So WoW: Legion happened this week. Eliot likes it. You guys like it. Bloggers like it. Go Blizz!
Meanwhile, EVE Online announced a free-to-play business model switcharoo, The Elder Scrolls Online rolled out One Tamriel on the test server, and Firefall vanished from the internet and then reappeared just as mysteriously.
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
THE LAUNCH OF WOW LEGION
Happy World of Warcraft: Legion launch day and roundup
First impressions of World of Warcraft: Legion, part one
First impressions of World of Warcraft: Legion, part two
First impressions of World of Warcraft: Legion, part three
Leaderboard: Where does Legion fit in the ranking of WoW’s expansions?
The Daily Grind: How would you judge WoW Legion’s launch?
The Daily Grind: What are your first impressions of Legion?
Global Chat Extra: MMO bloggers’ first impressions of Legion
Someone is already 110 in WoW Legion, plus faction roadblocks for old Druids
World of Warcraft lets players experiment with classes before boosting
World of Warcraft previews the max-level zone of Suramar
World of Warcraft: Legion launch trailer and launch schedule
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
EVE Online is getting an optional free-to-play mode - [AL:EVE]EVE Online is going free-to-play -- kinda. CCP is being careful not to call it that, saying that its plan is "for a new feature that will let both old…
PAX West 2016: The Elder Scrolls Online’s One Tamriel is live on the PTS - During the Elder Scrolls Online panel this afternoon at PAX West, ZeniMax developers fielded a number of questions from the audience centering on what players can expect from One Tamriel…
Path of Exile’s Atlas of Worlds expansion is officially live [Updated] - [AL:POE]Path of Exile's Atlas of Worlds expansion is official live. The countdown ticker rolled over at 4 p.m. EDT. Time to get in there! Back in August, Massively OP's MJ Guthrie…
Black Desert’s Valencia II, desert PvP system, and Warrior Awakening arrive today - Part II of Black Desert's Valencia expansion releases today alongside the Warrior class Awakening, which allows level 55+ Warriors to unlock the Greatsword weapon. "The Greatsword will not replace the…
ARK: Survival Evolved’s first expansion, Scorched Earth, is now on Steam - Studio Wildcard has made good on the ARK: Survival Evolved tease it issued earlier this week: It's just announced its first expansion pack, ARK: Scorched Earth. "Scorched Earth is an…
Star Trek Online is planning a ship-printing service - [AL:STO]If you've been playing Star Trek Online for a while, the adventures of your personal ship might feel a bit more real than those of the USS Enterprise. Maybe less…
EVE Online devs address the potential for ganking and abuse under its F2P model - [AL:EVE]Earlier this week, CCP announced a hybrid free-to-play business model revamp for EVE Online that has capsuleers across the galaxy buzzing. The system hinges on what the studio calls "clone…
Massively Overthinking: Please complain about MMOs, loudly and insistently - Last weekend, the blogosphere exploded over an article that essentially told the MMORPG community to shut up, sit down, and stop complaining about things like lockboxes ("they're not hurting anyone")…
Happy birthday, Champions Online - [AL:Champ]Champions Online turns seven years old today -- seven! And naturally, PWE and Cryptic have big plans for the whole month. Everything in the cash shop is 20% off this week,…
Lord of the Rings Online hints at a Shelob raid, schedules Update 19 for this fall - [AL:LOTRO]Following the revelation of Lord of the Rings Online's two-and-a-half-year plan, the second part of a fansite interview turned its attention to the subject of raiding. Turbine noted that July's Throne of…
Chaos Theory: Is it possible to complete The Secret World’s Doomboard challenge? Maybe - When The Secret World’s devs teased the Doomboard, I was pretty excited. I was totally on board for getting that sweet ride even though I hadn't ever actually done any…
A British telecom is suing Valve over Steam - UK-based corporation British Telecom is apparently suing Valve in the US state of Delaware over its claim that Valve violates multiple patents held by the telecom with respect to Steam…
Elder Scrolls Online says its population is growing, explains why cross-play won’t happen - These days, the Elder Scrolls Online team is laser-focused on the promotion and release of One Tamriel this fall. However, a recent interview with ZeniMax teased out some possible features…
Twin Saga enters open beta today with Dragonknights, level cap of 65 - Aeria's Twin Saga MMORPG enters open beta in the west as of today. The company says that closed beta saw 700,000 logins and 250,000 of player testing, but the open…
Titan Quest launches 10th anniversary edition, free to Steam owners - Ten years ago, I became absolutely addicted to Titan Quest. It's not an MMORPG or even an MMO; it's an ARPG with online multiplayer capabilities, a totally generic mythology IP,…
RIFT defends swing back to buy-to-play model for Starfall Prophecy - [AL:Rift]Trion Worlds has been doing its darndest to get out in front of any consumer issues with its decision to revert back to a buy-to-play model with RIFT's third expansion, Starfall…
H1Z1: King of the Kill launches for PC on September 20, ‘pauses’ console development - You might have thought zombie survival sandbox H1Z1 had already launched, considering you probably paid for it back in January of 2015 when it hit early access, or maybe again when it…
Hyperspace Beacon: The Shroud of Star Wars The Old Republic - [AL:TOR]I’m going to hit you again with some lore this week from Star Wars: The Old Republic. However, I promise that there will be a lot less speculation and a…
Lord of the Rings Online has a two-and-a-half-year plan - [AL:LOTRO]Lord of the Rings Online isn't prepared to close up shop in Middle-earth just yet. In a new interview with fansite Dadi's LOTRO Guides, Turbine said that the team has…
Firefall appears to have silently sunsetted (Update: Or maybe not?) - [update]Update, 8:39 p.m. EDT: The game and site are back online now, still with no explanation or clarification from The9 whatsoever. Hopefully it stays up for you folks, even in uncommunicative maintenance…
Otherland hits open beta today, launches free-to-play on September 8 - The Tad Williams-inspired sci-fi MMO Otherland shuts down today for a week of open beta. When it returns for its planned September 8th launch, it does so as a free-to-play game.…
Landmark begins issuing 10-day trial keys - Players who haven't experienced the wide-open wonder of Landmark now have a free option at their disposal. Daybreak recently announced that it is issuing 10-day trial keys to players who don't…
That World of Warships Steven Seagal thing is getting weirder - [AL:WoWS]Remember last week when we wrote about how Wargaming has picked up actor Steven Seagal as its spokesman -- I'm sorry, "personal Heroic Battle Advisor" -- for World of Warships?…
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s next major patch preview arrives - [AL:FFXIV]The anniversary has arrived, and to no one's great surprise, we started hearing about the next big Final Fantasy XIV patch. The fact that said patch is going to be…
New report says South Korean MMORPG companies are ‘facing a crisis’ - The Financial Times blog has a doom-and-gloom report out this week on the gaming market of South Korea, specifically the MMO genre. "The country’s online game makers have long dominated…
Funcom’s Q2 2016 financials show revenue dip, debt repayment, new titles - Funcom's second quarter financials for 2016 rolled in over the weekend. Of note, revenues are down 36% compared to the same quarter last year "due to gradual and expected decrease…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
Tips for your WoW: Legion marathon
How long will it take to reach level 110 in Legion?
Yes, there is a transmog vendor in Dalaran
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.
