World of Warcraft has never been one to just let a Final Fantasy XIV expansion just roll by and take all its bored players, which is why we saw an epic showdown this week between Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers’ expansion headstart and the release of World of Warcraft’s Rise of Azshara update. You, obviously, can be the judge of which one is winning in your own household.
And here on MassivelyOP, we said farewell to Atlas Reactor, welcomed the Black Desert Shai and Guild Wars 2 Dragon Bash, side-eyed TUG, ran the numbers on Elder Scrolls Online, and got our hands on Astellia Online.
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
Final Fantasy XIV’s Shadowbringers headstart has officially begun - When our office has gone quiet because half the staff got up at 5 a.m. to sit at their computers, there's usually only one explanation: Something big has launched. That…
World of Warcraft’s Rise of Azshara is live today – check out the cinematic - Today's the day World of Warcraft fans have been waiting for ever since the announcements and reveals last BlizzCon: Patch 8.2, Rise of Azshara, is officially rolling out to the…
First impressions: Astellia is acceptable – not astonishing, but certainly not atrocious - There was a certain something that remotely intrigued me about Astellia Online before we reached the closed beta phase, so like any sensible human being who has done this dance,…
WoW Factor: Three thoughts on the latest WoW Classic stress test - It's hard to find a whole lot to say about World of Warcraft: Classic at this point. Not in a bad sense, mind you; it's just that after my initial…
Tamriel Infinium: Getting the most out of your Elder Scrolls Online box and sub in 2019 - One of the most confusing things about any game that chooses a hybrid business model is figuring out what you need to buy in order to play the game or…
Black Desert’s new Shai class (and her donkey!) has officially launched today - [AL:BDO]If you rolled a Shai during her preview week in Black Desert, then good news for you today: You can actually play her now, as she's just gone live as…
Farewell, Atlas Reactor: Gamigo has officially sunsetted the first of its Trion MMOs - Just two and and half years after its official launch, Atlas Reactor has officially sunsetted. After buying up Trion's assets and games last year, Gamigo repeatedly promised to support them,…
The MMOs of the Steam Summer 2019 Sale - Valve's summer Steam sale is once again upon us, this year with a cute racing theme and minigame for folks into that. Here's what's notable in the pile this year…
Flameseeker Chronicles: A guide to Guild Wars 2’s revivified Dragon Bash - Dragon Bash is an event that first ran in Guild Wars 2 in 2013, less than a year after the game launched. It was originally supposed to celebrate Tyria’s defiance…
Star Trek Online rescinds plan to use controversial audio emote in summer festival - A brief kerfuffle over an emote planned for Star Trek Online's Risian Lohlunat Festival has already come to an end. As players on Reddit pointed out, PWE and Cryptic had…
Lawful Neutral: TUG’s Nerd Kingdom is the Real Slim Shady - I hate being disappointed. I doubt I'm alone. In general, I try to temper my expectations and accept negative outcomes just as much as positive outcomes. But it doesn't always…
World of Warcraft drives six-month subs with a feathered dragon - The Sylverian Dreamer can show you the world -- shining, shimmering splendor! And it can be all yours for the low, low cost of $77.94. With less than two months…
The Daily Grind: Do you want to see WoW’s factions dissolved? - World of Warcraft's latest cinematic has a lot of WoW fans in a frenzy right now because it's dropping some big hints about a truce between the Horde and Alliance.…
LOTRO Legendarium: Which Lore-master pet should you use? - Ever since the first year of Lord of the Rings Online's operation, I've always been head-over-heels for the Lore-master class. Everything about it seemed to appeal to me: dual wielding…
MMO Cartographer: Visiting Runes of Magic for its 10th anniversary - Runes of Magic turned 10 earlier this year, and when I saw a 10-year-old screenshot come up in my Facebook memories, I felt as if the stars were aligning for…
Massively Overthinking: Always be achievin’ (in MMOs) - A while back, my husband and I were idly chatting about MMO achievements. Neither one of us is much of an achievement hunter, or more specifically, we tend to be…
The Division 2 previews sweeping skill adjustments as it works on making loot more satisfying - Big changes are coming to The Division 2's loot and skill systems beginning with the upcoming Title Update 5, the devs revealed in yesterday's State of the Game stream. For…
Torchlight Frontiers plans pet overhaul in July 16’s Beast Buddies update - It will never stop feeling weird to be reporting on genuine content updates for non-indie-studio MMOs in alpha, but here we are as PWE and Echtra Games have just announced…
The Survivalist: Conan Exile’s underwater dungeon rises above expectations - A dungeon is a dungeon, right? And adding a single dungeon to a game is not really a big deal. In most cases, that would be right. Not with Conan…
Final Fantasy XIV is apparently getting a live-action television series - Well, this is unexpected. It looks like Final Fantasy XIV is going to be coming to the small screen with the announcement of a new television series courtesy of Hivemind…
Black Desert localization typo shortchanges guilds by 90% of promised rewards - Let it never be said that video game localization isn't a big deal worth spending money on, as an error in Black Desert's event translation has apparently let to botched…
ArcheAge’s Echoes of Hiram is live with an all-new zone – check out the trailer - [AL:Arche]As promised, Echoes of Hiram has officially launched for the Gamigo-led version of ArcheAge here in the west. The Hiram patch series has been a lengthy one, beginning with Relics…
Video essay attempts to identify how MMOs lost their way - Is the MMO genre dead, or has it simply lost its way? In a recent video essay, YouTuber TheHiveLeader makes the argument for the latter. He points out that it's…
The cinematic from the latest bit of World of Warcraft’s War Campaign has some definite hints about the future - We understand that some people would prefer not to be spoiled about the newest developments in World of Warcraft, especially as the latest patch hasn't been out very long and…
EVE Online controversy breaks out over new starter pack, CCP addresses the community - EVE Online has a long and complicated history when it comes to the debate surrounding microtransactions. The playerbase literally revolted against developer CCP Games in 2011's infamous Monoclegate scandal when…
Wandering Wraeclast: The wonderful world of Path of Exile’s Hideout housing - When I first started playing Path of Exile, I never envisioned that housing would become available. And not just housing, but good housing with plenty of room for creativity! No,…
Perfect Ten: The MMORPGs boasting the most expansions - In 2018 alone, the MMORPG industry saw no less than 14 major expansions release for various titles, and in 2019 we've had at least nine packs launch or announced for…
Nexon’s stock dips following rumors that its massive buyout has been canceled - After many months of speculation on who exactly would be allowed to bid on Nexon by buying out its founding family's controlling stake in the company (at one point said…
The Daily Grind: What should Funcom do with Secret World? - Whenever I think about Funcom and Secret World, my blood pressure goes up. Here we have not just one of the most unique MMOs ever but one of the most…
Choose My Adventure: Getting to the group stuff in TERA - My final week in TERA saw me hitting the ground running, looking to utilize whatever means I could to chow through the levels, get to some group action, and just…
Astellia’s first closed beta has officially begun today – here’s the trailer - As promised, Astellia Online's initial closed beta test has begun as of this morning. "Closed beta testers will be providing the studio with invaluable data across a number of features…
Not So Massively: Blizzard cancelled a(nother) game, and I couldn’t be happier - Recently news broke that Blizzard had cancelled an unannounced game that had been in development for several years. This was followed closely by some very juicy (if unconfirmed) rumors about…
Champions Online announces new ‘serialized story’ content - Back in early June, a certain nameless MOP author wrote a column that speculated on why Champions Online didn't do better -- and what Cryptic could do to reverse the…
Rumor: Diablo 4 and a new Overwatch game are seemingly confirmed by Blizzard Versailles employees - We've had persistent rumors about development on Diablo 4 for a long time now, thanks to Blizzard job postings and teases and leaks. And now, a French newspaper might have…
Massively on the Go: First Impressions of Harry Potter Wizards Unite - I know I've given Niantic hell when it comes on iterating on its Ingress formula, especially in terms of Pokemon Go, but Harry Potter: Wizards Unite shows that someone over there -…
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers early access survival guide - It's the final countdown, people. Final Fantasy XIV will throw wide the gates early in the morning on Friday, and we'll all be off to the First when that happens.…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 226: On the cusp of FFXIV’s Shadowbringers
Battle Bards Episode 147: Continent of the Ninth Seal
The Stream Team: Say hello to Black Desert’s Shai
The Stream Team: Exploring PixARK by air
The Stream Team: Wrapping up Warframe’s The War Within
The Stream Team: Still celebrating Lineage II’s 15th birthday
The Stream Team: Celebrating the would-be 16th anniversary of Star Wars Galaxies
The Stream Team: A Secret World Legends anniversary, take two
The Stream Team: A first look at Astellia’s closed beta
The Stream Team: Searching the galaxy for more SWTOR datacrons
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.
