This week was a doozy for MMORPG players as two new games were announced for our genre: an as-yet-unnamed Magic: the Gathering MMO from Cryptic and PWE, and Fractured, a SpatialOS-powered MMOARPG sandbox without some of the more annoying tropes that usually attach themselves to sandboxes.
Meanwhile, Elder Scrolls Online Morrowind formally launched, Secret World Legends plotted a headstart and new beta wave, and Bless Online apparently gave up on its western ambitions.
Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Cryptic announces brand-new Magic: The Gathering MMORPG - One of the largest and longest-running collectible card games is about to become a brand-new role-playing video game, courtesy of Cryptic Studios. Cryptic and Perfect World Entertainment announced today that…
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online Morrowind is the MMO you want and don’t want - [AL:ESO]I have been head-over-heels for Elder Scrolls Online since One Tamriel, and the Morrowind chapter has only added to my enthusiasm for the game. I understand that this game now…
Secret World Legends announces headstart on June 23 - [AL:SWL]Good news for Secret World nomads: You are invited to move into your new digs in Secret World Legends a few days early. Funcom announced today on Twitter that it…
Elder Scrolls Online’s Morrowind is finally here! Watch the new launch trailer - [AL:ESO]The Elder Scrolls Online's Morrowind not-an-expansion has formally launched today for PC and even on console, where those of you who couldn't participate in the head start have surely been…
Bless Online’s western version has been canceled over ‘quality standards’ - The Neowiz statement that Aeria Games is no longer serving as the western Bless Online has now been backed up by Gamigo, Aeria's parent company, though contrary to the translated reports from yesterday, Gamigo…
Hands-on with Path of Exile’s upcoming The Fall of Oriath expansion - [AL:POE]If you were given the opportunity to jump in and experience Path of Exile upcoming The Fall of Oriath expansion early, you would, wouldn't you? I thought so. I had…
The Game Archaeologist: Phantasy Star Online - The Dreamcast was a brief but shining aberration in the gaming world. Coming along years after Sega had fallen out of its position as a top-runner in the console market,…
Massively OP chats with Star Trek Online Kuumaarke actress Kipleigh Brown - [AL:STO]If you haven't yet played the most recent Star Trek Online update on consoles, you might not be aware that you're going to be doing a fair amount of work…
Secret World Legends offers up ‘deep dive’ on weapons - [AL:SWL]After a week or so of teasing the different weapon specialties on Twitter for Secret World Legends, the crew at Funcom has finally released a "deep dive" into the different…
World of Warcraft Patch 7.2.5 is coming on Tuesday; here’s Blizzard’s survival guide - You only have one more weekend to wait before experiencing the next chapter of World of Warcraft's saga: Blizzard has announced that Patch 7.2.5 will release on Tuesday, June 13th. While this…
MMO Burnout: Approaching DC Universe’s Injustice 2 as an MMORPG fan - NetherRealms'Â Injustice 2 is not an MMORPG. It doesn't have a persistent world or a massive number of players actively engaging with each other graphically on screen. However, it has levels,…
Dark and Light opens beta signups, posts new trailer - Snail Games hasn't officially confirmed rumors from earlier this week that its revivified MMORPG sandbox Dark and Light is launching alongside the Steam summer sale later this month, but today's…
All Secret World players can get into the Secret World Legends beta as of today - [AL:SWL]After announcing a surprise headstart for Secret World Legends yesterday, Funcom dropped a second Twitter bomb by informing all current Secret World players that they will be allowed into the…
Chaos Theory: Interview and impressions of Secret World Legends - [AL:SWL]I may or may not be in that secretive NDA-locked closed beta of Secret World Legends -- I'm not telling. But there is something I can tell you. A number…
Massively Overthinking: MMO monetization run amok - Over the last couple of weeks, the monetization of unreleased games has become a pervasive and uncomfortable theme for the MMO genre. Just in brief: Shroud of the Avatar announced…
Moonlight Blade shows off its loli characters - If you're the kind of player who won't play TERA because of the Elin, kindly exit this article because you're not going to like this either. Steparu has a report…
Epic’s shooter/sandbox hybrid Fortnite hits early access July 25 - Way back in 2011, Epic Games announced Fortnite, an "action building game" that functions as a bit of a co-op-shooter-slash-survival-sandbox. You'd be forgiven for having given up on it, but…
E3 2017: Nexon’s dinosaur MMO Durango launches Q4 this year - I've been to Colorado's Durango many times, and I can assure you that there are no dinosaurs there. Nexon's Durango, however, is overrun with the beasts, which means you should…
Choose My Adventure: My frustration with Neverwinter’s lockboxes - [AL:NW]If you thought I was enjoying my time with Neverwinter as a whole, you would be right. I am enjoying my time with the game as a whole, and while…
Perfect Ten: MMORPGs that died too soon - Your favorite game is going to die. I wrote about that. Some games are never even going to get to launching in the first place, unfortunately. But then there are…
Revelation Online server merges are incoming (with a new server launch, too!) - [AL:Rev]Revelation Online is preparing for server merges next week, but they might not be for the reason you think. The team announced that eight US and EU servers are scheduled…
Black Desert’s patch today extends loyalty events with new rewards - This Black Desert penguin, complete with lens flare, would like to come home with you. He's part of the game's new round of loyalty attendance rewards, which will now run through…
Chaos Theory: Interview and impressions of Secret World Legends, part II - [AL:SWL]Last time, I told you my Secret World Legends tour with Creative Director Romain Amiel was too big to fit in just one Chaos Theory. Luckily, we aren't restricted to…
Old School RuneScape players threaten to riot over LGBTQ pride event - Old School RuneScape's playerbase isn't showing its best side this week. Motherboard reports that following the announcement by a Jagex employee that a small gay pride quest will be implemented…
ArcheAge Erenor Eternal update dev tour: Trading revamp and new zones - [AL:Arche]Have you got the urge to explore? ArcheAge's Erenor Eternal launches this evening, bringing three brand-new zones for players to gallivant about in. Of course, as with every large named update,…
Wild West Online shows first in-game footage, offers early bird preorder packages - In other games it might be called a founder's pack, but in Wild West Online, the team is calling it an Early Bird special. No matter what the lingo, the…
SpatialOS-powered Fractured is a sandbox MMO without the grind or forced PvP - The burgeoning SpatialOS empire has a new member state this week, as Italy-based Dynamight Studios announced that it is making Fractured using the world-building platform. Fractured is a relatively new project, having…
World of Warcraft pulls the trigger on class mounts - Ready, set, go get those class mounts, you World of Warcraft fanatics! The studio has unlocked the ability to get these highly desired class-specific mounts, and now there's nothing standing…
TERA’s latest update, Lakan’s Fury, is live today - [AL:TERA]It's time for TERA players to head to the dungeons with the Lakan's Fury update. What is Lakan angry about? Probably not a lack of dungeons, considering this patch adds…
Will Smed’s Amazon game utilize shooter mechanics? - Back in February, we learned the fate of MMORPG industry veteran John Smedley: He's heading up a new game for Amazon Game Studios. Smed is well known for his 20-year…
Guild Wars 2’s WvW update and the first chunk of the ‘Competitive Feature Pack’ are live - As announced at the tail end of May, ArenaNet is spending June upgrading Guild Wars 2's PvP scene, beginning with today's update, which patches up the sadly neglected world-vs.-world content and is…
MMO veteran Bill Roper joins SpatialOS dev Improbable - MMORPG fans know well the name Bill Roper: He's the former Blizzard developer who went on to helm Flagship's Hellgate: London and Cryptic's Champions Online before landing the gig at Disney…
HuffPo examines Ashes of Creation’s ‘business lessons’ - How did Ashes of Creation run the biggest MMORPG Kickstarter to date? HuffPo thinks it knows. The publication has run down a whole list of "business lessons" to take away…
Shroud of the Avatar’s Richard Garriott on launch and philosophy following equity crowdfunding announcement - Last week during its seasonal telethon, Shroud of the Avatar's lead developers surprised watchers by announcing an equity crowdfunding campaign that allows players and other parties to invest directly in…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 120: Steaming into summer
The Stream Team: A peek at Path of Exile’s The Fall of Oriath beta
The Stream Team: Living in a Pixel Worlds world
The Stream Team: Sabotaging Secret World’s castle
The Stream Team: Entering the gates of RuneScape’s Menaphos
The Stream Team: Paladins adds a pain in the Ash, and you could get one!
The Stream Team: A marvelous Marvel Heroes 4th anniversary
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
World of Warcraft Patch 7.2.5 official patch notes
WoW’s Death Knight Unholy Determination achievement removed in 7.2.5
What to do before WoW’s patch 7.2.5
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 little bits of news we didn’t cover anywhere else.
