We’re taking a tour back through our MMO coverage, month by month, to hit the highlights and frame our journey before we launch into 2020 and a whole new decade of MMOs!
I don’t think any of us could’ve predicted that April 2019 was going to be the month that gamers exposed a secret City of Heroes rogue server that forced the code out into the open and spawned multiple new servers and drama and hoaxes and thousands of people back home in the game as players negotiated with NCsoft for legitimacy. But here we are.
Meanwhile, SWTOR announced Onslaught, Albion Online went free-to-play, Anthem continued having a rough time, PWE’s Foundries sunsetted, Secret World Legends drew side-eyes, we took a peek at Elder Scrolls Online’s Elsweyr, and on the homefront, we hired some fresh writers!
Read on for the whole list from April of this past year!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF APRIL 2019
April Fools’ Day around the MMOverse, 2019 edition
Reddit’s gaming hub has shut down for April Fools’ Day, but it’s no laughing matter
Final Fantasy XIV’s Naoki Yoshida is overseeing a new project that may very well be another big online game
The Black Desert Shadow Arena banwave and backtrack is an absolute clusterfudge
Guild Wars 2 staff are reorganizing into ‘fully staffed content teams’ as ArenaNet outlines future content
Kotaku’s Anthem exposé unmasks a studio in ‘crisis’ – and BioWare’s response is alarming
BioWare internal memo vows to address studio disarray, says Kotaku’s Anthem exposé was ‘traumatizing’
PAX East 2019: Destiny’s Sword aims to take the ludonarrative into actual gameplay
Rumor: Z1 Battle Royale, H1Z1’s PC version, seems to be in big trouble as devs confirm layoffs
NantG says it’s handing Z1 Battle Royale back to Daybreak – it’s not sunsetting, but there were layoffs
Fallout 76 is introducing controversial repair kits to the in-game store after promising no P2W
Valve and ZeniMax are among the publishers under EU investigation for illegal geo-blocking
Kakao is permanently killing off Black Desert’s battle royale mode, Shadow Arena, this week
EVE Online has banned a CSM member (and real-world politician) over an NDA breach and insider trading
Black Desert has 18M registered players as Pearl Abyss counts $1B gross sales
Interview: Astellia deep-dives its dungeon systems and Western tweaks
TERA releases the Skywatch: New Heights update
Skyforge’s New Horizons expansion is officially live with a new planet and catch-up mechanics
Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows goes live with plenty of freebies
Albion Online is officially free-to-play today – and already ‘under heavy load’
Blizzard bribes female employees to track their sex, pregnancy, and moods
Star Wars The Old Republic’s guild sigils are live today in 5.10.2: Heralds of Victory
PWE officially bids farewell to the Star Trek Online and Neverwinter Foundry
Blizzard says negative fan feedback won’t divert the course of its storytelling in World of Warcraft
Adorable retro sandbox Staxel has officially launched today with a huge update too
Star Wars: The Old Republic announces Onslaught expansion arriving in September
‘Secret’ City of Heroes emulator operators address SCORE leak drama, rebut personal info database rumor
CCP Games thinks EVE Online is about to make it big in China and Korea
Lucasfilm is currently developing an Old Republic movie or TV series
ArenaNet says Guild Wars 2 is ‘still going strong’ and here to stay
Gamigo is sunsetting Atlas Reactor this summer
What’s going on with City of Heroes now: ‘This game is a unicorn’
The City of Heroes private server team has released its code [Update: The test server is live]
Heroes of the Storm player arrested for making terrorism threats in chat
Star Citizen’s Chris Roberts thinks that Anthem is worth saving
CCP’s Hilmar Petursson says EVE Online isn’t in ‘stagnation’ – it has an active playerbase of 300K
City of Heroes’ first new rogue server shut down over a fake legal threat, but admins say it’s coming back
Guild Wars 2 just dropped its massive balance patch and War Eternal Supply Drop Requisition
Surprise! TERA just dropped the Elin Brawler on console in its Suckerpunch update
The Titan Network is negotiating to open a legal community-run City of Heroes server
CCP Games withdraws all accusations against EVE Online CSM member it banned for supposed leaks
Two weeks in, City of Heroes has four rogue servers and heartwarmingly massive queues
The Stream Team: Saying so long to Kritika Online
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF APRIL 2019
Wisdom of Nym: All of the shards in Final Fantasy XIV
Not So Massively: The Division 2 has more stuff than personality
PAX East 2019: Bless Unleashed really isn’t Bless Online (to its credit)
The Daily Grind: Do you still get excited about upcoming MMORPGs?
Flameseeker Chronicles: Stories Guild Wars 2 could tell without dragons
Choose My Adventure: What Legends of Aria taught me about sandbox MMORPGs
Wisdom of Nym: Thoughts on the end of Final Fantasy XIV’s 4.x story
Perfect Ten: MMO celebrations that didn’t rip off real-world holidays
Tamriel Infinium: The power of community in five-year-old Elder Scrolls Online
Wisdom of Nym: A measured response to Naoki Yoshida’s mystery project
Wandering Wraeclast: A class guide to getting started in Path of Exile
Hyperspace Beacon: I wasn’t going to talk about Anthem, but I think I should
Ask Mo: Introducing Massively OP’s latest columns and columnists
Chaos Theory: Secret World is getting new story content, but it’s not in Secret World Legends
Lawful Neutral: The future of MMO game design in a streaming gaming world
Storyboard: On the art of verisimilitude in MMO roleplaying
The Daily Grind: Which underrated MMO would you recommend to friends?
LOTRO Legendarium: Five fun secrets hidden in Moria
EVE Evolved: Big things are happening in EVE Online this spring
Fight or Kite: Falling in line with Crowfall
Wisdom of Nym: Why Final Fantasy XIV may have needed Hrothgar and Viera now
PAX East 2019: Elder Scrolls Online Elsweyr makes playing the bad guy feel very good
Choose My Adventure: The married couple team arrives to RuneScape
Perfect Ten: Suggestions to make World of Warcraft Classic feel more authentic
Desert Oasis: Understanding and critiquing Black Desert’s RNG systems
Hyperspace Beacon: I can’t believe I forgot these things about Star Wars Galaxies
The Daily Grind: Do you prefer target locks or free aiming in MMO action combat?
Warframe of Mind: The Plains of Eidolon Beautification Project
Vague Patch Notes: The community is and is not the MMO
WoW Factor: The level squish isn’t the whole solution for World of Warcraft
Jukebox Heroes: The best of Astellia’s soundtrack
The Daily Grind: What makes you dismiss an MMO without ever trying it?
Into the Super-verse: Trying DC Universe Online for the first time
The Survivalist: Why I love survival games but refuse to touch Atlas
Not So Massively: Five things I love about Anthem
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood in review – The main scenario
Leaderboard: Where do you stand on the ‘secret’ City of Heroes emulator?
Flameseeker Chronicles: A PvE carebear’s guide to Guild Wars 2 WvW and the Warclaw
Choose My Adventure: The Slayer skill and the power of cabbage in RuneScape
Into the Super-Verse: The death of the City of Heroes community
Tamriel Infinium: Are Elder Scrolls Online’s events too much of a good thing?
Hyperspace Beacon: Why we’re excited about the SWTOR Onslaught announcement
Massively OP Podcast Episode 217: City of Heroes after dark
Not So Massively: First impressions from Pagan Online’s early access launch
Perfect Ten: MMOs for puzzle lovers
Lawful Neutral: Is it safe to play on City of Heroes’ inevitable rogue servers?
Storyboard: Stop whining and accept your MMO plotline
First impressions of Elder Scrolls Online’s Elsweyr: Little cats fighting big lizards
LOTRO Legendarium: Ranking LOTRO’s festivals from worst to best
Global Chat: Can you play WoW Classic casually?
Leaderboard: Do you plan to play on a City of Heroes rogue server?
Fight or Kite: First impressions of newly free-to-play Albion Online
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood in review – side stories, part one
Perfect Ten: Things do prepare for ahead of Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
Desert Oasis: A post-mortem examination of Black Desert’s defunct Shadow Arena
Tamriel Infinium: Dissecting the Elder Scrolls Online’s Elsweyr Necromancer class
Vague Patch Notes: It’s all right for MMO studios to stop trying
WoW Factor: What could win back the crowd for the next World of Warcraft expansion?
Warframe of Mind: Massively OP’s guide to finding your ‘Frame
Into the Super-verse: Six things that made Marvel Heroes great
MMO Cartographer: Exploring Richard Garriott’s Shroud of the Avatar
Not So Massively: Yearning for an MMO future free of loot
The Daily Grind: Are you a murderhobo in MMORPGs?
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2 needs real housing
ALL 2019 YEAR-IN-REVIEW POSTS SO FAR
MMO Year in Review: Anthem’s approach (January 2019)
MMO Year in Review: The mass Blizzard and ArenaNet layoffs (February 2019)
MMO Year in Review: Black Desert’s console rollout (March 2019)
MMO Year in Review: City of Heroes’ resurrection (April 2019)
MMO Year in Review: EVE’s Invasion, WoW Classic’s beta (May 2019)
MMO Year in Review: Shadowbringers, Elsweyr, and Azshara (June 2019)
MMO Year in Review: Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO (July 2019)
MMO Year in Review: You think you do, but… yeah, you do (August 2019)
MMO Year in Review: Guild Wars 2’s saga and Astellia Online (September 2019)
MMO Year in Review: The month of gaming industry self-owns (October 2019)
MMO Year in Review: A ‘tough Hearthstone esports moment’ (November 2019)
MMO Year in Review: New World, Magic Legends, and ESO Skyrim (December 2019)
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