As the staggered headstart period for Black Desert preorders has gotten underway, we’ve been asking where you’re playing and what you think so far. Daum has already opened new servers to handle the influx, mused on its future plans, and mapped out events that run throughout March.
Stay tuned to Massively OP this week as we bring you coverage of the official release of the game and launch our Black Desert column!
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
BLACK DESERT
Leaderboard: What do you think of Black Desert so far? - Headstart for Black Desert's began this morning, at least if you preordered. Are you watching from the sidelines or already lost to the grind? If you're in and enjoying the experience (or did so in open beta), maybe you can help…
Black Desert opens new servers before headstart - Daum has posted its very last dev diary and notes before the launch of Black Desert's head start. The big news is that the studio is adding an additional pair of servers to the planned four, one…
Leaderboard: Which Black Desert server will you be calling home? - Massively OP reader Xijit thought it would be a grand idea to try to coordinate our community's Black Desert servers, and we agree! Let's do it: According to Reddit, Edan and Alustin are leaning toward PvP,…
Black Desert’s devs on gender-locking, future plans - If you're hoping for every gender-locked class in Black Desert to have an equivalent for the other gender, the bad news for you is that that's not among the future development plans. According to a community-driven…
Black Desert plans special events for the game’s launch - The final beta test for Black Desert recedes into the horizon, but that's all right; there are only a few more days before the title launches for real on March 3rd. But wouldn't you like a…
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
WildStar’s PvP plan means server consolidation on PvE worlds - WildStar Game Director Chad "Pappy" Moore has big plans for reigniting the PvP flame in the beleaguered sci-fi MMO. "Increasingly over time the majority of WildStar players prefer to play on PvE servers," he says, leaving…
Camelot Unchained’s Mark Jacobs explains CSE’s Beta 1 ‘hard crunch’ - City State Entertainment has announced on its livestream that it's entering a "hard crunch" mode to deliver RvR-centric crowdfunded MMORPG Camelot Unchained according to backer expectations. Ahead of the stream, CSE's Mark Jacobs told Massively OP…
Hyperspace Beacon: An open letter to the creators of the SWTOR Cartel Packs - Dear BioWare, First off, it might be unfair that I’m addressing this open letter to the whole staff of BioWare when I really should center it on the creators of Star Wars: The Old Republic. But…
Scarlet Blade will sunset next month - We're genuinely sorry to report that Aeria Games has announced an impending closure for the notoriously suggestive MMORPG Scarlet Blade. Aeria broke the sad news earlier today: "Scarlet Blade is about to turn 3 years old. Unfortunately, the last…
Perfect Ten: Ten weapons that should be in more MMOs - Swords, spears, axes, maces, and bows for fighters. Wands and fancy-looking staves for mages. Wolverine-style claws and double daggers for thieves. Some useless trinket for healers. Let's face it: MMOs (particularly fantasy ones) aren't often tripping…
The Division releases 60 FPS trailer, doom simulator ‘Collapse’ - Let's get that Division hype rolling! Ubisoft has posted a new trailer showcasing the game's visual quality in 60 frames per second. Not impressed by graphics porn? How about simulation porn? Ubisoft has also released a browser-based simulator…
Turbine cancels plans for EU-based LOTRO datacenter - Turbine Executive Producer Athena "Vyvyanne" Peters has bad news for Lord of the Rings Online players in Europe: Your game servers aren't moving to Amsterdam as promised after all, meaning they'll stay in New Jersey alongside…
WoW Factor: Is this the time Blizzard’s changes stick? - Well, folks, I promised you that this week I would talk about my further impressions playing through the Legion alpha. But then I spied a rather fascinating post about the state of the game and the…
Three staffers depart EVE Online after huge financial year for CCP - CCP Games staff have now seemingly confirmed on Reddit that EVE Online is about to become three people poorer. EVE is losing Lead Game Designer CCP Scarpia, Senior Game Designer CCP Ytterbium, and Technical Designer CCP FoxFour…
Tree of Savior’s international beta is coming ‘soon’ - Tree of Savior fans, your patience is about to pay off. IMC Games announced today that the open beta for its international version is imminent, although the studio declined to put a fixed date to this…
Gabe Newell fires Dota 2 presenter, calling him ‘an ass’ - Dota 2's Shanghai Major tournament got off to a shaky start this week with a slew of technical problems and controversy over presenter James "2GD" Harding being removed from the show. James has a long-standing reputation…
Massively Overthinking: The new normal of early access MMORPGs - This week's topic comes from Massively OP reader Zadira. "Daybreak has just passed it two-year anniversary for Landmark, and it still has its early access reward options for sale. One of the bonuses that we were to get was…
ArcheAge opens paid character transfers on leap day - [AL:Arche]If you aren't happy with your ArcheAge server, then Trion has a proposal for you: You give Trion credits, and Trion moves your characters. Everyone wins! Yes, ArcheAge is set to open "paid character transfers" beginning…
TERA’s Dawnfall update arrives on March 1st - [AL:TERA]Remember the starting zone of TERA? Well, it's gotten just a little bit... messy with the game's next update. The Dawnfall update arrives March 1st and converts the original starting area into a level 65 hunting…
Choose My Adventure: Crafting catastrophes and dungeon doldrums in Blade & Soul - Hello, friends, and welcome to the fourth and final installment of Choose My Adventure with Blade & Soul. Last week, as you may recall unless your memory is somehow worse than mine, I asked you to…
SamuTale lets you explore a sandbox world as a samurai - "Boundaries" and "limitations" are not words that the makers of SamuTale like to incorporate into their design philosophy. This upcoming sandbox MMO seems to pride itself on breaking down traditional walls, including featuring a classless character…
The Repopulation spinoff Fragmented is hunting for a few good testers - The Repopulation lead dev Joshua Halls says that Above & Beyond has opened closed testing for Fragmented to selected applicants. Interested gamers should fill out the form and come prepared with a decent machine: "Testing will…
Hellgate: London is on Android as a first-person shooter - Back in November, Hellgate: London shut down once again. But now it's back. You can't actually shut down this game, it just come about in a new form. So here's the latest version of Hellgate: London,…
Rumor: SWTOR datamining leads to megaserver speculation - [AL:TOR]According to the Star Wars: The Old Republic player-run datamining site TOR Community, the current "PvE and PvP servers are being replaced with PvE and PvP instance types," leading to speculation of server merges or the creation of…
HTC Vive will cost $799 but comes with two controllers and sensors - There's no getting away from it, VR gaming is going to be an expensive hobby to get into. Between the high system specs required to run VR games at 60 frames per second and the cost of the…
6.4 million people propelled The Division’s beta to a new console record - The Division set a record this weekend for the biggest beta in a new-brand, current-gen console game. Ubisoft told blog readers today that more than 6.4 million people showed up to test the game during its…
Beta impressions of Motiga’s MOBA Gigantic - About a week ago, I got an e-mail granting me access to the closed beta test of Motiga's in-development MOBA title, Gigantic. Now, most of you are probably well aware of the hurdles the studio has…
ARPG Grim Dawn is about to emerge from early access - If you've been watching multiplayer action RPGÂ Grim Dawn since it joined the Steam early access program back at the end of 2013 as we have, then February is a big month for you: The game is…
The Secret World’s subscriber badge reward unwittingly provokes dismay - The Secret World's recent membership status tweaks have more than a few players up in arms. A 450+ post thread on the official forums chronicles the argument: Funcom has added in-game badges as a reward for subscribers.…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
Water Striders will not be restricted by location in WoW: Legion
Paragon hangs up its hat, exiting World of Warcraft
What’s your long goal for game lulls in WoW?
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.
