Ready or not, The Secret World has become Secret World Legends this weekend as Funcom game soft-launched into the headstart of its reimagined MMORPG. The launch hasn’t been without its issues, however, including today’s downtime and patcher problems, though the weekend revelation that vets will get more than they expected has been welcome.
Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XIV’s Stormblood formally launched, racking up praise from our veteran players.
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
SECRET WORLD LEGENDS
Secret World Legends opens to all, offers vets 3 character slots - [AL:SWL]Who needs a restricted headstart? Apparently not Secret World Legends. The reboot was initially opening its doors early to only The Secret World owners, but that quickly changed; during the…
PSA: How to play or restore your original Secret World install - [AL:SWL]Anyone who tried to log into his or her Secret World client after the launch of the reboot yesterday found that Secret World Legends client overwrote the original game. If that…
The Stream Team: The headstart launch of Secret World Legends - [AL:SWL]Secret World Legends' NDA has finally dropped -- probably because it has just launched its headstart for The Secret World owners! And as a long-time fan, you know Massively OP's…
Secret World Legends patron benefits revealed - [AL:SWL]Folks have been waiting a while for the lowdown on the Secret World Legends patron benefits, and Creative Director Romain Amiel just shared some tidbits with us. The benefits for subscribing…
Hands-on with Secret World Legends: A second chance for a first impression - [AL:SWL]I would like to start this article by saying that there are a lot of things to like about Secret World Legends, but for me, those good things -- despite…
Secret World Legends’ headstart launches today - [AL:SWL]Pack up your stuff, The Secret World fans: It's movin' day, at least if you don't care about playing on Steam, as Secret Worlds Legends' headstart period for veteran The Secret…
Here’s how you can transfer your Secret World account perks to Legends - [AL:SWL]Starting Friday, June 23rd, Secret World Legends' headstart goes live for any veteran TSW players as well as those who have signed up for the beta. While TSW players can't…
Chaos Theory: Guide to The Secret World’s Templars faction - [AL:SWL]It's Templar Time! After looking at the Illuminati and delving into the Dragon, it's now time to tie up this trio of guides and talk about the final faction in…
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Wisdom of Nym: The Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood early access experience - There have basically been two attitudes throughout the past weekend with Final Fantasy XIV's early access to Stormblood. Here, we'll run it like a Tumblr meme; tag yourself appropriately in…
Final Fantasy XIV is hit by a DDoS attack causing network difficulties - [AL:FFXIV]Is there any better time for DDoS attacks than right after the launch of a new expansion? Apparently not; Final Fantasy XIV reports today that it has been getting hit…
Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood has launched today - [AL:FFXIV]The time is finally here. While pre-ordered players were able to play from Friday onward, Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood officially launches today. Players of all sorts can log in and…
E3 2017: Elder Scrolls Online’s Matt Firor on Morrowind, nostalgia, and PvP - [AL:ESO]The Elder Scrolls Online released its first expansion, Morrowind, shortly before E3 2017. MMOs rarely come up with mainstream media, but with Morrowind's nostalgia power, I heard the name mentioned a few times off…
E3 2017: Final Fantasy XIV’s Naoki Yoshida on Stormblood, design, and themeparks - Since there were so many early access issues with Stormblood, I figured I'd try to give you Final Fantasy XIV players a little something to chew on while Square-Enix smooths out the…
Diablo III’s Rise of the Necromancer launches June 27 for $14.99 - Blizzard has just announced that the BlizzCon-announced Rise of the Necromancer pack is launching for Diablo III on all platforms next week on June 27th. It'll run $14.99 on both PC…
E3 2017: Hands-on with Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones - I like naval combat in my MMOs. That's my weakness. Vehicle combat is great, but for some reason, I especially like boats. When I heard there was another pirate multiplayer…
NCsoft MOBA Master X Master launches today - Master X Master is officially launching in the West today, bringing NCsoft's take on a multi-IP MOBA-with-a-twist to our shores. The twist is the PvE element, which was relatively novel…
Black Desert awakens the Striker, doubles karma loss for gankers - Awakening this morning in Black Desert is the still-relatively-new-to-the-West Striker class. "The Striker reaches a new level of mastery over the martial arts, gaining access to a wider range of…
Ashes of Creation’s post-Kickstarter pledge store is live - Wallets at the ready, peeps: As promised, Ashes of Creation is following up its massive Kickstarter run with a more local, homegrown crowdfunding effort on its own website, live now.…
The MMOs of the Steam Summer 2017 Sale - After some ups and downs this afternoon -- everybody loves the "try again later" message, right? -- Valve's summer Steam sale is finally underway and stable. Here's what we're looking…
Lord of the Rings Online: Mordor reveals key expansion details - [AL:LOTRO]The cat is out of the bag, and this year's Lord of the Rings Online expansion into the long-awaited country of Mordor is going to be called... Mordor. Let that…
Hyperspace Beacon: A three-step guide to conquering SWTOR’s Nightlife event - [AL:TOR]Last week, Star Wars: The Old Republic brought back the Nightlife event on Nar Shaddaa. In a nutshell, it's a gambling event. After all, Nar Shaddaa is an underworld haven,…
E3 2017: Fortnite is Crowfall for PvE fans - The other day when I made a rare venture out of my E3 coverage den, my slightly younger brother asked, "Hey, did you hear about a game called Fortnite?" Now, my…
Massively Overthinking: Forced socializing in MMORPGs - Massively OP Patron Jackybah has a question for this week's Massively Overthinking that's probably going to kick up some dust. He wonders whether MMO developers recognize and "serve" a particular…
ZeniMax seeks another half billion bucks in Oculus injunction hearing - The Oculus/ZeniMax Media lawsuit still isn't over, all these years after the start: ZeniMax is this week arguing before a Texas district court that Oculus should be forced to remove…
SuperData May 2017: WoW recombinated, Dota 2 in the top 10, and Pokemon Go out - Almost lost in the buzz today was the release of SuperData's rundown of the global digital games market for May. You'll notice immediately that World of Warcraft has once again…
E3 2017: Why MMO players should be paying attention to Elite Dangerous - I sat down with Elite Dangerous Senior Designer Sandy Sammarco again at E3 2017, and while the information I've got in terms of game info may be a bit old hat for…
E3 2017: Hands-on with mobile MMOs Lineage 2 Revolution and Durango - With Pokemon Go trying to avoid explicitly calling itself an MMO, Massively OP once again has room for a top contender in the realm of mobile MMOs. There's just one problem: We've…
Star Wars: The Old Republic explains how the developers listen to community feedback - [AL:TOR]Feedback is important for every MMO, and that includes Star Wars: The Old Republic. But where does feedback come from? If the developers never ask you about your opinion specifically,…
Exclusive: Wizard101 Q&A dev diary on its PvP update and monstrology evolution - [AL:Wiz]Kid-friendly MMORPG Wizard101 is on the cusp of a big update -- in fact, it's already landed on the official test server as of this week. At its heart is PvP: new…
Perfect Ten: MMO grouping advice you shouldn’t bother giving - It's time for a new expansion in Final Fantasy XIV, and that means for me that a lot of people are going to not know how to get through content.…
Dark and Light starts its closed beta test - Fantasy sandbox reboot Dark and Light kicked off its first closed beta test yesterday, but chances are that you are not a part of it. That's because only a relatively small number…
E3 2017: Hands-on with Dauntless shows it’s more than a Monster Hunter clone - Phoenix Labs' not-Monster Hunter monster-hunting game Dauntless is obviously standing in a big shadow after E3 2017. I wasn't yet fully aware of what Monster Hunter World was doing, but I've seen solid games…
Blizzard partners with Twitch for tourney coverage, gives away free Overwatch loot boxes - Two of gaming's forces are partnering up, at least for the next year or so, and players might come out on top of the whole deal. Twitch announced that it…
What’s it like when you stop being a gold farmer in World of Warcraft? - For a very long time, selling gold in World of Warcraft was a path to making money. It was unethical and against the terms of service, but it was still…
E3 2017: Monster Hunter World demo, difficulty, global appeal, and leaks - Monster Hunter World's reveal caught me completely off guard during its E3 2017 reveal. We'd already had a title announced for the Nintendo Switch, and I'd figured that was our usual…
Anthem is the start of a ’10-year journey’ for EA and BioWare - At this point, when a game studio says it has a 10-year plan for its online game, do you believe it? Perhaps unintentionally echoing Bungie just a few years prior, EA’s Patrick…
E3 2017: Pokemon Go’s raiding, gym revamp, badges, and an interview with Niantic - Surprise! Niantic brought Pokemon Go to E3 2017 and invited members of the gaming press outside the sacred halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center to check out the upcoming raid…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 122: This Stormblood’s for you
The Stream Team: Potty humor in ARK Survival Evolved
The Stream Team: The headstart launch of Secret World Legends
The Stream Team: Launching into Master X Master
The Stream Team: Starting summer off with a bang (and giveaway) in Star Trek Online’s Lohlunat festival
The Stream Team: Sizing up EverQuest II’s solo Proving Grounds
The Stream Team: Baby Warden’s first steps in Elder Scrolls Online’s Morrowind
The Stream Team: Starting Season 2 of Guardians of the Galaxy: A Telltale Series
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
How to upgrade your Legendaries in WoW
Know Your Lore: The twisting timelines of WoW’s Chronormu
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.
