MMO Week in Review: Reopening ‘Old Wounds’

The MMO genre saw multiple rollouts this week: World of Warcraft launched Embers of Neltharion, Eden Eternal relaunched, Guild Wars 2 dropped its balance patch, and EVE Online began its 20th birthday celebrations, all as Star Wars The Old Republic took advantage of Star Wars Day to announce its next update, Old Wounds.

Plus, we got a peek at Chrono Odyssey, Star Trek Online announced unraveled, Gamigo’s parent company continued its moves away from MMOs, and Redfall turned out to be a bit of a mess.

Meanwhile, our columnists were busy discussing WoW’s issues, aging in gaming, the positives of FFA PvP, MMO housing, and why Activision might try to ditch Blizzard.

THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES

WoW Factor: World of Warcraft’s content problems aren’t about quantity - So recently, we asked about what World of Warcraft could do to draw back players that it had lost. To be clear, that's a lot of players. The game has…

Vague Patch Notes: MMO players don’t talk about aging - I turned 40 this year. It's not something that I announced with any particular fanfare, due in no small part to the fact that I was sick on my birthday.…

Lawful Neutral: What if Activision-Blizzard just… sold Blizzard? - Last week, Activision-Blizzard and Bobby Kotick got a bad surprise: The UK moved to block the acquisition of ABK by Microsoft, citing concerns over anti-trust and monopoly, particularly in cloud…

Redfall’s messy release prompts apology from Xbox’s Phil Spencer - Some vampires need to be staked right out of the coffin. This has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week for Bethesda and Arkane Austin following the release…

MGI’s 2022 financial report is bad news for RIFT and most of Gamigo’s remaining MMOs - Gamigo and KingsIsle parent company MGI recently posted its 2022 financial report, and things aren't looking great for interest and investment into current and upcoming MMORPGs in that sector. The…

Elite Dangerous previews Update 15’s new ship tech, new Thargoid foes, and a new ground mission - Earlier this week we learned that Update 15 for Elite: Dangerous would be getting a May 9th release date but we didn't know anything about the actual patch's content. And…

Mike Ybarra defends patent filing for AI art generator in Blizzard style - The extremely sticky wicket of AI art generation and its impact on multiple creative industries has now hit the higher echelons of Blizzard's executive tower-dwellers, as company president Mike Ybarra…

LOTRO Legendarium: 10 more fun LOTRO tips and tricks - At this point, I have to ask: Am I weird for loving lists of tips and tricks for MMOs? It's almost always one of the first things I look for…

Zenith’s Skyward Summit update launches May 11 as Ramen holds back Cyber Ninja’s subclasses - Ramen VR has been teasing Zenith's Skyward Summit patch for what seems like months now, and we've finally got a formal launch date: May 11th. "This patch will introduce a…

Massively on the Go: WalkScape’s Schamppu wants game to walk the fitness walk - It turns out I wasn't alone in WalkScape piquing my curiosity, so those of you who are intrigued by a new RuneScape-inspired walking-centric MMOARG will be happy to dip into…

Star Citizen shows off development progress on its next indoor kart racetrack - Last August, Star Citizen showed off the surprise reveal of indoor kart race tracks, which started life as a pet project done by some of CIG's devs during their downtime.…

Lost Ark sets its May patch – and the Slayer advanced class – to roll out next week - Amazon's Lost Ark has found a pretty comfortable patch cadence in its first year of life, so you're unlikely to be surprised at the revelation that Lost Ark's May patch…

Destiny 2 is raising its standalone season prices, players are naturally displeased - It's not just MMORPG subs that have gone up over the last year: Even season passes are creeping up in some online titles. The latest to see a price hike…

Massively Overthinking: What kind of PvE content do you expect from MMO sandboxes? - A couple of weeks back, MOP reader Alberto asked an interesting question in the comments of a particularly galling Star Citizen post. He pointed out that some players consider working…

Wayfinder shares updates to movement, combat, and UI while eyeing a late 2023 launch window - With Wayfinder moving closer to its planned closed beta test session on May 10th, you would assume that the multiplayer RPG's next build would feature some adjustments to the game…

Eden Eternal has relaunched with a side order of NFTs and a delay on Steam - It's re-launch day for Eden Eternal, and if you haven't been following along, well sit back because we're about to do a recap, and it's kinda weird. Eden Eternal launched…

Star Trek Online previews the new TFO, Leviathan, coming with the Unraveled update - Despite the name, the new task force operation arriving in Star Trek Online with the Unraveled update does not take place underwater. The ships in the game are meant for…

Unity slashes 600 jobs in its latest round of layoffs - It's not been the best year to work at Unity, as the tech company has gone through multiple rounds of layoffs and office closures. The Wall Street Journal is reporting…

WoW Classic begins testing Trial of the Crusader today as Blizzard toys with ChatGPT - Why ask players what they want out of World of Warcraft when you could ask the fancy auto-complete tool known as ChatGPT? I assume Ion Hazzikostas is just telling a…

Star Wars The Old Republic unveils GU 7.3 Old Wounds in time for Star Wars Day - Star Wars fans readying their sabers for May the Fourth have something tangible to look forward to thanks to Star Wars The Old Republic. BioWare devs delivered details about the…

Swordsmen X Survival launches on Steam with Chinese as its only language while players pan the game - If you were seeing red flags in your mind while learning of the low-key launch date announcement from The Swordsmen X: Survival, congratulations; your BS radar is in perfect working…

Perfect Ten: What FFA PvP has to offer the MMO space - Before any of you look at the title, the author, and then at your screen again in disbelief, let me disabuse you of any confusion immediately. Over the years, I've…

The Soapbox: MMO housing is so much more than a frivolous feature - When The Sims launched in 2000, what seemed like a dull and laughable concept on paper proved to be one of the most compelling video game experiences of all time.…

South Korean UE5 MMORPG Chrono Odyssey drops brand-new trailer and crossplatform plans - The teasers didn't lie: Chrono Odyssey is happening. South Korean studio Npixel confirmed the long-awaited MMORPG is really truly en route in its announcement and trailer today. The studio touts…

Lord of the Rings Online activates new forums and Gwathrenost raid today - It's quite the big day for Lord of the Rings Online, starting with the release of the previously delayed Gwathrenost raid with Update 35.1.2. "Gwathrenost, the Witch-king's Citadel is a…

Villagers & Heroes Homestead expansion brings player housing interiors to the 2011 MMO - Long-running and much-beloved 2011 indie MMO Villagers & Heroes already kinda has housing - let's just state that upfront. It has housing villages where players can buy a house, stash…

2012 KingsIsle MMO Pirate101 is finally heading to Steam later this month - All right, let's be real, if you're interested in Pirate101 you probably are already playing it and don't need the game to be on Steam in order to get invested.…

Ethyrial Echoes of Yore will see a full wipe two weeks after launch for a full do-over - While our own impressions of new indie MMO Ethyrial Echoes of Yore weren't great, we did note that the studio behind the game, Gellyberry, had been slavishly updating the game…

The Daily Grind: How hungry are you for a good new MMO? - More than once here on the site and the podcast, we've discussed how we can sense a very real "hunger" out there for new MMORPGs to come onto the scene…

Guild Wars 2’s balance patch brings bugs, buffs, and boundaries on gambling - As promised, the next spring balance patch is upon Guild Wars 2 today, although it's apparently been a bit of a technical trainwreck thus far, with players reporting bugged meta…

Wakfu and Dofus’ newest sibling, tactical multiplayer game Waven, will launch by year’s end - Veteran MMO players already knew that Ankama, the French company that runs Wakfu and Dofus, has been working on another game, Waven. But today, the studio, along with co-publisher New…

Fight or Kite: Eternal Card Game puts a real focus both PvE and PvP - This week in Fight or Kite, I'm taking on Eternal. It’s another dueling card game that at least on the face of it doesn’t throw much caution to the wind.…

Choose My Adventure: Dungeons and Dragons Online immediately brings that tabletop goodness - It's still early days for this month's run of Choose My Adventure, but even so I can pretty much immediately confirm my earlier suspicions: Dungeons and Dragons Online absolutely knocks…

EVE Online begins 20th anniversary with mural reveal, events, and June Viridian expansion details - It's time to ignore some goofass business decisions and accentuate the positive in EVE Online as the spaceship sandbox MMO is celebrating its 20th anniversary, which is cause to celebrate…

World of Warcraft patch 10.1, Embers of Neltharion, goes live today - It's just about time for some underground fun in World of Warcraft, depending on when you're reading this. Sure, Dragonflight has had a lot of patches already, but this is…

Star Trek Online announces Unraveled, coming to PC May 9, with new episode and TFO - This morning, Cryptic's taken the wraps off Star Trek Online's next big thing in a bit of a low-key announcement: Unraveled. "In Star Trek Online: Unraveled, Admiral Kuumaarke returns to…

PSA: World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is now 40% off through May 15 - So how are things going on the World of Warcraft team after the most recent set of financial results for Blizzard showed off that Dragonflight is, uh... not doing so…

Wisdom of Nym: What to expect from 2023’s Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival - We've still got a couple months until Final Fantasy XIV's next fan festival, but it's already in an interesting place. In one sense, this year's festival has the easiest victory…

Guild Wars 2 teases next expansion and update and the plan for specs and balance in summer roadmap - Guild Wars 2 studio ArenaNet is kicking off May with a new dev blog and roadmap today. Game director Josh Davis and crew begin by reiterating the studio's previously announced…

Mad World continues to be MIA on Steam as it addresses cash shop currency and NA server woes - We're continuing to keep an eye on Mad World, which had a stuttering start at launch and an equally bumpy early bird release. The launch week woes appear to continue…

First Impressions: Ethyrial Echoes of Yore needs a lot more polish to be worth a sub - I'll be very upfront: I did not have a whole lot of time to play Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore even though I was granted access to a private press build…

Dauntless and Fae Farm studio Phoenix Labs hit with layoffs, restructuring following investor buyout - Last week, we learned the disturbing news that Dauntless and Fae Farm studio Phoenix Labs has been hit with what our sources tell us were sizable and abrupt layoffs. The…

THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS

Massively OP Podcast Episode 420: The New, Mad World of Warcraft

The Stream Team: Taking a look at the mad world of Mad World

The Steam Team: Assisting the Iron Bulwark in AdventureQuest 3D

The Stream Team: Flying for the Klingon Defense Force in Star Trek Online

The Stream Team: Star Trek Online’s rocket kitty

The Stream Team: Backseat Streaming steps back into the mech suits of Anthem

The Stream Team: Taking a nibble out of the vampire menace in Redfall

The Stream Team: Going to town for the Master of Peace in Guild Wars 2

The Stream Team: Saving the Helm’s Hold cathedral in Neverwinter

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.