If you thought MMO news would dry up over the holidays, think again: Camelot Unchained unveiled its complex crafting system, complete with influences from Star Wars Galaxies and other tradeskill-rich classic MMOs and MUDs.
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Camelot Unchained’s Mark Jacobs on economy, crafting, and Star Wars Galaxies inspiration - In anticipation of the today's livestream, Camelot Unchained boss Mark Jacobs spoke with us about the implementation of crafting and trade in the game as explained on the website on today's stream. It's Jacobs, so you…
The best MMO deals in the Steam winter 2015 sale - It's the holiday season! A time for cuddling up before a cozy fire, enjoying loved ones, sharing memories, and... just kidding. It's time to raid Steam's sales and get some vidya games dirt cheap! Here's some…
Perfect Ten: The 10 best MMORPG updates and expansions of 2015 - There is no way we can list all of the great updates in a given year. It's not possible. We are always going to have a bunch of personal bias creeping into things; it's inevitable, and…
PSA: Steam suffers a serious malfunction [Updated] - Steam suffered a severe malfunction today, as users are reporting that they have logged into the service only to have access to others' accounts and information. This information allegedly includes addresses, wallet amounts, and partial credit…
The Game Archaeologist: Asheron’s Call 2 - MMO sequels are funny animals. Sequels (along with prequels and "reimaginings") are ingrained into the entertainment industry so deep that it makes sense that MMO studios would follow suit. And yet these types of games --…
Star Citizen pushes out Alpha 2.1, promises ‘date driven’ patch schedule - While other studio teams are powering down for the holidays, it looks as though Star Citizen's crew is keeping up the pace. The team just put out Alpha 2.1 today, bringing with it the flyable Freelancer…
The best MMORPG polls of 2015 - Every week for the last few years, we've expanded on our "Daily Grind" theme with a Leaderboard poll. On the one hand, seeing the numbers and bar graphs is a quantitative sort of magic that we don't…
Devilian takes a look at the successes and failures of its launch month - The first month of operation is a tumultuous time for any new title. Devilian feels as if it were just announced, but it launched back on December 10th, and the community has been plowing through its…
New research illuminates our gaming motivations - If you've ever thought that the Bartle test was a bit outdated, game analytics consulting firm Quantic Foundry has a new gamer psych chart for you. This past week, it released its Gamer Motivation Model, which groups gamer types…
Record of Lodoss War Online is launching in 2016 - Record of Lodoss War Online is old-school. It's meant to be old-school. The IP that it's referencing is old-school, its gameplay mechanics and graphics are meant to be old-school, the long stretches of radio silence regarding…
Phantasy Star Online 2 is moving to the PlayStation 4 in 2016 - If you're still waiting for Phantasy Star Online 2 to be released in North America, today's news isn't going to do much to help matters. There's still no word on when or if the title will…
Ask Mo: Massively OP’s 2015 awards debrief - Massively OP's formal 2015 awards technically ended on Friday, though we've got a few stragglers and roundups left to go. As I do every year, today I'll round up all the awards in one place, discuss the thought process behind…
The Elder Scrolls Online looks back on the progress of 2015 - The end of the year is the perfect time to look back over the previous 12 months, decide that they were terrible, and vow to never make those mistakes again before plunging right into making new…
The Repopulation temporarily suspends development - The unfortunate saga of The Repopulation continues this week, as Above & Beyond Technologies announced that it was pulling the plug on the alpha servers -- at least for the time being. "It is with heavy…
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR developers reflect on 2016 - We all have those things in our lives that continue to pull at us, drive us, to learn more or do more. Sometimes it turns us into an obsessed captain Ahab chasing our giant white whale…
The most popular MMORPG conversations of 2015 - One of my favorite things to do every year is look through Livefyre and round up the articles that you guys just would not stop talking in. So let's have a meta-look at the top 10…
Nexon to take over TERA operations in Korea - There's a changing of the guard for TERA in South Korea this month, as the title is changing up publishers. Bluehole Studio announced yesterday that Nexon will be taking over publishing duties following Hangame's decision to…
New source claims 300 Elder Scrolls Online layoffs throughout 2015 - The Bethsoft layoffs saga has just gotten weirder. Last week, Irish news outlet The Connacht Tribune reported that 300 customer service representatives had been newly let go from Bethsoft's Galway offices, established in 2011 to support the then-unreleased…
LOTRO’s 2016 roadmap - Everyone always wants to know what's coming next for their favorite game. As Lord of the Rings Online players are nearing the cusp of Mordor itself, it's understandable that there are many questions that are out…
There are eight live SWGemu projects right now - The Daily Dot has a long piece out this week on its Kernel subsection all about Star Wars Galaxies and its emulator underground. Author Dennis Scimeca chronicles the life of SWG and the NGE, chats with Raph…
Star Citizen adds unmelt tool, will be tweaking it further - Star Citizen backers who have been living with remorse over scrapping a ship or package now have a way to undo that terrible mistake with the addition of a new unmelt tool. The tool is located…
MONTHS IN REVIEW ROUNDUPS
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)
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
The Stream Team: The lure of LOTRO’s Yule festival
The Stream Team: Winter (and Raptor Claus) comes to ARK: Survival Evolved
The Stream Team: Have a hoppy holiday with Guild Wars 2’s jumping puzzle
The Stream Team: Christmas lights, Landmark style
The Stream Team: Tearing through MechWarrior Online’s tutorial
The Stream Team: Crawling through Khyrulek’s Crypt in Project Gorgon
The Stream Team: Favorite Frostfell quests in EverQuest II
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
Protection tanking in WoW: Legion
Hearthstone’s Hall of Explorers Guide
Roleplaying a hero in World of Warcraft
Every week, get caught up on the MMO genre’s latest news and Massively OP’s best content in our MMO Week in Review! Want more roundups of content? Try Monday’s Not So Massively for MOBA and multiplayer news, Friday’s Betawatch for MMO testing highlights, Saturday’s Make My MMO for MMO crowdfunding updates, and Sunday’s The MOP Up, which mops up all the little bits of news we didn’t cover anywhere else.
