On New Year’s Eve, it’s become tradition for us to roundup all the reasons we can’t have nice things, and we did so again this year. But you know what? 2020 wasn’t all bad. In fact, gaming was one of the things that brought us all together when many of us were forced indoors and into quarantine thanks to the pandemic. Without it, I’m not really sure where we’d be.
So while we do have a dedicated Massively Uplifting column that covers some of the good stuff going on in MMOs every month, we also think it’s worth a final recap with some stuff that made it into the news but not the columns, and there’s a lot to see, whether it’s charity contributions, player and dev memorials, citizen science, fan projects, free stuff, and even goofy in-game content. If it brought a smile to our faces, it’s in here – and it’s worth remembering how much of it there was. There’s some good in this world, Mr Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.
Star Wars comes to Star Trek Online thanks to some creative use of the character builder
RIFT players sponsor an elaborate contest to build cave dimensions
Massively Uplifting: Gaming studios and communities support kids, trees, cats, STEM, and gaming grandparents
EVE Online will run a PLEX for GOOD charity campaign to support victims of Australian bushfires
Fallout 76 player creates a C.A.M.P. that features a death trap that can be solved only with math
Destiny 2’s launching a charity campaign to help victims of the Australian brushfires
John Smedley and Scott Hartsman put out a call to help a former EverQuest II dev
EVE Online’s charity campaign to support victims of Australian bushfires is now live
Lord of the Rings Online players remember Christopher Tolkien
EVE Online player makes a 1 million PLEX bid for charity
EVE Online: DDOS, sale, and the player auction that brought in $33,000 for charity
Guild Wars 2 collabs with the Ad Council’s Seize the Awkward suicide prevention campaign
Massively Uplifting: Saving lives and wildlife, studios and gamers start 2020 with compassion and charity
A popular YouTuber has released a 27-chapter Guild Wars 2 audiobook in video form
Black Desert: The Guardian awakens, Valentine’s Day begins, and players raise money for charity
Star Trek Online player creates a Justice League away team, Sea of Thieves players host a fashion show
French World of Warcraft fans release epic live-action War on Lordaeron short film
Elder Scrolls Online takes you on a date, shows off new housing, and hosts a massive memorial
Massively Uplifting: DragonCon announces official charity, more studios support Australian wildfire relief
Test your World of Warcraft geography knowledge with this player-made quiz
Razer to manufacture and donate up to a million surgical masks to battle coronavirus
MMO blogging community fights quarantine boredom with ‘Blapril 2020’ project
The Star Wars Galaxies rogue server community is collaborating on a multi-emu support project
Twitch Aid 2020 brings together gamers, musicians, and celebs for COVID-19 charity
Pandemic roundup: Humble Conquer COVID-19, Bethsoft events canceled, EA ‘stay and play’
ArcheAge, RIFT, Trove, and more Gamigo MMOs launch a reforestation charity initiative
A fan-made Guild Wars 2 dating sim is arriving on Friday to support charity
COVID-19 roundup: Final Fantasy MMORPG disruptions, Xbox Series X release, and philanthropy from Sony and Albion Online
Massively Uplifting: Cake, coloring, and EVE Online’s PLEX4Good COVID-19 relief
Tangential multiplayer note writing title Kind Words sees an uptick in players
Final Fantasy XIV kicks off an eight-day free login campaign
Overwatch honors a fan on the medical front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak
Check out Cosmonaut, a fan-created monthly Star Citizen magazine
Classic Guild Wars RPG Maker fan project releases ‘feature complete’ version
Star Wars Galaxies Legends players share messages of support and goodwill
Bethesda donates a total of $1 million to COVID-19 relief efforts
COVID-19 roundup: Rockstar and Jagex help save the UK’s National Videogame Museum and more
Bored during lockdown? Elder Scrolls Online and New World suggest MMO coloring books
Animal Crossing player recreates Disney’s Haunted Mansion
Massively Uplifting: Communities and companies bolster COVID-19 relief and mental health support
Balmung is the first NA Final Fantasy XIV server to fully rebuild the New Nest
Gamigo’s tree planting initiative sees over 80K trees planted, extends another week
Fallout 76 players come together to aid an in-game doctor with real-life medical needs
The Swtorista Armor Site is here to help Star Wars: The Old Republic players chase their fashion dragons
Albion Online adds mobile improvements like a virtual joystick and Outland banks, raises €42K for COVID-19 relief
Guild Wars 2 makes Whisper in the Dark free this week while the community creates an anthology of hopeful stories
Did you miss the World of Warships VE Day parade? You can catch the replay now
An Old School RuneScape fan has started making an audio drama based on the MMORPG
Destiny’s got an official cookbook now, so now you know what to get the fam for Christmas
Not So Massively: Kind Words is one of the most intense games I’ve ever played
World of Warcraft’s infamous Leeroy Jenkins raid gaffe is 15 years old
Neverwinter and Star Trek Online sell special packs to benefit charity
RuneScape starts Mental Health Awareness Week and recaps the past 12 months of content in a video
LOTRO’s Weatherstock, Blizzard-themed Ramadan lanterns, and an MMO screensaver
Guild Wars 2 players have a wedding in-game after their real-life one is postponed
Darklands creator Arnold Hendrick passes away at age 69 due to cancer
Massively Uplifting: Charity tourneys, Asheron’s Call in Animal Crossing, and over a million Kind Words
Gamigo’s tree planting charity drive ends with over 111,000 trees planted
Black Desert staff help throw a wedding for stuck-at-home players
RuneScape fixes evil trees and ‘horribly deformed’ livestock as Jagex celebrates a $250K charity donation
Blizzard and Bethsoft donate for racial justice, Riot parts ways with troubling exec, and Raph Koster writes a song
Lord of the Rings Online players host Shirefest 2020 this weekend
EVE Online’s Project Discovery initiative tasks players with helping research COVID-19
Thousands turn out for terminal EVE Online player’s final birthday bash
A new crafting and work order feature has come to horse MMO Star Stable
Massively Uplifting: Speech therapy, a college class in WoW, and the Ian Holm tribute that crashed LOTRO
Star Citizen fans put together a horror-themed machinima using in-game footage
Players in WoW Classic have defeated Onyxia without wearing anything at all
Police in Taiwan locate the owner of a lost Switch thanks to Animal Crossing
Check out this magnificent unicorn man that we never got to see added to PWE’s MOBA Gigantic
The in-game memorial for a fallen PlanetSide 2 player spanned four instances this weekend
Lord of the Rings Online community reschedules Weatherstock for September
Massively Uplifting: Good deeds don’t take the summer off for Bungie, Niantic, and Trolls in WoW
Riot is closing up shop for a week to grant devs a break from crunch and deadlines
TERA PC brings its 64-bit client and new content online, console adds Quick Signals and offers charity bundles
GDC Summer 2020: Better living, climate awareness, and citizen science through games
Check out Sims 4 builds for living in Dalaran or Darnassus… or in a world of Overwatch
Check out this funky bass line for Final Fantasy XIV’s patch 5.3 boss music
Fall Guys sparks a $325,000 charity bidding war between brands
IKEA Taiwan recreates a catalogue’s offerings in Animal Crossing New Horizons
Champions Online wants you to create a developer’s costume
Check out this fan-made interactive map of New World to help your testing
The panther statue in Fortnite has become a player memorial for Chadwick Boseman
WildStar’s composer creates a brand-new music track for terminally ill player
Massively Uplifting: MMOs from LOTRO to ESO bring comfort, healing, camaraderie, and charity
Guild Wars 2 players built an unofficial addon manager and unofficial upgrade to DX12
Animal Crossing New Horizons player recreates The Wizard of Oz in-game
For science: New UK study finds that video games improve the mental health, reading, and writing skills of kids
MMO gamers held an inspiring memorial for a fallen friend on Warhammer Online’s Return of Reckoning server
Missed Lord of the Rings Online’s Weatherstock XII last weekend? Rewatch it here!
Wikipedia is now an MMO (according to Wikipedia itself)
EVE Online players submitted over 41M classifications to fight COVID for CCP’s latest Project Discovery initiative
City of Heroes players have released a security-centric, server-inclusive launcher called Sunrise
Fans are working on an improved Warcraft 2 remake with Warcraft III: Reforged
Cryptic partners with Gameheads charity, Star Trek Online buffs up the Year of the Klingon
World of Warcraft Moon Guard players finish a massive roleplaying campaign ahead of Shadowlands
Elite: Dangerous’ latest community goal has players siding with Eurybia Blue Mafia or the Keltim Empire
Massively Uplifting: Shattering mental health and disability stereotypes while increasing gaming inclusivity
Secret World player publishes fifth ‘unofficial’ novel
RuneScape begins mental health charity drive, plans Orthen digsite launch for October 19
Sea of Thieves posts a musical tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen
Standing Stone, Daybreak, KingsIsle, and more MMO companies will fundraise for Extra Life 2020
World of Warcraft honors Reckful with a new Rogue trainer
Braving Britannia: Tales of Melancholy, Malice, and Peril in Ultima Online book chronicles player experiences in the seminal MMORPG
Star Wars Galaxies Legends’ community honors a fallen player developer, Irish
ArcheAge Unchained tweaks ArchePass mission cap, players rock out to Metallica
Roblox invites kids to a virtual Halloween block party to make up for lost trick-or-treating
The gamer who circumnavigated the galaxy in a ship of Elite Dangerous’ own making
Massively Uplifting: Supporting small businesses, grieving through games, and lending helping hands
Pirates of the Burning Sea’s new operators released a new launcher, patcher, and website, with plans for a legacy server
The Destiny 2 community rallies behind dev whose house burned to the ground
Guild Wars 2 offers up another colorful Baby Aurene bundle for Extra Life charity drive
Guild Wars 2 teased End of Dragons concept art during its $64K charity livestream
Ashes of Creation raised over $83k for Extra Life, so Intrepid’s Steven Sharif had to shave his beard
World of Warships celebrates Veterans Day with missions and charity drives
CCP Games’ EVE Online community raised $135,500 for COVID-19 response through PLEX for GOOD
Bungie casts a spotlight on the Black at Bungie Inclusion Club and its efforts to uplift Black devs and BLM
A Secret World Legends fan has created a huge (free!) graphic novel based on the lore
Fallout 76 adds CAMP wheelchairs following a disabled player’s petition
Destiny 2 narrative designer confirms a gay relationship between two of the game’s NPCs
SWTOR and Star Wars Galaxies players memorialize the life of Darth Vader actor David Prowse
WildStar’s devs and fans love on the game two years after its demise
Katia Sae’s record-breaking journey through all of EVE Online is charted in a video
Massively Uplifting: Giving while giving thanks as ARK, Ashes of Creation, Rainbow Six Siege, and more support charity
Fallout 76’s next season begins on December 15 as fans fight in-character wars and raise money for charity
World of Warcraft’s factionless panda DoubleAgent hits level 60
Final Fantasy XIV’s Naoki Yoshida pens heartfelt goodbye to the late Dad of Light blogger
New Dungeons & Dragons movie provokes teasing between Star Trek Online and Neverwinter
Free character transfers for World of Warcraft are closing on Thursday
ArcheAge’s December update adds new quests and housing areas as Trove’s Snowfest gets underway
Roblox and online education site iD Tech team up for a holiday block party for charity
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