While many PC and console gamers were obsessed with Cyberpunk 2077’s launch this week, the MMO industry was busy delivering its outlook for the year to come: Elder Scrolls Online’s Gates of Oblivion, Crimson Desert’s launch goals, Elite Dangerous Odyssey, Black Desert’s Nova, and Elyon’s western rollout. That’s a lot to look forward to, even without mentioning New World, End of Dragons, Forspoken, or Burning Crusade Classic, eh?
Read on to catch up with the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions today as every Sunday in Massively Overpowered’s Week in Review!THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Elder Scrolls Online’s Gates of Oblivion, Crimson Desert’s big reveal, ARK 2, and Elite Dangerous Odyssey preorders - We're updating the end with the big news and videos as they roll in! Even as our own awards have begun rolling out, the broader industry is feasting tonight on…
Black Desert unveils new Nova class, Pearl Abyss takes over western PC publishing - [AL:BDO]The digital Calpheon Ball has come and gone for Black Desert, and it's brought with it the reveal of a devastating-looking new class. Say hello to Nova, the Eternally Blazing…
Blizzard claims World of Warcraft Shadowlands is the fastest-selling PC game of all time - Blizzard is breathlessly proclaiming this morning that World of Warcraft Shadowlands is the fastest-selling PC game of all time, by virtue of its having sold 3.7M units globally between when…
Flameseeker Chronicles: An honest second look at Guild Wars 2’s dragon response missions - As longtime readers surely know, Flameseeker Chronicles is an opinion column, one of many on Massively OP, though this one's about Guild Wars 2. Sometimes my opinion is going to…
WoW Factor: The strange diegetics of the Shadowlands - So hey, everyone may be totally immortal right now in World of Warcraft. That seems like a thing we should examine now, huh? I freely admit that this week I just…
Cyberpunk 2077 appears to have the biggest PC launch of all time - It turns out a lot of people want to live in a cybernetic dystopia other than the one we are presently engaged with, based on the pre-orders for Cyberpunk 2077. Developer CD…
Jukebox Heroes: Diving into Shadowlands’ soundtrack - Any year that we get a new World of Warcraft expansion soundtrack is always a great reason to rejoice. Blizzard never skimps on its art department -- nor its music…
Massively OP’s 2020 Awards: Most Improved MMO - MassivelyOP’s end-of-the-year awards for 2020 continue today with our award for Most Improved MMO, which was awarded to Black Desert last year. All live MMOs, regardless of release date, were…
The Game Archaeologist’s ultimate MMO archives v4.0 - By far, my favorite column to write here at Massively OP (and the one that always takes the longest) is The Game Archaeologist. I've been doing this in one form…
Massively OP’s 2020 Awards: Best MMO Event of 2020 - MassivelyOP’s end-of-the-year awards for 2020 continue today with our award for Best MMO Event of 2020, which was awarded last year to AdventureQuest 3D for its KORN and Alice in…
Ask Mo: The hits and misses of MassivelyOP’s 2020 predictions - Last December, when we sat down to write out our annual MMO predictions for 2020, I don't think anyone had "biggest global pandemic in a century disrupts everything and makes…
Lord of the Rings Online now lets you change your character’s race - If your Lord of the Rings Online Dwarf secretly yearns to walk in the secret ways of the Elves, or if your Hobbit would like to finally grow up and…
Massively OP’s 2020 Awards: Best MMO Trend of 2020 - MassivelyOP’s end-of-the-year awards for 2020 continue today with our award for Best MMO Trend of 2020, which last year went to the rise of rogue servers. This award is meant…
Mad World drops a new gameplay video, doesn’t appear to be launching this year - So, Mad World. Hi. What the heck is going on with you? We've been watching this Jandisoft game for literally years now: It's the isometric, grimdark MMO that was supposed…
Massively Overthinking: The best and worst MMO developer quotes of 2020 - We have a fun end-of-the-year tradition on MOP to recap the best and worst MMO developer quotes of the year. In fact, I keep a little list of them as…
Lord of the Rings Online starts Yuletide, improves PvP, and unlocks progression Gondor - The term "kitchen sink" gets tossed around by a lot of people who have very little experience with installing sinks, such as yours truly. But this is the only way…
Star Wars The Old Republic’s Echoes of Vengeance update is live with new story and flashpoint - [AL:TOR]Star Wars The Old Republic's Echoes of Vengeance may not be the game's largest patch ever, but it's aiming to catch the attention of the greater Star Wars fandom all…
Elyon’s western publisher begins promoting English website ahead of Korean launch - Tomorrow's an exciting day for Korean MMORPG fans: Elyon, aka Ascent Infinite Realm, is finally launching in the region after several years of teasing, testing, and title-changes. But what about…
End-of-Year Eleven: The healthiest live MMOs going into 2021 - It is only natural that, when you are shopping around for a different MMORPG to play, to consider the health of potential play candidates. Your mind may not term it…
Phantasy Star Online 2’s Episode 6 is live today with new story, classes, and Christmas fun - Christmas is upon us today - at least if we're in Phantasy Star Online 2. But you won't need to be in the holiday spirit to participate, as episode 6…
Destiny 2 promises to add a host of weapon-related improvements, transmog, and cross-play in 2021 - If you have some strong feelings about how weapons and their associated Power levels are working right now in Destiny 2, then you might be interested to know about what…
Guild Wars 2 plans Wintersday for next week as the community debates hacking and toxicity - [AL:GW2]As expected, Guild Wars 2 is capping off 2020 with its holiday events in the form of the official release of Wintersday next week, along with a half-off sale for…
Choose My Adventure: Fallout 76 and my fight against the all too familiar feeling of not caring - I wish I could say that I'm arriving to Fallout 76 without any sort of pre-formed opinions. I haven't ever touched this game since it first made its less than…
PSA: Cyberpunk 2077 includes light sequences known to trigger epileptic seizures - We've all seen it in a wide variety of games that have been recently released: the epilepsy warning about how certain sequences of flashing colored lights trigger photosensitive seizures in…
EverQuest 27th expansion, Claws of Veeshan, is set to go live this afternoon - Happy expansion day, EverQuest! Yes, the newly purchased Daybreak is delivering Claws of Veeshan to one of its apparently still much-loved classic MMOs today. The expansion boasts six new zones,…
Final Fantasy XIV patch 5.4, Futures Rewritten, is live today - The time has arrived for players in Final Fantasy XIV to start forging a new future. The bleak outcome that had been predicted for the future of Hydaelyn has been sealed…
World of Warcraft opens up Castle Nathria with the first season of Shadowlands content - Blizzard politely hopes that you've gotten yourself up to the level cap by this point in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands because you've now run out of prep time. The first season…
Wisdom of Nym: The highlights of Final Fantasy XIV’s patch 5.4 notes - One of the things I still love about covering Final Fantasy XIV are the patches. These things are always bulky in terms of added content, often including a whole dump…
PAX hopes to return in 2021 with a full slate of conventions - While it certainly wasn't the greatest tragedy of 2020, the cancelation of numerous game trade shows and conventions was felt among fans who enjoyed these events for their spectacle and…
The Soapbox: Pet battles are one of the best things WoW ever did (which is why I’ve never played one) - Pokemon first burst onto the scene when I was in elementary school. I've always been lukewarm at best toward anime and "cute" things, so it never really interested me. My…
Gamers review bomb Monster Hunter World on Steam over Monster Hunter film - There's a clip from the current Monster Hunter film that's drawn a lot of ire particularly from Chinese audiences, which has resulted in some outcry aimed in the direction of…
Corepunk MMORPG delays its closed beta until next spring - While it should come as no surprise to anyone looking at a calendar, the Corepunk closed beta ain't happening this month as once promised. Developer Artificial Core announced that it's…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 300: It’s beginning to feel a lot like Daybreak
MassivelyOP Podcast Episode #300: Live on Twitch!
The Stream Team: A look at Warframe’s Deimos: Arcana update
The Stream Team: Bush whacking and lich challenges in AdventureQuest 3D
The Stream Team: Participating in Astroneer’s Project Cheer 2020
The Stream Team: A Bargain of Blood in Dungeons and Dragons Online
The Stream Team: Cruising into SWTOR’s Echoes of Vengeance content
The Stream Team: The Departing in Guild Wars 2
The Stream Team: Burning through Elder Scrolls Online’s Banished Cells II
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.
