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/2024/02/04/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/2024/01/28/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/2024/01/21/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/2024/01/14/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/2024/01/07/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/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/2023/12/24/mmo-week-in-review-mmo-players-please-do-not-punch-the-christmas-tree-for-logs/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/24/mmo-week-in-review-mmo-players-please-do-not-punch-the-christmas-tree-for-logs/#comments Sun, 24 Dec 2023 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=473065 Happy holidays, everyone! Bobby Kotick departs Activision-Blizzard this week, The Day Before announced an official sunset, Guild Wars 2 is plotting expansions into at least 2025, and a million MMOs are in the midst of holiday festivities and sales. We’ve also continued doling out awards for biggest surprise, best classic MMO, best studio, biggest story, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/24/mmo-week-in-review-mmo-players-please-do-not-punch-the-christmas-tree-for-logs/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/17/mmo-week-in-review-im-as-out-of-clever-the-day-before-titles-as-the-game-is-out-of-money/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/17/mmo-week-in-review-im-as-out-of-clever-the-day-before-titles-as-the-game-is-out-of-money/#comments Mon, 18 Dec 2023 01:15:22 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=472277 The Day Before utterly imploded this week after just a weekend online, admitting on Monday that the game had failed financially and that the studio would be forced to close, all following catastrophic refunds and reviews owing to what players argue was false advertising about the nature of the game. Shit happens, indeed. Meanwhile, Activision-Blizzard […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/17/mmo-week-in-review-im-as-out-of-clever-the-day-before-titles-as-the-game-is-out-of-money/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/10/mmo-week-in-review-no-mans-skyrim/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/10/mmo-week-in-review-no-mans-skyrim/#comments Mon, 11 Dec 2023 01:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=471025 ‘Twas a juicy week for MMORPGs, as we got a tease for Hello Games’ new survival MMO, Light No Fire, plus Throne & Liberty launched in Korea, EverQuest released its 30th expansion, The Wagadu Chronicles made its way to early access, and EVE Online studio CCP Games pushed its FPS spinoff EVE Vanguard into testing. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/10/mmo-week-in-review-no-mans-skyrim/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/03/mmo-week-in-review-season-of-queue-discovery/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/03/mmo-week-in-review-season-of-queue-discovery/#respond Mon, 04 Dec 2023 01:00:50 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=470215 So it turns out that everyone wanted WoW Classic Plus! Who knew? Oh, everybody knew? Literally everybody? Right on. Well, you’ve got a version of it now in Season of Discovery, if you can wiggle past the queues. Meanwhile, this week saw the anniversary of WildStar’s death, EverQuests II’s 20th expansion launch, the revival of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/03/mmo-week-in-review-season-of-queue-discovery/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/26/mmo-week-in-review-a-feast-for-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/26/mmo-week-in-review-a-feast-for-mmos/#respond Mon, 27 Nov 2023 01:00:15 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=468985 Thanksgiving and Black Friday week may have been a short one for MMO studios, but there was still news! We took a long hard look at Tarisland, World of Warcraft provoked player grumbling over its cash-grabby expansion headstart, Lost Ark delayed class balancing updates for the west into 2024, and indie MMO Ethyrial admitted that […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/26/mmo-week-in-review-a-feast-for-mmos/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/19/mmo-week-in-review-tripping-into-tarisland/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/19/mmo-week-in-review-tripping-into-tarisland/#comments Mon, 20 Nov 2023 01:10:39 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=467980 The week before the week before Thanksgiving is prime time for pushing out major MMO patches and news, and this week delivered: Pantheon axed its 247 plans, Wayfinder halted its season plans while looking for a new publisher, and we took a look at Perfect New World, Warcraft Rumble, and Tarisland – the latter of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/19/mmo-week-in-review-tripping-into-tarisland/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/12/mmo-week-in-review-how-to-help-project-gorgon-and-its-devs/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/12/mmo-week-in-review-how-to-help-project-gorgon-and-its-devs/#comments Mon, 13 Nov 2023 01:00:59 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466874 This week in MMO land, we covered distressing news: Eric Heimburg and Sandra Powers, the husband-and-wife duo behind beloved indie MMO Project Gorgon, admitted that medical travails (Powers is fighting cancer) and associated money troubles were forcing the game into a low-development era. If you’re considering helping Elder Game and Gorgon, they do have a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/12/mmo-week-in-review-how-to-help-project-gorgon-and-its-devs/feed/ 18 https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/05/mmo-week-in-review-blizzcon-2023-highlights/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/05/mmo-week-in-review-blizzcon-2023-highlights/#comments Mon, 06 Nov 2023 01:00:59 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466006 If you weren’t paying much attention to BlizzCon this weekend, you missed out on some big reveals: World of Warcraft announced a three-expansion content cycle called the Worldsoul Saga, which starts with The War Within in 2024; WoW Classic announced Cataclysm Classic and a Season of Discovery that gives players some of what they wanted […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/11/05/mmo-week-in-review-blizzcon-2023-highlights/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/29/mmo-week-in-review-nope/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/29/mmo-week-in-review-nope/#respond Mon, 30 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=464129 It’s Halloween-eve-eve in the real world, which means it’s Halloween in just about every MMORPG – for a few more days, anyhow. Meanwhile, Guild Wars 2 unveiled Through the Veil, Pantheon continued pressing 247 on an unhappy community, players mulled over the Diablo IV expansion leak, CIG claimed Squadron 42 is feature complete, we drooled […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/29/mmo-week-in-review-nope/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/22/mmo-week-in-review-ffxivs-viper-star-citizens-pyro/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/22/mmo-week-in-review-ffxivs-viper-star-citizens-pyro/#respond Mon, 23 Oct 2023 00:00:02 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=463189 The MMO genre saw dueling conventions this weekend: Final Fantasy XIV’s London Fanfest revealed the new Viper job and Dawntrail regions and content, while Star Citizen’s CitizenCon teased the Pyro system hitting the preview channel on Halloween. Meanwhile, drama swirled around Pantheon, SWTOR announced Chains of the Dark, LOTRO delayed Corsairs of Umbar, Albion Online […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/22/mmo-week-in-review-ffxivs-viper-star-citizens-pyro/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/15/mmo-week-in-review-77-days-to-go/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/15/mmo-week-in-review-77-days-to-go/#comments Mon, 16 Oct 2023 00:00:07 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=462133 Whether or not it was a great idea to let a company long embroiled in antitrust lawsuits to buy one of the largest corporations in the gaming industry, that’s exactly what happened this week, as the final impediment to Microsoft’s buyout of Activision-Blizzard was finally cleared away and the deal was officially cemented. And now […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/15/mmo-week-in-review-77-days-to-go/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/08/mmo-week-in-review-daybreak-week/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/08/mmo-week-in-review-daybreak-week/#comments Mon, 09 Oct 2023 00:00:17 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=461094 It was a massive week for Daybreak MMOs, which often don’t get much glory individually, but all five of them got something tangible this week: Lord of the Rings Online released the Mariner as well as preorders for Corsairs of Umbar, EverQuest II began beta for the Ballads of Zimara expansion, Classic EverQuest announced its […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/08/mmo-week-in-review-daybreak-week/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/01/mmo-week-in-review-third-quarter-layoff-week/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/01/mmo-week-in-review-third-quarter-layoff-week/#comments Mon, 02 Oct 2023 00:10:58 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=460178 If there’s one constant for September in the games industry, it’s the layoffs as companies juice their numbers at the end of the third quarter. So was was this past week, as we saw corporate layoffs for Blizzard’s Hearthstone team, Roblox, and Epic Games – the last of which saw over a thousand workers either […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/10/01/mmo-week-in-review-third-quarter-layoff-week/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/24/mmo-week-in-review-franchise-revivals-for-everquest-and-eve-online/ Mon, 25 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=458893 It’s been a big week for gaming thanks to Unity’s self-owns and the UK’s preliminary approval of the Activision-Blizzard buyout – and a big week for MMORPGs too. We saw Daybreak pitch EverQuest 3, Blizzard bizarrely announce the dungeon finder for WoW Classic after more than a year of swearing it wouldn’t, EG7 cancel LOTRO’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/17/mmo-week-in-review-more-questions-than-answers-for-unity-and-gearbox/ Mon, 18 Sep 2023 00:30:20 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=457946 This week in MMOs was unfortunately dominated by the business end of gaming for two key reasons. First, Embracer, which is currently in the middle of a total corporate meltdown, is apparently trying to sell the entirety of Gearbox Entertainment – which includes Cryptic and all of its MMOs. And second, Unity, the company behind […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/10/mmo-week-in-review-fury-inconspicuous/ Mon, 11 Sep 2023 00:00:34 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=456925 World of Warcraft launched its Fury Incarnate patch this week, so you might think the MMO world would be fixated on that, but Blizzard almost immediately moved on to promoting the next patch, Guardians of the Dream, and admitted that it’s considering directly selling the trader’s tender currency, effectively marking the pivot of the trading […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/09/03/mmo-week-in-review-rise-of-the-angry-earth-vs-river-hobbits/ Mon, 04 Sep 2023 00:00:16 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=456210 This edition of the MMO Week in Review is dedicated to that guy who got really mad at us a coupla years back when we didn’t give our annual Most Anticipated MMORPG award to Starfield. I hope he’s having himself a real good time right now! Anyway, some actual MMO things happened this week: New […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/27/mmo-week-in-review-soto-and-soulframe/ Mon, 28 Aug 2023 00:00:42 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=455021 The week of Gamescom has been a wild one for the MMORPG genre: Guild Wars 2’s Secrets of the Obscure opened its gates, World of Warcraft Classic kicked off hardcore servers and got busy permadeathing players, Nightingale admitted to another delay, Kakao announced huge merges for ArcheAge, No Man’s Sky popped out the Echoes expansion, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/20/mmo-week-in-review-wayfinder-through-a-viewfinder/ Mon, 21 Aug 2023 00:00:01 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=453872 Wayfinder found a way to launch into early access this week, though it’s been a bit chaotic as servers struggled to keep up with the day one rush and Airship Syndicate has battled to keep the logins up – and the queues down. Meanwhile, Dungeons and Dragons Online launched Vecna Unleashed, Palia continued to struggle, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/13/mmo-week-in-review-throne-libertys-delay-palias-open-beta/ Mon, 14 Aug 2023 00:00:27 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=452909 Throne & Liberty and Palia displayed both ends of the “delay” spectrum this week. NCsoft told investors it is delaying the western release of Throne & Liberty yet again; we won’t see it – and its newly added action combat – until 2024, marking yet another frustrating wait for one of the bigger MMOs on […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/06/mmo-week-in-review-palias-beta-baldurs-gate-3s-big-launch/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/06/mmo-week-in-review-palias-beta-baldurs-gate-3s-big-launch/#comments Mon, 07 Aug 2023 00:00:20 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=451915 Multiplayer games rather than MMORPGs are capturing the gaming industry’s heart this week as Baldur’s Gate 3 exploded and Palia puttered into beta. Meanwhile, WoW Classic got a date for hardcore and we recapped FFXIV’s Fan Festival. Read on to catch up with the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions today as […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/08/06/mmo-week-in-review-palias-beta-baldurs-gate-3s-big-launch/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/30/mmo-week-in-review-dawntrail-and-path-of-exile-2/ Mon, 31 Jul 2023 00:00:05 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=450836 It’s been a hell of a weekend for Final Fantasy XIV and Path of Exile fans thanks to Fanfest and ExileCon. CBU3 took the wraps off FFXIV’s next expansion – Dawntrail – as well as the game’s more immediate patches, while Grinding Gear Games stunned MMOARPG fans by announcing that the long-awaited Path of Exile […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/23/mmo-week-in-review-blizzards-bountiful-bungles/ Mon, 24 Jul 2023 00:00:07 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=449854 Blizzard had a rough week, lurching from messy story to story, all tucked neatly under the arc of the FTC appearing to finally give up on blocking Microsoft’s ABK acquisition. Blizzard itself managed to piss off the Diablo IV fanbase with a trainwreck patch for which it had to offer penance on Friday, then the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/16/mmo-week-in-review-69-billion/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/16/mmo-week-in-review-69-billion/#comments Mon, 17 Jul 2023 00:00:45 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=448905 The Microsoft buyout of Activision-Blizzard is likely to be inked early this week, thanks to a judge’s decision not to block the duo from formalizing their partnership ahead of the FTC’s August lawsuit barring the merger. Meanwhile, Palia is en route for a soft launch open beta, WoW’s Fractures in Time went live, and we […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/16/mmo-week-in-review-69-billion/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/09/mmo-week-in-review-blood-of-the-sands/ Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:00:16 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=447899 New World’s second season, Blood of the Sands, officially kicked off this week – just as datamining of non-English tooltips appears to have outed the game’s next weapon. Meanwhile, we’re looking forward to Guild Wars 2 SOTO, raised eyebrows at some spilled WildStar tea, crossed fingers for a new EverQuest MMO, sighed at World of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/07/02/mmo-week-in-review-private-classified-mysteries-of-the-undisclosed-esoteric-enigma/ Mon, 03 Jul 2023 00:00:06 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=447054 Secrets of the Obscure is Guild Wars 2’s next big expansion, ArenaNet announced this week, and it’s dropping August 22nd – with a low pricetag too and a beta for the weaponmaster training feature that was running all weekend. Meanwhile, the SWTOR port to Broadsword is a go, the Magic to Master legal imbroglio is […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/25/mmo-week-in-review-the-future-of-swtor/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/25/mmo-week-in-review-the-future-of-swtor/#comments Mon, 26 Jun 2023 00:00:09 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=446071 While Star Wars The Old Republic’s move to Broadsword is a sure thing now, the future of the game still has players worried – but BioWare was vocal this week about the studio switchover, downplaying “doom and gloom” and vowing that the game is “absolutely not” going into maintenance mode. Meanwhile, we speculated on World […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/25/mmo-week-in-review-the-future-of-swtor/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/18/mmo-week-in-review-reddit-chaos-viridian-and-instant-karma-for-m2m/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/18/mmo-week-in-review-reddit-chaos-viridian-and-instant-karma-for-m2m/#comments Mon, 19 Jun 2023 00:00:02 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=445150 If I were a conspiracy theory sort of human, I would certainly be watching the Reddit meltdown with great interest, as the CEO of the company appears intent on destroying what’s left of the platform’s social and financial value and its most loyal volunteers – which affects even the MMORPG genre, since so much MMORPG […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/18/mmo-week-in-review-reddit-chaos-viridian-and-instant-karma-for-m2m/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/04/mmo-week-in-review-rip-solo-welcome-diablo-iv/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/04/mmo-week-in-review-rip-solo-welcome-diablo-iv/#comments Mon, 05 Jun 2023 00:00:54 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=442968 The MMO genre was dealt a nasty blow this week as Gameforge and Wangyuan Shengtang announced the impending western sunset of Swords of Legends Online after just under two years, adding one more Asian MMO to the pile of “temports” sent to the west to make a little launch money and then be left to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/04/mmo-week-in-review-rip-solo-welcome-diablo-iv/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2023/05/28/mmo-week-in-review-ye-olde-classic-wow-token-blue-protocol-delayed/ Mon, 29 May 2023 00:25:40 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=441956 This week, Blizzard moved on from disappointing Overwatch 2 fans and switched over to disappointing both WoW Classic and WoW Retail fans, the former with the decision to add WoW Token to what was supposed to be a classic experience and the latter with the decision to gatekeep story content. Meanwhile, NCsoft restructured its western […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/05/21/mmo-week-in-review-looks-like-amazon-lotr-mmo-is-back-on-the-menu/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/05/21/mmo-week-in-review-looks-like-amazon-lotr-mmo-is-back-on-the-menu/#comments Mon, 22 May 2023 00:10:55 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=440883 A new MMO was born this week – or reborn, really – as Amazon announced its second attempt at a Lord of the Rings MMORPG (and then managed to “we’re not in Azeroth anymore” at the extant MMO LOTRO, to the irritation of the prospective Amazon fanbase). Meanwhile, Tarisland promised global launch later this year, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/05/21/mmo-week-in-review-looks-like-amazon-lotr-mmo-is-back-on-the-menu/feed/ 13 https://massivelyop.com/2023/05/14/mmo-week-in-review-fractures-in-time-lapses-in-judgment/ Mon, 15 May 2023 00:00:59 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=439725 World of Warcraft had an interesting week, as Blizzard announced some hefty changes in Retail’s next patch and hardcore mode for WoW Classic, which ought to make players happy, though they aren’t likely to quickly forget the dust-up over the company’s bizarre Discord mess, during which it tried to bind community WoW Discords to non-disparagement […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/05/07/mmo-week-in-review-reopening-old-wounds/ Mon, 08 May 2023 00:25:33 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=438943 The MMO genre saw multiple rollouts this week: World of Warcraft launched Embers of Neltharion, Eden Eternal relaunched, Guild Wars 2 dropped its balance patch, and EVE Online began its 20th birthday celebrations, all as Star Wars The Old Republic took advantage of Star Wars Day to announce its next update, Old Wounds. Plus, we […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/30/mmo-week-in-review-blizzard-loses-18m-players-mad-world-fumbles-its-launch/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/30/mmo-week-in-review-blizzard-loses-18m-players-mad-world-fumbles-its-launch/#comments Mon, 01 May 2023 00:09:48 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=437839 Blizzard dominated the MMO headlines this week, though not really for good reasons, as UK regulators blocked Microsoft’s Activision-Blizzard buyout and the company rushed out its financials to counter stock hits. Unfortunately, the numbers weren’t good for Blizzard, as its revenues looked good only against Q1 2022 (which was its worst quarter in over a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/30/mmo-week-in-review-blizzard-loses-18m-players-mad-world-fumbles-its-launch/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/16/mmo-week-in-review-lotros-character-customization-expansion/ Mon, 17 Apr 2023 00:00:51 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435771 Lord of the Rings Online characters will soon be able to adopt a whole new look as Standing Stone Games announced this week that it’s expanding character customization rather dramatically, with a much wider range of faces, hairstyles, skin tones, eye colors, body types, and discrete sliders for all sorts of body parts…. for humans, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/09/mmo-week-in-review-new-world-apparently-evaded-amazon-games-layoffs/ Mon, 10 Apr 2023 00:05:50 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434778 Amazon Games was the latest victim of the broader Amazon corporation’s latest round of mass layoffs this week, specifically the San Diego branch whose top office John Smedley vacated earlier this year. Curiously, Amazon Games’ VP says that “the New World team in Irvine will grow as [execs] shift some resources to further support its […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/02/mmo-week-in-review-super-adventure-box-season/ Mon, 03 Apr 2023 00:00:34 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433545 April Fools’ Day is more like April Fools’ Week in MMOs, and nowhere is it more elaborate than in Guild Wars 2, which reopened Super Adventure Box this week – with a tease for a new map after years of waiting. Meanwhile, E3 skidded to a hard cancel, we peeked in on Diablo IV’s second […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/26/mmo-week-in-review-carn-dum-diablo-iv-and-ccps-blockchain-gamble/ Mon, 27 Mar 2023 00:00:41 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=432580 With Blizzard’s Diablo IV open beta wrapping up tomorrow, the multiplayer world is certainly wrapped up in excitement and/or queues; our own previewers found the experience a bit of a mixed bag. On the MMORPG front, we were treated to Lord of the Rings Online’s Return to Carn Dûm update, speculation on a WoW Classic […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/19/mmo-week-in-review-diablo-iv-will-see-you-in-hell/ Mon, 20 Mar 2023 00:00:10 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=431594 Diablo IV rolled into its paid beta this weekend, stuttering with queue and performance issues that Blizzard rushed to amend. We’ll have two impressions pieces coming this week, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, Elder Scrolls Online launched the Scribes of Fate DLC, Star Citizen continued its server struggles, and we remembered WildStar and RIFT. Read on to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/12/mmo-week-in-review-finding-wayfinder-farewelling-ghostcrawler/ Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:00:55 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=430322 While its NDA remains in place, multiplayer co-op title Wayfinder did let media and players take a peek behind the curtain this week, and we interviewed the Airship Syndicate team from an MMO player’s perspective, poking at the group size, customization, and monetization systems that have MMO players curious. Meanwhile, Greg Street departed Riot and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/05/mmo-week-in-review-returning-to-cantha/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/05/mmo-week-in-review-returning-to-cantha/#comments Mon, 06 Mar 2023 01:15:39 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=429588 The first episode of Guild Wars 2’s post-End-of-Dragons not-a-living-story season rolled out this week, sending players back to Cantha with the crew to solve a mystery in Gyala Delve. Meanwhile, Destiny 2’s Lightfall expansion released, we got a look at upcoming MMO sandbox Pax Dei, Bless Global failed its Steam crypto racket, and we explored […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/05/mmo-week-in-review-returning-to-cantha/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/26/mmo-week-in-review-throne-liberty-new-worlds-seasons-and-a-pile-of-mmo-birthdays/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/26/mmo-week-in-review-throne-liberty-new-worlds-seasons-and-a-pile-of-mmo-birthdays/#comments Mon, 27 Feb 2023 01:05:44 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=428431 Amazon made two huge announcements that stole the MMO show this week: First, it’s publishing NCsoft’s Throne & Liberty in the west, and second, it’s converting New World into a seasonal MMO with the Fellowship and Fire update launching in late March. Meanwhile, players are celebrating loads of anniversaries right now for RIFT, Dungeons and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/26/mmo-week-in-review-throne-liberty-new-worlds-seasons-and-a-pile-of-mmo-birthdays/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/19/mmo-week-in-review-up-tempo-guild-wars-2/ Mon, 20 Feb 2023 01:00:29 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=427351 ArenaNet surprised fans this week with the announcement that it’s essentially retiring the concept of Guild Wars 2’s living world seasons going forward, switching instead to quarterly updates with smaller but more frequent expansions – and if you saw the NCsoft’s financials over the last year, you’ll immediately understand why the studios want to start […]]]>