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. Seen any good MMO news? Hit us up through our tips line!
This past week Blade & Soul introduced the Warlock class, Firefall lost a beloved voice actor, Crowfall moved to a new office, and more!
New Games and Testing
- Crowfall: The team at ArtCraft has moved out of a shared office space and into its own digs. They’ve even got the pictures to prove it.
- ECO: The fourth alpha test will commence at the end of March. The devs promise that the game will “look and play significantly different” due to improvements.
- Conan Exiles: Eat lunch lately? Then check out this early work in progress of dismemberment from the upcoming survival game. [Thanks to Nordavind for the tip!]
Patches
- Blade & Soul: The game’s second post-Western-launch patch, Unchained, brought with it the new Warlock class, an extra character slot, the Naryu Labyrinth, and the eight floor of Mushin’s Tower.
- Forsaken World Mobile: This mobile title’s next patch will include an expanded faerie system as well as a new 3v3 PvP arena.
Events and Contests
- Worlds Adrift:Â Winners of the game’s creative writing contest were revealed, with the first place entry to be worked into the upcoming MMO.
- HEX: This weekend HEX is hosting an invitational tournament with a $100,000 prize pool. Who will win? I can tell you, with 100% certainty, that it won’t be me.
- RIFT: The game’s community is hosting a contest asking players to publicly state their love for RIFT. The prize package includes a level 60 boost, a shark mount, and two REX.
Odds and Ends
- Firefall: Truly sad news this week, as Lee Reherman, who voiced Alexei Typhon in the game, passed away at age 49 following hip surgery. Reherman was best known for his role as Hawk on American Gladiators. [Thanks to I-Spy for the tip!]
- Elder Scrolls Online: Until the Thieves Guild DLC releases, we’re sure to continue to get a stream of character bios. This week’s focus was on Silver-Claw, a merchant that’s a tad worried about those no-goodnik thieves.
- Bless Online: See if you can follow this: Bless is merging 11 of its servers down to just five, but then the game will be adding five additional servers. Maybe it’s a server ruleset shuffle?
- Neverwinter: The art team walks through the creation of the great and terrifying Baphomet, starting with concept art from previous D&D manuals.
- League of Legends: Riot Games’ new owner Tencent has started to aggressively pursue copyright violators in Chinese courts.
- Pirate101: Get your RDA of silly fluff with this newsletter along with an interesting section on the most- and least-used skyways.
Videos
Age of Wushu Dynasty, the mobile spin-off of the maritial arts MMO, released its first major update. The Imperial Court contains new PvP arenas, a 240-player battle mode, four additional skills, and a reforge function. Check out the trailer:
