Topping off the MMORPG headlines this week was the news that World of Warcraft has finally picked a date for patch 9.1, Chains of Domination: June 29th. So you haven’t got long to wait now, though at this point, y’all will have waited over 200 days.
Meanwhile, Heidel Ball saw the announcement of the Corsair class and new summer season server for Black Desert, character creation began for Aion Classic, Phantasy Star Online 2 offered familiar-sounding apologies for New Genesis’ messy launch, Elder Scrolls Online got the Endeavors system and Console Enhanced patched in, and Anarchy Online turned 20 years old. Grats!
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
World of Warcraft’s 9.1 Chains of Domination is launching June 29 - World of Warcraft Retail is finally putting a date on the first major patch post-Shadowlands: Chains of Domination is launching June 29th. "The Chains of Domination content update is packed…
The Game Archaeologist: Anarchy Online, from development to beta - We all have stories of our very first MMORPG experiences, and the one that I often share is that my initial dip into this genre happened with Anarchy Online. I…
Heidel Ball 2021: Black Desert announces summer season server, shows off new Corsair class - Earlier this morning, Black Desert held its digital Heidel Ball event, which was stuffed to the rafters with announcements and reveals. At the top of the list is the new…
Lord of the Rings Online’s Midsummer Festival has returned - Lord of the Rings Online's newest holiday, the Midsummer Festival, has returned for another bout of wedding-themed events. While Standing Stone Games isn't bringing back the Midsummer Hobbit Presents (this…
Blade & Soul teases Dual-Blades class in new trailer - Blade & Soul certainly isn't hurting for character classes that wield a sword, or even classes that dual-wield, but what if there's a class that dual-wields swords? That's what's coming…
Ship of Heroes calls one and all to its July beta event, postpones launch to 2022 - Ship of Heroes isn't going to launch this year, fam, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to play it. In fact, the studio would like you to start…
Rumor: IO Interactive’s Microsoft-backed Project Dragon might be an MMO - Clever Redditors caught an interesting snippet from the Xbox Two podcast that portends some intriguing news for MMO players. Back in April, there were rumors floating around that IO Interactive's…
Massively Overthinking: Is ‘layering’ tech actually MMO community poison? - MOP reader ACuriousTanuki left a brilliant comment on a Palia article earlier this month that I thought deserved more discussion. Tanuki wondered about how the game reconcile instancing and layering…
Vague Patch Notes: Bugs are hard in MMOs - So apparently it's been pretty hard to play Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis. I don't know from personal experience (fool me once, shame on you, and all that), but…
Interview: Neverwinter’s lead designer on the level squish and why the new cap will (probably) be 20 forever - [AL:NW]Neverwinter is about to embark on a major retooling of its entire leveling curve, resetting level 80 players to a new hard cap of level 20 and adjusting all of…
Bless Unleashed will finally launch on PC August 6 - Neowiz and Round8 dropped a big announcement for Bless Online last night: The PC version of the console game born in the ashes of the original PC MMO will finally…
Elder Scrolls Online’s endeavors reward system finally goes live - After holding it back from the launch of Blackwood, ZeniMax has finally rolled out the new and highly anticipated endeavors system for Elder Scrolls Online. This is basically a reward…
Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis addresses bugs and offers apology items - Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis is sorry. Really sorry, you guys. No, the team behind the game means it. Despite the fact that "the game is so popular that…
Desert Oasis: Black Desert’s Atoraxxian dungeon is a good idea, but will it last? - Burger and Fries, Mario and Luigi, Garfunkel and Oates. Are there any other iconic pairs? Oh yeah! RPGs and dungeons. Be it the sprawling 100 floor Via Infinito from Final…
Character creation and name reservation for Aion Classic begins today - Quickly! Get home and get ready for Aion Classic! There's no time to explain why! Oh... wait, it turns out that's actually our job, so we'll take a little time…
Choose My Adventure: Dipping a toe in the vast ocean of Star Wars Galaxies crafting and gathering - "Crafting in Star Wars Galaxies was the greatest thing ever in MMORPGs." How often have you read a comment like that? I know I've seen remarks similar to this one…
New World begins new teaser video series dubbed Legends of New World - Amazon is kicking off a new video series leading into New World's big launch later this summer. Called Legends of New World, it's somewhere between a tone piece and a…
Chronicles of Elyria previews Kingdoms of Elyria gameplay, outlines the path to alpha - Soulbound Studios CEO Jeromy Walsh is back once again to talk about Kingdoms of Elyria in another video, this time providing an extended look at gameplay and talking about how…
Activision-Blizzard extends contentious shareholder vote on executive pay - MMO readers will recall that earlier this year, the industry erupted over a public relations fiasco Activision-Blizzard failed to adequately counter: In the midst of yet another round of layoffs…
Casually Classic: What if you don’t want to raid in WoW Classic Burning Crusade? - If I had to sum up what my WoW Classic guild is doing in these first few weeks of Burning Crusade, it would be "racing to 70, gearing up, and…
Elder Scrolls Online launches Console Enhanced today, addresses ‘ESO 2’ - Elder Scrolls Online's Console Enhanced patch rolls out to console folks today, as downloading began at the crack o' dawn this morning. As ZeniMax has previously noted, the update essentially…
Albion Online’s mobile launch drove its concurrency numbers to a new high of 270K - On the MOP Podcast that launches later today, I joke about logging into Albion Online this weekend and being assaulted by the sounds of thousands of footsteps from the wild…
E3 2021: Phantasy Star Online 2 releases a live action trailer for New Genesis - I always feel that it's a weird vote of confidence when a video game studio puts out a trailer for a game using live actors. It's that extra marketing push…
E3 2021: EVE Online talks up the launch of its EVE Academy website - EVE Online promised that it was going to talk about something during the PC Gaming Show portion of this year's E3, and sure enough, it did. Specifically, CCP Games talked…
Fight or Kite: Leafling Online is a retro-inspired action MMO for PvPers – and grinders - When I spied our recent article on Leafling Online, I almost immediately jumped in. It’s currently in early access, but studio Celtaria Productions claims it’s designed to be a free-to-play…
Wisdom of Nym: Speculating about the mechanics of Final Fantasy XIV’s Reaper way too early - So! Last week, I speculated about Sage in what will almost certainly be incorrect predictions regarding the job's mechanics and overall playstyle. Was this a good idea? Who knows! It…
E3 2021: Transformers Heavy Metal, Icarus, Halo Infinite, The Crew 2, Babylon’s Fall, Ascent, Rawmen, Naraka Bladepoint, Chivalry 2 - In addition to The Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout 76, Diablo II Resurrected, Sea of Thieves, Riders Republic, and Redfall, there are a few more multiplayer games of note that were…
E3 2021: Bethesda’s Redfall pits co-op teams against a vampire invasion - If you've had it up to here with sparkly vampire love stories, then grab a gun and get to blasting a few of those blood-suckers back into the grave. That's…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 326: Lost Ark is finally found
Battle Bards Episode 195: In the mountains
The Stream Team: The other side of ARK Genesis 2
The Stream Team: Taking on AQ3D’s new Pyramid of Crocos Challenge
The Stream Team: Making merry with Neverwinter Mindflayers
The Stream Team: Concluding Star Trek Online’s Klingon Civil War
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.
