Every year on New Year’s Eve, we collect all the reasons we can’t have nice things – all the worst things that happened to our genre over the course of that year – and metaphorically set them on fire.
But as our own Massively Uplifting MJ always reminds me, those are really only a sliver of the thousands of stories we cover in a year. And among those many thousands are some that rise above and show that gaming is not only not all bad but actually kind of good. 2021 was the same, as we learned to live with the pandemic and the new state of the genre.
So to welcome in the New Year, we’re recapping some of the good news that 2021 brought to MMORPGs and our broader community, from charity work and university courses on online friendships to free books and the restoration of fan-favorite games. Also? Cake.
It’s not toxic positivity to remember that the gaming world really is sunshine and rainbows sometimes. Let’s enjoy it when it is.
Holidays hugs to all the uplifting things that happened in MMOs, 2020 edition
Virtual chorus of 144 singers performs a song from Guild Wars 2 Living World Season 4
Let’s celebrate the history of the dance emote from EverQuest to Fortnite
Massively Uplifting: Niantic, ArenaNet, and more MMO studios end 2020 on charitable high notes
Pirate101 players hope to save the game by flooding its servers starting January 24
ArcheAge’s Oskmir ArchePass, Aura Kingdom update, and Gamigo’s charity extension
WoW Lore TLDR gets a major functionality and content upgrade for catching up on World of Warcraft lore
Trove is celebrating Hug Day with a mini community giveaway
Massively Uplifting: 2021 begins with Trove’s trees, Warframe’s Tennobaum, and Star Trek Online’s Tribbles for charity
Star Trek Online’s players and developers pay tribute to the late Christopher Plummer
Genshin Impact fans have built a scale model of the city of Liyue Harbor
An Ashes of Creation player built a card game based on the MMO for the whole community
Player-run Open Perpetuum builds its first ‘truly customized island and PvE experience’
Guild Wars 2 seeks the roller beetle champions of the world – qualifiers are this weekend and next
Runes of Magic announces two new servers coming to the game
The Daily Grind: What’s your favorite story of anonymous kindness from an MMO?
Thousands of WoW Classic fans replicate the ‘fresh start server’ that Blizzard won’t make
Hamilton in Animal Crossing New Horizons is the unofficial crossover the world needs more of
Massively Uplifting: Love and generosity in Sea of Thieves, Guild Wars 2, SOTA, and more
Check out this recreation of World of Warcraft’s Stormwind in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
Star Trek Online podcast to introduce Gene Roddenberry’s son to the MMO
WoW Classic ‘Fresh Crusade’ movement boasts 10,000 players and counting
A modder earns $10,000 for finding a loading issue in Grand Theft Auto Online
World of Warcraft fundraises for Doctors Without Borders by offering pet incentives
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Online takes the single-player sandbox and turns it into an MMO
Composer Alex Moukala re-imagines the Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker trailer music as a boss track
Massively Uplifting: Gamestonk, gorillas, and giving in MMOs
Lord of the Rings Online players create a video memorial for a fallen friend
Classic Guild Wars players are in a delightful frenzy trying to unearth an easter egg from 2013
Guild Wars 2 players are having a Toga Party on April 24 to raise MS awareness and charity funds
Lord of the Rings Online players hits level cap by baking millions of pies
Warframe’s Tennocon 2021 will again be digital-only, benefiting homelessness relief
World of Warships adds the real Leroy Jenkins as a playable ship commander
The Daily Grind: What’s the last positive encounter you had with a random stranger in an MMO?
RuneScape player’s huge history book goes on sale for charity
Elite Dangerous player manages a 64,000+ light year trip without needing to scoop fuel from stars
World of Warcraft’s player-run Crash Cog cup crowned its first winner of season two this weekend
Massively Uplifting: Gaming charity endeavors support vets, autism, and AbleGamers
Check out the Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker trailer… by way of Moonbase Alpha
Fans hope to revive Allods Online by handing out free one-month subs
Guild Wars 2 memorializes Stan LePard in-game in today’s big balance patch
Monster Hunter Rise fan crafts 1000 items for charity while wishing for ducks from the 2019 MMO
Reborn Promisance is a fan-operated version of a turn-based multiplayer strategy MUD from 26 years ago
Valheim gets a mod to bring the World of Warcraft landscape into the game
World of Warships spearheads 17-hour international virtual museum hop next week
Final Fantasy XIV’s composer reveals he was battling cancer last year while working on the game
Daybreak grants all of its employees a paid ‘unplug day’
Final Fantasy XIV previews patch 5.55’s additions, players hold a vigil for Kentaro Miura
EVE Online has launched the EVE Academy to help new players find their footing
Hundreds of Return of Reckoning players hold an in-game memorial for a fallen community member
EVE Online teams up with the University of Iceland to offer an online course about digital friendship
Perfect World hosts a Steam sale to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of America
40 musicians collab on medley to welcome back Final Fantasy XIV composer Soken
Myst Online: Uru Live developer Cyan Worlds has open-sourced even more game assets
LOTRO’s community puts on a Shirefest concert series
Secret World fan author Blodwedd Mallory releases the sixth book of her series today
Obituary: Prominent Secret World Legends community leader HolloPoint
Secret Worlds Legends’ player-run MEGAversary 4 radio show will pay tribute to HolloPoint
Guild Wars 2 players are celebrating Pride in-game and raising funds for charity this evening
Bungie Day 2021 is being marked with a charity drive, a free emblem, and a Destiny 2 preview event on August 24
Perfect Ten: The 10 most huggable boss monsters in multiplayer online hunting RPGs
Indeed, Final Fantasy XIV is getting an official cookbook
Relive LOTRO’s Weatherstock XIII player concert series with these videos
Guild Wars 2 reveals fourth End of Dragons voice actor as cheeky Inventory Manager gets an update
‘We do not serve Activision Blizzard’: Furious WoW players stage protest against Blizzard
Blaugust blog writing initiative returns to challenge bloggers to write for a whole month
Blizzard Day 9: Ubisoft stands in solidarity, Ashes of Creation buys Blizzard workers lunch
Final Fantasy XIV changes the Sage job icon in response to trypophobia sufferers
Massively Uplifting: Summer goodness from SOLO, EVE, Bungie, Warframe, and Guild Wars
Neverwinter is selling charity item bundles to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of America
Star Trek Online shares some epic Klingon heavy metal
Star Citizen’s community-run Daymar Rally race announces its return on January 15
MUD creator Richard Bartle’s seminal book on designing MMOs is now free
EverQuest II’s player-run Festival of Unity is back this weekend with a variety of games and events
EA’s ‘patent pledge’ openly shares tech patents in an effort to increase game accessibility
Stardew Valley’s lone developer announces a $40K speedrunning competition on September 4
Guild Wars 2 teases next End of Dragons elite spec reveal, promises more info on skiffs
Final Fantasy XIV shows you how to make its 8-year anniversary cake in painstaking detail
Funcom gave a player group its blessing to build a Secret World TTRPG
Meet the Japanese esports team that’s composed of players age 66 to 73
Project 1999 players race to fight EverQuest bosses in a charity drive for a family
Gamigo’s charity project planted 200K trees with player donations – now that promo is permanent
Paladins art director responds to anti-anthro character skin petition by making another anthro skin called Salt
Massively Uplifting: Warframe fights cancer, Square Enix helps the Red Cross, and Extra Life 2021 looms
Fallen Earth may be returning soon in ‘classic’ form
The former lead designer of Ultima Online and Meridian 59 is braving a brutal brain tumor
Guild Wars 2 hosts community-led Halloween and cancer fundraising events
New World player hits level cap without killing anything
Champions Online’s official costume contest invites players to bring their best squad look
How to support Extra Life 2021, from Guild Wars 2 and EverQuest to LOTRO and City of Heroes
Pro Overwatch League esports player Kim ‘Alarm’ Kyeong-bo passes away at age 20
Star Anvil’s Secret World tabletop game is coming in 2022
Massively Uplifting: Thanks and giving with SMITE’s Finchmas, ARK’s Extra Life, WOW’s Classic Against Cancer, and USO’s Play it Forward
Old School RuneScape fan creates an augmented reality setup to perform digital woodcutting in real life
Toontown Online rogue server Toontown Rewritten releases a new expansion with high-level content
ESPN hosted a Microsoft Excel esports competition this past weekend
Star Citizen and EVE Online appear to be gearing up for a community LEGO build-off
Path of Exile boss tells NFTs to ‘f*ck off’ as the Endless Heist event gets underway
Star Citizen players come together to create a heartwarming Luminalia holiday video
Star Wars Galaxies Legends is holding its annual memorial for Carrie Fisher today
Wizardry Online makes a comeback as a rogue server
Advertisement
