Do you see that face up there in the banner? Get used to it: I have a feeling we’re going to be using it a lot until Amazon has more to show of its newly announced MMORPG sandbox New World. Yes, this week, Amazon Games Studios announced it still believes in massively multiplayer open-world sandboxes. Of course, it also believes in Breakaway, Crucible, and its Amazon Twitch Prime mashup, but forgive us if we’re just a little excited that one of the biggest tech companies in the west is putting money into our genre.
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
So one of Amazon’s new games is an MMORPG sandbox, and it’s called New World - Those ex-ArenaNet folks won't be going to waste at Amazon Game Studios after all: One of the three games the company is working on is indeed an MMORPG sandbox game…
Interview: Chronicles of Elyria’s Jeromy Walsh on post-Kickstarter funding - Yesterday evening, following the news that indie sandbox Chronicles of Elyria hoped to raise an extra $3 million in addition to its Kickstarter funding, we reached out to Soulbound Studios…
Perfect Ten: Questions to ask before backing an MMO Kickstarter - I am not a big fan of Kickstarter in general, but I like to think that I'm not a big fan for actual reasons rather than spurious ones. Every time…
Blizzard clarifies World of Warcraft quests that can’t be cleared in LFR - The World of Warcraft community was in a bit of a tizzy yesterday when it collectively discovered that you couldn't complete a quest chain involving raids in the Raid Finder…
UK watchdog group investigates No Man’s Sky advertising - Eurogamer reports today that UK watchdog group Advertising Standards Authority is investigating No Man's Sky following "several" complaints over the game's advertising practices. Readers will recall that following the launch…
EverQuesting: Landmark brings back PvP and Halloween in its latest patch - Note: While mainly focused on the franchise that started it all, EverQuesting delves into the other Daybreak news and titles as well. I can't help it. Every time Daybreak goes…
SWTOR teases Blur trailer for Knights of the Eternal Throne - [AL:TOR]Does it drive you crazy when MMO studios make an announcement that they're going to make an announcement? What about when they post a video teasing an even better video?…
Massively OP’s guide to the best upcoming indie MMORPGs, part two - Last week, we introduced the first part of our guide to the best upcoming, in-development indie MMORPGs -- yes, the list was so long that we had to split it lest…
Superdata: WoW now charges a full monthly sub in China - Superdata's digital games market report for August 2016 landed in our inbox today. Those of you who've been consistently frustrated and confused over the way Superdata bins games might be…
The Netherlands is taking Pokemon Go creator Niantic to court - Pokemon Go's legal entanglements continue today as Niantic has been ordered to appear before a court in the Netherlands on October 11th. The California-based developer is accused of failing to…
John Smedley says he exults in hands-on gamemaking with Hero’s Song - You might think that trading a position as CEO of a multi-game studio to work on a single, smaller, and most decidedly indie title would be a step down in…
Massively Overthinking: Are you suffering from MMORPG burnout? - In last week's Daily Grind about whether or not MMOs are better the second time you play them, the topic of burnout came up. "I find that MMOs have become, in…
Star Trek Online adds to its Agents of Yesterday expansion - [AL:STO]Cryptic isn't finished with the time travel goodness of Star Trek Online: Agents of Yesterday -- not by a long shot. The studio announced today that it has plans extending…
Here’s how Elder Scrolls Online’s weapon ultimate skills will work in update 12 - When The Elder Scrolls Online's One Tamriel and update 12 go live for PC players next week, everyone will be able to take advantage of the game's new weapon ultimates in…
Wasteland 3 is coming with snow and multiplayer - The second sequel to the 1988 post-apocalyptic classic CRPG Wasteland is coming -- and it's bringing multiplayer with it. InXile Entertainment announced today that it is in pre-production for Wasteland 3…
RuneScape dev Jagex helps form new Chinese company, saw ‘record profits in 2015’ - Back in June, we were finally able to confirm the rumored $300M March sale of British MMORPG studio Jagex to China's Shandong Hongda, a company known chiefly for its mining…
Osiris: New Dawn has launched on Steam early access - Enough slacking and lollygagging about in your humdrum life -- there's an alien planet that needs some serious colonizing, and you look just like the red shirt, er, brave adventurer to…
Here’s how Marvel Heroes is upending its item system (hopefully for the better) - Earlier this month, Gazillion stunned Marvel Heroes fans by announcing it would be implementing "the biggest systems update in the history of" the game. Among other changes, every hero is…
Hyperspace Beacon: Five things BioWare needs to do to keep SWTOR players around - [AL:TOR]I write a lot of words about Star Wars: The Old Republic. And over this last year, the Knights of the Fallen Empire has done some really great things, like…
Black Desert’s Berserker class awakens in today’s update - The Berserker awakens in Black Desert today with the addition of his Iron Buster awakening weapon, which we're certain you'll agree is the best name ever for a weapon. "The…
Destiny 2 might be coming to the PC - PC players who have felt slighted over the past two years due to Destiny's exclusive home on consoles could have a reason to break out of their depression and embrace…
UK law enforcement agency claims game modding can lead to crime - If you've ever installed an auction hall mod in World of Warcraft or added a mood hack to your Sims 4 install, put down your mouse and back away slowly…
World of Warcraft: Legion opens up more Emerald Nightmare options today - Do you want to be the very best, like no one was before? Then you'll probably want to take on the Mythic difficulty in World of Warcraft: Legion's Emerald Nightmare…
Final Fantasy XIV patch 3.4 is out today - [AL:FFXIV]Ready to start in on the next leg of the journey in Final Fantasy XIV after the Dragonsong War? Patch 3.4 is out today, bringing with it the next installment…
Chronicles of Elyria seeks $3M more in funding - With the opening of Chronicles of Elyria's web store next week, its team is working on the next phase of the game's fundraising campaign. In a new update, Soulbound Studios…
Wisdom of Nym: Taking apart Final Fantasy XIV’s patch 3.4 notes - [AL:FFXIV]Oh boy, here comes patch day! And to my surprise, it's coming way earlier than I expected. It shouldn't be surprising - we're just a hair over three months from…
ArcheAge celebrates its second birthday with free cash shop loot - [AL:Arche]Thinking about poking your head back into ArcheAge for the game's second birthday? Trion Worlds would like to make it worth your while. Veterans who return and hit up the cash…
Take a tour of LOTRO’s new zone and premium housing - [AL:LOTRO]Great and momentous things are afoot in the realm of Lord of the Rings Online, as Turbine has started testing Update 19: March of the King. You might recall that this…
Why Undead Labs abandoned the State of Decay MMO - For a good while, the MMO community was following Undead Labs in the hopes of seeing its Class4 project come to fruition in the form of a zombie MMORPG. However,…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 84: Rise of Irony
Battle Bards Episode 83: Triumphant Victory!
The Stream Team: Climbing another rung on SMITE’s charity challenge leaderboard
The Stream Team: Building an ARK treehouse
The Stream Team: Beyond SMITE’s 8th PvE round in the charity challenge
The Stream Team: A peek into Cloud Pirates
The Stream Team: Touring Twin Saga with Aeria devs
The Stream Team: Aiming for The Secret World’s The Unseen achievement
The Stream Team: Exploring Shroud of the Avatar’s release 34
The Stream Team: Smashing past round six in SMITE’s charity challenge
The Stream Team: Zooming through SWTOR’s Ziost
The Stream Team: Facing HEX’s Frost Ring Arena
The Stream Team: Ghost Riding through Marvel Heroes’ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D event
The Stream Team: More Mo capes in AdventureQuest 3D!
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
WoW Archivist: Class Champions from early WoW
There’s now an official Warcraft coloring book
Latest WoW hotfixes roll back most Shadow and Havoc nerfs
Every week, get caught up on the MMO genre’s latest news and Massively OP’s best content in our MMO Week in Review! Want more roundups of content? Try Friday’s Betawatch for MMO testing highlights, Saturday’s Make My MMO for MMO crowdfunding updates, and Sunday’s The MOP Up, which mops up all the little bits of news we didn’t cover anywhere else.
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