This year, we’re taking a time-machine back through our MMO coverage, month by month, to hit the highlights and frame our journey before we head into 2017.
There’s nothing for it: The legacy server debate consumed the month of April, at least in MMORPG land. Beginning with the cease-and-desist-prompted sunset of the popular World of Warcraft vanilla emulator Nostalrius server, we were dragged along from petitions and meetings to “pristine servers” and even Mark Kern in a saga that continues still in December.
EVE Online was also beset by World War Bee, which actually began back in March but had all but played out by the end of April.
Read on for the month’s whole review!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF APRIL 2016
EVE Online war update: The Imperium defends UQ9-3C, loses station
Black Desert Korea promises playable dark elves, ocean content
Black Desert puts auto-path looping to player vote
Matt Firor says Elder Scrolls Online’s ‘population is huge and thriving’
This is why Star Citizen has toilets everywhere
Daum EU confirms Black Desert figures: 400K Western sales, $12M revenue in first month
En Masse confirms TERA layoffs
Blizzard swapped Tracer’s butt pose in Overwatch with a… different butt pose
The Repopulation spin-off Fragmented launches early access this month
Blizzard’s legal threat shuts down WoW emulator Nostalrius
EVE Online war update: Thousands return to join the war
WoW emulator Nostalrius’ sunset renews calls for retro WoW servers
Warframe celebrates third birthday with almost 23M registered users
Ultima Online rejects F2P rumors, says Steam launch has been held up by EA
ArcheAge players cry foul on a $100 in-game pool
Derek Smart is pulling Line of Defense from Steam over review-bombing
Ascent: The Space Game formally launches from early access today
Lord of the Rings Online mini-expansion brings Pelennor Fields and level cap increase
CCP’s 2015 finances included year-over-year revenue decline for EVE Online
Star Trek Online launches Season 11.5 today
Like skintone, Rust’s character gender is determined by Steam ID
EVE Online plans to add dailies with skill point rewards
WildStar crosses factional barriers, mulls new class/race combos
Age of Conan launches Pit Master’s Arena, shelves crafting revamp, plans F2P improvements
WoW hit by DDoS attacks attributed to Lizard Squad [Resolved]
EVE Online World War Bee update: The Imperium shatters
BBC news reports on World of Warcraft Nostalrius server shutdown
RuneScape argues why MMO companies should offer classic servers
WildStar’s Steam countdown has begun
World of Warcraft’s Legion expansion launches August 30
Fragmented releases Steam early access trailer
Exclusive: Origins of Malu suspends development, seeks investors
Aeria Games to publish Bless Online in the west
CSE’s Mark Jacobs explains Camelot Unchained’s beta delay
BioWare says ‘SWTOR is absolutely being supported into the future’
‘Blood will flow’: Elder Scrolls Online video previews Dark Brotherhood DLC
SMITE caster departs Hi-Rez after live rant on formerly suicidal donor
EVE Fanfest 2016: Project Nova rises from DUST 514’s ashes
Vanilla WoW petition hits 200K signatures, invokes Mark Kern
PAX East 2016: Richard Garriott discusses Shroud of the Avatar’s ‘launch’ and future
Daybreak exec on early access, e-sports, VR, EverQuest Next, and the future of EverQuest
Blizzard responds to vanilla WoW server requests, considers ‘pristine realms’
City of Heroes fans mark 12th anniversary in Paragon Chat and Champions Online
The Division’s cheating plague may be a result of its bad network model, consultant argues
Nostalrius admins to meet with WoW execs
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF APRIL 2016
Massively OP’s guide to MMO dungeon run etiquette
WoW Factor: A totally legitimate history of World of Warcraft
EVE Evolved: How did World War Bee start and where is it going?
Flameseeker Chronicles: The future of Guild Wars 2 under Mike O’Brien
Perfect Ten: MMORPGs with huge class rosters
Chaos Theory: Is The Secret World best when binged?
Massively Overthinking: Grouping, kill-stealing, and open PvP in MMORPGs
The Daily Grind: Would you play on a vanilla World of Warcraft server?
WoW Factor: Nostalrius, copyright, and player demand
The Game Archaeologist: Guild Wars Utopia
Jukebox Heroes: Six MMO tunes for a starry night
Guild Chat: Starting a raiding guild in Guild Wars 2
Hyperspace Beacon: Impressions of SWTOR’s Visions in the Dark for gamers still on the fence
Working As Intended: Busting up the MMORPG nostalgia party
EverQuesting: First impressions of Landmark’s new story system
Perfect Ten: The odd things I noticed slipping back into Final Fantasy XI
Massively OP’s guide to the Project Gorgon starter island
Flameseeker Chronicles: Everything you need to know about Guild Wars 2’s April 2016 update
Hyperspace Beacon: Why SWTOR gamers are so stoked for the return of Vette
Jukebox Heroes: Six cover songs of popular MMO tunes
EverQuesting: Daybreak is on the right side of the MMORPG legacy server debate
Perfect Ten: What I loved about Dungeons and Dragons Online
MMO Mechanics: Innovating mechanics to refresh Guild Wars 2
The Game Archaeologist: Saga of Ryzom
PAX East 2016: Hands-on with NCsoft’s Master x Master
Massively OP’s guide to understanding video game research
Perfect Ten: Ten City of Heroes systems every MMO should have stolen by now
Massively Overthinking: Trinities and quaternities in MMORPGs
Massively OP’s guide to MMO business models
ALL 2016 MONTH-IN-REVIEW POSTS TO-DATE
MMO Year in Review: Blade & Soul reaches western shores (January 2016)
MMO Year in Review: A wild Black Desert approaches (February 2016)
MMO Year in Review: EverQuest Never (March 2016)
MMO Year in Review: WoW’s legacy server snarl (April 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Carebear tears of Elyria (May 2016)
MMO Year in Review: The Landmark and WildStar Steam parade (June 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Pokemon madness (July 2016)
MMO Year in Review: We are Legion (August 2016)
MMO Year in Review: A whole New World (September 2016)
MMO Year in Review: One foot in One Tamriel (October 2016)
MMO Year in Review: New Eden free-for-all (November 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Turbine gave the ring to the eagles (December 2016)
