/skull-bones-free-open-beta-begins-february-7-heres-the-new-trailer-and-season-preview/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/skull-bones-free-open-beta-begins-february-7-heres-the-new-trailer-and-season-preview/#respond Fri, 02 Feb 2024 17:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478286 Ubisoft is hyping up the free open beta for Skull and Bones, and we have to note right up front that while the devs are calling it an open beta, it’s really more like a soft launch or headstart for the real deal, as progression carries over into the real launch, assuming you buy the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/skull-bones-free-open-beta-begins-february-7-heres-the-new-trailer-and-season-preview/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/city-of-heroes-homecoming-kicks-off-spring-fling-event-upgrades-sql-server-to-handle-player-load/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/city-of-heroes-homecoming-kicks-off-spring-fling-event-upgrades-sql-server-to-handle-player-load/#comments Fri, 02 Feb 2024 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478208 Even heroes celebrate Valentine’s Day, apparently: City of Heroes Homecoming has officially launched its V-day-themed Spring Fling event as of last night. It doesn’t look as if there’s anything brand-new to the event in 2024; players must head to Pocket D to pick up the missions, which award multiple badges and titles as well as […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/city-of-heroes-homecoming-kicks-off-spring-fling-event-upgrades-sql-server-to-handle-player-load/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/the-daily-grind-do-you-even-want-an-mmo-with-transmedia-synergy/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/the-daily-grind-do-you-even-want-an-mmo-with-transmedia-synergy/#comments Fri, 02 Feb 2024 13:00:42 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475521 We’ve been talking about transmedia synergy again thanks to Dune Awakening, so I want to go at it from a new angle. The term “transmedia synergy,” of course, became a common term in the MMORPG genre following the introduction of then-Trion Worlds’ MMO Defiance, which was supposed to be directly tied in with the sci-fi […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/02/the-daily-grind-do-you-even-want-an-mmo-with-transmedia-synergy/feed/ 31 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/01/massively-overthinking-do-you-care-more-about-mmo-stats-or-looks/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/01/massively-overthinking-do-you-care-more-about-mmo-stats-or-looks/#comments Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477582 This week's Massively Overthinking is fully inspired by the unicorn backpack meme, which Black Desert studio Pearl Abyss tweeted out last week with the caption "stats over looks any day." You know we have to talk about this.]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/01/massively-overthinking-do-you-care-more-about-mmo-stats-or-looks/feed/ 27