https://massivelyop.com MMORPG news and opinions Mon, 12 Feb 2024 00:45:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 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/2024/02/10/wrup-taylor-swift-throws-the-first-football-at-the-superbowl-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/10/wrup-taylor-swift-throws-the-first-football-at-the-superbowl-edition/#comments Sat, 10 Feb 2024 15:00:09 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479320 Before any contest for initial possession of the football begins, a visibly tired Taylor Swift walks onto the field wearing sweatpants, a loose blouse covered by a jean jacket, and her hair up in a makeshift bun. She walks over to the football, picks it up, and beckons for the camera crews to follow her. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/10/wrup-taylor-swift-throws-the-first-football-at-the-superbowl-edition/feed/ 25 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/massively-op-podcast-episode-456-the-mmo-housing-show/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/massively-op-podcast-episode-456-the-mmo-housing-show/#comments Tue, 06 Feb 2024 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477379 Justin and Bree tackle a theme proposed by the listeners, as this show is all about MMORPG housing, including why housing matters, post-launch housing patches, placement tools, prefab vs. custom houses, housing as part of the gameplay loop, apartments vs. instanced vs. open-world housing, incentivizing housing use, taxes and monetization, and integrating housing into MMO ecosystems.]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/06/massively-op-podcast-episode-456-the-mmo-housing-show/feed/ 27 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/2024/02/03/wrup-how-to-get-ham-from-snakes-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/03/wrup-how-to-get-ham-from-snakes-edition/#comments Sat, 03 Feb 2024 15:00:28 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478423 All right so I’m not actually sure what you need to learn here. For one thing, ham is a meat that comes from pigs. You do not get ham literally from snakes. If you are trying to do that, stop doing that. You shouldn’t actually try to get any meat from snakes. I don’t think […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/03/wrup-how-to-get-ham-from-snakes-edition/feed/ 21 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/30/massively-op-podcast-episode-455-odyssey-to-the-abyss/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/30/massively-op-podcast-episode-455-odyssey-to-the-abyss/#comments Tue, 30 Jan 2024 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477377 Justin and Bree discuss Riot's and Blizzard's layoffs, the death of Blizzard's Odyssey, Palworld, Kritika, The Day Before, and Star Trek Online, with adventures in Guild Wars 2 and City of Heroes, plus a mailbag topic on memorable fluff loot.]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/30/massively-op-podcast-episode-455-odyssey-to-the-abyss/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/28/mmo-week-in-review-the-activision-blizzard-and-riot-layoffs/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/28/mmo-week-in-review-the-activision-blizzard-and-riot-layoffs/#comments Mon, 29 Jan 2024 01:00:38 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477268 Two of the biggest gaming congloms chose this week to lay off a combined total of 2500 people, as Riot Games and Microsoft-owned-Activision-Blizzard shed the people who make our games in order to reassure stockholders and mitigate careless corporate gambles. Here in our corner of the genre, we’re taking notice not just of the cancelation […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/28/mmo-week-in-review-the-activision-blizzard-and-riot-layoffs/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/27/wrup-chuweo-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/27/wrup-chuweo-edition/#comments Sat, 27 Jan 2024 15:00:58 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477298 Hey everyone, I know that generally speaking these entries for What Are You Playing are just ridiculous and you can totally ignore them if you want to, but this week I actually have something really important to talk about. So I was recently trying to figure out which old HTML tags are still technically supported […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/27/wrup-chuweo-edition/feed/ 27 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/massively-op-podcast-episode-454-mmo-roadmap-roundup/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/massively-op-podcast-episode-454-mmo-roadmap-roundup/#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2024 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=476356 Justin and Bree discuss the 2024 roadmaps for Lord of the Rings Online, Lost Ark, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, EVE Online, Elder Scrolls Online, New World, EverQuest, EverQuest II, and Wayfinder, with adventures in LOTRO, FFXIV, and City of Heroes.]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/massively-op-podcast-episode-454-mmo-roadmap-roundup/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/21/mmo-week-in-review-elder-scrolls-online-paves-the-way-for-gold-road/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/21/mmo-week-in-review-elder-scrolls-online-paves-the-way-for-gold-road/#comments Mon, 22 Jan 2024 01:00:33 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=476229 Elder Scrolls Online fully unveiled its Gold Road chapter this week, letting players peek into the region, the city of Skingrad, and a tantalizing new spell scribing and customization feature. Meanwhile, the City of Heroes madness continues as the Homecoming servers keep breaking their concurrency caps, Lord of the Rings Online promised another expansion this […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/21/mmo-week-in-review-elder-scrolls-online-paves-the-way-for-gold-road/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/20/wrup-a-spectacular-story-about-lyle-with-help-from-wikipedia-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/20/wrup-a-spectacular-story-about-lyle-with-help-from-wikipedia-edition/#comments Sat, 20 Jan 2024 15:00:47 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=476274 Lyle is a great guy who was born in Scotland in 1987! Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Wait, I… look, in order to make What Are You Playing more comprehensible, I’ve installed an automated bot to help define some of the things that I’m talking about with the help […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/20/wrup-a-spectacular-story-about-lyle-with-help-from-wikipedia-edition/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/19/leaderboard-whats-the-most-vulnerable-daybreak-mmo-in-2024/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/19/leaderboard-whats-the-most-vulnerable-daybreak-mmo-in-2024/#comments Fri, 19 Jan 2024 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466493 Every year when it comes time to update this poll for January, I consider tossing it out. But the last few years of Daybreak have been more interesting than ever, so I just can’t bring myself to do it. The purpose of this topic has become less about bracing ourselves for the worst and more […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/19/leaderboard-whats-the-most-vulnerable-daybreak-mmo-in-2024/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/16/massively-op-podcast-episode-453-massively-minds-of-the-roundtable/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/16/massively-op-podcast-episode-453-massively-minds-of-the-roundtable/#comments Tue, 16 Jan 2024 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474428 Ready for yet another staff roundtable, this time with Justin, Bree, Sam, and Chris? You best be, as these fine minds discuss City of Heroes, last year’s gaming highlights, the MOP awards, and anticipated MMOs. It’s the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you’d like […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/16/massively-op-podcast-episode-453-massively-minds-of-the-roundtable/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/14/mmo-week-in-review-mmo-peregrinations-with-pictomancers-phasers-and-pso2/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/14/mmo-week-in-review-mmo-peregrinations-with-pictomancers-phasers-and-pso2/#respond Mon, 15 Jan 2024 01:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475193 Bad news, everyone: Some dude on Reddit says there’s not enough MMORPG news, so you’re imagining Star Trek Online announcing its 31st season, Vindictus gutting its PvP, Phantasy Star Online 2 getting a relook, Wayfinder dropping a roadmap, and Dungeons & Dragons Online giving away a million bajillion freebies. Oh yeah, and the Final Fantasy […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/14/mmo-week-in-review-mmo-peregrinations-with-pictomancers-phasers-and-pso2/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/13/wrup-learn-portuguese-by-assuming-that-every-language-you-dont-know-is-probably-the-same-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/13/wrup-learn-portuguese-by-assuming-that-every-language-you-dont-know-is-probably-the-same-edition/#comments Sat, 13 Jan 2024 15:00:32 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475284 Hello. My name is Stanley Seagull. Like many of you, I have long wished that I knew Portuguese so that I could speak with people from Brazil, Portugal, and Mozambique. However, I ran into the persistent problem that learning Portuguese involved learning all of these nouns and verbs and conjugations and grammar, and I don’t […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/13/wrup-learn-portuguese-by-assuming-that-every-language-you-dont-know-is-probably-the-same-edition/feed/ 28 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/11/leaderboard-what-was-the-most-overrated-mmo-of-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/11/leaderboard-what-was-the-most-overrated-mmo-of-2023/#comments Thu, 11 Jan 2024 18:00:46 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466495 It’s no secret that whenever somebody declares a GOTY, somebody else is going to say that game is overrated. Heck, we cover some major MMORPGs that a lot of you love and I just shrug at. That’s the nature of aesthetic opinions. It’s fine. It’s good, even, since it makes things spicy and interesting. And […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/11/leaderboard-what-was-the-most-overrated-mmo-of-2023/feed/ 30 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/10/leaderboard-what-was-the-best-new-mmo-of-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/10/leaderboard-what-was-the-best-new-mmo-of-2023/#comments Wed, 10 Jan 2024 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466496 So I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we have a lot of MMORPGs coming in 2024! The bad news is that a lot of them were delayed from 2023, meaning that 2023 didn’t have a whole ton of new MMOs. But this Leaderboard is a long-running poll […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/10/leaderboard-what-was-the-best-new-mmo-of-2023/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/09/massively-op-podcast-episode-452-a-staff-roundtable-for-a-new-year/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/09/massively-op-podcast-episode-452-a-staff-roundtable-for-a-new-year/#comments Tue, 09 Jan 2024 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=473720 We’re kicking off a new year of the podcast with a staff roundtable with Justin, Eliot, MJ, and Carlo as we talk about our MMO experiences from last year and what we’re looking forward to in 2024. It’s the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/09/massively-op-podcast-episode-452-a-staff-roundtable-for-a-new-year/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/07/mmo-week-in-review-strong-and-pretty/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/07/mmo-week-in-review-strong-and-pretty/#comments Mon, 08 Jan 2024 01:25:29 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474473 We’re sorry, but Bree can’t come to the Week in Review right now; she’s too busy playing City of Heroes, whose Homecoming servers were finally licensed by NCsoft this week. Eliot also can’t come to the Week in Review, as he’s focused on the reveals from the Final Fantasy XIV Japan fan festival. All of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/07/mmo-week-in-review-strong-and-pretty/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/06/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-thing-an-mmo-company-sent-me-this-year/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/06/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-thing-an-mmo-company-sent-me-this-year/#comments Sat, 06 Jan 2024 21:00:51 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468753 We’re finishing out our traditional countdown of MassivelyOP’s weirdest MMORPG stories of the year! Coming in at #1 on our list is… Literally a Can of Spinach I know people are convinced that we’re swimming in swag, and sure, one time a decade ago Nexon sent a giant bean bag chair to our community manager […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/06/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-thing-an-mmo-company-sent-me-this-year/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/06/wrup-last-wrup-and-testament-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/06/wrup-last-wrup-and-testament-edition/#comments Sat, 06 Jan 2024 15:00:31 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474319 I, Eliot Lefebvre, being exceedingly depressed for so many very valid reasons and a couple of wholly speculative ones which sort of torpedoes “sound mind” and generally having a body that’s anything but sound, put this forth as my final wishes for how What Are You Playing will be operated from this point forward. FOR […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/06/wrup-last-wrup-and-testament-edition/feed/ 33 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/mmo-year-in-review-2023-december/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/mmo-year-in-review-2023-december/#comments Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:00:28 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466344 We’re finally coming to our recap of the last month of 2023 and the end of this recap series with our poke into December, which ought to be fresh in everyone’s memory since it ended this week! December saw the reveal of Hello Games’ MMO Light No Fire, the rollout of Throne & Liberty in Korea, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/mmo-year-in-review-2023-december/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-mmo-most-likely-to-make-us-wake-up-screaming/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-mmo-most-likely-to-make-us-wake-up-screaming/#comments Fri, 05 Jan 2024 21:00:14 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468608 We’re continuing our traditional countdown of MassivelyOP’s weirdest MMORPG stories of the year! Coming in at #2 on our list is… Diablo IV’s lucid dreaming sleep therapy We’ve spent plenty of ink this season on Diablo IV’s bizarre promotional marketing, and frankly, we hope Microsoft has a cushy place set up for the geniuses who […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-mmo-most-likely-to-make-us-wake-up-screaming/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/2023-mmo-awards-recap/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/2023-mmo-awards-recap/#comments Fri, 05 Jan 2024 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=472787 As we did in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, today we’re going to recap our annual awards and other articles from the end of 2023. We gave out 21 formal awards over the span of December 2023, in addition to our annual recaps, roundups, listicles, predictions, golden yachties, oddities, community discussions, and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/2023-mmo-awards-recap/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/mmo-year-in-review-2023-november/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/mmo-year-in-review-2023-november/#respond Thu, 04 Jan 2024 23:00:47 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=462763 November played host to BlizzCon, the first in-person show for Blizzard in years, and while overall it wasn’t spectacular, World of Warcraft fans were in for a special treat, as the studio announced not one but three expansions for the beleaguered MMORPG. We also witnessed dark times for Destiny 2, the reveal of Ghostcrawler’s new […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/mmo-year-in-review-2023-november/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-thing-mmo-gamers-did-to-win-a-forum-argument-yes-again/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-thing-mmo-gamers-did-to-win-a-forum-argument-yes-again/#comments Thu, 04 Jan 2024 21:00:44 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468756 We’re continuing our traditional countdown of MassivelyOP’s weirdest MMORPG stories of the year! Coming in at #3 on our list is… Leaking more military secrets For the last couple of years, we’ve been covering the War Thunder community’s penchant for accidentally leaking military secrets while trying to one-up each other’s knowledge about the real-world military […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-thing-mmo-gamers-did-to-win-a-forum-argument-yes-again/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/working-as-intended-the-mmos-we-lost-in-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/working-as-intended-the-mmos-we-lost-in-2023/#comments Thu, 04 Jan 2024 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=467752 If preserving MMORPGs is your jam, 2023 was not a great year. The one nice thing I can say about it is that we didn’t lose too many massive MMOs, which isn’t always a given, but the list of sunsets is a long one, as you’re about to see as I’m rounding up all of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/working-as-intended-the-mmos-we-lost-in-2023/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/03/mmo-year-in-review-2023-october/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/03/mmo-year-in-review-2023-october/#respond Wed, 03 Jan 2024 23:00:39 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=465305 New World opened the gates of its Rise of the Angry Earth expansion this month, driving its servers and queues to capacity all over again (and largely charming our writers) with a new weapon and – finally – mounts. October also saw the final steps in Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. You guys, there was a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/03/mmo-year-in-review-2023-october/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/03/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-use-of-ai-in-an-mmo/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/03/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-use-of-ai-in-an-mmo/#comments Wed, 03 Jan 2024 21:00:04 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468750 We’re continuing our traditional countdown of MassivelyOP’s weirdest MMORPG stories of the year! Coming in at #4 on our list is… NetDragon’s AI CEO This piece is a bit of a trick, as here the AI isn’t actually in the MMO, although it certainly has a huge impact on MMOs. In March, Chinese gaming company […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/03/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-use-of-ai-in-an-mmo/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/mmo-year-in-review-2023-september/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/mmo-year-in-review-2023-september/#respond Tue, 02 Jan 2024 23:00:41 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=464201 Daybreak parent company EG7 attempted to woo investors in September with nebulous plans for a new EverQuest MMORPG, perhaps the long-rumored EverQuest III – but don’t get too excited as at best it’s in the “ideation” phase and would be targeting 2028 at the very earliest. Meanwhile, Unity lit itself on fire and spent weeks […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/mmo-year-in-review-2023-september/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/the-massively-op-podcast-in-review-2023-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/the-massively-op-podcast-in-review-2023-edition/#comments Tue, 02 Jan 2024 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466337 Recap of all the shows released in 2022, bringing our total to 733 episodes (331+402).]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/the-massively-op-podcast-in-review-2023-edition/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-mmo-celebrity-insert/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-mmo-celebrity-insert/#comments Tue, 02 Jan 2024 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468748 Today we’re kicking off our traditional countdown of MassivelyOP’s weirdest MMORPG stories of the year, that year being 2023! Coming in at #5 on our list is… Richard Garriott and the Titan sub Initially, I’d planned to highlight unexpected celebrities that drop into the MMO world from outside of it, but as it happens, I’m […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/massivelyops-weirdest-mmo-stories-of-2023-weirdest-mmo-celebrity-insert/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/mmo-year-in-review-2023-august/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/mmo-year-in-review-2023-august/#respond Mon, 01 Jan 2024 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=463868 August hasn’t always been a month for major MMO launches, but 2023 certainly didn’t disappoint, with Guild Wars 2’s expansion Secrets of the Obscure headlining a lineup that also included WoW Classic’s hardcore mode, Palia’s open beta, and Wayfinder’s early access. Meanwhile, ArcheAge 2 eyed 2024, Baldur’s Gate 3 wowed the multiplayer community, Star Citizen […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/mmo-year-in-review-2023-august/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-best-worst-mmo-post/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-best-worst-mmo-post/#comments Mon, 01 Jan 2024 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468673 We’re wrapping up MassivelyOP’s not-so-serious end-of-the-year awards today as we present our award for Best Worst MMO Post. Yes, it’s the Golden Yachties series, named in honor of those bright sparks absolutely convinced that video game blogging is a lucrative career and we’re all sailing ’round the world on ships of gold. (Stay in school, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-best-worst-mmo-post/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/the-best-massivelyop-streams-of-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/the-best-massivelyop-streams-of-2023/#comments Mon, 01 Jan 2024 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=471301 MassivelyOP’s Stream Team is the jewel in our crown, as our own Chris and MJ – and occasionally Larry too! – dip into MMORPGs to meander through new games and old favorites for hands-on experience with brand-new titles and games they know backward and forward. We’ve carried on with a second year of Backseat Streaming […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/the-best-massivelyop-streams-of-2023/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/happy-new-year-to-all-the-uplifting-things-in-mmos-2023-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/happy-new-year-to-all-the-uplifting-things-in-mmos-2023-edition/#respond Mon, 01 Jan 2024 14:00:10 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=467769 Last night, we offered up our traditional list of all the reasons we can’t have nice things in the MMO genre and digitally roasted them in our New Year’s Eve bonfire. Not really, though. We need those posts for posterity. But this morning, it’s worth remembering that this genre is a nice place to be, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/happy-new-year-to-all-the-uplifting-things-in-mmos-2023-edition/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/goodbye-to-all-the-reasons-we-cant-have-nice-things-in-mmos-2023-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/goodbye-to-all-the-reasons-we-cant-have-nice-things-in-mmos-2023-edition/#comments Mon, 01 Jan 2024 01:00:09 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=467768 Become an MMO blogger, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. What they forgot to mention is that covering this genre means as many ups as downs, especially where the industry is concerned, and so we dutifully round up all the bad stories under our This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things tag. And […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/goodbye-to-all-the-reasons-we-cant-have-nice-things-in-mmos-2023-edition/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/mmo-week-in-review-dragging-mmos-kicking-and-screaming-into-2024/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/mmo-week-in-review-dragging-mmos-kicking-and-screaming-into-2024/#respond Sun, 31 Dec 2023 23:00:31 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=473587 The last MMO Week in Review of the Year on the last day of the year… convenient, eh? Well, it is for me, anyway, since I’m the one putting these lists together. This week in the MMO world has been relatively quiet as most studios are on holiday, but we had a few big news […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/mmo-week-in-review-dragging-mmos-kicking-and-screaming-into-2024/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-the-everyone-saw-that-coming-award/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-the-everyone-saw-that-coming-award/#comments Sun, 31 Dec 2023 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=472484 Welcome back to MassivelyOP’s not-so-serious end-of-the-year awards as we present the Everyone Saw That Coming award. Yes, it’s the Golden Yachties series, named in honor of those bright sparks absolutely convinced that video game blogging is a lucrative career and we’re all sailing ’round the world on ships of gold. (Stay in school, kids.) And […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-the-everyone-saw-that-coming-award/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/mmo-year-in-review-2023-july/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/mmo-year-in-review-2023-july/#respond Sun, 31 Dec 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=463867 Final Fantasy XIV unveiled its next expansion, Dawntrail, in July of this year, setting in motion what we expect will be a full year of hype and teasers and speculation until it’s finally upon us next summer. Meanwhile, Path of Exile 2 was re-announced as a proper sequel, Diablo IV launched its first season, we […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/mmo-year-in-review-2023-july/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/make-my-mmo-the-biggest-mmo-crowdfunding-stories-of-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/make-my-mmo-the-biggest-mmo-crowdfunding-stories-of-2023/#respond Sun, 31 Dec 2023 01:00:09 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=471555 Welcome to a special end-of-the-year edition of Make My MMO, the MassivelyOP column where we – well, I – keep tabs on all of the crowdfunded MMOs in our genre, as well as all the ones that attempted some form or other of crowdfunding. And as readers probably know, this segment of the genre is […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/make-my-mmo-the-biggest-mmo-crowdfunding-stories-of-2023/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/mmo-year-in-review-2023-june/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/mmo-year-in-review-2023-june/#respond Sat, 30 Dec 2023 23:00:55 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=463056 Elder Scrolls Online launched its Necrom expansion in June, sending players both to mainland Morrowind and to the spooky realm of Hermaeus Mora. Meanwhile, Swords of Legends Online met its untimely western demise, Diablo IV had a messy global launch, Black Desert launched Land of the Morning Light, and BioWare finally admitted that Star Wars […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/mmo-year-in-review-2023-june/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-most-deserving-mmo-steam-ban/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-most-deserving-mmo-steam-ban/#respond Sat, 30 Dec 2023 21:00:39 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468661 Welcome back to MassivelyOP’s not-so-serious end-of-the-year awards as we present our award for Most Deserving MMO Steam Ban. Yes, it’s the Golden Yachties series, named in honor of those bright sparks absolutely convinced that video game blogging is a lucrative career and we’re all sailing ’round the world on ships of gold. (Stay in school, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-most-deserving-mmo-steam-ban/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/wrup-the-realistic-new-years-resolution-2024-product-guide-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/wrup-the-realistic-new-years-resolution-2024-product-guide-edition/#comments Sat, 30 Dec 2023 15:00:03 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=473624 Six Weeks Of Gym Membership (#773398-11A) You are going to promise yourself that this is the year you finally find working out not to be a miserable slog that you abandon after just a couple of weeks, but you know that you are lying to yourself when you say that. Our package will buy you […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/wrup-the-realistic-new-years-resolution-2024-product-guide-edition/feed/ 27 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/mmo-year-in-review-2023-may/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/mmo-year-in-review-2023-may/#comments Fri, 29 Dec 2023 23:00:51 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=463053 May brought interesting news for fans of Lord of the Rings, as Amazon and Embracer announced that they’re working on yet another LOTR MMORPG, using Amazon’s development studios and Embracer’s license – this following the cancelation of an Amazon/Leyou LOTR MMO back in 2021. Meanwhile, EVE Online turned 20 years old, Jack Emmert announced a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/mmo-year-in-review-2023-may/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-best-worst-mmo-criming/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-best-worst-mmo-criming/#comments Fri, 29 Dec 2023 21:00:18 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468664 Welcome back to MassivelyOP’s not-so-serious end-of-the-year awards as we present our award for Best Worst MMO Criming. Yes, it’s the Golden Yachties series, named in honor of those bright sparks absolutely convinced that video game blogging is a lucrative career and we’re all sailing ’round the world on ships of gold. (Stay in school, kids.) […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-best-worst-mmo-criming/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/massivelyops-2023-mmo-lifetime-achievement-award/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/massivelyops-2023-mmo-lifetime-achievement-award/#comments Fri, 29 Dec 2023 16:00:56 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=469086 Welcome back to Massively Overpowered’s formal end-of-the-year awards for one more special award. Readers will remember that a few years ago, we decided to institute a lifetime achievement award specifically to honor an MMORPG that has made a significant contribution to the genre over the course of its lifetime and the genre’s history but may not […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/massivelyops-2023-mmo-lifetime-achievement-award/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/mmo-year-in-review-2023-april/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/mmo-year-in-review-2023-april/#comments Thu, 28 Dec 2023 23:00:42 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=462791 Trouble continued brewing at Activision-Blizzard in April as UK regulators made clear their intent to impede Microsoft’s acquisition, Blizzard MAUs and revenues sank in line with Overwatch 2’s performance, and a World of Warcraft producer admitted that Blizzard’s talent losses had forced the studio to create “crisis maps” to handle the exodus of workers. Meanwhile, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/mmo-year-in-review-2023-april/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-best-worst-misapplication-of-pay-to-win/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-best-worst-misapplication-of-pay-to-win/#comments Thu, 28 Dec 2023 21:00:39 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468659 Welcome back to MassivelyOP’s not-so-serious end-of-the-year awards as we present our award for Best Worst Misapplication of Pay-to-Win in an MMO. Yes, it’s the Golden Yachties series, named in honor of those bright sparks absolutely convinced that video game blogging is a lucrative career and we’re all sailing ’round the world on ships of gold. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/massivelyops-2023-golden-yachties-best-worst-misapplication-of-pay-to-win/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/the-best-massivelyop-community-daily-grinds-of-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/the-best-massivelyop-community-daily-grinds-of-2023/#comments Thu, 28 Dec 2023 19:00:35 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=471258 This traditional roundup of the best Daily Grinds of the year is actually one of my favorites because it demonstrates just how long we’ve all been doing this gig. The very first Daily Grind on Old Massively was penned on November 3rd, 2007, which means that our staff has written exactly 5900 Daily Grinds to date, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/the-best-massivelyop-community-daily-grinds-of-2023/feed/ 1