https://massivelyop.com MMORPG news and opinions Tue, 13 Feb 2024 04:01:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/12/the-stream-team-mini-mo-mania-for-the-9th-mopiversary/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/12/the-stream-team-mini-mo-mania-for-the-9th-mopiversary/#respond Tue, 13 Feb 2024 00:55:26 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479640 How long is nine years? Measured from your Daily Grind wishes to a pirate’s week in review, it’s how long Massively OP has been bringing you all sorts of tasty, tantalizing, and even sometimes terrible MMO news as well as opinions, streams, and more. Of course, how could MJ pass up celebrating this most auspicious […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/12/the-stream-team-mini-mo-mania-for-the-9th-mopiversary/feed/ 0 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/the-daily-grind-are-there-mmo-systems-you-long-ago-gave-up-on-understanding/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/11/the-daily-grind-are-there-mmo-systems-you-long-ago-gave-up-on-understanding/#comments Sun, 11 Feb 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479042 “I do not understand how Ninja is supposed to be played,” he said, “and at this point I have given up on understanding it.” This was, in fact, a defensible statement; Ninja in Final Fantasy XIV is a complicated job with a whole lot of messy parts that are not immediately obvious when you start […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/11/the-daily-grind-are-there-mmo-systems-you-long-ago-gave-up-on-understanding/feed/ 34 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/10/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-character-do-you-identify-with-the-strongest/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/10/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-character-do-you-identify-with-the-strongest/#comments Sat, 10 Feb 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479222 Pause and think for a moment about how many MMO characters you’ve created in your lifetime. Is it in the dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? Or are you the type of person who has one and only one special someone in your virtual life? Out of that (probably) large roster, which one do you identify with the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/10/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-character-do-you-identify-with-the-strongest/feed/ 21 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/the-daily-grind-how-difficult-should-it-be-to-respec-in-an-mmorpg/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/the-daily-grind-how-difficult-should-it-be-to-respec-in-an-mmorpg/#comments Thu, 08 Feb 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=479038 It struck me the other day how my two favorite MMORPGs are wildly different in terms of respecs. Final Fantasy XIV offers effectively infinite respecs simply because there is never anything stopping you from choosing to level and focus on a different job; there is time investment on a few projects like relic weapons or […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/08/the-daily-grind-how-difficult-should-it-be-to-respec-in-an-mmorpg/feed/ 24 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/perfect-ten-the-mmo-franchises-that-cant-count-past-two/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/perfect-ten-the-mmo-franchises-that-cant-count-past-two/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2024 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478922 Back in the day, there was a running joke about how Capcom had shown with Street Fighter that the company could not count higher than two. We had a few dozen different iterations of Street Fighter 2, and then when the developers finally decided to make a new game, it was a prequel, so it […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/07/perfect-ten-the-mmo-franchises-that-cant-count-past-two/feed/ 13 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/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/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/the-daily-grind-would-you-be-interested-in-a-guild-wars-3/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/the-daily-grind-would-you-be-interested-in-a-guild-wars-3/#comments Sun, 04 Feb 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478097 Have you ever noticed how every MMO franchise seems to get to exactly two numbered installments and then stops, at most? Guild Wars 2 is older than Guild Wars was when Guild Wars 2 launched, and it has been a long fun ride over the past decade. But that brings to mind what is, at […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/04/the-daily-grind-would-you-be-interested-in-a-guild-wars-3/feed/ 54 https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/03/the-daily-grind-how-driven-or-chill-are-you-toward-your-mmo-progress/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/03/the-daily-grind-how-driven-or-chill-are-you-toward-your-mmo-progress/#comments Sat, 03 Feb 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477384 I’ve always been a very goals- and projects-oriented person, even in my gameplay. I figure that if I’m going to spend time in a game, I want it to be more productive than simply a stress relieving experience. I should channel that time toward projects that are fun and rewarding. But what I’m discovering in […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/03/the-daily-grind-how-driven-or-chill-are-you-toward-your-mmo-progress/feed/ 25 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/the-daily-grind-what-gets-you-to-start-a-new-character-in-an-mmo/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/01/the-daily-grind-what-gets-you-to-start-a-new-character-in-an-mmo/#comments Thu, 01 Feb 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=478099 I like making alts. It’s just a thing I do. But before I’m going to make a new alt, I have to have something new that I want to do with that particular character. What that “something new” is going to be can vary a great deal from one occasion to another, but what is […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/02/01/the-daily-grind-what-gets-you-to-start-a-new-character-in-an-mmo/feed/ 17 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/31/the-daily-grind-what-are-some-of-the-prettiest-high-level-zones-in-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/31/the-daily-grind-what-are-some-of-the-prettiest-high-level-zones-in-mmos/#comments Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477391 Back in the day, it used to be common for the early game in MMO to be nothing but verdant forests, lush meadows, and serene landscapes… while the endgame got hell-blasted death zones, volcano fields, and This Region is Brought to You By the Color Brown. In a way, we were punished by progressing, which […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/31/the-daily-grind-what-are-some-of-the-prettiest-high-level-zones-in-mmos/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/30/the-daily-grind-what-do-you-think-the-next-viral-mmo-will-look-like/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/30/the-daily-grind-what-do-you-think-the-next-viral-mmo-will-look-like/#comments Tue, 30 Jan 2024 13:00:41 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477588 I am the first to admit that I didn’t see Palworld coming. Oh, I knew about Palworld; we’d covered Palworld. We’d also been covering Craftopia, Pocketpair’s other survival MMO, for years and years. So when I say I didn’t see it coming, please understand that I don’t mean that our surprise was born of ignorance; […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/30/the-daily-grind-what-do-you-think-the-next-viral-mmo-will-look-like/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/29/the-daily-grind-which-mmorpg-have-you-played-the-longest-without-reaching-the-level-cap/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/29/the-daily-grind-which-mmorpg-have-you-played-the-longest-without-reaching-the-level-cap/#comments Mon, 29 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477111 For someone who spent a whole lot of time playing Final Fantasy XI back in the day, I sure as heck didn’t reach the level cap with many jobs. Actually, with almost any jobs; it wasn’t until I first returned to the game after multiple leveling changes and the addition of Trusts that I got […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/29/the-daily-grind-which-mmorpg-have-you-played-the-longest-without-reaching-the-level-cap/feed/ 25 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/28/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-offers-the-best-book-and-paper-features/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/28/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-offers-the-best-book-and-paper-features/#comments Sun, 28 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=428607 A while back, I casually mentioned that I make paper journals for fun. I am an extremely online person, mind you. I work online. I read online. I play online. I talk online. I back up everything online. Even my diaries and task lists and calendars… they’re all online. I just can’t beat the efficiency […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/28/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-offers-the-best-book-and-paper-features/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/27/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-has-the-best-fishing-system-2/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/27/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-has-the-best-fishing-system-2/#comments Sat, 27 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=476364 Fishing absolutely mystifies me. Oh, in real life, I get it: It’s a way to be completely lazy, drink beer, and still catch your dinner. But in a video games where you’re often go-go-go, fishing demands you stop and stare at a little bobber for a while so that you can haul a slimy fish […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/27/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-has-the-best-fishing-system-2/feed/ 19 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/the-daily-grind-how-often-should-characters-miss-in-combat-in-mmorpgs/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/the-daily-grind-how-often-should-characters-miss-in-combat-in-mmorpgs/#comments Fri, 26 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=477089 The other day, we were talking about City of Heroes at the Massively OP offices because at this point that’s like 50% of our conversations (25% is work-related and the other 25% is me posting something really depressing, if you’re wondering how the math works out there). In this particular case, our discussion centered around […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/26/the-daily-grind-how-often-should-characters-miss-in-combat-in-mmorpgs/feed/ 30 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/25/the-daily-grind-whats-some-weird-or-forgotten-terminology-or-concept-from-an-mmo-of-yore/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/25/the-daily-grind-whats-some-weird-or-forgotten-terminology-or-concept-from-an-mmo-of-yore/#comments Thu, 25 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475523 Way, way back in the day – and for only a relatively brief run – Ultima Online had a system that came to be known as “power hour.” Every day, for the first hour you logged in, any skills you were working on raised more quickly. I assume it did some weird things to balance […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/25/the-daily-grind-whats-some-weird-or-forgotten-terminology-or-concept-from-an-mmo-of-yore/feed/ 39 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/24/the-daily-grind-whats-the-key-thought-that-keeps-you-from-returning-to-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/24/the-daily-grind-whats-the-key-thought-that-keeps-you-from-returning-to-mmos/#comments Wed, 24 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=476361 In my decades of playing and writing about MMORPGs, there’s one thing I’ve found to be incredibly true: There is no such thing as a perfect MMO. Every title has its flaws, some of which are crippling or personally off-putting. The question is, can you stomach those flaws to enjoy the rest of the game? […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/24/the-daily-grind-whats-the-key-thought-that-keeps-you-from-returning-to-mmos/feed/ 24 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/the-daily-grind-which-mmorpgs-have-a-permanent-place-on-your-desktop/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/the-daily-grind-which-mmorpgs-have-a-permanent-place-on-your-desktop/#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2024 13:00:14 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474653 On the MOP Podcast a while back, I mentioned that Project Gorgon had made its way into a permanent home on my PC, which is a bit of an honor for me. I use my modified start tab to house my permanent (mostly MMO) games, with a separate slush bin elsewhere for games I’m just […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/23/the-daily-grind-which-mmorpgs-have-a-permanent-place-on-your-desktop/feed/ 33 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/22/the-daily-grind-how-much-do-you-think-the-whales-of-your-top-mmo-spend-in-a-year/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/22/the-daily-grind-how-much-do-you-think-the-whales-of-your-top-mmo-spend-in-a-year/#comments Mon, 22 Jan 2024 13:00:12 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474652 A few weeks back, following Korea’s Fair Trade Commission ordering Nexon to pay nearly $9M in fines over its deceptive gamble-upgrade mechanics, players went ballistic over a chart from the KFTC that purports to show the biggest individual spenders on MapleStory for 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The figures, converted to USD, are quite frankly […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/22/the-daily-grind-how-much-do-you-think-the-whales-of-your-top-mmo-spend-in-a-year/feed/ 30 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/21/the-daily-grind-which-mmorpg-that-you-love-is-terrible-for-new-players/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/21/the-daily-grind-which-mmorpg-that-you-love-is-terrible-for-new-players/#comments Sun, 21 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475980 All MMORPGs are kind of garbage at onboarding new players. There are a lot of reasons for that, and a lot of games are genuinely trying their hardest to put the best foot forward, show you the cool things that they have working under the hood, and help ease you into what will be a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/21/the-daily-grind-which-mmorpg-that-you-love-is-terrible-for-new-players/feed/ 28 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/20/the-daily-grind-whats-a-perfect-mmo-for-a-chill-experience/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/20/the-daily-grind-whats-a-perfect-mmo-for-a-chill-experience/#comments Sat, 20 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475374 While some of us absolutely thrive on cutthroat PvP competition and high-stakes, fast-paced action in our MMORPGs, unceasing excitement isn’t for everyone. I know it’s not for me because one of the reasons I was attracted to this genre was for its slower, more relaxed progression that made for a cozy end-of-the-day gaming session. When […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/20/the-daily-grind-whats-a-perfect-mmo-for-a-chill-experience/feed/ 18 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/19/the-daily-grind-what-will-be-the-next-mmo-to-undergo-a-big-business-model-shift/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/19/the-daily-grind-what-will-be-the-next-mmo-to-undergo-a-big-business-model-shift/#comments Fri, 19 Jan 2024 13:00:41 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466483 2023 turned out to be a weird year for business models in MMOs. It was certainly the year of cadence shifts and seasonal shifts, and we saw online games from Destiny 2 to Fortnite to World of Warcraft bump their prices. In fact, I’d say the biggest business model news we got all year was […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/19/the-daily-grind-what-will-be-the-next-mmo-to-undergo-a-big-business-model-shift/feed/ 22 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/18/the-daily-grind-whats-the-best-mmo-to-play-while-youre-sick/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/18/the-daily-grind-whats-the-best-mmo-to-play-while-youre-sick/#comments Thu, 18 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475982 As a kid, you kind of always hoped for a sickness that left you just sick enough that you could stay home from school and didn’t need to do anything around the house but well enough that you could enjoy all the video games you wanted. That was definitely my experience, anyway. Once you’re an […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/18/the-daily-grind-whats-the-best-mmo-to-play-while-youre-sick/feed/ 14 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/17/the-daily-grind-whats-the-most-kludgy-mmo-system-youve-encountered/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/17/the-daily-grind-whats-the-most-kludgy-mmo-system-youve-encountered/#comments Wed, 17 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=475378 The other day I was watching MMO players have a good-natured discussion about transmog systems among various titles. A few FFXIV players lamented how they dearly wished that their game’s glamour system was as intuitive and user-friendly as cosmetic systems in other MMOs. But that’s how it is with MMORPGs. Any given game has at […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/17/the-daily-grind-whats-the-most-kludgy-mmo-system-youve-encountered/feed/ 20 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/16/the-daily-grind-do-you-stay-in-any-mmorpgs-out-of-a-sense-of-loyalty/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/16/the-daily-grind-do-you-stay-in-any-mmorpgs-out-of-a-sense-of-loyalty/#comments Tue, 16 Jan 2024 13:00:03 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474094 At the top of the year, MMO YouTuber MarleMMO offered a reminder for MMO players: that new MMOs often suck compared to games that have been around adding content and honing systems for years, and that needs to be OK – it’s part of the process. It doesn’t mean the genre is dying or that […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/16/the-daily-grind-do-you-stay-in-any-mmorpgs-out-of-a-sense-of-loyalty/feed/ 21 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/15/the-daily-grind-do-you-track-your-mmo-gaming-habits-from-year-to-year/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/15/the-daily-grind-do-you-track-your-mmo-gaming-habits-from-year-to-year/#comments Mon, 15 Jan 2024 13:00:01 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474093 Steam’s customized “year in review” report captured everyone’s attention for a hot minute back in December. All over social media and in my favorite Discords, people were posting Steam’s recap of everything they played. I didn’t, though, because mine was plain stupid. Most of the MMORPGs I play aren’t even on Steam, and the ones that […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/15/the-daily-grind-do-you-track-your-mmo-gaming-habits-from-year-to-year/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/14/the-daily-grind-how-do-you-handle-your-playtime-for-multiple-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/14/the-daily-grind-how-do-you-handle-your-playtime-for-multiple-mmos/#comments Sun, 14 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474921 Playing more than one MMO can be tricky. Not just in terms of trying to remember what all of the systems in various MMOs do, although that’s definitely there; no, it’s mostly because MMOs tend to be very much built to be long-term games that take up a fair bit of time, and playing two […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/14/the-daily-grind-how-do-you-handle-your-playtime-for-multiple-mmos/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/13/the-daily-grind-do-any-mmo-class-themes-turn-you-away-from-playing-them/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/13/the-daily-grind-do-any-mmo-class-themes-turn-you-away-from-playing-them/#comments Sat, 13 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474493 Last weekend, FFXIV announced that one of its upcoming jobs (classes) will be a Pictomancer — a mage that flings paint all willy-nilly. As someone who is beyond tired of boring mage tropes, I love the creativity behind this. Yet I also know that the Pictomancer’s very theme will repel some people owing to its […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/13/the-daily-grind-do-any-mmo-class-themes-turn-you-away-from-playing-them/feed/ 27 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/12/the-daily-grind-what-mmos-are-you-no-longer-anticipating-at-the-top-of-2024/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/12/the-daily-grind-what-mmos-are-you-no-longer-anticipating-at-the-top-of-2024/#comments Fri, 12 Jan 2024 13:00:42 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466484 I feel a bit bad about my picks for today’s Daily Grind, as their inclusion here isn’t so much that I don’t want the games at all but rather that they’ve fallen of my hype list. For example, I was super hyped about Soulframe, Palia, Corepunk, and Wayfinder in the last few years, but my […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/12/the-daily-grind-what-mmos-are-you-no-longer-anticipating-at-the-top-of-2024/feed/ 20 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/11/the-daily-grind-do-you-take-a-break-from-an-mmo-before-an-expansion/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/11/the-daily-grind-do-you-take-a-break-from-an-mmo-before-an-expansion/#comments Thu, 11 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474924 There is always a period for any MMO between an upcoming expansion (or major update, in some cases) and the last major update where things get… slow. There might still be updates happening gradually, but in large part the game has entered a period wherein you know that you can kind of stop and relax […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/11/the-daily-grind-do-you-take-a-break-from-an-mmo-before-an-expansion/feed/ 17 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/10/the-daily-grind-whats-your-most-nostalgic-mmo-beginner-zone/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/10/the-daily-grind-whats-your-most-nostalgic-mmo-beginner-zone/#comments Wed, 10 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474497 There’s a special kind of homecoming whenever we return to our old MMO stomping grounds. While the whole game might be familiar, it’s those newbie areas that hold the strongest mental associations. For me, the Dwarf and Gnome starting region of Coldridge Valley in World of Warcraft will always hit me in my nostalgia bone for the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/10/the-daily-grind-whats-your-most-nostalgic-mmo-beginner-zone/feed/ 43 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/09/the-daily-grind-which-game-studio-or-idea-was-the-biggest-contributor-to-killing-the-mmorpg-genre-in-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/09/the-daily-grind-which-game-studio-or-idea-was-the-biggest-contributor-to-killing-the-mmorpg-genre-in-2023/#comments Tue, 09 Jan 2024 13:00:43 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=464432 When we first started running this annual Daily Grind, MMO players were most likely to point to the likes of Blizzard and Tencent. Then the angst shifted to Kickstarter frauds as the MMO Kickstarters of the early-to-mid-2010s started flopping or malingering. The last two years, our readers turned their anger on metaverse and crypto hucksters […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/09/the-daily-grind-which-game-studio-or-idea-was-the-biggest-contributor-to-killing-the-mmorpg-genre-in-2023/feed/ 27 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/08/the-daily-grind-whats-the-most-expensive-mmo-to-play-at-the-start-of-2024/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/08/the-daily-grind-whats-the-most-expensive-mmo-to-play-at-the-start-of-2024/#comments Mon, 08 Jan 2024 13:00:06 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466306 I realize that “expensive” is a subjective term, but that’s what Daily Grinds are all about, right? If a game is charging $100 for a cosmetic outfit, but you are fine wearing rags and saving your coin, then the game is pretty cheap for you. Likewise, if the game is “free-to-play” but charges for per-character […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/08/the-daily-grind-whats-the-most-expensive-mmo-to-play-at-the-start-of-2024/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/07/the-daily-grind-what-is-your-favorite-piece-of-mmo-memorabilia/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/07/the-daily-grind-what-is-your-favorite-piece-of-mmo-memorabilia/#comments Sun, 07 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474043 Square-Enix always offers some swag to media when we do our preview tour of the next Final Fantasy XIV expansion, but the Endwalker one was special. Because at the time the whole thing was remote, the company sent a care package with some very nice items, and my favorite of the batch was a little […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/07/the-daily-grind-what-is-your-favorite-piece-of-mmo-memorabilia/feed/ 13 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/06/the-daily-grind-have-you-ever-been-an-ambassador-in-your-mmo/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/06/the-daily-grind-have-you-ever-been-an-ambassador-in-your-mmo/#comments Sat, 06 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=473739 One of my 2024 resolutions is to push myself out of my comfort zone and enjoy some more diverse MMO gaming. To this, I spent a week revisiting EverQuest II, a title I haven’t played in maybe over a half-decade. On my second day, I had a Shadowknight trot up to me on a dinosaur […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/06/the-daily-grind-have-you-ever-been-an-ambassador-in-your-mmo/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/the-daily-grind-now-that-ncsoft-has-licensed-city-of-heroes-servers-will-you-go-back-to-play/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/the-daily-grind-now-that-ncsoft-has-licensed-city-of-heroes-servers-will-you-go-back-to-play/#comments Fri, 05 Jan 2024 13:00:01 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474095 When the City of Heroes rogue servers first went public back in 2019, a lot of MMO players were very vocal about not wanting to play on them. Even though it soon became clear that NCsoft knew about them, was allowing them to stay online with minimal interference, and was even considering granting some of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/05/the-daily-grind-now-that-ncsoft-has-licensed-city-of-heroes-servers-will-you-go-back-to-play/feed/ 41 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/the-daily-grind-what-customization-option-do-you-wish-your-main-mmo-had/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/the-daily-grind-what-customization-option-do-you-wish-your-main-mmo-had/#comments Thu, 04 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=474041 When I first started working at Massively-that-was, it seemed downright luxurious to me that Lord of the Rings Online let you choose what your character’s armor looked like because it had a cosmetic override system. Like, that was indulgent. At the time, of course, this was far from the standard for some reason. We had […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/04/the-daily-grind-what-customization-option-do-you-wish-your-main-mmo-had/feed/ 28 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/03/the-daily-grind-how-many-hours-do-you-play-mmos-every-week/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/03/the-daily-grind-how-many-hours-do-you-play-mmos-every-week/#comments Wed, 03 Jan 2024 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=473737 Today’s question shouldn’t be too difficult, unless you flunked out of basic maths a long time ago. How many hours do you play MMOs on average on a given week? For me, this is really simple: two hours in the late evening and the occasional half-hour lunch session. Call it about 17 hours a week […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/03/the-daily-grind-how-many-hours-do-you-play-mmos-every-week/feed/ 18 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/the-daily-grind-will-you-kickstart-any-mmos-in-2024/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/the-daily-grind-will-you-kickstart-any-mmos-in-2024/#comments Tue, 02 Jan 2024 13:00:57 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466305 Hello friends. It’s me, your mom, and the answer to today’s Daily Grind question should be no, and I shouldn’t even need to write this one every year. But enough of you are still funding MMOs on and off crowdfunding platforms that I know I can’t take that for granted, so we need to have […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/02/the-daily-grind-will-you-kickstart-any-mmos-in-2024/feed/ 38 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/the-daily-grind-who-told-the-biggest-gaming-fib-of-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/the-daily-grind-who-told-the-biggest-gaming-fib-of-2023/#comments Mon, 01 Jan 2024 13:00:46 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466304 Did you know I keep a list of quotes and fibs? Well, you probably did, since we already did our annual piece on the quotes of the year, and I always have a big list. But the biggest fibs of the year came from no less than Blizzard, specifically for WoW Classic: First, while adding […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/01/the-daily-grind-who-told-the-biggest-gaming-fib-of-2023/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/the-daily-grind-what-mmo-related-thing-do-you-want-to-remember-from-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/the-daily-grind-what-mmo-related-thing-do-you-want-to-remember-from-2023/#comments Sun, 31 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=473392 I did not have a good 2023. (Trust me, unless you’re a personal friend, you don’t know the half of it.) But now the year is almost over, and we’re facing down 2024, and so today I want to ask you… what’s the MMO memory you want to bring with you from this year? There […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/31/the-daily-grind-what-mmo-related-thing-do-you-want-to-remember-from-2023/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/the-daily-grind-do-you-roll-hybrid-classes-in-mmos-but-only-do-dps-anyway/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/the-daily-grind-do-you-roll-hybrid-classes-in-mmos-but-only-do-dps-anyway/#comments Sat, 30 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=473179 A major point of consideration for me when choosing an MMO class is whether I have the option to change my role within a group. A class that has the potential to perform two or more roles ends up being more attractive to me as a result, which is probably why I’ve rolled Druids in […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/30/the-daily-grind-do-you-roll-hybrid-classes-in-mmos-but-only-do-dps-anyway/feed/ 21 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-has-the-brightest-future-in-2024/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-has-the-brightest-future-in-2024/#comments Fri, 29 Dec 2023 13:00:44 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=466303 2024 is already shaping up to be an interesting year with plenty to anticipate from the big MMOs. We’re looking at expansions for World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2, and Elder Scrolls Online, plus launches for Throne & Liberty, Blue Protocol, Tarisland, and plenty more. Weirdly, all the delays in 2023 have […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/29/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-has-the-brightest-future-in-2024/feed/ 6 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 https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/the-daily-grind-how-many-mmos-did-you-actively-play-in-2023/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/the-daily-grind-how-many-mmos-did-you-actively-play-in-2023/#comments Thu, 28 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=473390 This truly awful year is almost over, and that means it’s time for all of us to look at what happened over the past year in the past tense – and one of the things to look at is how many MMOs we got serious with. Anyone can log in a couple of times for […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/12/28/the-daily-grind-how-many-mmos-did-you-actively-play-in-2023/feed/ 24