December’s many article roundups and awards always remind us that it’s hard to remember what happened last month, let alone what happened way back at the beginning, so this year (as in 2015Â and 2016), we decided to poke through our MMO coverage, month by month, to hit the highlights and frame our journey before we launch into 2018.
If you were still reeling from the devastating loss of EverQuest Next in 2016, the announcement in January of this year that Landmark was being kicked the curb too was salt in the wound. In fact, the beginning of 2017 was a dark spot for MMOs, with Firefall in limbo, Marvel Heroes rolling out an unwelcome patch, The Repopulation being sold to the company that almost snuffed it out, and the Asheron’s Call series on the chopping block. Even Nostalrius had regrets! We did, however, see the launch of Conan Exiles and get our first whisper of Elder Scrolls Online’s Morrowind.
Read on for the whole list from January of this past year.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF JANUARY 2017
Why and how Warhammer Online failed
Gamers resurrect LEGO Universe as Darkflame Universe with January alpha
Rumor: Moonlight Blade is heading for the west
Video game voice actor strike continues, union claims it could aid developers
Watch the recording of the Tolkien Professor’s inaugural LOTRO lecture
New Nostalrius PvP server goes live this weekend
Rumor: Elder Scrolls Online players datamine map of Morrowind’s Vvardenfell, hint at DLC
Landmark is shutting down on February 21
Firefall: The dead game that won’t die
Dave Georgeson offers players encouragement on Landmark shutdown
2001’s Battleground Europe plans Steam debut this summer
The New York Times declares it’s ‘time for a reality check for virtual reality’
The struggles and successes of SWTOR
MMOs Chronicles of Elyria, Dual Universe, and AQ3D were among top crowdfunded games of 2016
Tibia celebrates its 20th birthday
Standing Stone on LOTRO’s 10th anniversary, Mordor expansion, and studio move
Check out one of the oldest Asheron’s Call players… in all senses of the word
The $2B ZeniMax Oculus Rift trial begins
Recapping Crowfall’s equity investment Q&A
Ashes of Creation unloads 25-minute Q&A video
HeroWarz plans a year-long shutdown
The Repopulation will relaunch in Q1 2017, now owned by Idea Fabrik
Nostalrius has decided handing its WoW emu code to Elysium wasn’t such a good idea after all
Pathfinder Online in talks with anonymous ‘game agency’ for further development
The Repopulation’s new owners say pay-to-win is off the table
Asheron’s Call player preserves 50 towns in videos
Atlas Reactor launches its fully free-to-play patch with a new freelancer
Black Desert introduces the family fame system with today’s patch
Watch EVE Online’s dev history, in a mesmerizing timelapse video
Blizzard defeats Bossland bot-maker in German supreme court ruling
Wizards of the Coast forms new digital games studio led by Jeffrey Steefel
Marvel Heroes: ‘Biggest update ever’ is underway this afternoon
Pokémon Go made $950 million in 2016, but players aren’t walking as much
SWTOR launches 5.1 Defend the Throne with new trailer
Daybreak: ‘We have not given up’ on H1Z1’s console launch
MMORPG developers, GDC organizers speak out against US ‘Muslim ban’
Conan Exiles has formally launched early access with mixed reviews and new trailer
Elder Scrolls Online announces full-fledged Morrowind expansion for June 6
Massively OP comment system switchover FAQ
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF JANUARY 2017
ALL 2017 MONTH-IN-REVIEW POSTS TO-DATE
I just can’t forgive Daybreak, maybe someday, but not any time soon.
I enjoyed Landmark despite it still feeling like very early access right up to the end. It really could have been a great launch point for EQN.
And of course EQN being killed was depressing. I’m actually glad I had art of my planned characters made even if I can’t play them.
Eqn and landmark was the hope for mmorpgs. Giving means for players to create content, plus an amazing game world.
I hope blizzard or amazon has picked up on those ideas… Those concepts are next level concepts IMO.
*sobs quietly* Landmark was very special and I will never forget my time in game and a really wonderful community <3
My last memory of Landmark , the last few seconds before sunset :*(
“reeling from the devastating loss of EverQuest Next in 2016”
I had my hopes pinned on that as much as anybody, but when the company itself says it sucks it might be time to let go. And when I heard that every fan fest presentation was faked up, well… there was never anything there to lose really.
Meanwhile Landmark is a lesson in early access. When you let people in early and charge them money, the transition from there to launch ceases to be noticeable. When it went live there was nobody waiting to get in. If you were interested, you’d already played.
We’re going to see this over and over going forward with early access games failing to make any splash when they “launch” because they’ve effectively been live for years in some cases.
God I really liked Landmark. Losing Next was a blow — it really felt like they were doing something special.