Multiple big MMORPGs got major announcement this week: Lord of the Rings Online announced a new Dwarf race, Dungeons and Dragons Online revealed a new Alchemist class and permadeath server, and Star Trek Online took the wraps off the Awakening expansion. And it’s all going on across the stage of August, where World of Warcraft’s WoW Classic is still a much-anticipated star player.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on the ESA right now, as the powerful US video game lobby has come under fire for an E3 data breach that exposed the personal identifying information for over 2000 journalists, exhibitors, investors, and analysts. The ESA claims the breach was the result of a “vulnerability” in its website portal, though that’s apparently bullshit, and it certainly doesn’t help those now being doxxed and considering lawsuits and GDPR-related action.
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
LOTRO announces Stout Axe Dwarves, DDO reveals Alchemist class and permadeath server - Standing Stone Games showed up to Indy's GenCon this week -- and dropped some huge announcements for both Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online. [AL:LOTRO]For LOTRO,…
Star Trek Online Awakening is launching September 10, starring Anthony Rapp - [AL:STO]Star Trek Online fans are having a good week, it seems: PWE and Cryptic just announced Awakening, launching for PC on September 10th. As usual, console players will be waiting…
Another World of Warcraft expansion ‘leak’ surfaces, this one called Shadowlands - 'Tis the season for crazy -- or perhaps not-so-crazy -- World of Warcraft expansion rumors, apparently. Hot on the heels of a recent "leak" of an expansion named Age of…
World of Warcraft’s Patch 8.2.5 includes Goblin and Worgen makeovers, bee mounts, and party sync - When World of Warcraft's Patch 8.2.5 arrives later this year, you may stop doing your Nic Cage impression of "Not the bees!" and instead start to embrace the joy of…
Blizzard was ‘blown away’ by World of Warcraft Classic beta engagement - It might have only lasted a short time, but World of Warcraft Classic's beta test certainly made an impression -- on both the community and Blizzard. In fact, the studio…
Vague Patch Notes: Just stop pre-ordering video games - Look, you've probably heard this before, but it bears repeating now: Don't pre-order that game. Pre-ordering games is a bad idea. And this week, much like when I talked about…
EVE Evolved: What injecting chaos means for EVE Online - The past few weeks have been pretty transformative for EVE Online, with the global communications blackout across null-security space revitalising roaming gang PvP in a way I personally haven't seen…
WoW Factor: Content rollouts and relevance in WoW Classic and live - Part of me was tempted to write this column chiefly about the rather baffling idea that Blizzard was surprised by the number of people engaged in World of Warcraft: Classic.…
NCsoft Q2 2019: Guild Wars 2 may be eyeing a mobile version (again) - Those with long memories might recall that way back in 2010 prior to Guild Wars 2's launch, ArenaNet made a (small) bit of noise about developing a tie-in mobile app…
Perfect Ten: Why people create alts in MMOs - I have alts in Final Fantasy XIV. This is absurd for two reasons. First, the statement makes it clear that I have alternate characters in a game where the whole…
Desert Oasis: A guide to open PvP and grindspot etiquette in the world of Black Desert - Back in my classic Guild Wars days, I was so happy to have the scrimmage system. It was a great way to solve arguments. Basically, players could invite other players…
LOTRO Legendarium: A timeline of Lord of the Rings Online from 1994 to 2019 - When I wrapped up writing my previous LOTRO column on the game's first year of live operation, I felt that I had left this topic unfinished. While the first year…
WoW Classic’s next global stress test is dated for August 8 and 9 - Ever since WoW Classic's closed beta ended a tad early back in July, would-be Vanilla players have been anxious to get back in there. And you'll soon get your chance,…
No Man’s Sky: Beyond arrives on August 14 - If you've been eagerly awaiting the release of No Man's Sky: Beyond, your wait is almost over. The next big update for the game is going live on August 14th,…
Massively Overthinking: Thoughts and predictions on Guild Wars 2’s next big thing - Last week, Guild Wars 2 put an end to the whining about info droughts by promising a big reveal of living story season 5 at a solo event during PAX…
Leyou states it has plans for both Transformers Online and Civilization Online - Remember Leyou? It's the same company that's working on a new Lord of the Rings title in concert with Amazon, you know. Turns out that the Chinese outfit isn't stopping…
Destiny 2 delays its Shadowkeep expansion and F2P New Light into October - Excited over the Solstice of Heroes event in Destiny 2? Hope so, and you'd better get comfy, because Destiny 2's big expansion - and its Steam launch and de facto…
WildStar composer Jeff Kurtenacker asks fans for their soundtrack questions - While WildStar may be gone, its memory still looms large in the minds of many fans, especially when it comes to the game's iconic soundtrack. Composer Jeff Kurtenacker has been…
Legends of Aria’s new bard and vitality regen system sounds an awful lot like Star Wars Galaxies’ - Let me just put it out there: Bards are the best class archetype in all of RPGs, let alone just MMOs, which is why my eyes lit up when Legends…
The Daily Grind: Is crafting fundamental to a proper MMORPG? - There was always something that bothered me about City of Heroes, and it took until the point that the game actually introduced its crafting system for me to realize that…
Skyforge announces Ignition expansion and Firestarter class for September - [AL:Sky]Skyforge is preparing its big summer update, and it's on fire. No, really, the expansion is called Ignition, and it'll be out in September on both PC and console. The…
The Elder Scrolls Online is changing Undaunted Keys, guild trader bidding, and crafting - A number of pursuits in The Elder Scrolls Online are going to be seeing some tweaks in Update 23, the free update to the MMORPG that's riding alongside the Scalebreaker…
Exposé tracks how one dude fudged a whole company and swindled 25 devs over an MMO - MMO players aren't the only people who get scammed by games that sound too good to be true. Kotaku has a piece up this week about a company named Drakore…
The Survivalist Soapbox: Astroneer’s moon landing update is a time-limited online event done right - I could definitely write a Why I Play on Astroneer (and maybe I still will!) because there are so many reasons this game just captivates me and brings me back.…
Black Desert adds new instruments for the Shai and kicks off the Mysteries of Summer event - It's Wednesday, and that makes it patch day for Black Desert's PC version. As promised, Kakao has pushed out the Shai's new talent set that's meant to be the equivalent…
Riders of Icarus changes publishers as Nexon’s contract for the game runs out - Apparently, it has been three years since Riders of Icarus arrived in North America, but apparently that time also represents the end of Nexon's involvement with the title as publisher.…
Alpha MMO battle royale Mavericks has been canceled as its company enters bankruptcy - Mavericks is toast, I'm sorry to report this morning. GIbiz caught a notice posted on the website of the game's company, UK-based Automaton Games, informing readers that a pair of…
New Frontier updates former Wild West Online players on its relationship to Free Reign Entertainment - Ah, those delirious moments when every new set of answers about the state of a game's publisher just leads to a new set of baffled questions. Case in point, New…
Check out how Astellia Online’s gems and loyalty points work in CBT2 - Astellia Online's second closed beta here in the west is underway this week, and there's a big new feature awaiting testers: the cash shop. In a new dev blog up…
Guild Wars 2’s Festival of the Four Winds is live once again, along with the legendary upgrade event - It's patch day for Guild Wars 2 today and the new event is live. "Festival of the Four Winds has returned to Tyria!" ArenaNet says. "Come kick back in the…
Bandai Namco says it has ‘no plans’ to release Blue Protocol in the west ‘at the moment’ - Ever since Bandai Namco announced anime MMO Blue Protocol earlier this July, MMO fans have been champing at the bit for more info as it gathered players across the pond…
Choose My Adventure: Help, the Going Rogue story of City of Heroes has a hold of me - The thing about being a superhero that almost nobody tells you is that there are personal stories involved. Sure, the big picture is what most tend to focus on, and…
Wisdom of Nym: Story beats that I’d like to see explored in Final Fantasy XIV - There's a wide-open space for storytelling in Final Fantasy XIV with the conclusion of the 5.0 MSQ, a lot of different ways that the next installments could go. And hey,…
Fight or Kite: Exploring Crowfall’s banking, newbie, and God’s Reach update - This past week Crowfall patched in update 5.100 (that’s right - we’ve gone from 5.9 to 5.100, as one does), which wiped existing characters and added in a handful of…
EVE Online hints at a ‘chaos era’ and hikes up market fees - It's one thing to try to jar the Jenga tower of a sandbox title, but chaos? That's a word that's been bandied about by some of the folks at EVE…
Tamriel Infinium: Everything we learned from Quakecon 2019’s Elder Scrolls Online panel - [AL:ESO]On Saturday, president of ZeniMax Online Studios Matt Firor and creative director of The Elder Scrolls Online Rich Lambert took the stage at Quakecon 2019 for a panel during which…
QuakeCon 2019: Fallout 76’s private servers and new battle royale map - During the Fallout 76 panel at QuakeCon this weekend, Bethsoft dished on some of the content upcoming for the game. Perhaps most excitingly, the studio says private servers are still…
A 16-year-old kid took Fortnite’s World Cup this weekend, pocketing $3M - You know video games have arrived when esports is being covered on the front page of CNN, right? Such was the case last night, when 16-year-old Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf trounced…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 231: EverQuest and Secret World prognostications
The Stream Team: Playing some Praetoria in City of Heroes
The Stream Team: Securing a summer ship in Star Trek Online
The Stream Team: SWTOR fleet datacron 1, MOP Team 0
The Stream Team: Alien invasion, AdventureQuest 3D-style
The Stream Team: Starting Act 7 in Path of Exile
The Stream Team: A farmer’s life in Boundless
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.
