The Elder Scrolls Online made its way to consoles this week, though it’s not been without login problems and setbacks that linger even today as I type this. Here on MOP, we discussed the pros and cons of the console version and whether it was worth the wait, while Bethesda threw a few million guides and videos at clueless newbies.
Meanwhile, Star Wars: The Old Republic casually announced a new expansion, followed by a leak that if true suggests a major shift in BioWare’s story plotline.
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Perfect Ten: The top 10 healthiest live MMOs - One question that consistently pops up across the MMO gaming circuit is, "What are the most popular/healthy/active MMOs out there?" Every time I see this question, I sympathize with the concern behind asking it. For some…
World of Warcraft to allow flight in Draenor in a post-6.2 patch - If you had given up on flight as a lost cause in Warlords of Draenor, there's good news. World of Warcraft's developers posted a new development update today explaining the team's philosophy about flying once again…
Steam’s summer sale offers mad MMO deals [Updated Monday] - Prepare your wallets to go broke and your libraries to fill to the brim with games that you'll never have time to play, for Steam's summer sale is upon us once again! As part of Steam's…
Nexus Telegraph: Five reasons I’m over the moon about WildStar’s free-to-play - So how about those anniversary gifts in WildStar, huh? A year ago I was tremendously excited that the early start to the game's launch just so happened to coincide with my own birthday, which I felt…
Aventurine ditches Darkfall classic server project - It's a dark day for those who were hoping to see a return to the classic era of Darkfall. A few weeks ago, player enthusiasm for a pre-Unholy Wars server had prompted Aventurine to investigate the possibility…
Das Tal’s Kickstarter fails, but development continues - Das Tal's Kickstarter has ended without meeting its €50,000 goal, but it's not game over for the indie PvP sandbox. Thanking fans for the nearly €33,000 pledged in crowdfunding, Fairytale Distillery says it plans to reflect on player…
WoW Factor: What the flight changes portend for WoW’s future - Did anyone else get flashbacks to the Xbox One launch with World of Warcraft's flying announcement? I pictured a lot of arm-folding and sulking as it was being delivered. "All right, I guess we'll do what…
The Secret World rolls out its Ultimate Edition - Getting back up to speed in any game can be tricky. If you're out of the loop for a while, you miss out on quite a bit. The Secret World is certainly going out of its…
WildStar’s mystery event befuddles players - Yesterday evening Carbine Studios encouraged players to attend a WildStar mystery event on the Entity server, not spilling any other details as to what it entailed. Well, it turned out to be a strange sort of…
Chaos Theory: I like The Secret World’s combat - Hi. My name is MJ. And I like The Secret World's combat. There, I admitted it. And trust me, I am fully aware that it is not the popular prevailing attitude of TSW comment posters or…
The MMO industry mourns the passing of Christopher Lee - If you haven't heard the news already, then we're sorry to report that Star Wars and Lord of the Rings actor Christopher Lee has died at age 93. He was certainly a mesmerizing personality on screen,…
Black Desert launching in Korea on July 14 - The gorgeous fantasy sandbox Black Desert will be launching in about a month -- in Korea, that is. The game posted a notice on the official site stating that it's aiming for a July 14th release…
Marvel Heroics: Six leveling tips for Marvel Heroes - Welcome to Marvel Heroics, my look at the superhero exploits of Marvel Heroes! Just about half of Massively OP has gotten hooked on this title, so it felt right to devote some space to talking about…
The Secret World shuts down accounts linked to unauthorized Steam key resellers - Funcom is drawing a line for The Secret World players who attempt to use Steam keys from "unauthorized resellers" by shutting down accounts linked to those keys. The studio posted both a warning and advice on the…
ECO boasts server-wide permadeath for failure - Individual character permadeath is so yesterday, right? An upcoming title, ECO, dares to think even bigger, proposing "server-wide permadeath" if players can't band together and stave off global disaster. The concept of ECO is that when a fresh…
MMO Burnout: Sailing the seas of Windward - Windward is an oddly endearing little duck that escaped my wandering game eye prior to the moment developer Tasharen Entertainment dangled an early access key in MassivelyOP's general vicinity. It's not strictly an MMORPG, which you might…
Wander struggles with bugs, crashes - If you're thinking of picking up Wander to enjoy an exploration-heavy, non-combat MMO, you may want to consider waiting until some of its rougher patches are smoothed out. At least, this is the report from some…
ARK: Survival Evolved has already sold 400,000 copies - On the surface, you could think of ARK: Survival Evolved as one step removed from zombie survival games except it has dinosaurs instead. But the game is a great deal deeper and more involved than that,…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast: Episode 17
Massively Opinionated: Was ESO’s console release worth the wait?
The Stream Team: Revisiting The Repopulation
The Stream Team: Resisting a life of Elder Scrolls Online crime
The Stream Team: Sweeping more floors in The Secret World’s Orochi tower
The Stream Team: Checking out H1Z1’s latest changes
The Stream Team: EverQuest II’s Rum Cellar housing tour
The Stream Team: Double trouble in SWTOR’s Nar Shaddaa Nightlife Event
The Stream Team: Exploring Das Tal’s public playtest with devs
The Stream Team: Dr. Doom does Midtown Madness in Marvel Heroes
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
How to get around in World of Warcraft
WoW Patch 6.2 release date likely June 23
Finally, we took this week to introduced a new Marvel Heroes column, Marvel Heroics, and brought back our WildStar column, Nexus Telegraph. Hooray!
