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 2018!
July was a month of MMORPG launches, as Riders of Icarus, Albion Online, and Gigantic formally launched; Dark and Light hit early access; and other MMOs, including SWTOR, Guild Wars 2, and Neverwinter, rolled out major updates.
But it was also a period of delays, as Star Citizen collected thousands of comments over its repeated delays of its 3.0 alpha and both ARK: Survival Evolved and Lord of the Rings Online’s Mordor rescheduled launches for August. We also said farewell to Firefall after its long limbo, and don’t forget the Pokemon Go live event trainwreck!
Read on for the whole list!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF JULY 2017
MMORPG founding father Richard Bartle establishes new unplayer matrix
Warframe posts drop rates for all its loot, hoping to ‘start a trend’
Crowfall says its biggest parcels are crazy expensive because they’re meant for guilds
With the Lord of the Rings lawsuit settled, LOTRO moves on with sunflowers and Weatherstock IX
ARK Survival Evolved has doubled in price ahead of August 8 launch
League of Legends increases prices in the UK over Brexit currency woes
Firefall will officially sunset tomorrow
Take a peek at Star Citizen’s procedural planets and moons
Marvel Heroes is now ‘Omega’ on Steam for PC players (without Omega content)
TennoCon 2017: Warframe’s Plains of Eidolon is the first step toward a true MMORPG
Make My MMO: Star Citizen’s alpha 3.0 has been delayed again (July 9, 2017)
Dean Hall calls the pre-launch price hike for ARK: Survival Evolved ‘outrageous’
Here’s how far indie MMORPG Project Gorgon has come in two years
Riders of Icarus has officially launched today; check out the launch trailer
‘Augmentgate’ rocks the Skyforge community
Star Wars: The Old Republic’s 5.3 is live today with Sisters of Carnage, class updates, and new housing
Black Desert ups the in-game prices on cash shop items in the auction market
Oculus Rift price drops to $400
Monetization expert: MMOs are dying because of clueless design, not insufficient demand
Shroud of the Avatar’s Portalarium transitions into publishing, may consider partnerships
Secret World Legends may be punishing groups for farming XP
Pantheon’s Brad McQuaid on ‘vertical interdependence,’ WoW killers, and attracting nontraditional MMO players
EVE Online is killing off the last remnants of walking in stations
Secret World Legends: ‘We plan to continue producing new story content for years to come’
RuneScape and Old School RuneScape are adding cross-platform mobile play
Gamers raise new questions about Wild West Online’s credentials and connections
SDCC 2017: Pantheon invites you to ‘Bring Friends’ in its new trailer
Albion Online raised almost $10M, officially launches today
Even mainstream sites are starting to notice Final Fantasy XIV’s housing problems
PAX West 2017: Ashes of Creation’s PvP demo trailer
MMORPG veteran Richard Garriott decries ‘space tourist’ label
Star Citizen followers react to server capacity, star system count news
Raph Koster would put action combat in Star Wars Galaxies if made today
‘Strategic hero shooter’ Gigantic officially launches on PC and Xbox One
Dark and Light has officially launched into early access
Pokemon Go Fest in Chicago is pretty much a trainwreck
World of Warcraft’s Burning Crusade emulator shut down by Blizzard cease-and-desist
Star Citizen’s latest concept ship isn’t a ship, and it’s pushed the game to $155M funding
Pokemon Go organizers apologize for live event debacle, saying they’re ‘horrified with the results’
Neverwinter launches Tomb of Annihilation today
Chris Roberts has ‘no intention of reducing the size of the Star Citizen universe’
Mike O’Brien announces Mike Zadorojny as lead designer for the second Guild Wars 2 expansion
ArcheAge server merges will impact 12 realms
Tencent buys into Frontier, recruits Batman to give its MOBA western appeal
Star Citizen’s 3.0 alpha appears to have been delayed yet again
Make My MMO: Valiance Online’s founder alpha has begun (July 29, 2017)
Star Citizen addresses its latest delay, studio is ‘working feverishly’ on 3.0
ARK: Survival Evolved’s launch has been delayed another three weeks
MMO researcher Nick Yee is ‘dispeling myths about female gamers’
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF JULY 2017
LOTRO Legendarium: Simply walking into Mordor
The Daily Grind: If you could reboot any currently operating MMO, which one would you pick?
Guild Chat: The fairest way to govern guilds
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood’s story and the lack of MacGuffins
Perfect Ten: MMOs in limbo
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online’s mid-term report card
EverQuesting: Falling for EverQuest II’s new progression server, Fallen Gate
Pokemon Go’s first anniversary report card
The Daily Grind: How would you define an MMO gankbox?
Massively Overthinking: MMO ragequitting
How I got married through World of Warcraft
The Game Archaeologist: Where are all of the open-source MMOs?
EVE Evolved: Does EVE Online need more conflict-drivers?
Wisdom of Nym: Diving into Omega in Final Fantasy XIV
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2’s living world season 3 in review
The Daily Grind: What MMORPG would do better with a different business model?
Perfect Ten: EverQuest’s EverExpanding franchise
Hyperspace Beacon: Star Wars The Old Republic’s mid-term report card
Choose My Adventure: Starting out fresh in DC Universe Online
The Survivalist: Osiris New Dawn is doing early access right even amid disappointments
LOTRO Legendarium: Mordor’s pre-order is flat-out ridiculous
Massively Overthinking: Consumer protections in the MMORPG industry
How to find the right MMORPG as a couple
Guild Chat: What to do when your MMO guild is close to imploding
Wisdom of Nym: The numbers game in Final Fantasy XIV
Hyperspace Beacon: The sexual harassment problem in SWTOR
Perfect Ten: 10 little things I love about Final Fantasy XIV
Checking out RIFT 4.2: Celestial Storm
Choose My Adventure: Two approaches to whining about DC Universe Online
Massively Overthinking: Building a better MMORPG economy
No, exploitative gacha mechanics are not a good idea for western devs
MMO Burnout: Nintendo’s ARMS and the Switch in public and private
The Game Archaeologist: EverQuest II East
EVE Evolved: The Agency could become a great daily reward system in EVE Online
The Soapbox: The disastrous Pokemon Go Fest was just Niantic being Niantic, and that has to stop
The Daily Grind: When was the golden age of MMOs, or has it happened yet?
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2 One Path Ends is live, plus first impressions of Siren’s Landing
Perfect Ten: Observations on Secret World Legends’ relaunch
Tamriel Infinium: The problem with Elder Scrolls Online’s Morrowind plot is the twist
The Soapbox: Getting to the heart of toxicity in MMOs
Massively Overthinking: How should MMOs make money in a world without lockboxes?
First Impressions: Splatoon 2 is a lobby shooter for socializers
Guild Chat: Damage control after MMO guildmate poaching
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV issues that don’t exist yet… but will
ALL 2017 MONTH-IN-REVIEW POSTS TO-DATE
MMO Year in Review: Landmark is wiped off the map (January 2017)
MMO Year in Review: A home of your own in Elder Scrolls Online’s Tamriel (February 2017)
MMO Year in Review: City of Heroes necromancy in Master X Master (March 2017)
MMO Year in Review: Ship of Heroes abandons Kickstarter (April 2017)
MMO Year in Review: Ashes of Creation vs. Wild West Online (May 2017)
MMO Year in Review: Morrowind, Stormblood, and Secret World Legends (June 2017)
MMO Year in Review: July was the high mark of the year for MMORPGs (July 2017)
MMO Year in Review: Johnny Depp + Secret World = profit? (August 2017)
MMO Year in Review: Expansion 2 for Guild Wars 2 (September 2017)
MMO Year in Review: Lockboxes, CCP, and Destiny 2 (October 2017)
MMO Year in Review: WoW Classic and the doom of Marvel Heroes (November 2017)
MMO Year in Review: Star Citizen’s alpha 3.0 finally arrives (December 2017)
