ALL THE POSTS
New World scrambles to close a ‘very serious’ trading exploit, rises into Steam’s top 20 list
A rather serious trading exploit rocked the New World economy late last week, with Amazon Game Studios taking swift steps to hotfix it and deal with the perpetuators.
Amazon reported the exploit on September 22nd, disabling player trading and banning those participating in what appears to have been rampant duping. Responding to concerns that the studio wasn't going to react...
Lord of the Rings Online solicits feedback on Guardian revamp and studio communication
With Minstrels on the receiving end of a huge revamp in Lord of the Rings Online's latest update, Standing Stone Games may be turning its attention next to the tanky Guardians. In a forum post over the weekends, the studio delivered a possible vision for a class rework (mostly through decluttering skills) while also opening the door to community...
The Daily Grind: Should MMOs push players through different content types?
MOP reader Slava recently wrote to us with an interesting question about wildly different content types and the MMOs that either nudge or force you from one to another.
"I was watching an ad for EVE Online the other day. It was about a miner (aka gatherer) who 'leveled up' into industry (aka crafting), then leveled up into PvP. I'm...
MMO Week in Review: LOTRO’s mini-expansion, Star Citizen’s $500M, and Ultima Online’s 25th birthday
This week in MMOs, Lord of the Rings Online opened preorders for its fall mini-expansion, Before the Shadow, which offers a new leveling experience for newbies and new content for highbies.
Meanwhile, Ultima Online turned 25 years old, Star Citizen hit $500M crowdfunds, Black Desert hosted another Heidel Ball, and we geared up for Dual Universe's launch next week.
Read on...
Gamigo’s Grand Fantasia and Aura Kingdom update with new dungeon content
The Gamigo group was firing out content updates all over the place this past week, with two of its MMORPGs enjoying meaty patches with new dungeon challenges.
Grand Fantasia received Patch 42: Trials and Theaters, adding two "Mirage Trial" dungeons and a special Crystal Theater where players can pit their abilities -- and gear -- against bosses. Those who conquer...
The MOP Up: Allods Online throws an orcish holiday
How many MMOs throw Orcs their very own holiday? I only know one: Allods Online, which celebrates all things orcish -- including goblin tossing and drum beating -- with Sabantuy.
"The Orcish holiday is a special time of year where we'd like to tell you that Orcs gain a certain sense of peace and oneness with nature... but that isn't...
The Stream Team: Hitting the open beta arena of Omega Strikers
It's another Sure, Why Not Sunday edition of OPTV as MOP's Chris decides to take a look at Omega Strikers, the 3v3 high-octane soccer title that recently entered into open beta. See what this game is all about today at 2:00 p.m. EDT!
What: Omega Strikers
Who: Chris Neal
When: 2:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, September 25th, 2022
Enjoy the show!

Having trouble with...
Global Chat: Warming up to story-driven MMORPGs
Do you play MMOs for the narrative or ignore the story altogether? There's a sharp line dividing the community on this issue, but MMO Folklorist may be bridging the gap between the ignore-lore and embrace-story camps:Â "I no longer feel that story-driven MMOs are a taint on the genre, and I no longer feel guilty about enjoying them, because honestly,...
A YouTuber is archiving every single portion of The Secret World
If you're the sort who has problems sticking it out through the combat model weirdness of The Secret World in spite of the outstanding storytelling the MMO offers, then you'll be happy to note that one YouTube channel is taking on the frankly daunting and impressive quest of archiving the entire game in video, so you can either experience...
One Shots: Postcards from the galactic rim
While most of you toil and adventure away in the gravity well of a single planet, some daring MMOstronauts (is that a term? It is now!) blast off into deep space to see what else lies out there. Spoiler: It's a gigantic ship-eating squid named Percy.
Minimalistway is the captain on deck at this moment: "I'm having a new adventure...
The Daily Grind: What things do MMOs do pre-launch that look like a red flag to you?
Working in this industry for more than a decade has not, in fact, given me the ability to see the future. But it has given me the ability to at least make reasonable guesses about it a fair amount of the time, and one of those guesses is that if your business model is still trying to be "subscription...
Make My MMO: Star Citizen’s half a billion dollar boondoggle
Star Citizen continues making history as this week it reached the lofty heights of $500,000,000 in crowdfunding from gamers, players, and donors. Of course, in just a few months, the game will also be celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Kickstarter as it pushes well into its second decade of seemingly eternal development. As we cover in every Star...
US Department of Homeland Security issues a nearly $700K grant to research extremism in gaming
There are toxic people in games chat, and then there are people who use video gaming platforms as a ways to encourage extremism and domestic terrorism. That latter problem is one that's prompting the US Department of Homeland Security to issue a grant of nearly $700K to a research group that's looking to study the connection between extremist recruitment...
Atlas’ Season 10 brings ship bottling, reconstructed forts, Xbox issues, and tame-related problems
The new season of pirating survivalbox Atlas deployed earlier in the week, which would normally be something to be pleased by except for the fact that it hasn't been smooth sailing. The season intended to bring features like the ship bottling function that lets players shrink down their ship, stuff it into a bottle, and duplicate it or rebuild...
The Stream Team: Another Astroneer EXO F.A.R.M. event
It's the return of Astroneer's Fuel Acquisition, Renewal & Maintenance event! The sturdysquash are in season again and Massively Op's MJ is ready to farm them in the latest EXO F.A.R.M. initiative. By growing the various sturdysquash and converting them to fuel in the Cauldrangea plants before shipping them off, she can earn a new themed emote, visor, and...
Some Assembly Required: What to expect from Dual Universe’s September 27 wipe and launch
Having trouble logging into Dual Universe? That's because Novaquark shut down its servers on the 22nd. But don't worry, the space sandbox did not sunset: It's just preparing for the transition to launch on September 27th! Those offline days are needed for the developers to implement the improvements that are coming to the launched game. After all, technology and...
Black Desert’s Heidel Ball unveils gameplay adjustments, new Atoraxxian dungeon, and the mysterious Magnus
This past weekend saw Black Desert showcase what's coming to the MMORPG in its Heidel Ball presentation, and fans got a whole lot to look forward to, including some new content and a whole lineup of adjustments to existing content.
Starting with new content, one of the main announcements is the mysterious Abyss One: The Magnus, some form of extra-dimensional...
WRUP: We’re sorry edition
All right, if you saw the original version of this week's What Are You Playing, we're very sorry about that. We were very excited about our new writer W. Aredd, so we wanted to let him take over for writing this as an introduction. Unfortunately, what he wrote was... well, hopefully you didn't see it, but suffice to say he...
The Daily Grind: What makes for a good MMO shindig?
Originally I wrote, "What makes for a good MMO party?" but that can obviously be construed in a more business-like, less get-down-and-funky sense. In any case, every once in a while I see guilds or even servers throw virtual get-togethers with plenty of fake food, fake ale, and very real musical performances.
This got me thinking because almost every time...
The Stream Team: Roaming around AQ3D’s Red Monastery and the Crypts of Misery
Last week, Massively OP's MJ started the raid on AQ3D's Red Monastery in the Nulgath Saga Part II. There, she listened to the confessions of Avelaine Morningsong, a Paladin of the Golden Onslaught. But even those reveals, shocking though they may be, are not the end of this story. Additionally, this week has added new bonus content to play....
