It was a depressing week for online gaming and the extended community: Mixer folded, setting free everyone on the platform, plus a wave of call-outs of awful behavior has seen devs across the industry suspended, multiple big-name streamers booted off Twitch, and even MMO influencers removed from their teams. Ug.
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
The Soapbox: No, forced grouping in MMOs isn’t ‘social’ - Thinking back to high school, I'm awash in memories of the many deep, meaningful relationships that spawned as a result of being forced to work on group projects with people…
Elder Scrolls Online doxxing drama ends with one partnered streamer booted - The Elder Scrolls Online community has been abuzz this weekend over an incident that rocked the game's streaming crew. According to streamer Inklings, who posted about it this morning, a…
Funcom pushes back Conan Chop Chop release date again to some time in 2020 - With the month of July looming large and no noise out of the online multiplayer ARPG Conan Chop Chop, which was supposed to have a release sometime in the second…
The Game Archaeologist: When World of Warcraft opened Ahn’Qiraj’s gates - This past month, Blizzard has been testing what might well be the milestone moment for World of Warcraft Classic: The Ahn'Qiraj gates event. In the 14 years that have gone…
Chronicles of Elyria restores forums and gives parkour demo to all backers - Even as former Chronicles of Elyria backers struggle to get refunds, the sole remaining figure of Soulbound Studio says that development of the troubled MMO is still going forward... somehow.…
Lord of the Rings Online is about to host a royal wedding — and fix epic battles - The long-awaited wedding of King Aragorn to Arwen is about ready to happen in Lord of the Rings Online -- possibly as early as next week, according to Friday's studio…
Nexon’s mobile and PC MMORPG V4 opens up for global pre-registration - Ever notice how mobile MMOs seem to love pre-registration events? Well guess what? Nexon's upcoming PC/mobile MMORPG V4 has started doing the same thing, opening up global pre-registration ahead of…
Vague Patch Notes: MOBAs, battle royales, and shallow genre pools in the online gaming space - This past week, Nintendo announced Pokemon Unite, and then I had to go to see a doctor because I rolled my eyes so far that my retinas were at risk…
Cyberpunk 2077 shows off gameplay features, announces next-gen console compatibility and an anime - The last time we got any new gameplay peeks at CD Projekt Red's RPG Cyberpunk 2077 was at E3 2018, where we learned about its primarily first-person perspective and the…
Diablo IV shows off the development of its open world and item progression - It's going to be a while before Diablo IV is in the hands of players, but the team is certainly keeping at work even with the transition to working from…
Torchlight III schedules Act 3 and numerous fixes for June 30 - Torchlight III may have had a bumpy early access launch this month, but Echtra Games is hoping to turn its fortunes around with next week's update. Not only will the…
Massively Overthinking: Does playing MMORPGs ever stress you out? - "Anyone ever feel stressed out about playing MMOs?" MOP's Carlo queried our team this week. "This new Black Desert season is stressing me out a tad. It's got all these…
Thousands turn out for terminal EVE Online player’s final birthday bash - EVE Online is probably best known for its ruthless player alliances sparking massive wars over territory, but this week everyone set their differences aside to help one player go out…
Desert Oasis: Putting Black Desert’s music system in context with other MMOs - Back in the day, I used to really be into the ukulele. I used to play in open mics and sold them as my day job! But that was a…
MMO Cartographer: A stroll through Eternal Magic, the Candy Crush of MMOs - I didn't catch the first release of Eternal Magic, so the Steam release this past spring seemed like a good time to get into it. I guess everyone else thought…
The latest gaming industry #metoo callouts impact Twitch, MMOs, MOBAs, and esports - The gaming industry is seeing a second wave - a second wave of the #metoo movement, that is. As we covered earlier this week, people from across the gender spectrum…
WoW Factor: How do we make a good Warcraft movie? - Sometimes, dear readers, things simply do not line up. I really have a long piece I'm looking forward to doing, and then Blizzard does something terrible (or wonderful, but terrible…
The Daily Grind: Which MMOs are unlikely to survive 2020? - The thing about surprising MMO shutdowns is that they're just that: surprising. No one expected to lose City of Heroes when we did, even if the current rogue server projects seem…
Massively on the Go: Exploring Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor expansion - I knew from the website shown at the initial announcement that Pokemon Sword and Shield's first expansion, The Isle of Armor, would be more of a traditional expansion, but I had…
Perfect Ten: What makes me feel welcome when trying out your MMO - While it's not "standing in front of your high school in your underpants and reciting a difficult Shakespeare passage" level of anxiety, there is a certain amount of trepidation that…
Chaos Theory: Secret World Legend’s third anniversary and the 2020 MEGAversary event - Another year has come and gone. (Though we might be glad this one's over.) Secret World Legends, the reboot of the beloved Secret World, will turn three this week on…
Dungeons and Dragons Online kicks off third hardcore league, previews Update 47 - Dungeons and Dragons Online's popular permadeath temporary server is coming back at noon today with a third trip through this brutal gauntlet. This time around, however, it's not just subscribers…
Chronicles of Elyria players allege that Xsolla is now stonewalling on refunds - The demise of Kickstarter darling Chronicles of Elyria this past spring doesn't mean the corpse has completely stopped moving and all is said and done. Even as Soulbound Studio CEO…
Overwolf details the changes coming for Curseforge and using World of Warcraft addons - So what's going to happen with Curseforge and your precious, precious World of Warcraft addons? You need those to play! For those who missed it, Twitch owned Curseforge, but then…
New World’s latest video says it’s possible to ‘become the best craftsman on the server’ - If Amazon's detailed dev blogs on New World's crafting and progression didn't grab you, maybe the studio's latest video will. The devs lay out the five progression systems in the…
Warcraft movie director Duncan Jones chats about the sequels we never got - So this was an interesting little event on Twitter. A film blogger tweeted out a brief notice that he was watching the Warcraft film for the first time, noting that…
Choose My Adventure: EVE Online’s combat coalesces into something nearing enjoyment - All right, EVE Online. I'm starting to get you. [AL:EVE]The mission was to continue with the career path NPCs, and after some more time in the drudgery that was the…
EA says it can ‘no longer be a bystander’ to toxicity in online gaming - Electronic Arts is continuing to promise to clean up its communities. In addition to changes to its EA Sports moderation policies and the release of a Positive Play charter, an…
Activision-Blizzard shareholders say nay votes constitute ‘rebuke’ of company pay practices - Earlier this month, we covered moves by Activision-Blizzard shareholders and long-term investor watchdogs to agitate voting against the company's "Say-on-Pay" policy. Critics argued that CEO Bobby Kotick is grossly overpaid,…
Fortnite silently removes police cars from its world - In a recent update, the battle royale island of Fortnite saw an unannounced change to the game: the removal of police cars. Not only are police cars gone from battle…
Mixer is toast as Microsoft transitions its community to Facebook Gaming - So... the streaming industry is on fire. Earlier today, Microsoft announced that it's effectively ending Mixer's run as a streaming platform on July 22nd, diverting its links and fans to…
Whatever happened to Secret World Legends, The Realm reboot, and Shadow’s Kiss? - Ever pause during your day and find yourself wondering, “Whatever happened to that game?” With hundreds upon hundreds of online titles these days, it’s surprisingly easy for MMOs to fall through the…
Wisdom of Nym: Job extension ideas for the next Final Fantasy XIV expansion - One of the interesting things about each given expansion for Final Fantasy XIV is that we always get new tricks along the way... sometimes removing old tricks, but usually more…
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen dev defends the use of limited-action sets - With Pre-Alpha 5 on the way, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is generating more and more interest among MMORPG veterans. But one topic is proving to be somewhat contentious in…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 277: All the wonder in the ‘verse
The Stream Team: Once, twice, three times a Secret World Legends anniversary
The Stream Team: Star Wars Galaxies’ 17th birthday
The Stream Team: Dungeons & Dragons Online’s good pirates vs. bad pirates
The Stream Team: Catching summer waves and shark-raid-os in AdventureQuest 3D
The Stream Team: Warframe’s Deadlock Protocol, Day 2
The Stream Team: A look at Astroneer’s brand-new automation
The Stream Team: Missing miners and holy sweetrolls in Elder Scrolls Online
The Stream Team: Harvesting a grown garden in Path of Exile’s Harvest
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.
