Secrets of the Obscure is Guild Wars 2’s next big expansion, ArenaNet announced this week, and it’s dropping August 22nd – with a low pricetag too and a beta for the weaponmaster training feature that was running all weekend.
Meanwhile, the SWTOR port to Broadsword is a go, the Magic to Master legal imbroglio is a whoa, and BlizzCon’s fee is a hard no.
Read on to catch up with the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions today as every Sunday (since 2010!) in Massively Overpowered’s Week in Review!THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Guild Wars 2 formally announces fourth expansion, Secrets of the Obscure, launching August 22 - We hope you liked the Guild Wars 2 expansion name leak because it accurately called the summer expansion: It is indeed Secrets of the Obscure. ArenaNet has officially announced today…
BioWare finally confirms Star Wars The Old Republic’s move to Broadsword - This announcement is almost redundant at this point since we've had so much confirmation from Star Wars The Old Republic developers already, but here it is anyway: Yes, SWTOR is…
Independence Day’s Roland Emmerich announces Space Nation MMORPG: It’s another token-encrusted NFT game - Movie fans no doubt know the name "Roland Emmerich," a blockbuster director who made a household name for himself by destroying the earth on multiple occasions (Independence Day, The Day…
Guild Wars 2’s Secrets of the Obscure weaponmaster training system beta launches today - As announced on Tuesday, Guild Wars 2 is gearing up for a massive beta starting today to allow players to test out the new weaponmaster training system coming in Secrets…
LOTRO Legendarium: How to avoid burning out in LOTRO (and other MMOs) - When Lord of the Rings Online kicked off its head start in April 2007, little did I know that I was logging in for what would prove to be the…
Lawful Neutral: Freedom of speech in MMOs - I don't think a day goes by without gamers ranting on Reddit or Twitter or forums or comment sections about how their freedom of speech was violated because a forum…
Magic to Master dev threatens to sue Gameforge, cancels Kickstarter, and releases new trailer - Laniatus LLC, the company that's trying to revive 2009's Magic to Master, continued to make headlines a couple of weeks ago when Gameforge hit the company with a DMCA strike…
MMO Burnout: Final Fantasy XVI is a high-water mark for the franchise in every way that matters - Over the coming days, weeks, months, and likely years, we are going to watch a whole lot of fighting happen over Final Fantasy XVI. Not in terms of its critical…
Unity adds AI tools to its asset store while Electronic Arts reasons AI generation is a ‘co-pilot’ for artists - The fresh blood in the games industry water continues to be AI generation tools for art assets and writing. This time we zero in on efforts by Unity and an…
So now The Realm Online is apparently being sold to an undisclosed new studio - Last week, player-led developer Realm Worlds announced a shutdown for the current version of The Realm Online, owing to the fact that the game wasn't making enough income to pay…
Massively Overthinking: Why don’t MMOs try harder to foster great guilds? - MOP reader Mahaf1089 posed an interesting question beneath a WoW Factor column earlier this month, one that clearly resonated with our readers because it took off and just about had…
BlizzCon 2023 tickets are on sale starting at $299 - So are you eager to stand in a convention hall in Anaheim pressed shoulder-to-shoulder with a whole lot of Blizzard fans in November? You'll get your chance on November 3rd…
Steam’s Summer Sale 2023 is live through July 13 with deals on FFXIV, GW2, New World, ESO, and more - Valve has revived the traditional Steam summer sale this afternoon, with gobs of good deals running well beyond the 4th of July. Perhaps the most notable promo right now is…
Cozy survival multiplayer game Solarpunk pulled in $330K US on successful Kickstarter - Solarpunk first popped into our pages a week and a half ago, when its Kickstarter made it onto our radar. It's a blend of survival sandboxes and cozy MMOs, though…
WoW Factor: Hardcore progression, speedrunning, and closed environments - So in one of the least surprising surprises ever, we're getting official support for hardcore realms in WoW Classic. That's not a bad thing, mind you. While I say that…
Project Rene aka The Sims 5 shows off graphics, animations, and customization - We've had our eye on the next Sims game - The Sims 5, dubbed Project Rene by EA - ever since it was revealed as having some sort of multiplayer.…
Here’s how WoW Classic’s newly unveiled Hardcore servers will work - As we reported in May, World of Warcraft Classic is adopting the hugely popular Classic Hardcore server ruleset for future implementation. And while we don't have a launch date yet…
Perfect Ten: The most regrettable MMO studio names - The name of a studio has no bearing on the game's quality. You might disagree and point to a game you were more inclined to play because of the name…
NetEase’s Harry Potter: Magic Awakened conjures up a global mobile launch - Just because Hogwarts sent you home for the summer vacation doesn't mean that you can't take a bit of the wizarding world with you. NetEase and Portkey Games' Harry Potter:…
Wayfinder is tweaking everything from chat to progression ahead of summer early access - As we wait for more info on Wayfinder's early access release, Airship Syndicate is filling the days explaining just what it learned from the last beta - and what it…
Diablo IV’s 13-page patch buffs basic skills and nightmare dungeons, but not everyone’s happy - Diablo IV's first big post-launch patch is here, and it's nothing if not a conversation centerpiece for the passionate fanbase. While not a content drop, the patch primarily focuses on…
The Cycle Frontier will sunset in September owing to financial inviability - Five years ago next month, we learned about a new PvEvP "shooter with a twist" that was supposed to incorporate battle royale elements without just being yet another battle royale.…
MultiVersus’ beta has closed down, but still can be played offline for the time being - Over the weekend, the ability to answer "who would win in a fight between Shaggy from Scooby-Doo and Batman (not from Scooby-Doo)" was taken away from us all, as MultiVersus…
Lord of the Rings Online preps a performance-improving patch for tomorrow - This month we have seen Lord of the Rings Online's development team unusually excited about a possible solution to one of the game's major drawbacks: its notorious lag. Earlier in…
Fight or Kite: Hands-on with Waven, Ankama’s new tactical card-driven MMO - I was provided an especially exciting treat this week. Anyone who’s been following the Fight or Kite column this year, even in passing, would have recognized that I’ve been diving…
Choose My Adventure: Age of Conan engages my barbarian rage - Let me be honest with you all: This week saw me ragequit out of Age of Conan, though not quite to the point that I didn't try to answer the…
Embers Adrift readies its buy-to-play shift with testing of subscriber features and new zone - The beginning of this month saw Embers Adrift decide to give up the subscriber-only drum-beating and switch over to a buy-to-play model with an optional sub that provides multiple benefits.…
SMITE, Paladins company Hi-Rez is hit by layoffs following major restructuring and new CEO - Hi-Rez's Stewart Chisam has announced a major restructure of the company and its multiple online games studios - and unfortunately, it includes layoffs. Chisam wrote on Linkedin that the company…
Tarisland’s global closed beta is finally underway on PC and Android - As promised, Tencent's Tarisland officially enters closed beta today, with a PC open globally and an Android beta open for a more limited group of countries. We've been watching the…
Lost Ark is merging western and central Europe into a single region - Amazon is planning a set of a region merges for Lost Ark, this time smooshing the western and central chunks of Europe into one region. "We know players have been…
Second Life celebrates 20 years with in-game events, real-life prize giveaways, and a documentary - Linden Lab is marking a very special occasion this week, as its massive online sandbox Second Life is celebrating 20 years of operation, with a whole host of events both…
Wisdom of Nym: The clues to watch for at Final Fantasy XIV’s Fan Festival - One of the things I find myself coming back to a lot is how information is only as useful as your ability to digest it. This is obvious on a…
Working As Intended: My 20 years of Star Wars Galaxies - Last year, when Ultima Online turned 25 years old, I did a piece reminiscing on those early days and marveling that so much of what we consider standard in MMOs…
Guild Wars 2 counts a million new players, touts an expanding studio, and talks up End of Dragons sales - There was an interesting article up on PCGamesN earlier this month proclaiming that Guild Wars 2's isn't a dead game (which you surely know) and moreover that "ArenaNet has shown…
Black Desert FESTA unveils Maegu’s Awakening, 300v300 battleground, new region, and much more - Early this morning saw Black Desert unveil a whole slew of content plans for the MMORPG during its live Black Desert FESTA event, including the game's next Awakening, new regions,…
Ashes of Creation spotlights its non-instanced, exclusive player freeholds - A new look this past week at one of Ashes of Creation's premiere housing systems has divided the community between those excited about its potential and those worried that it'll…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 427: The promise of Palia
Battle Bards Episode 226: Echoes of MMOs that never were
The Stream Team: Returning to the crucible of Elementalist combat in Guild Wars 2
The Stream Team: Dungeons & Dragons night explores the ice maze
The Stream Team: Backseat Streaming checks out the large-scale boxy FPS action of Battlebit Remastered
The Stream Team: A first timer’s visit to the Lohlunat Festival of Star Trek Online
The Stream Team: Soaking up Star Wars Galaxies on its 20th anniversary
The Stream Team: Sauntering through Secret World Legends for its 6th anniversary
The Stream Team: No Man’s Sky interstellar exploration for resources
The Stream Team: Final Fantasy XIV leveling with the Dark Knight and White Mage duo
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.
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