Botched MMORPG expansion launches are nothing new to veteran MMO gamers, so the roadblock issues of Final Fantasy XIV’s Stormblood this weekend won’t surprise anyone, though I can think of at least one MOP writer frustrated out of his mind! The good news is that Square-Enix is working on the congestion problems. The bad news is that headstart for preorder players is only the beginning.
Meanwhile, E3 drew to a close, and while its traditional MMORPG offerings — Black Desert, Elder Scrolls Online, and Final Fantasy XIV — were slim, there was plenty on display for multiplayer online gamers, including Sea of Thieves, Skull and Bones, and Destiny 2. We’ve got a bit more E3 to publish this week, but in the meantime, read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Final Fantasy XIV hits a major instanced roadblock in Stormblood early access - [AL:FFXIV]Everyone knows there are going to be issues with an expansion on launch, and Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood is no exception. Players have hit up against a pretty nasty one,…
E3 2017: Hands-on with Sea of Thieves’ multiplayer ship crewing - As I mentioned in MassivelyOP's Best of E3 Overthinking article, I came away from this year's con thinking Sea of Thieves was the best playable online multiplayer game with a playable…
E3 2017: Hands-on with Destiny 2 - [AL:D2]Like many readers, I was originally disappointed when Destiny wasn't released for PC. I'm not even a Halo fan but could see that the title had promise. Release, though, sounded just OK. I…
E3 2017: Ubisoft announces Skull and Bones, a multiplayer pirate sandbox - Sea of Thieves, you have a new challenger in the realm of MMOsy pirate games: Ubisoft just announced Skull and Bones at E3. The game looks gorgeous and boasts a…
LOTRO Legendarium: Mirkwood, the best zone no one remembers - The other day I was continuing on with my Bingo Boffin adventures in Lord of the Rings Online when Mr. Boffin decided he was going to sneak his way across…
E3 2017: Black Desert confirms Xbox ports for 2018 - We've known Black Desert was coming to consoles for a long time now; the first teases landed last year, with confirmation as recently as March. Kakao took the pre-E3 shows…
E3 2017: EA BioWare reveals Anthem, a shared-world Destiny clone - Move over Destiny; BioWare is about to take a shot at your market share with its newly revealed Anthem. Anthem is a "shared-world action-RPG" in which players will don exosuits…
Cryptic’s Magic the Gathering RPG: Speculating on the lore and game systems - An RPG based on Magic: the Gathering is one of those things I have both long wanted and long assumed was just never going to happen. Now it's happening, and…
Tamriel Infinium: The major flaw in Elder Scrolls Online Morrowind’s PvP - [AL:ESO]When I spoke to ZeniMax Lead PvP Designer Brian Wheeler a few months back, I was intrigued by the PvP that Morrowind was offering The Elder Scrolls Online. When it…
Camelot Unchained creates inventory screen mockup - As Camelot Unchained transforms from a ramshackle collection of ideas and features into a cohesive product, it's neat to see glimpses of the game that it's to become. Even something as seemingly…
Perfect Ten: What the mainstream games media doesn’t get about MMORPGs - Ever since becoming an MMORPG player and especially since covering these games professionally, I've realized one of my greatest pet peeves is the attitude the broader video games media maintain toward…
Destiny 2’s PS4 exclusives won’t arrive on Xbone and PC until 2018 - [AL:D2]If the fact that Destiny 2's PC edition is being held back seven weeks following the release of the console versions sticks in your craw, then you probably don't want…
Massively Overthinking: The best MMOs and multiplayers of E3 2017 - E3 is drawing to a close, with its reveals over and done with -- all that's left is processing our interviews and hands-on pieces. But in the meantime, we decided…
City of Titans on endgame, alting, PvP, business models, lockboxes, and whales - The first and most-backed City of Heroes successor City of Titans has a couple of dev pieces out this month answering questions posed to Missing Worlds Media this past spring. The…
Star Citizen Around the Verse: Female character meshes, engineering, and the LA studio - Hellion isn't the only sci-fi sandbox finally getting female characters underway: Star Citizen is working on the female body meshing, just one of the tidbits in this week's edition of community-oriented…
DDO bug reportedly wipes out players’ inventories - [AL:DDO]Some players in Dungeons and Dragons Online are complaining that a rather nasty bug is wiping out years of "hard-earned" inventory -- and saying that Standing Stone Games is unable…
So why is Destiny 2’s PC version being held back? - [AL:D2]PC players looking forward to Destiny 2's fall release are probably going through a torrent of emotions this week. While it's great that Bungie revealed solid dates for the sequel,…
Lineage 2 Revolution has soft launched on Google Play and iTunes - The Netmarble take on NCsoft's Lineage franchise, Lineage 2 Revolution, has soft launched as a global version in multiple English-speaking markets and app stores this week as planned. The Unreal…
Chaos Theory: Guide to Secret World’s Dragon faction - [AL:SWL]When it comes to chaos, do you tend to run away (possibly screaming), or run toward it? If you lean toward the latter, you might be a Dragon at heart.…
E3 2017: Hands-on with Splatoon 2’s Salmon Run - At this year E3's, a lot of the big companies in gaming let journalists behind the scenes, rather than forcing us to spend hours of expo time in line. In fact,…
Bless Online isn’t canceled in the west after all; Neowiz will self-publish - Last week, both Neowiz and Aeria Games confirmed that Aeria is no longer serving as the western Bless Online publisher -- worse, Bless appeared to be entirely canceled for our region. "Gamigo announces…
E3 2017: Former SWTOR writer Drew Karpyshyn is working on Anthem - It's still very early to get excited about BioWare's upcoming co-op shooter Anthem, but the game is bringing in veteran talent for development. Drew Karpyshyn has confirmed that he's working…
E3 2017: Dauntless founder’s alpha begins August 18 - At E3 today, Phoenix Labs announced that Dauntless' founder's alpha will begin on August 18th, not coincidentally the same day the NDA drops and player streaming is a go. How…
Bethsoft says Elder Scrolls VI ‘is not in dev,’ gamers spurn Creation Club modding plans - [AL:ESO]Get comfy in The Elder Scrolls Online, TES franchise fans: While there will eventually be another single-player game in the Elder Scrolls series, it's not currently in development. That's according…
E3 2017: Capcom announces Monster Hunter World for consoles and PC - First, the bad news: Monster Hunter World is not an MMO version of the long-running franchise. But it is a new installment bringing in everything that's long been celebrated about…
Flameseeker Chronicles: Surviving the Guild Wars 2 WvW invasion - I've been asked several times for my opinion on how best to handle the influx of non-WvW Guild Wars 2Â players to the game mode in the wake of the reward…
Ashes of Creation will launch its web store next week - If you're curious what was going on with Ashes of Creation's promised web store to allow fans to donate even more money to its crowdfunding coffers following the game's highly…
E3 2017: Ubisoft officially reveals The Crew 2 - Ubisoft is undoubtedly pleased with the sales and performance of The Crew because as previously teased, the developer has invested in a full-fledged sequel that's even bigger than the first cross-country racing…
E3 2017: Sea of Thieves delays release to early 2018 - While it should come as no shock that Sea of Thieves was going to fail to make its projected spring 2017 release window, especially considering that the game is only…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 121: Tap for Magic MMOs
Battle Bards Episode 100: Centennial spectacular!
The Stream Team: More Ashfall adventures in AQ3D
The Stream Team: Test driving ARK’s latest dinos
The Stream Team: Slaying the Conan Exiles lag monster
The Stream Team: Dungeon diving in SMITE’s newest adventure, Trials of King Hercules
The Stream Team: Resistance is not futile In SWTOR
The Stream Team: Exploring ArcheAge’s Erenor Eternal
The Stream Team: First landing in ROKH
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
More WoW class tuning is coming before Tomb of Sargeras
WoW secret-finding Discord uncovers secret behind the Sun Darter Hatchling
Wild speculation on Blizzard at Gamescom
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.
