Guild Wars 2 stole the show this week by dropping a mostly welcome update with new capes, a dynamic HUD, and quality-of-life goodies for multiple classes, especially Engineers and Elementalists. But we also saw Gamigo’s latest attempt at ArcheAge Unchained’s ArchePass (it’s disabled again, though, now), the release of Legends of Aria’s free-to-play New Dawn update, the settlement of Riot’s sexual discrimination lawsuit, and Star Citizen’s latest pixelship sale, which just so happens to be an epic spacemall.
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
Guild Wars 2’s skill balancing update is live with weapon swap, dynamic HUD, and… capes - [AL:GW2]The latest Guild Wars 2 patch is officially upon us. As we noted yesterday, players players can expect multiple quality-of-life tweaks to specific skills in this balance-oriented update, including revive…
Gamigo 3Q 2019 revenues are up thanks to ArcheAge Unchained and Trion acquisition - We're already in Q4 as far as the fiscal calendar goes, but it's never too late to peek back at the quarter passed, which is what Gamigo has done this…
Fight or Kite: Archeage Unchained’s leveling PvP is a test of resolve and avoidance - Welcome back everyone! For those of us in the US, the Monday after our Thanksgiving holiday can be a brutal one. Sleeping in (getting yelled at for sleeping in), overeating,…
BBC tech program Click promises investigation into Star Citizen’s delays - No matter what sorts of progress the alpha builds of Star Citizen make, there's always going to be a question of when the game will actually be considered fully complete,…
Star Citizen’s $1700 Kraken Privateer mobile space mall drives fundraising past $250M - Remember during our Star Citizen interview when we went wink-wink about a commerce-based announcement? That announcement has been fully realized with the Kraken Privateer. While the Kraken light carrier is…
LOTRO Legendarium: Second breakfasts and the importance of food - Here's an esoteric tidbit for you today: Way back in 2010 when I took over the Lord of the Rings Online column at old Massively, I very much wanted to…
Warframe of Mind: First impressions of Railjack (plus our guide to building your own) - When Digital Extremes first teased Codename: Railjack back at TennoCon 2018, it was exciting to say the least. Fly through space itself in Warframe?! Oh yes! Then as we got…
Legends of Aria ran into major issues with its New Dawn patch, but it’s up now - Legends of Aria New Dawn update was meant to release yesterday, but you might have noticed that it didn't quite happen to plan. Last night and this morning, Citadel's Twitter confirmed…
Vague Patch Notes: Why do MMOs have randomness? - If there's one concept that is nearly universally reviled among MMO players, it's randomness. Yes, pretty much everywhere. You could make a little fairy that flies around randomly and dispenses…
Riot Games opens Riot Forge to publish ‘bespoke’ League of Legends IP games - If you watched Riot Games' presentation of its upcoming titles this past fall and wondered why it wasn't branching out into every genre you wanted, well, now you can do…
Daybreak was working on a Marvel MMORPG until last year - If there are two constant news stories about Daybreak Game Company that we handle, it's that the studio keeps going through rounds of layoffs and that it keeps promising that…
Massively Overthinking: The best and worst MMO developer quotes of 2019 - It's long-since become a multi-year and fun tradition on Massively OP to do an end-of-year recap of the best and worst MMO dev quotes of the year - both the…
Pantheon’s Visionary Realms and Brad McQuaid’s family are sponsoring a design scholarship in his memory - Given that Visionary Realms has already made clear its commitment to continuing development of Pantheon in the wake of studio head Brad McQuaid's untimely death, you probably shouldn't be too…
Crowfall’s J. Todd Coleman looks back at past progress and ahead to 2020 milestones - As we close out 2019, we all tend to get the urge to look back at past accomplishments and feel proud, even if they are small. Crowfall has certainly made…
The Elder Scrolls Online is announcing its next major chapter in January - The time-honored announcement of a future announcement is here now for The Elder Scrolls Online, as the developers have announced that the game's next major chapter will be announced on January 16th,…
WoW Factor: A history of itemization in World of Warcraft - Huh. You know, I really thought I'd written about the whole Corruption system in World of Warcraft's upcoming 8.3 before now in a format more substantial than a newspost? Apparently I…
ArcheAge Unchained’s ArchePass is back as XLGAMES reveals the next mega patch [Update: Aaaaaand it’s gone again] - You know what I would love to not have to type anymore? The word "ArchePass." The loyalty system that launched with ArcheAge's Unchained version earlier this fall has been a…
Conan Exiles has officially launched HORSIES with today’s free update and Riders of Hyboria DLC - It's mount day in Conan Exiles, folks! Look, every game needs mounts. This is known. This is a good day. It's an even better day because these mounts do things…
Guild Wars 2 players are pretty bummed about this week’s fall damage trait nerf - When ArenaNet dropped Guild Wars 2's skill balancing update earlier this week, one change went a bit overlooked by a lot of observers: the tweaks to fall damage. Even to…
Desert Oasis: A critique of Black Desert’s upcoming Tamer succession - Well, it looks like successions are finally here. This month's going to be a pretty big month for Black Desert's western audience with the mobile version coming out on the…
US Congressman uses campaign funds for Steam games, man allegedly uses PS4 to sell cocaine - I'm not one to provide a counterpoint to the delight that is Massively Uplifting, but there are also times when video gaming news gets freaking weird, you guys. In this…
Perfect Ten: The biggest MMO surprises of 2019 - After 10 years of covering MMORPG news, I can assure you that I am still fired up to keep doing this. One of the reasons for this is that our…
Star Trek Online makes Phoenix Packs permanent while removing a daily free pack - The biggest problem you can get with exchanges between real-money currencies and in-game currencies in MMOs is when one is far more valuable than the other. Star Trek Online is tweaking…
Blizzard promises ‘deep and rewarding’ itemization in Diablo IV - When you dive through the gates of Hell once more for Diablo IV, you are not going to find the same-old itemization system that you encountered in previous games. In…
The Daily Grind: Do you ever pick a human skin tone other than your own in MMOs? - If we may tread lightly around the topic of race this morning, I'd like to ask an honest question to elicit honest answers. Assuming that you pick a humanoid race…
EverQuest Online Adventures emulator updates fans on the state of the project and how fans can help - While the original EverQuest and EverQuest II are still running, the game's console edition of EverQuest Online Adventures shut down back in 2012. But fans aren't letting the game simply…
Anarchy Online’s progression server raises its level cap, but its future is uncertain - Here's a fun fact for you today: Did you know that Anarchy Online launched prior to the very first Harry Potter movie release? That should make you feel all kinds…
SuperData says people really splashed out on gaming over Black Friday weekend - If you've been watching the downward trend of consumer spending on the games industry with growing fear over the last few months, take heart: People were clearly just saving up…
Choose My Adventure: How Citadel Forged with Fire made me like survival sandboxes in spite of its faults - So here we are at the end of my first real deep dive into a survival sandbox. Citadel: Forged with Fire is, by all immediate impressions, very alike the giants…
A Jesuit priest is trying out a Vatican Minecraft server to encourage non-toxic behavior - We're familiar with the ways that online games, even generally rather innocent ones like Minecraft, can wind up being breeding grounds for some of the nastiest behaviors human beings can…
Astellia Online’s Miodan Mines patch is live today with a new newbie quest too - It's patch day for fans of the still-got-that-new-smell Astellia Online MMO, as Barunson pushes live the Miodan Mines zone. "Miodan Mine is a brand-new, never before seen zone being added…
Riot Games will pay $10 million to settle its ‘bro culture’ gender discrimination lawsuit - Back in August, the LA Times reported that Riot Games had agreed to settle the class-action discrimination lawsuit lodged against it. The suit had alleged that Riot’s "bro culture" encouraged…
Massively Uplifting: MMO fundraisers, GW2 raid class, and saving trees and cats - Being grateful isn't relegated to just one month, but November is when many people -and gamers - double-down on the things they are thankful for. And there is plenty out…
Wisdom of Nym: Blue Mage in Final Fantasy XIV and what the update needs to deliver - The funny thing about Blue Mage in Final Fantasy XIV right now is that the only people still really mad about it are... the people who were really mad about…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 249: Houses and Ponies Online
The Stream Team: Taking a test drive of The Crew 2 during the free-to-play weekend
The Stream Team: It’s Neverwinter night!
The Stream Team: Q-uality Christmas celebrations in Star Trek Online
The Stream Team: Trust and noodles in AdventureQuest 3D
The Stream Team: More Path of Exile map madness
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.
