Roadmaps! Getcher roadmaps! Both LOTRO and SWTOR released gameplans for the rest of the year this week; LOTRO has a class revamp, new regions, and a level cap bump to 120 on deck, while SWTOR aims to tackle some faction-blending and go all-out on PvP fixes.
Meanwhile, we got hands-on with State of Decay 2, Worlds Adrift hit early access, Boss Key shuttered, Pantheon revealed a trio of classes, and No Man’s Sky announced multiplayer for real this time.
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Bless outlines its new box price and sub plan, which it does not want you to call a sub - Bless Online's media event and pricing reveal last week may not have gone entirely to plan. You'll recall that Neowiz announced at the time that it'd be charging $40 for…
First impressions of State of Decay 2: Frolicking fun with friends and zombies - State of Decay 2 is out, and I know, I know, it's not an MMO, but it does have online multiplayer in a shared world, as long as someone's hosting.…
Hyperspace Beacon: The SWTOR Summer roadmap might get you back into PvP - [AL:TOR]Star Wars: The Old Republic producer Keith Kanneg just dropped the next roadmap earlier today, outlining the features upcoming before September and a little bit beyond. Although he didn't give much detail…
Returning to Conan Exiles: Praise for Funcom’s progress on PvE and PvP - As some of you may remember, I wasn't terribly impressed with Conan Exiles when it first went into Early Access last year. It wasn't exactly that the game was rough, but just…
The Game Archaeologist: Warhammer Online - When it comes to notable years in the MMORPG genre's history, 2008 stands out as one of the most significant. World of Warcraft's debut onto the scene in 2004 caused…
Worlds Adrift launches on Steam early access while overseen by actual airship - Floating up out of the drydock of closed beta, Worlds Adrift launched into the bright blue skies of early access today. The airship sandbox drummed up hype for the release…
Massively Overthinking: On slavery mechanics in MMOs - Polygon recently had an interview with Conan Exiles creative director Joel Bylos focused on the game's slavery mechanics, a "feature" I had entirely forgotten about, probably because the game calls…
World of Warcraft’s 5M gold dinosaur mount is 5M gold worth of awesome - Forget hulking wooly mammoths, swooping dragons, and motorcycle sidecars: The most desirable World of Warcraft mount yet is coming in Battle for Azeroth -- and it has a mighty hefty…
Ascent: Infinite Realm previews the Black Hand - Let's drop the TLDR version of Ascent: Infinite Realm's backstory here to make sure we're all on the same page. There's lots of war on the planet, one faction takes…
No Man’s Sky is really truly getting ‘full’ multiplayer in July - MMO players have nice long memories, so I'm sure you'll recall that way back in 2016, No Man's Sky ticked everyone off and even was investigated for deceptive marketing practices, including…
Daybreak promises a patch for Just Survive – but it’s also ending lockbox sales - When Daybreak's Columbus Nova fiasco and layoffs were hitting last month, most of the company's MMORPGs resurfaced without missing a beat, reassuring their playerbases that the patches would continue and…
Examining why Fortnite is so incredibly popular - For those on the outside looking in at the insanely popular Fortnite phenomenon over the past year, the question invariably rises: What makes this game so massively successful, especially considering…
Skull and Bones delayed, The Division 2 to arrive in the next year - With a strong fiscal year under its belt, Ubisoft's future looks bright indeed. The studio posted its earnings report this week, stating that it made $2.04 billion in revenue and…
Choose My Adventure: Starting fresh-ish in Final Fantasy XI - This is actually a Choose My Adventure that I was somewhat reluctant to do for a long time, simply because... well, in some ways, it goes against the entire spirit…
Trove’s exploration-centric Geode expansion is launching June 26 - [AL:Trove]Remember last week when Trion Worlds announced that its popular voxelbox Trove is getting a battle royale mode called Bomber Royale? The studio is on a roll because now it's announced…
Chaos Theory: A changing of the guard in the Secret World Legends - [AL:SWL]As a fan of the wonderful world that Secret World brought us, do you cringe or grin with excitement when Secret World Legends news pops up? Do you waffle between…
Pantheon reveals its Ranger, Rogue, and Monk classes - This month's Pantheon newsletter is a doozy for folks eagerly awaiting the details of the game's classes. Visionary Realms has revealed three: the sneaky Rogue along with the versatile Ranger toon,…
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth’s flight requirements listed, Kul Tiran Druid acquatic forms discovered - Enjoy your friendly skies now, flyboys and flygirls, because World of Warcraft is prepared to ground you once again in its next expansion. And while everyone knew that we'd have…
DC Universe Online is celebrating 80 years of Superman… with the Death of Superman - [AL:DCUO]For 80 years, everyone has enjoyed Superman. Everyone other than balding, transparently evil corporate overlords, anyhow. DC Universe Online players have enjoyed him in a more active role, though, so…
Blade and Soul promises a new class, engine upgrade, and new raids - [AL:BaS]Feeling like your Blade and Soul character has hit a plateau in his or her development? Then it's probably time to graduate to the next level, thanks to an upcoming…
MMORPG sandbox Albion Online has officially launched on Steam with big discounts - If it seems as if we've been covering Albion Online for a long time, that's because it's true. In fact, the game officially launched almost a year ago - you'll…
Lord of the Rings Online’s 2018 roadmap includes a huge northern expansion and seasonal instances - [AL:LOTRO]Don't call it a full-fledged expansion, but Lord of the Rings Online's next content update may be nearing that level of content and focus. Standing Stone Games Executive Producer Rob Ciccolini…
It’s been three weeks since Hand of the Gods players have had any news from Hi-Rez - Stretch your mind back to February 20th, when Hi-Rez's SMITE-infused free-to-play online card game Hand of the Gods formally launched. The studio appeared to be actively supporting the game back…
Perfect Ten: How MMOs can become more accessible - Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I was remarkably reluctant to enter into the field of MMORPGs despite being a perfect candidate (a gaming geek who loved fantasy…
Guild Wars 2 game director talks about the free market and lootboxes - [AL:GW2]Convenience and cosmetics. These are the foundational pillars of Guild Wars 2's microtransactions, and back at GDC earlier this year, Game Director Crystin Cox opened up about how ArenaNet monetized…
Elite Dangerous floats sweeping changes to make its Powerplay mode fully open PvP - Elite Dangerous is considering revamping its Powerplay mode, and it's not going to make everyone happy, especially solo players. Powerplay, you'll recall, is sort of a factional territorial war in…
Boss Key shutters after Radical Heights, LawBreakers fizzle - Boss Key is closing down following the struggles of LawBreakers and Radical Heights, though the latter will apparently remain playable for now. Cliff Bleszinski broke the news on Twitter. https://twitter.com/therealcliffyb/status/996092708971274245…
EVE Evolved: Getting new players to stick with EVE Online - [AL:EVE]EVE Online has the odd distinction of being one of the most impenetrable MMOs on the market today and yet also one of the stickiest. Few new players make it…
The Daily Grind: Is it possible for an MMORPG to offer an optional sub that isn’t pay-to-win? - Last week, in the comments under the Bless optional subscription brouhaha article, I made an offhand comment that apparently got MOP commenter Sally's gears grinding. I was trying to sort…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 170: Mild West Online
The Stream Team: Returning to Radical heights before it ends
The Stream Team: Welcome to ARK’s sheepball!
The Stream Team: Diving into the Death of Superman, part 1
The Stream Team: A rush on gold in Wild West Online
The Stream Team: Gabbing all about Guild Wars 2
The Stream Team: AQ3D’s hairy situation
The Stream Team: Out of the vault in SWTOR’s Chapter VII
The Stream Team: Fun in Secret World Legends’ Favoured area
The Stream Team: Skydiving back into Worlds Adrift
The Stream Team: Building a Conan Exiles treehouse
The Stream Team: Returning to Chronicle: RuneScape Legends
The Stream Team: Scoring a snazzy Star Trek Online duty officer
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 headed to Blizzard Battle.net this fall
Battle for Azeroth beta: The Alliance has stolen the Horde’s water
Yes, Hunters, you may slay your enemies with magical unicorns in Battle for Azeroth
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.
