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.
Everyone knew that Amazon Game Studios was working on an MMO, but not many people truly believed the game would be a true sandbox called New World, complete with the unapologetic MMORPG label attached. Surprise!
Meanwhile, the community reeled over the retirement of Blizzard’s Chris Metzen, rioted over ARK: Survival Evolved’s attempt to sell an expansion from its early access corner, and revolted over Chronicles of Elyria’s bid for more dough.
Read on for the whole list!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF SEPTEMBER 2016
My.com is porting its pirate MOBA here as Cloud Pirates
ARK: Survival Evolved’s first expansion, Scorched Earth, is now on Steam
The Secret World’s Gilded Rage event inspires rage
EVE Online devs address the potential for ganking and abuse under its F2P model
ARK: Survival Evolved dev apologizes for saying expansion critics are ‘too cheap to pony up $20’
Firefall’s status remains in limbo
Wildcard on why its selling ARK: Survival Evolved DLC while still in early access
World of Warcraft: Legion companion app is now available
Star Trek Online has launched for Xbox One and PlayStation 4
World of Fishing angles for new players with today’s Steam F2P launch
Sci-fi sandbox Dual Universe’s Kickstarter has launched, seeks half a million dollars
Former ArenaNet Game Director Colin Johanson lands at Amazon Game Studios
SWTOR’s Shroud of Memory launches today
World of Warcraft Legion sells 3.3M copies, hits highest concurrency since Cataclysm
DragonCon 2016: Mark Jacobs on trolls, subscriptions, and Camelot Unchained
Elder Scrolls Online launches gold edition, dueling guide
Smed plans Indiegogo, Twitch stream for pixel-art OARPG Hero’s Song
Rob Pardo of World of Warcraft fame launches Bonfire Studios
DragonCon 2016: ArcheAge on FFA arena, belly physics, fresh-start servers, and December 3.0 launch
Chris Metzen departs Blizzard, World of Warcraft for retirement
EVE Online studio CCP Games says VR will pick up a few years from now
League of Legends boasts 103 million monthly players
Neverwinter claims ’12 million players’ across all platforms
Electronic Arts consolidates studios under one roof – including BioWare
Pokemon Go has dropped 79% of its players, but it’s still making money
Get pumped with this Destiny: Rise of Iron trailer
Mark Kern’s Ember pays for a mining mech with its latest crowdfunding campaign
CCP Games: ‘We are going to run the company from London’
Marvel Heroes is getting a massive simplification overhaul
H1Z1 delays King of the Kill launch, opts to stay in early access for a while longer
WoW loses three more developers: Craig Amai, Tyson Murphy, and James Waugh
UK courts prosecute first-ever case involving online video game gambling
Curt Schilling settles 38 Studios lawsuit with Rhode Island
RuneScape has counted its 250 millionth player
Guild Wars 2 resumes development of legendary weapons
Riders of Icarus touts one million western players since soft launch
TERA ushers in the Guilded Age
Paladins’ Todd Harris rebuts ‘Overwatch clone’ allegations
Blizzard is retiring the Battle.net name, though not the service itself
Star Citizen unmasks its intricate facial design system
Elder Scrolls Online has begun testing its new lockboxes
WildStar is bringing lockboxes to raids
Eternal Crusade launch-day roundup and trailer
Star Citizen as the ‘unwieldy, ever-changing dream project’
MMOFPS Heroes & Generals has officially launched today
Ultima Online turns 19 years old this weekend, grants cash shop currency to veteran players
Here’s what’s going on with Glitch’s successors
Why Undead Labs abandoned the State of Decay MMO
Chronicles of Elyria seeks $3M more in funding
UK law enforcement agency claims game modding can lead to crime
You can’t get raid quest items from LFR in World of Warcraft: Legion
UK watchdog group investigates No Man’s Sky advertising
RuneScape dev Jagex helps form new Chinese company, saw ‘record profits in 2015’
Tribes: Ascend’s last patch ushers in maintenance mode
Superdata: WoW now charges a full monthly sub in China
The Netherlands is taking Pokemon Go creator Niantic to court
So one of Amazon’s new games is an MMORPG sandbox, and it’s called New World
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF SEPTEMBER 2016
Chaos Theory: Is it possible to complete The Secret World’s Doomboard challenge? Maybe
Massively Overthinking: Please complain about MMOs, loudly and insistently
First impressions of World of Warcraft: Legion, part three
EVE Evolved: The consequences of a free-to-play EVE
Wisdom of Nym: Myths and misconceptions about Final Fantasy XIV
Comparing American and Japanese Pokemon Go culture
Flameseeker Chronicles: Thoughts on Guild Wars 2’s Ring of Fire episode reveal
Jukebox Heroes: The best of WildStar’s soundtrack
Perfect Ten: Comparing Druids across MMORPGs
Massively Overthinking: What’s the worst MMORPG for duos?
WoW Factor: Assessing WoW after two weeks of Legion
EverQuesting: Five EverQuest II features you may have forgotten
A deep-dive into MMORPG housing: RIFT vs. WildStar
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s unenhanced dungeons
Tamriel Infinium: Why I’m sold on Elder Scrolls Online’s One Tamriel
Jukebox Heroes: The best of World of Warcraft Legion’s soundtrack
Perfect Ten: The worst-squandered IPs in online gaming
WoW Factor: Assessing the zones of WoW Legion’s Broken Isles
EVE Evolved: Free-to-play PvP cruiser fitting guide
Flameseeker Chronicles: First impressions of Guild Wars 2’s Rising Flames
What to do in World of Warcraft when you’re level 110
Tamriel Infinium: Cracking Craglorn’s overhaul with Elder Scrolls Online’s Rich Lambert
Perfect Ten: My favorite memories from City of Heroes
WoW Factor: The state of WoW’s dungeons and how we got here
Massively OP’s guide to the best upcoming indie MMORPGs, part one
Guild Chat: Solving more officer conflicts in MMO guilds
Wisdom of Nym: Taking apart Final Fantasy XIV’s patch 3.4 notes
Interview: Chronicles of Elyria’s Jeromy Walsh on post-Kickstarter funding
Hyperspace Beacon: Five things BioWare needs to do to keep SWTOR players around
Perfect Ten: Questions to ask before backing an MMO Kickstarter
Massively OP’s guide to the best upcoming indie MMORPGs, part two
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)
