This week in the world of MMORPGs tried its damnedest to make up for the week before (iykyk): Throne & Liberty got a two-week delay, New World picked a date for its Aeternum crossplay beta, Dungeons and Dragons Online launched its Myth Drannor expansion, and Richard Garriott suggested he’s trying to get Ultima Online back from EA. Plus, MOP’s Colin got his hands on Guild Wars 2’s Janthir Wilds, which formally launches this coming week!
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
Flameseeker Chronicles: Previewing Guild Wars 2’s Janthir Wilds story, warclaw, and homesteading - It feels like less than a year ago that Guild Wars 2 was launching its last expansion… oh wait, it was! Love it or hate it, ArenaNet is delivering on…
Rumor: Richard Garriott says he believes he will get Ultima Online back ‘soon’ - If you enjoy some political shitposting, then you might already be following MMORPG founding father Richard Garriott on Twitter, and if so, you might also have seen a surprising tweet…
Amazon and NCsoft delay Throne and Liberty to October 1 for more progression retooling - Hope you didn't have your heart set on a September 17th launch for Throne and Liberty because Amazon and NCsoft just delayed it again. The good news is that it's…
New World’s Aeternum open beta for PC and console is slated for September 13-16 - We're finally getting some movement on New World that involves PC players: Amazon has just formally announced its Aeternum open beta, which smooshes together PC, Xbox S|S, and PS5 players…
Wisdom of Nym: Why Dawntrail might be my favorite Final Fantasy XIV expansion in years - Let's start this week's Wisdom of Nym by clarifying something: If you ask me if Dawntrail is the best Final Fantasy XIV expansion, I will tell you that it is…
Dungeons and Dragons Online has just launched its ninth expansion, Myth Drannor - You antsy Guild Wars 2 and World of Warcraft players can settle down for a bit -- today is Dungeons and Dragons Online's time to shine. SSG's MMO is launching…
Vague Patch Notes: The great content consumption problem in MMORPGs - A friend and I were talking about an MMORPG's content recently (it doesn't matter which one) and I was pointing out how that particular style of content is a problem…
Stars Reach begins testing this weekend as Raph Koster talks playstyle and the anti-endgame - Playable Worlds' Raph Koster is continuing his weekly dev blogs about Stars Reach's intended audience this week - though he does say this one is probably the last of those…
Conan Exiles’ Age of Heroes companions and living settlements will breathe more life into the sandbox - If there's one thing that many survival games lack, it's life. To me, one of the drawbacks of the survival genre compared to MMORPGs is how dead and lifeless the…
Not So Massively: Immortal Gates of Pyre offers multiplayer RTS fans a glimmer of hope - It's been a busy month for fans of the real time strategy genre. Even as Stormgate ran its early access preview, another crowdfunded StarCraft II inspired RTS, Immortal: Gates of…
The Soapbox: Feeling the FOMO effect of positive MMO news - It was the other week that I saw the very unexpected headline right here on MOP: "Daybreak bought Palia studio Singularity 6 and aims to bring the game to launch."…
LOTRO Legendarium: Yondershire is one of the most fun zones in LOTRO - Thanks to the encouragement provided by Lord of the Rings Online's new legendary servers, I've been enjoying a couple weeks of blissful low-level adventuring throughout Eriador. These progression servers always…
Genshin Impact 5.0 brings a new nation, new characters, and new traversal forms August 28 - There's a big beefy update headed to Genshin Impact on Wednesday, August 28th. One that's opening up the sixth nation on the game's world map, adding three new characters to…
Pax Dei on surviving the sandbox as a solo player: ‘Playing solo does not mean playing alone’ - So here's the tricky thing about MMORPGs: Their greatest strength lies in their massively multiplayer nature, and yet sometimes we just don't want to deal with other humans... kinda like…
Storyboard: Roleplaying in MMORPGs is much more common than you think - Back around the time when the game's first expansion was a going concern, there was a post on the World of Warcraft forums about how the post author did not…
Fractured Online suffers yet another server issue that forces a 21-hour rollback of progress - That's right, it's happened again: Fractured Online has once more had to roll back player progress thanks to a technical issue, though mercifully this problem has affected only one of…
Star Citizen kicks off a week-long free fly event and previews Pyro’s non-combat gameplay - Star Citizen is celebrating its ships once again and using that love of internet spacecraft to pitch the game to new money players. The Ship Showdown event is officially underway,…
Nightingale previews Realms Rebuilt’s story progression and revamped main campaign - Last week, Tencent's Inflexion Games took the wraps off a major inbound update for Nightingale dubbed Realms Rebuilt. The update, which is essentially the 0.4 and 0.5 updates smooshed into…
SWG Legends celebrates outliving original Star Wars Galaxies with events and a free level 90 booster - Prepare to feel the weight of time in your bones: Star Wars Galaxies rogue server SWG Legends is officially celebrating its "SOEclipse" tomorrow. That's the day when SWG Legends will…
Massively Overthinking: Do the little things make or break an MMORPG? - Earlier this year, I did a video showcasing Star Wars Galaxies Legends player city overhaul, and in it, I admitted to something silly: A minor inventory change to player droids…
APB Reloaded’s New Horizon launch party saw 1000 concurrent players - Earlier this month, we were surprised but please to report that Little Orbit's APB Reloaded was getting a juicy new update, its first in ages, called New Horizon. The devs'…
RuneScape finally unveils 2024-2025 roadmap – including a ‘new area expansion’ in late 2025 - RuneFest was unfortunately pushed off into next year thanks to circumstances beyond Jagex's control - but the studio has found ways to deliver info about RuneScape's upcoming content anyway via…
Once Human brings new gameplay, account-wide cosmetics, server invites, and season updates - Over the past few weeks, Once Human has been talking up the various features headed to the survival shooter in August. Well now the time for talk is passed and…
Diablo IV’s latest cosmetics crossover with World of Warcraft, but they’re going to cost you - How badly do you want your Rogue in Diablo IV to look like Sylvanas Windrunner? Would you be willing to pay around $28 for the privilege? Because that's the price…
World of Warcraft shares The War Within launch details and explains hero talents - Are you prepared for the onset of World of Warcraft's latest expansion? It's almost here, but if you really can't wait until next week for The War Within head start…
Snail Games reveals For The Stars, a sprawling new multiplayer sci-fi survival sandbox - Snail Games has just unveiled a brand-new AAA MMO, not that it's calling it an MMO: For The Stars is being billed by Snail as a "space-themed open universe survival…
Perfect Ten: My 10 favorite MMO pet classes of all time - I've had to face the fact that among the MOP team, I'm in somewhat of a minority who actually likes -- nay, passionately loves -- pet classes in MMOs. Maybe…
Elder Scrolls Online’s update 43 features a new tool for finding, touring, and boosting amazing player houses - This truly is a great year for MMO housing enthusiasts, as not only did Palia add a house tour feature and Guild Wars 2 promise housing, but now Elder Scrolls…
Lost Ark’s Calm Before the Storm update is live with Indigo Island content and bound gold - If you can't spend your August vacationing in the real world, Lost Ark invites you to Indigo Island in Arkesia, which is live today as part of the game's Calm…
World of Warcraft talks up delves, raids, and dungeons in a new video about an endgame for everyone - While the latest video from World of Warcraft does not specifically use the term "raid or die," it seems very clear from the discussion topics chosen for the video that…
Necesse is a 2-D multiplayer colony building and dungeon delving RPG featuring new graphics - Here's one that's been out for a while but hasn't crossed our desks until recently: Say hello to Necesse, a 2019 single-player and multiplayer early access RPG that blends procedural…
Ultima Online’s latest New Legacy beta takes leveling off the rails with Divergent Paths - Ultima Online has now run three New Legacy open beta weekends thus far as Broadsword tests out its upcoming alternative server ruleset - and we say open here because you…
Choose My Adventure: Aw man Pax Dei is just not for me - Have you ever been so diametrically opposed to a game that you knew right from the very beginning that it was going to be a bad time? It doesn't happen…
Fractured Online invites everyone to play free for nine days as it drops a big summons and dailies update - Kickstarted MMORPG sandbox Fractured Online has been out of early access for three weeks now - and it's already heading into its second free-play promotion. Readers will recall that at…
Former Pearl Abyss America CEO takes the helm of NCsoft America - Last week we reported on Pearl Abyss America CEO Jeonghee “JJ” Jin announcing the end of her tenure after six years for "a new career challenge." We now know just…
Stop Killing Games Initiative stumps for signatures to pressure EU governments - This past April saw the formation of the Stop Killing Games initiative, a grass roots attempt by YouTuber Ross Scott to enact laws that halt publishers from cutting off the…
Borderlands film adaptation bombs in its opening weekend in terms of reception and ticket sales - If you were hoping that the Mario and Sonic films were heralding a new age in good video game movie adaptations, the live-action film based on the single-player and multiplayer…
Chrono Odyssey producer promises more gameplay details soon and asks for release date patience - If you're staring wide-eyed and unblinking in the direction of Chrono Odyssey, hoping to spot a release date? Well you probably should blink a few times because it doesn't sound…
Kakao Q2 2024: Profits nosedive as ArcheAge 2 faces another potential delay - The second quarter for fiscal year 2024 has ended up being a pretty awful one for Kakao Games. The latest earnings summary confirms that the publisher and developer was hit…
PSA: WoW Remix Pandaria will be shutting down August 20 - If you've been enjoying your time in World of Warcraft Remix's Mists of Pandaria, consider this your friendly reminder that all good things must come to an end: The special…
Ashes of Creation’s year-long NDA-free Alpha Two starts October 25 - In the Ashes of Creation community, the phrase "Alpha Two" almost has a hallowed significance to it due to how long it's been in the works and how often Intrepid…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 480: Fashion is the real MMO endgame
Battle Bards Episode 233: Epic fight music
The Stream Team: A low-level Captain’s journey through Lord of the Rings Online
The Stream Team: Devils are a Multitude of Menace in Dungeons & Dragons Online
The Stream Team: Communing with the flame in Enshrouded… whatever that means
The Stream Team: Exploring the Purribean in some co-op Cat Quest III
The Stream Team: Killing off Mordremoth in Guild Wars 2
The Stream Team: Going to Grahtwood in Elder Scrolls Online
The Stream Team: The Lost Armory of AQ3D’s Nulgath
The Stream Team: Nixing Nibbles in V Rising
The Stream Team: Taking the tank toward level 100 in Final Fantasy XIV
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.
