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 Skyforge shared some of the workings behind its worldwide demonic invasion, Diablo II got a surprise patch, the 2016 Olympics welcomed esports, and Saga of Lucimia shed some light on its darkness system. Read up on these stories and more after the break!
New Games and Testing
- Paragon: Due to popular demand, the team has turned on a “really, really rough” version of its private match system.
- Sudden Attack 2: The Korean closed beta for this MMOFPS sequel will run from April 14th through the 20th, with some sort of launch in summer 2016.
- Darkfall: Rise of Agon: This Darkfall reboot officially started its alpha test this past Friday and supporter packs are now available to buy from $20 to $100. [Thanks Zoran_Styx!]
Patches
- Diablo II: Yes, this incredibly old multiplayer game has received a second patch in as many months. It’s mostly a bug fix update that also tweaks some German localization and puts a cap on the frame rate.
- Destiny: Bungie has a Taken King patch coming out this week with many balance tweaks and positive changes to Trials of Osiris and Crucible.
- Survarium: Patch 0.41 is here to save the day — or at least to unleash a multitude of improvements, including a “best player” system, a semi-automatic sniper rifle, new supplies, and a low-end renderer for older PCs.
Events
- Skyforge: Demons are invading Aelion — and it’s not a pretty sight. There are many types of creatures with which to contend, and this dev blog lists some of the categories of demons that players can encounter.
- Ingress: The next anomaly series for this augmented reality game has been announced, along with upcoming dates. The title has also resolved an issue with the mission day medal count. [Thanks Nordavind!]
- Armored Warfare: Are you ready for Panzerfest? This month-long string of in-game event include several earnable rewards. New players who sign up this month even get a free tank. [Thanks ThatLanteshGuy!]
- Toram Online: There’s some sort of special event going on right now that involves watching cherry blossom trees bloom while investigating a map and a new story. [Source: press release]
- Lineage II: There’s a month of 12th anniversary events coming to the game, including a buff that removes XP loss on death.
Odds and Ends
- Allods Online: Have some blue crystals? You can now pick up the new Allods Online collector’s edition from the store!
- Summer Olympics: The UK government is hosting an international esports tournament during this year’s Rio Olympics. So far the US, UK, Canada, and Brazil have signed up to participate. To be clear, this won’t be an official medal event, and no games for the tournament have been announced.
- Dungeon Fighter Online: A southeast Asia server has been brought online for this popular action title.
- World of Warcraft: Sanctioned street art of a Night Elf helped to cover up some London grafitti. Now, let’s cover the rest of the world with MMO murals!
- SMITE: The team goes into a little bit of the lore behind dung beetle god Khepri and how his kit connects with the character concept. And here you thought we’d get through a MOP Up without a poop reference!
- EverQuest II: The servers of Splitpaw, Storms, and Valor are scheduled to be merged into Thurgadin on Monday, April 18th.
Videos
Soulworker Online has officially launched in Japan! This anime action MMO boasts 30 regional voice actors, and it even produced a short animated series to rope players into the game world. Check it out:
Saga of Lucimia has put a lot of thought into its darkness system — so much so that it’s taken the dev team several videos to explain it to fans. Here are the latest two:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02eb3RVqu9k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVmPUnwmYjs
The mobile remake of Ragnarok Online is on its way, and here is a new game trailer to prove it!
Elysium, the largest-ever content update for Perfect World International, is coming to the MMO on April 13th. The biggest addition? A player housing system! Here’s the trailer to help you get psyched.
Revelation should be heading our way from the east, and in fact is currently running an open beta in Korea. Does this look like something you’d play? [Thanks Feodor!]
Dynamic weather is one of the many features of Chronicles of Elyria that has that community excited about this upcoming title. Check out this time-lapse video of snow accumulating on the landscape:
