This year, we’re taking a time-machine back through our MMO coverage, month by month, to hit the highlights and frame our journey before we head into 2017.
Early in November, EVE Online’s Ascension expansion ushered in a new free-to-play chapter for the sci-fi sandbox (no matter how much they tried to get us to use “clone state”!) and boosted its concurrent numbers back over 50k.
Meanwhile, BlizzCon gave us a clearer picture of Blizzard’s anemic-but-better-than-usual plans for Diablo III and its relatively rapid cadence plans for World of Warcraft in the post-Legion era. The Nostalrius saga reared its head again too as the emulator made plans for a relaunch. RIFT’s Starfall Prophecy expansion also rolled out to players.
Read on for the whole list!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF NOVEMBER 2016
Smed’s Hero’s Song enters alpha 3 for backers
Guild Wars 2 has overhauled its lockboxes
Star Citizen backer flips pixel ships to buy an actual car
Funcom’s Q3 2016 financials hint at large Secret World update in early 2017
Mark Kern posts new WoW Legacy server petition ahead of BlizzCon
Check out the trailer for Revelation Online’s first closed beta
EVE Online GMs removed at least 25 trillion ISK worth $400,000 from the game
Activision-Blizzard Q3 2016: Blizzard claims ‘biggest quarterly online player community in its history’
BlizzCon 2016: Diablo III’s Necromancer class and classic Diablo experience
BlizzCon 2016: World of Warcraft’s What’s Next liveblog
BlizzCon 2016: Diablo’s 20th anniversary panel liveblog
BlizzCon 2016: WoW’s Tomb of Sargeras and beyond to Argus
Nostalrius releases WoW emu source code to community, Elysium plans Nostalrius shards
Blizzard co-founder returns to the company after a 12-year absence
NCsoft sues Lineage II partner over copyright infringement
Neverwinter’s Sea of Moving Ice opens for PC players today
The Valkyrie awakens in Black Desert today
Black Desert Online merges down into EU and NA ‘New World’ servers
NCsoft Q3 2016: Declines for WildStar, Guild Wars 2, and Blade & Soul
Warframe releases The War Within today
Neocron receives a massive ‘evolution’ this weekend
The trial for former Funcom execs charged with insider trading has begun
EVE Online is officially free-to-play today with Ascension
Guild Wars 2’s next episode, A Crack in the Ice, drops November 21
Crowfall studio joins Indiegogo’s equity crowdfunding platform
NCsoft appears to be blocking former Soviet states from WildStar
FIFA hackers charged with stealing millions in spoofing scheme
RIFT’s Starfall Prophecy expansion is live today with a brand-new trailer
Peria Chronicles posts a new trailer in advance of G-Star 2016
Rumor: Marvel Heroes code points to a PlayStation port; Beast and Black Bolt on the way
How Project Titan and Overwatch prompted Chris Metzen to leave Blizzard
Star Citizen plans to share internal timelines, justifies ship sales as not P2W
Hearthstone retires ‘Heroes of Warcraft’ subtitle
Where is Jeremy Soule’s Kickstarter symphony?
EVE Online hits 50k concurrent users with its free-to-play shift
Elite Dangerous players accuse Frontier of ignoring combat exploit
Project Genom drops from Steam under opposing blackmail and infringement allegations
Massively OP’s guide to MMO Thanksgiving 2016
City of Titans targets a fall 2018 launch
Survival mode and base building comes to No Man’s Sky
World of Warcraft player dings 110 without picking a faction
Mark Kern renames Ember to Em-8ER, picks up Nostalrius programmer
Project Genom is back on Steam after DMCA meltdown [Updated]
Snail Games to publish ARK: Survival Evolved VR experience called ARK Park
SWTOR welcomes early access players to Knights of the Eternal Throne
Richard Garriott donates skull to player tavern during Shroud of the Avatar telethon
The Crew rolls out ‘police-chase fantasy’ expansion Calling All Units
UK watchdog group dismisses gamer complaints over No Man’s Sky advertising
RIFT responds to players who say Starfall Prophecy’s launch was a ‘mess’
VR was the ‘biggest loser’ of the holiday gaming sales season, says SuperData
TERA’s Fang and Feather update goes live today
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF NOVEMBER 2016
Perfect Ten: The craziest things The Secret World has asked me to do
Hyperspace Beacon: Are Uprisings the SWTOR group content we’ve been looking for?
Flameseeker Chronicles: Amazing Guild Wars 2 in-game Halloween costumes
Chaos Theory: A guide to The Secret World’s Samhain 2016
WoW Factor: BlizzCon betting odds
Massively OP’s guide to upcoming MMORPG expansions
Guild Chat: Climbing the guild rank ladder in MMORPG raiding
Perfect Ten: The worst patch naming in MMORPGs
EverQuesting: A dozen years of EverQuest II
Massively Overthinking: Nickel-and-diming in MMORPGs
Working As Intended: Westworld is a sandbox MMORPG on your TV
The Game Archaeologist: Mark Jacobs on Mythic’s early online games, part 1
EVE Evolved: Three essential tips for new alpha clone players
Wisdom of Nym: At the end of the world for Final Fantasy XIV
Flameseeker Chronicles: Five reasons to buy Guild Wars 2’s Heart of Thorns while it’s on sale
Hyperspace Beacon: Five class changes to watch out for in SWTOR 5.0
For Science: A third of our polled social media users quit Pokemon Go over trackers
Perfect Ten: Messed-up aspects of MMORPGs we mindlessly accept
Chaos Theory: The disappointment of The Secret World’s Samhain
Massively Overthinking: The many ‘NGE’ moments across MMORPG history
Jukebox Heroes: Six pretty great MMO tunes from games you’ve never played
The Game Archaeologist: Mark Jacobs on Mythic’s early online games, part 2
Massively OP’s 2016 gift guide for the Guild Wars 2 fanatic
First impressions of Guild Wars 2’s A Crack in the Ice episode
Massively OP’s 2016 gift guide for the Blizzard fanatic
Hyperspace Beacon: Analyzing SWTOR’s Uprising group content
Massively OP’s 2016 gift guide for the MMORPG bookworm
Choose My Adventure: Getting ready for The Elder Scrolls Online
Perfect Ten: Moments to be thankful for in MMOs
Massively OP’s 2016 gift guide for the MMO peripherals junkie
EverChaosing: Giving thanks for The Secret World and EverQuest II
Massively OP’s 2016 gift guide for the MMO internet spaceships fanatic
The Game Archaeologist: EA’s Majestic
EVE Evolved: Getting started with EVE’s free-to-play
Wisdom of Nym: Our first preview of Final Fantasy XIV’s Patch 3.5
Flameseeker Chronicles: Unpacking Guild Wars 2’s A Crack in the Ice
Choose My Adventure: My first week in the Elder Scrolls Online
Hyperspace Beacon: What to expect from SWTOR’s Knight of the Eternal Throne
ALL 2016 MONTH-IN-REVIEW POSTS TO-DATE
MMO Year in Review: Blade & Soul reaches western shores (January 2016)
MMO Year in Review: A wild Black Desert approaches (February 2016)
MMO Year in Review: EverQuest Never (March 2016)
MMO Year in Review: WoW’s legacy server snarl (April 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Carebear tears of Elyria (May 2016)
MMO Year in Review: The Landmark and WildStar Steam parade (June 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Pokemon madness (July 2016)
MMO Year in Review: We are Legion (August 2016)
MMO Year in Review: A whole New World (September 2016)
MMO Year in Review: One foot in One Tamriel (October 2016)
MMO Year in Review: New Eden free-for-all (November 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Turbine gave the ring to the eagles (December 2016)
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