This year’s virtual MMO Thanksgiving was attended by the likes of Chris Roberts, David Brevik, CliffyB, Jace Hall, and some anonymous Blizzard devs, who all sat down at the table and proceeded to say wild things to keep us entertained during what would otherwise have been a quiet holiday week. Thanks, guys.
It wasn’t entirely quiet, however: We delivered our impressions of Fallout 76, streamed Star Citizen, and prepared ourselves for Black Desert’s FESTA.
Read on to catch up with the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions today as every Sunday in Massively Overpowered’s Week in Review!THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
First impressions of Fallout 76: The confusion that binds all gamers together - When something looks familiar and seems familiar yet is slightly and significantly different, it can really break your stride and cause you to stumble. Going through the first week of…
Black Desert will reveal its 17th class at its ‘FESTA’ event in Seoul next month - [AL:BDO]So, does an MMORPG with a global audience of 10 million deserve its very own fan event? History says yes. And that's exactly what Black Desert is getting next month.…
Vague Patch Notes: Accessibility vs. relevance in MMORPGs - You know that old chestnut about how the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist? The greatest trick Guild Wars 2 ever pulled was…
The Game Archaeologist: Castle Infinity, the MMO that was literally rescued from a dumpster - In the grand history of MMORPGs, kids games seem to have it rougher than most. Developers have had a hard time cracking into that market, what with online payments and…
The Daily Grind: Which MMO NPC do you hate with an undying passion? - Sara Oakheart. Let me tell you about Sara Oakheart. If you haven't ever played Lord of the Rings Online, you wouldn't have a clue, but believe me, you'd end up…
Wargaming’s Total War: Arena set to close next February - Even wars gotta end sometime. SEGA-developed and Wargaming-published Total War: Arena first came on the scene way back in 2015, a free-to-play online strategy game that was hoping to appeal…
Nearly a third of the kids surveyed in the UK Gambling Commission’s study admitted to buying lockboxes - The UK Gambling Commission's Young People & Gambling 2018 report was released this month with disturbing statistics for the role gambling is apparently playing in the lives of British kids,…
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s Blue Mage is balanced right, even if you don’t like that - This extra this week entirely comes from me doing the intellectual equivalent of pouring a mixture of lemon juice and salt directly into an open wound. You see, after enjoying…
The Stream Team: Touring Star Citizen’s alpha 3.3.5 drop - With many pies to make and food to prepare for tomorrow's day of feasting, Massively OP's MJ does the only thing she can -- she takes off for the stars!…
Blizzard sources dish on Warcraft Go, Diablo IV, Diablo Immortal, China, and Activision’s culture shift - Kotaku has a wild article up today ahead of the holiday with input from nearly a dozen anonymous current and former Blizzard employees spilling tea on Diablo, Warcraft, Titan, and...…
World of Warcraft previews Island Expedition changes coming in Tides of Vengeance - Hoist the sails, swab the decks, and all that good stuff, because in the latest preview for World of Warcraft's upcoming Tides of Vengeance update, Blizzard is showing off the…
All the best MMO sales of Black Friday 2018 - Fun fact: I live pretty far from my nearest family, so I don't have to get to go home and partake of the American tradition of stuffing mostly unpalatable food…
No Man’s Sky’s Visions update introduces strange and deadly planets and biomes, new activities, and more - It's been less than a month since the release of No Man's Sky's last major content update, The Abyss, but the folks at Hello Games clearly haven't been resting on…
Hyperspace Beacon: Five things you need to do before SWTOR’s 5.10 update - Update 5.10 for Star Wars: The Old Republic is coming very soon, possibly next week, but more likely the week after. That's not a lot of time to prepare for…
SuperData: Red Dead Redemption 2 and Call of Duty dominate October as Blizzard titles slip - Surprising absolutely no one, Red Dead Redemption 2 killed it (and the horse it rode in on) in October. According to SuperData's digital games revenue report for the month, the…
Jace Hall denies report about H1Z1’s esports league insolvency, view manipulation, and missing money - Over the weekend, eyebrows inched up again over ESPN's report on H1Z1's esports league, which was "suspended indefinitely" following what sounded like major financial difficulties stemming back months. Since then,…
Perfect Ten: How MMOs teach us to be thankful - Every year around this time, I try to produce a Perfect Ten about thankfulness. Those of you who know my writing also know that I don't like repeating myself, and…
Even Blizzard was amused by the URL prankster who forwarded Diablo fans to Path of Exile - One of the fun sideshows going on during the whole BlizzCon Diablo Immortal center-ring fiasco was the dude who bought the playdiablo4.com domain and immediately began cheekily forwarding it on…
Saga of Lucimia’s creative director debates the merits of MMO business models - The debate over MMO business models is constantly ongoing: There are those who swear by monthly subscriptions, those who prefer strictly free-to-play, and those who think the sweet spot lies…
BioWare swears that Anthem is happening in February - Considering that we're staring down winter right now and we haven't seen a great deal of movement on BioWare's Anthem, there is cause for concern in regards to the promised…
Star Trek Online community stands divided over a Reddit protest targeting game issues - The Star Trek Online community is in uproar today after a popular subreddit was taken private by its mods in protest over problems with the game. Here's the admin message…
Activision draws heat over ignoring accessibility requirements as its stock continues tumbling - It's safe to say that Activision Blizzard took a bit of a drubbing after BlizzCon (you could read all about it on your cell phone, which we're sure you have),…
The Daily Grind: Is the movement against LFG just privileging a different type of MMO player? - In the comments of a BlizzCon article a few weeks ago, there was an interesting discussion about content. One commenter argued that it didn't matter whether Blizzard made Mythic+ dungeoning…
Fallout 76: Today’s bugfixing patch plus the guy who trashed a Gamestop over the game - While today's Fallout 76 patch isn't going to magically make the multiplayer magic work in this game, it should take a stride or two forward in eliminating some of the…
Diablo’s David Brevik lambastes Blizzard over elimination of employee profit sharing - With the Diablo franchise taking heat from players over its mobile ambitions, Diablo II creator David Brevik decided to add more fuel to the fire. On his wife's recent Path of Exile…
Wisdom of Nym: The first reactions to Final Fantasy XIV’s fan festival - Well, gosh. That was sure a lot of news for Final Fantasy XIV over a weekend, huh? Expected news, sure, but therein lie some of my positive feelings, as the big announcement…
Cliff Bleszinski states he’s never making another game - If you had been hoping to see what Cliff Bleszinski (Cliffy B to those who don't like typing out surnames) was going to do next in the game industry, the…
Star Citizen’s Chris Roberts: ‘No one is attempting to do what we are doing’ - As we noted on Saturday, Star Citizen hit $200 million in crowdfunding - and that prompted a letter from the chairman penned by Chris Roberts himself, who says "the amount…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 197: Crawl out through the fallout
The Stream Team: Touring Star Citizen’s alpha 3.3.5 drop
The Stream Team: Free flying in Star Citizen
The Stream Team: ARK Extinction on ice
The Stream Team: Experience Black Friday without leaving home in Realm Royale
The Stream Team: A heaping helping of AdventureQuest 3D for Thanksgiving
The Stream Team: Sharing the Paladins HRX loot
The Stream Team: Discussing Path of Exile’s upcoming Betrayal
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
• Pilgrim’s Bounty isn’t WoW’s most exciting holiday, but it’s a great time to farm rep
• If you could add one more spec to your favorite WoW class, what would it look like?
• Jaina Proudmoore will troll your raid when you cast Bloodlust
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 bits of news we didn’t cover anywhere else.
