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 2016.
I’m not sure which MMOÂ had a worse May: WildStar, which finally admitted it was going free-to-play this month, or World of Warcraft, which lost three million subscriptions in three months. May also played host to a bizarre string of developers shaming problem players, from Daybreak to Piranha to ArenaNet.
In meta news, we launched our Patreon, and Gaiscioch clan profiled us in a massive magazine spread. Thanks, guys. Read on for a peek back at the whole month!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF MAYÂ 2015
WildStar is going free-to-play this autumn
WildStar subreddit mod bans F2P and B2P discussions
World of Warcraft: No flying in Draenor, perhaps forever
WoW lost nearly three million subs in three months
John Smedley talks smack to nearly 25,000 banned H1Z1 players
Star Trek Online flame wars erupt over gay backdrop NPCs
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns testing begins today
Bethesda touts Elder Scrolls Online as ‘a full-fledged virtual world’
SWTOR players harass a BioWare dev and his family
Daybreak’s John Smedley: EverQuest Next isn’t ‘vaporware’
ArcheAge spawns fresh Reddit drama over pay-to-win
NCsoft Q1 2015: Growth for Guild Wars 2, further deflation for WildStar
ArenaNet strips, kills, deletes, and bans Guild Wars 2 cheater
Eternal Crusade lead level designer is the latest in a string of desertions
Crowfall’s store is (partly) up and running
WildStar’s massive INVASION: Nexus patch is live
TERA turns three, preps for big month of May
LOTRO’s update 16 arrives with new instances and LI imbuement
Guild Wars 2 unveils the Guardian elite spec: Dragonhunter
League of Legends community forms rival subreddit in response to heavy moderation
Crowfall’s Walton wants to shake up the MMO business
Neverwinter cracks 1.6M players on Xbox One
Guild Wars 2 unveils the Necromancer elite spec, the Reaper
Project HON is cancelled by NCsoft
World of Warcraft dev attributes subscriber drop to ‘cyclical’ play patterns
CCP Games buys back $20m in bonds, drops Legion trademark
Guild Wars 2’s Lion’s Arch reconstruction has begun
Blade & Soul hits western shores this winter
En Masse says that TERA is ‘the most played MMORPG on Steam’
Blizzard takes cigar from Heroes of the Storm character, internet flips tables
ArcheAge’s ‘altogether different’ approach to server merges
Gandalf kicks ass in new Black Desert trailer
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF MAYÂ 2015
Hands-on: Blade & Soul’s western port is a cheerful cliche storm (and I want to play more)
WildStar’s free-to-play shift: Too little or just enough?
Working As Intended: Sex, love, and MMOs
The Soapbox: Can MMOs eradicate pay-to-win?
Perfect Ten: Future MMOs that I can’t wait to play
Perfect Ten: Ten MMOs still going after ten years
LOTRO Legendarium: The return of the dungeon
LOTRO Legendarium: Eight years, eight pictures, eight stories
MMO Mechanics: Three favourite action combat systems
Ask Mo: The trouble with roleplaying in MMORPGs
EverQuesting: Life after Landmark’s big wipe
Massively Overthinking: What would persuade you to play a classic MMO?
WoW Factor: A three million loss lesson
Ultraviolence, virtual worlds, and why I hate myself for loving GTA Online
ALL MONTH-IN-REVIEW POSTS TO-DATE
MMO Year in Review: Daybreak’s downslide (February 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Crowfall’s Kickstarter (March 2015)
MMO Year in Review: A Star Wars Galaxies postmortem (April 2015)
MMO Year in Review: WoW’s nosedive (May 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Heavensward’s arrival (June 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Smed & Smart (July 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Into the Heart of Thorns (August 2015)
MMO Year in Review: WildStar Reloaded (September 2015)
MMO Year in Review: The SWTOR vs. Guild Wars 2 showdown (October 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Blizzard’s big plans (November 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Star Citizen’s triumph (December 2015)
