NCsoft’s wuxia-driven action-combat MMORPG Blade & Soul finally launched in the west this week after years of play overseas. Impressions from around the blogosphere and from our own writers have been mixed, but the game is proving popular with gamers, having already increased its server pool twice.
Meanwhile, John Smedley re-emerged this week with a new company and a new Kickstarter for a new sandboxy OARPG, Hero’s Song. We spoke with both Smed and author Patrick Rothfuss about their work on the game.
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
BLADE & SOUL’S LAUNCH
Launch impressions of Blade & Soul: Combat, story, questing, and flow - Every time I play Blade & Soul, I'm really playing a different game, which I dub Why Don't I Like You More? The object of that game is to figure out why you like all of…
Blade & Soul is live; here’s the launch roundup, gallery, and trailer - NCsoft's Blade & Soul formally launches in the west today, having spent the last few days in headstart. To celebrate how far it's come in the last year since announcing its intent to launch on our shores,…
Blade & Soul impressions from around the MMO blogosphere - It's probably no surprise to anyone that Blade & Soul managed to rope in a lot of excited fans and curious casuals this past week. I mean, in the east it's been a popular and successful…
Blade & Soul teases upcoming content - As if Blade & Soul players didn't have enough to keep them occupied this week, what with the launch and all, NCsoft has released a new sneak preview of what's coming to the game over the next…
Blade & Soul taps the last of its server reserves, orders more hardware - Once again we hear the familiar refrain of players trying to cram into a game on its launch week: "Woe are queues! Why isn't there enough space for little ol' me?" Blade & Soul is packed…
Blade & Soul plans new servers to combat queues - The good news is that Blade & Soul is turning out to be pretty popular here in the west. The bad news is that Blade & Soul is turning out to be pretty popular here in…
Leaderboard: What’s your opinion of Blade & Soul, one week in? - On Friday, we updated our beta impressions of Blade & Soul with fresh impressions after a week of play, and the underlying theme of both pieces was that the import is respectable but not revolutionary, which won't…
SMED’S NEW GAME IS HERO’S SONG
Exclusive Interview: John Smedley reveals Hero’s Song, his new open-world OARPG - Today, we finally learn what John Smedley has been working on since he resigned from his decades-long role at Daybreak. The industry veteran has founded indie studio Pixelmage Games and is hard at work on Hero's Song,…
Interview: Fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss is working on Smed’s OARPG, Hero’s Song - Among the dream team John Smedley assembled for Hero's Song -- studio Pixelmage's new 2-D open-world ARPG -- is Patrick Rothfuss, an acclaimed fantasy author who rocketed to stardom in 2007 when his first novel, The Name of the Wind, won…
Here’s how Hero’s Song’s gods and races work according to Smed - How do gods work in Hero's Song? What races can you play? John Smedley's just posted a new and lengthy explanation on both to Reddit. In his upcoming OARPG, the gods are "the core of the game," he says. You…
Smed’s OARPG Hero’s Song adds $15 Kickstarter pledge tier - Were you a little puzzled by the fact that the Kickstarter for Smed's OARPG Hero's Song was offering a $25 base pledge when the game will be only $20 at launch? Well, you weren't alone, and…
THIS WEEK’S OTHER TOP STORIES
The Elder Scrolls Online previews Thieves Guild DLC with a new trailer - The Elder Scrolls Online has been teasing its Thieves Guild DLC for a while now, and today we have a closer look at the lore and the mechanics. "The Thieves Guild of Abah's Landing, an organization…
Black Desert’s character creator tool available; CBT2 begins February 18 - If you're most interested in when you can get back into playing Black Desert Online again, the answer is on February 18th. It's just that straightforward. Don't trust us, trust the official Twitter account: https://twitter.com/BDO_News/status/689437585760845824 ...wait,…
Here’s what you can do with the Black Desert character creator - Yesterday's release of the standalone character creator for Black Desert has prompted the internet to play dress-up dolls en masse, some in the service of winning the ongoing contest and possibly pocketing a closed beta key and…
Perfect Ten: Ten MMO tropes we don’t need in 2016 (but clearly aren’t going anywhere) - All right, we've had just about a month of 2016 now, and I'm writing this on my birthday. Odds are good that I'm going to be writing about MMOs for at least a little while longer…
WoW Legion makes major changes to specializations and transmog sets - Are you tired of dealing with dual specs in World of Warcraft? It was revealed at BlizzCon that the existing spec system was going to change so that players could freely switch between specs, a feature…
The Division’s new map, system reqs, and commitment to the PC - Want to see the map you'll be traversing when you leap into The Division next week? Great. Ubisoft has uploaded an interactive map to the game's official site today for just that purpose. Dive on in.…
Overpower melds fantasy arena matches with RPG progression - Is your MMO a little on the slow side? Need a jolt of excitement and danger to go with your love of RPG progression? Then you might harken to the call of Overpower, a new fantasy…
EVE Evolved: Should CCP start developing Walking in Stations again? - [AL:EVE]In all the time that I've been writing about EVE Online, one of the most common recurring comments is that the game badly needs some compelling avatar-based gameplay. Many people have been compelled to try EVE over…
Star Citizen showcases actress Gillian Anderson’s Squadron 42 role - Cloud Imperium is hyping Squadron 42 in today's behind the scenes video, this one showcasing the involvement of X-Files actress Gillian Anderson, who remains a badass. Anderson plays Captain Rachel McClaren in the game. "I look like Sandy…
You’re going to have to purchase World of Warcraft: Legion twice for early access and a physical collector’s edition - Remember all of the absurdity about World of Warcraft's collector's edition with Warlords of Draenor? That was ridiculous. Basically, if you wanted to pre-order the collector's edition for the physical goodies but also wanted the digital…
Age of Conan has a new game director with plans for 2016 - Funcom's Romain "Tilty" Amiel, well known to MMORPG gamers as the lead designer on The Secret World, has taken over game director duties from Age of Conan lead designer Matthew "CirithGorgor" Bennett. Bennett announced back in…
Working As Intended: What Star Wars Galaxies got wrong - If you've listened to Massively's staff and readers talk about Star Wars Galaxies a little bit, you might come away with the impression that the now-sunsetted, pre-WoW Star Wars sandbox was perfection in every way --…
Analysts consider NCsoft’s 2016 prospects: Guild Wars 2, WildStar earnings dip predictions - Last March, Korean investment firm KDB Daewoo Securities wasn't that hopeful on the financial future of WildStar. Little has changed in the firm's opinion for 2016, as it predicted that WildStar's profits will drop almost to nothing this…
Interview: Fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss is working on Smed’s OARPG, Hero’s Song - Among the dream team John Smedley assembled for Hero's Song -- studio Pixelmage's new 2-D open-world ARPG -- is Patrick Rothfuss, an acclaimed fantasy author who rocketed to stardom in 2007 when his first novel, The Name of the Wind, won…
Hyperspace Beacon: Is SWTOR losing its MMORPG cred? - One of the recurring gamer complaints about Star Wars: The Old Republic is that it's becoming less and less an MMORPG over time. With Knights of the Fallen Empire's fresh emphasis on the solo story, how is SWTOR going to…
Vivendi sells all of its shares of Activision Blizzard for $1.1 billion - Breaking up is always hard to do -- unless, of course, there's a whole ton of money in the mix to make you feel better about the whole thing. Vivendi has jumped out of doing business…
Check out post-apoc sci-fi MMORPG Trinium Wars’ reveal trailer - Sci-fi and fantasy post-apoc fans are in for a treat today as Hanmaru Soft and InselGames have formally announced Trinium Wars for PC. Touting ex-SEGA and ex-Blizzard artist Jang Wook Lee's involvement, the MMORPG has launched…
City of Steam is shuttering on January 31st - In the heady days of yesteryear, we believed that removing the need to download a client would be the key to unlocking more people who wanted to jump on the MMO bandwagon. This was one of…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 47: The sky’s the limit!
The Stream team: A Saturday stomp in MechWarrior Online (plus giveaway)
The Stream Team: Cranking out a compy army in ARK
The Stream Team: Hurrying to finish more EverQuest II Heritage Quests
The Stream Team: Back for more killer kitties in Blade & Soul
The Stream Team: Storm’s final steps to 60 in Marvel Heroes
The Stream Team: Playing Evie in Paladins
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
Four iconic abilities returning in WoW: Legion
WoW: Legion’s item changes will scuttle many transmog sets
WoW players: Please stop with Alliance vs. Horde
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 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.
