What a week for the MMORPG genre: Guild Wars 2 released Godspawn, WoW Classic Classic launched with nary a hitch, FFXIV’s Crossroads was pretty good, EverQuest II dropped its 21st expansion, and EverQuest 3 is still happening. Plus, we got a deep look into MMO-adjacent Path of Exile 2 – and our mobile MMO friends have FFXIV Mobile to look forward to. Lil somethin’ for everyone.
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: Hands-on with Godspawn, Guild Wars 2’s latest release - Today marks the release of Godspawn, the first content patch of the Janthir Wilds expansion cycle for Guild Wars 2. While this patch comes with a bit of the usual…
So the WoW Classic Classic fresh start anniversary launch last night was pretty smooth - If you're starting to get that déjà vu feeling in WoW Classic, it's because 2024 is looking like 2019 is looking like 2004. The 20th anniversary "Classic Classic" realms launched…
Wisdom of Nym: Initial impressions of Final Fantasy XIV’s Crossroads dungeon and alliance raid - It's interesting to me how often Final Fantasy XIV patches are inconsistent when it comes to what makes them interesting. This is perhaps not the strangest thing in the world…
Path of Exile 2’s December 6 early access boasts six classes, three acts, and endgame - I am counting down the days: Path of Exile 2's early access is almost upon us! In two weeks, folks will have the opportunity to delve into the future of…
EverQuest II’s 21st expansion, Scars of Destruction, officially launches today - Strap on your sword belt and memorize your full book of spells, for EverQuest II is calling the faithful back to its fold for Scars of Destruction. The fantasy MMO's…
Daybreak confirms work on EverQuest 3 is happening, though it might not be called EverQuest 3 - It would be easy to presume that the future of EverQuest is largely about putting forth new expansions for the existing two titles instead of putting forth any work on…
Vague Patch Notes: The ridiculous marketing doublespeak around MMORPGs - There is a lot to make fun of when it comes to New World, and it comes in many forms, from excusing bad decisions made by Amazon to giving bonus…
Neverwinter 30th module, Return to Pirates’ Skyhold, is live on PC and console today - As promised and foretold by publisher Arc Games, Neverwinter's 30th module ever is officially live on PC and console simultaneously today. The module, with its wonky "As Above, So Below…
Four Winds: The early leveling experience in Amazon’s Throne & Liberty - In the last edition of Four Winds, I covered the opening hours of my journey through Throne and Liberty. Overall, the tutorial island did a good job at introducing me…
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV Mobile might not be for you, and that’s fine - Ugh. Do I have to? Yes, apparently I have to. Let's talk about Final Fantasy XIV Mobile as a new thing related to Final Fantasy XIV, which is something I…
Lord of the Rings Online is revamping Mines of Moria for the December 4 launch on the legendary servers - In the secret places of Lord of the Rings Online, the developers of legend dug too deep and unleashed a slew of antiquated instances that are about to become the…
Perfect Ten: The allure of a fresh start MMO server - This week, WoW Classic activated another set of "fresh start" servers -- something that it's been doing pretty much annually since 2019. Yet even with the routine and familiarity of…
Final Fantasy XIV Mobile devs promise the game will be more than a ‘bite-sized mobile experience’ - There was some understandable skepticism and general recoil after the announcement that Final Fantasy XIV is getting a mobile spinoff, but the developers at Tencent's Lightspeed Studios don't appear to…
Stars Reach unveils the earliest stages of its player housing homesteading system - Development on Playable Worlds' Star Wars Galaxies-esque MMO sandbox Stars Reach is continuing at an apparently speedy pace: The latest dev blog heralds the pre-alpha testing of the game's player…
PlanetSide 2 confirms NA server merges, plans new assault facilities and faction-agnostic mecha for 2025 - This year marks 12 years since the launch of PlanetSide 2, which means that the game is now older than PlanetSide was when the sequel originally launched. To celebrate, PlanetSide…
Massively Overthinking: Breaking the load-bearing mechanics in MMORPGs - The parable of Chesterton's Fence has been making the rounds on social media this week in a political context, but I want to talk about its relevance to the MMO…
Path of Exile 2 early access hands-on: A Witch, a Sorceress, and a Ranger walk off the gallows - When a game you've been eagerly waiting for invites you to come play it one weekend, you nonchalantly check your calendar and... haha, just kidding. You cheer and/or cackle with…
WoW Classic Classic launches tonight with fresh progression servers and some changes - It's (re)launch day for WoW Classic, as Blizzard opens the doors this evening to a batch of fresh start megaservers around the globe starting at 5:00 pm eastern. And if…
New World is merging 12 of its crossplay servers just weeks after the Aeternum launch - Amazon's New World has a longstanding pattern: It opens new servers, and then it closes some more. We're just a month and change into Aeternum, which did indeed add a…
Tarisland confirms new epic raids, more Twisted Dreamland, and a Christmas event for December - Are you having fun exploring the snowy zone of Blight Dragon Elegy or clawing feebly at the legendary weapon grind in Tarisland? Well don't look now because the month of…
MapleStory adds an all-new Dark Ride event, revamps classes, and opens the Page of Memories in latest patch - Most of the time the events and updates applied to the global version of MapleStory are from the Korean version; this shouldn't come as a surprise to most players. However,…
Old School RuneScape will sunset its Java client next year and revive Leagues V next week - If you can remember all the way back to 2020, then good for you. Would you care to tell me what sort of diet you're on that helps with that?…
Massively on the Go: Preparing for Pokemon Go’s Wild Area event - Pokemon Go's Wild Area event is being held November 23rd-24th, but despite being advertised as a new yearly event akin to Go Fest or the Go Tours, it really isn't exuding…
Diablo IV to test Patch 2.1’s armory and witchcraft systems in early December - The date is rapidly approaching for Diablo IV to begin testing its first big expansion update, as Patch 2.1 will go onto the public test realm from December 3rd through…
Massively on the Go: Pokemon Go’s Max Raid and Gigantamax Battles aren’t helping the community - "What's the incentive? They look cool? It's not worth it." This is the player sentiment I've been seeing after people have spent some time with Pokemon Go's Gigantimax raids and…
Throne & Liberty patches in its sprouts system and 2 star dungeon tier – well, kinda - As promised, Throne and Liberty released its 1.8.0 update overnight - this is the update whose key feature, as we've been covering, is the 2 star dungeon tier. These dungeons…
The WoW Classic Classic anniversary rollout is getting an Oceania server after all - When Blizzard announced World of Warcraft Classic Classic would run with megaservers - PvE in US West, PvP and Hardcore in US East - Aussie and Kiwi players, including our…
Dungeons and Dragons Online previews Update 71: Fall of the Night Brigade - The old Wheloon Docks area in Dungeons and Dragons Online is getting a much-needed infusion of content thanks to Update 71, which is currently in testing. [AL:DDO]DDO announced that it…
Whatever happened to the relaunched sandbox MMORPG Legends of Aria Classic? - This week appears to be the kind of week where we flip through the old albums and see why there hasn't been anything major cropping up. This time around we're…
Fractured has officially launched its first season – and it’s free-to-play now, too - It's patch day for Kickstarted MMORPG sandbox Fractured Online, and this isn't just any patch: This is the game's free-to-play relaunch. "[W]e are officially FREE TO PLAY, and we are…
Perfect Ten: Utterly silly MMO transmedia synergy over the years - Remember back when Trion Worlds tried to coin -- or cement -- the term "transmedia synergy" for the relationship between Defiance the game and Defiance the TV show? And we found it…
Wayfinder is planning a new nightmare mode, but it’s indefinitely delayed mods and the Xbox launch - Wayfinder dropped an update last night with both good news and bad news for "the rest of 2024." Let's get the bad news out of the way first: Xbox players…
LOTRO Legendarium: Riding out into Lord of the Rings Online’s Legacy of Morgoth - Anyone who knows my gaming habits understands that I am not a fan of desert zones, expansions, or even Tatooine. Sorry Luke, but it's not as if you weren't trying…
MMO sandbox Life is Feudal is being resurrected for the second time this year - It has been a weird, winding, and wonky road for Life is Feudal. The MMO version of the game was shut down in 2021 but started to got a resurrection…
Square-Enix and Lightspeed Studio officially announce Final Fantasy XIV Mobile - Don't look now but Final Fantasy XIV is getting an official mobile adaptation. Publisher Square-Enix and developer Tencent-owned Lightspeed Studios have taken the wraps off Final Fantasy XIV Mobile, an…
Towers of Aghasba early access fans on Steam are already issuing warnings about the state of the game - It's not an MMORPG, but it will certainly scratch any itch for a multiplayer open world game you've got: It's Towers of Aghasba, and it's officially launched into early access…
Pax Dei changes its existing chat system to a Discord-powered one this week - Get ready for a major change in how Pax Dei handles one of its key social features, as the early access MMO is changing over its chat system to a…
Choose My Adventure: My life as a Moonshiner in Red Dead Online - This is not something I say very often or very lightly, but I'm glad that I was pressured into spending money on a game. I'll admit that I was resistant…
The Soapbox: The War Within is the best World of Warcraft’s endgame has ever been - When I delivered my first impressions of The War Within, I was full of praise for World of Warcraft's latest expansion, but I did offer the caveat that I hadn't…
Here’s what’s actually making it into Corepunk’s early access launch build next week - So Corepunk studio Artificial Core put out a press release this morning, and I think most of our readers already know the main content here. Yes, it's still hitting early…
Unity’s CEO says he flew around the world to understand why devs didn’t like runtime fees - Last year Unity decided it wanted to manufacture some discord within the games industry in the name of a quick buck when it added new runtime fees, which were almost…
World of Warcraft admits that it’s the ‘ship of Theseus of video games’ - To mark World of Warcraft's 20th anniversary, Blizzard is granting interviews all over the place (although I do wish they'd stay out of my house). Talking to Games Radar, Ion…
Minecraft and War Thunder military leaker is sentenced to 15 years in prison - Readers might remember a story last year about Massachusetts Air National Guard airman Jack Teixiera, who was caught spreading classified military documents related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on both…
Ashes of Creation wipes away assets and eliminates over 100 characters over duping incident - One has to wonder exactly what sort of benefit someone would get from trying to use dupes to get ahead in a game that's in alpha testing. It's not like…
Throne & Liberty says over 3900 players took part in its biggest castle siege to date - With the first large-scale castle siege for Throne and Liberty now in the books for the western audience, Amazon Games is taking a moment to take look back at the…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 494: WoW opens the door to player housing
The Stream Team: Returning to Palia for the Season of Splendor – and pond plushies
The Stream Team: A Prison of the Planes in Dungeons & Dragons Online
The Stream Team: Traversing the wilds in Enshrouded
The Stream Team: Gearing up for another round against the Pi-Rat King in Cat Quest III
The Stream Team: Guild Wars 2’s Trial and Error in Godspawn
The Stream Team: Heading down Elder Scrolls Online’s Gold Road
The Stream Team: Factions, reputations, and the Friday before Black Friday in AdventureQuest 3D
The Stream Team: Storm chasing in Astroneer’s Glitchwalkers
The Stream Team: The quest for silverware 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.
