https://massivelyop.com MMORPG news and opinions Thu, 11 Jan 2024 17:19:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/11/four-winds-catching-up-with-phantasy-star-online-2-new-genesis/ https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/11/four-winds-catching-up-with-phantasy-star-online-2-new-genesis/#comments Thu, 11 Jan 2024 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=473892 I believe it was Napoleon Bonaparte that once said “SEGA better release Phantasy Star Online 2 stateside or I’m going to conquer France.” Unfortunately, Sega was a little slow on the trigger on that one, and then this happened. But what’s done is done, and we now live in a reality that not only has […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2024/01/11/four-winds-catching-up-with-phantasy-star-online-2-new-genesis/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/02/four-winds-swords-of-legends-online-was-a-wasted-opportunity/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/02/four-winds-swords-of-legends-online-was-a-wasted-opportunity/#comments Fri, 02 Jun 2023 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=442814 MMOs are hard to make. But despite the difficulties, we’ve seen some real gems over the years. They’re also difficult to run. But the exemplars of the genre prove that it’s both profitable for the company and meaningful to players. From my perspective here in MOP’s Four Winds column, it seems like every freaking eastern […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/06/02/four-winds-swords-of-legends-online-was-a-wasted-opportunity/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/four-winds-the-artist-has-become-my-favorite-support-class-in-lost-ark/ Thu, 20 Apr 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433385 Here’s a thought experiment: How would have Anakin Skywalker turned out if he had grown up on planet covered in paint rather than coarse, hateful sand everywhere? The answer will surprise you! He probably would’ve still turned out to be a Sith Lord, but he would also be an Artist main in Lost Ark. Star […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/20/four-winds-lost-ark-and-the-refinement-of-mmo-item-enhance-systems/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/20/four-winds-lost-ark-and-the-refinement-of-mmo-item-enhance-systems/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=404823 In the last edition of Four Winds, I promised I’d cover how three MMOs utilized item enhance systems to facilitate progression, and then I analyzed how this method of progression has grown over the years. The first piece covered two of the three games: Granado Espada: Sword of the New World and Black Desert. With progression […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/20/four-winds-lost-ark-and-the-refinement-of-mmo-item-enhance-systems/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/13/four-winds-the-refinement-of-item-enhance-systems-in-mmos-from-granado-espada-to-black-desert/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/13/four-winds-the-refinement-of-item-enhance-systems-in-mmos-from-granado-espada-to-black-desert/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=404694 Itemization is a foundational system in many modern MMOs. After players reach the level cap, item levels largely drive the measurable progression of a player. Final Fantasy XIV, for example, takes a straightforward approach: farm up the required tokens and buy the latest gear from a vendor. As players play the content from week to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/13/four-winds-the-refinement-of-item-enhance-systems-in-mmos-from-granado-espada-to-black-desert/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/15/four-winds-what-made-lost-ark-so-successful-where-elyon-failed/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/15/four-winds-what-made-lost-ark-so-successful-where-elyon-failed/#comments Thu, 15 Sep 2022 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=400100 I’m sad about it, but I have to eat my words about Elyon and its place in this decade’s pantheon of MMOs. I honestly thought Elyon was going to be the game that many younger players were going to gravitate to. And I still feel that it’s an underrated gem. But boy howdy did Lost […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/15/four-winds-what-made-lost-ark-so-successful-where-elyon-failed/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/25/four-winds-remembering-teras-wild-start-and-in-game-politics/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/25/four-winds-remembering-teras-wild-start-and-in-game-politics/#comments Wed, 25 May 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=383754 Well, the TERA sunset thing caught me off guard. I don’t play TERA, but I was always under the impression that the game was chugging along just fine. While not every MMO hits a milestone like 10 years of operation, I was pretty sure TERA was going to be one of the games that would actually […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/05/25/four-winds-remembering-teras-wild-start-and-in-game-politics/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/11/interview-lost-arks-regional-parity-genderlocking-and-the-amazon-smilegate-collaboration/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/11/interview-lost-arks-regional-parity-genderlocking-and-the-amazon-smilegate-collaboration/#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2022 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=382710 A few days before the western release of Lost Ark, we posed questions to the Amazon Games team, and franchise lead Soomin Park was kind enough to answer us last week. While it’s a tiny bit belated given the time lapse here, many of the questions are still just as valid here in April. We […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/04/11/interview-lost-arks-regional-parity-genderlocking-and-the-amazon-smilegate-collaboration/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2022/03/16/four-winds-the-good-the-bad-and-the-weird-of-lost-arks-endgame/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/03/16/four-winds-the-good-the-bad-and-the-weird-of-lost-arks-endgame/#comments Wed, 16 Mar 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=379157 So here I am, at the top of the mountain of Lost Ark, but then another rise greets me. I’ve been moving at a pretty leisurely pace since the game launched, slowly unlocking skill points, forming a build for my Sorceress main, reveling in the cheesy story, and generally enjoying myself quite a bit. So […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/03/16/four-winds-the-good-the-bad-and-the-weird-of-lost-arks-endgame/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2022/02/08/hands-on-lost-ark-is-a-solid-mmo-that-falls-just-short-of-true-greatness/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/02/08/hands-on-lost-ark-is-a-solid-mmo-that-falls-just-short-of-true-greatness/#comments Tue, 08 Feb 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=373830 After years of waiting, the MMOARPG Lost Ark launches in the west today, at least for those who bought founder’s packs. The rest of us will be waiting a few more days for the full launch on the 11th. I already previewed the beta of the game, but publisher Amazon Games was kind enough to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/02/08/hands-on-lost-ark-is-a-solid-mmo-that-falls-just-short-of-true-greatness/feed/ 57 https://massivelyop.com/2021/11/04/first-impressions-lost-arks-beta-version-feels-like-the-mmoarpg-for-folks-who-are-bad-at-arpgs/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/11/04/first-impressions-lost-arks-beta-version-feels-like-the-mmoarpg-for-folks-who-are-bad-at-arpgs/#comments Thu, 04 Nov 2021 16:00:43 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=360606 I’ve probably started and restarted this impressions piece about three different times now, primarily because I’m not entirely sure where to begin with Lost Ark. I had the opportunity to dive into the beta build that is currently available ahead of its wider closed beta today, and I went into it with a whole lot […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/11/04/first-impressions-lost-arks-beta-version-feels-like-the-mmoarpg-for-folks-who-are-bad-at-arpgs/feed/ 22 https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/29/first-impressions-elyon-continues-to-blend-in-with-the-mmorpg-gaming-furniture/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/29/first-impressions-elyon-continues-to-blend-in-with-the-mmorpg-gaming-furniture/#comments Fri, 29 Oct 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=359927 After about 30 or so levels and an entirely different class, I can pretty much say with a fair bit of confidence that my impressions of Elyon are no different than when I first peeked in during a beta test. That is to say that the game world is wildly forgettable and its game systems […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/10/29/first-impressions-elyon-continues-to-blend-in-with-the-mmorpg-gaming-furniture/feed/ 14 https://massivelyop.com/2021/07/10/four-winds-massivelyops-guide-to-getting-started-in-swords-of-legends-online/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/07/10/four-winds-massivelyops-guide-to-getting-started-in-swords-of-legends-online/#comments Sat, 10 Jul 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=344295 It’s a strange trend whenever new MMOs launch that there’s a deluge of tutorial videos on a bunch of topics but a shortage of written guides. Sometimes I just need a quick question answered without having to skip the 30-second intro and repeating the video a few times because the speaker was talking too fast. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/07/10/four-winds-massivelyops-guide-to-getting-started-in-swords-of-legends-online/feed/ 12 https://massivelyop.com/2021/06/10/four-winds-everything-you-need-to-know-about-amazons-lost-ark/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/06/10/four-winds-everything-you-need-to-know-about-amazons-lost-ark/#comments Thu, 10 Jun 2021 20:45:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=340057 Raise your hands if you’ve been eagerly waiting for Lost Ark. Now give me a high five because as announced earlier today, it’s finally coming to the west under Amazon’s guiding hand! Let me let you in on a little secret: I’ve been playing Lost Ark via a fan translation and a VPN the last […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/06/10/four-winds-everything-you-need-to-know-about-amazons-lost-ark/feed/ 18 https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/27/four-winds-exploring-swords-of-legends-onlines-mindblowing-world/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/27/four-winds-exploring-swords-of-legends-onlines-mindblowing-world/#comments Thu, 27 May 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=337793 Have you ever played a game knowing exactly what you’re going to get, only for it to impress you because it did exactly that but just did it so well? Well, that’s Swords of Legends Online (SOLO) for me. SOLO is by all accounts nothing new in terms of gameplay. But despite that, I found myself absolutely […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/27/four-winds-exploring-swords-of-legends-onlines-mindblowing-world/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/13/four-winds-final-thoughts-on-elyons-first-closed-beta-test/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/13/four-winds-final-thoughts-on-elyons-first-closed-beta-test/#comments Thu, 13 May 2021 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=335959 Elyon’s closed beta test came and went, and boy am I happy with what I played. It was unfortunate that the test fell on Mother’s day weekend, since I couldn’t play as much as I wanted. But in the time I did get to play, I was thoroughly impressed. In my initial impressions, I argued […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/13/four-winds-final-thoughts-on-elyons-first-closed-beta-test/feed/ 13 https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/07/first-impressions-of-elyons-western-closed-beta-day-one-and-a-dungeon-run/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/07/first-impressions-of-elyons-western-closed-beta-day-one-and-a-dungeon-run/#comments Fri, 07 May 2021 14:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=335212 I can’t believe I’m actually playing Elyon on local servers. People have been excited for this game since it was called Ascent: Infinite Realm, and just from the first couple of hours of actual play, I can tell you that this game’s going to be a keeper. Published in North America, Europe, and Oceania by Kakao Games […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/05/07/first-impressions-of-elyons-western-closed-beta-day-one-and-a-dungeon-run/feed/ 35 https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/21/four-winds-why-are-asian-mmos-monetized-the-way-they-are/ https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/21/four-winds-why-are-asian-mmos-monetized-the-way-they-are/#comments Wed, 21 Apr 2021 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=328924 Welcome to Four Winds, Massively OP’s newest column, dedicated to Asian MMOs and the culture around it. As the resident Black Desert columnist, I’m a fan of the game as well as the subgenre it belongs to. There’s something special about Asian MMOs, and I’m eager to explore and uncover what that special sauce is […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/21/four-winds-why-are-asian-mmos-monetized-the-way-they-are/feed/ 23