The MMO industry moves along at the speed of information, and sometimes we’re deluged with so much news here at Massively Overpowered that some of it gets backlogged. That’s why there’s The MOP Up: a weekly compilation of smaller MMO stories and videos that you won’t want to miss. See any good MMO news? Hit us up through our tips line!
This week we’ll look at another attempt at working the Game of Thrones franchise into an MMO, get a sneak peek into Colonies Online’s alpha, rejoice in Elsword’s new guild housing, and more!
New games
- Game of Thrones: Bigpoint is looking to hire several key developers for its upcoming Game of Thrones MMO. According to the game’s skimpy website, this browser-based title will boast “sophisticated political and combat systems.” [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
- Dragon’s Dogma Online: This gorgeous MMO is launching in Japan on August 31st, although players from other regions can access it so long as they don’t mind the language barrier.
Patches
- Pox Nora:Â Pox Nora recently updated with its 26th patch, Path of De’lim, that includes heroic achievements, several new maps, and 42 additional runes. [patch notes]
- Age of Wulin: Chapter 7: Awakening is now live with an unlock event for its new 5th Internal Skills. The patch also included new instances and a level cap increase for combat and internal skills. [patch notes]
- Elsword Online: A massive guild revamp went out this past week that includes guild housing, missions, and an updated UI. [patch notes]
- MU Online: Here’s an easy to remember patch name for you: MU Season X Part 3. The new patch, which raises the level cap to 800 and comes out on September 1st, is currently giving out goodies to brand-new players if they register by August 31st.
Events
- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is celebrating its one-year anniversary in China, with Minfilia and Thancred both obtainable on the server.
Videos
Here’s the colorful early access trailer for Colonies Online sporting a bit of a Mass Effect feel. According to Iron Bit’s devs, “This is the most exciting time for us so far in the development of the game as it is now really starting to come together with the new tutorial, improved graphics, resource mining and weapon crafting.”
Curious about Dragon’s Dogma Online? Check out the launch trailer to see if it’s up your alley:
Closers Online is releasing an update to egg-hatched Levia, and we’ve got both the patch and story trailers for you below:
Armsbend Pesko Not to necro an older topic at this point, but I think a younger author would embrace an MMO for their IP someday.
If you want to truly experience the back-stabbing politics of A Game of Thrones, this mod for Crusader Kings 2 is the way to go:
https://ck2agot.wordpress.com/
If you’re unfamiliar with CK2, you should know that it’s a Paradox game, which means that only very smart people with a lot of free time need apply. It also happens to be one of the all-time greatest strategy games ever made.
Set an ASOIAF MMO in Sothoryos to expand on an area that will not be seen in the main series. Although seeing places like Braavos and the Five Forts would be awesome in game form.
Pesko Why would a successful novelist ever lower themselves? Â They wouldn’t.
Telos_ Or VERY PvP-centric with guilds acting as Houses of the realms swearing allegiance to the main houses of the GoT lore. This would cater to a very specific, niche crowd. Granted, it could be fantastic if there was enough people to play the game, but that’s the biggest rub – it needs the population to support the game play. Warhammer Online suffered from its over reliance on player population to make the game fun. When the population was there, the PvP was great fun when capturing/defending areas, keeps, strongholds, etc. But when there wasn’t enough of opposing factions, it was very dull, grindy, and exposed all the game’s weaknesses. I think a true GoT MMO would suffer the same fate.
DeadlyAccurate Pesko From what I understand, J.K. was very shrewd and protective of the HP franchise, and in her contracts with WB she has full control of what gets produced. She basically calls the shots. WB can pitch all they want, but they must get her approvals on everything. She was very smart when she vetted and eventually signed those contracts.
As for MMO games, she’s very wary of anything open ended in her HP world, so she won’t ever give permission for a HP MMO, unfortunately. It’s not like she needs the money – she’s already given almost $1 billion to charities over the years. HP is her baby; she’s VERY protective of it.
The thing is, just because someone is a fan of ASOIAF and/or GoT, does not mean they are a gamer.
And even if they are, it does not mean that they are client gamers, many may very well be playing and preferring browser-games like Clash of Clans and FarmVille or such. These games make profits.
So please, get off your “true game(er)” high horses and understand that some people have different views and preferences than us.
Pesko Damonvile Is there a real person named Ash Ketchum affiliated with pokemon ?
MorpayneRADIO Looking at Eco though, I’m wondering if the PvP could be done indirectly. Vying for votes, getting hold of various council seats or resources to control the crown indirectly, hiring NPCs to start trouble off screen… THAT might work if done right.
Saw “browser-based title” and stopped reading