‘Twas the battle of the crowdfunded MMOs this week, and not really the good kind, as it all comes down to transparency one way or another. Chronicles of Elyria, for example, locked down its Reddit, passive-aggressively changed its NDA, and committed to crypto trades for its land, while Camelot Unchained rebutted suggestions that its studio was in financial trouble but continued evading inquiries on refunds and the state of the games. And Crowfall? Well, after saying its marketing ramp-up was still coming, it stealth-nerfed the API so players can no longer gauge the active playerbase count. It’s been… messy.
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
Camelot Unchained boss rebuts theory that its studio finances are in disarray - Dedicated readers of MassivelyOP already know that Camelot Unchained has become an MMO saddled with controversy over the last couple of years. Originally Kickstarted in 2013, it has seen multiple…
Chronicles of Elyria tweaks NDA, locks down Reddit over death threats, and proposes NFT land trades - A week ago, Chronicles of Elyria backers sounded the alarm on a new NDA that Soulbound Studios was asking them to sign in conjunction with the Kingdoms of Elyria testing.…
Crowfall quietly adjusts its API to prevent bots from reporting player numbers - Yesterday saw Crowfall put out a tiny patch that didn't really do much on its face beyond changing a resource respawn and preventing some graphics adjustment settings from being changed…
Crowfall addresses launch issues, Australian campaigns, marketing, and the game’s first post-launch update - Crowfall's Executive Producer Gordon Walton has penned a fresh dev blog this afternoon, one week in to the game's launch, to discuss the state of the MMO and ArtCraft's plans…
WoW Factor: The Blizzard ‘leak’ is probably fake, but it’s still valuable - So right now it doesn't need to be said that stuff with World of Warcraft is kind of a mess. Shadowlands might have been better received than Battle for Azeroth…
TennoCon 2021: Waframe introduces cross-platform play, shows off mobile - For five TennoCons, Warframe players have asked about cross-platform play. They want it. They need it. Well, it turns out the sixth time's the charm! The first big reveal during…
Fight or Kite: Crowfall’s launch is a struggle, but I’m ready to play - It’s been just under a week since Crowfall officially launched, and the game’s more alive than ever before. It’s been what has felt like an eternity since Crowfall was initially…
Elite Dangerous’ David Braben delays Odyssey on console to ‘reprioritise the core PC experience’ - Elite Dangerous' Odyssey expansion has been a bit of a bungle, all told. While players initially embraced the new content, even we noted it felt rushed and unfinished, and players…
No, Cryptic isn’t giving Magic Legends refugees 7K Zen – but here’s what you *are* getting - Cryptic giveth and Cryptic taketh away: PWE and Cryptic sent 'round an email to some Magic Legends players today night, a "thank-you gift" for fans left adrift following the cancellation…
Casually Classic: WoW Classic’s Burning Crusade entry ditch - With this year's Burning Crusade Classic, the dynamics of leveling in WoW Classic shifted just as they did originally. Before Burning Crusade came along -- now or back then --…
PvP sandbox Fractured is blindsided by ‘rampant’ player killing in alpha tests - With a growing studio and another major alpha test on the horizon, Fractured is taking things to the next level in 2021. Level 2, to be precise. You get some…
Valve announces portable PC gaming device called Steam Deck - If you've ever wanted a device that smooshes your PC games with something cute and portable like a Switch, welp, Valve has your toy. It's just unveiled the long-rumored Steam…
Elyon opens preorders and CBT2 signups on July 26, confirms ‘early fall’ western launch - MMO players already knew that Kakao was plotting a second round of beta for Elyon in August. We knew this because the studio has been telling us so for month.…
Vague Patch Notes: Hating an MMO isn’t the same as having a personality - There was a friend I had at one point who had a particularly annoying habit. Whenever I would bring up something obnoxious that was done in World of Warcraft (which,…
LOTRO Legendarium: What returning to LOTRO feels like - I don't think that I have ever rage-quit Lord of the Rings Online, but I certainly have put it down often enough. That's pretty typical for any player who's been…
PAX East 2021: Gaming streamers are frontline workers, not mental health experts - Since PAX East 2021 is virtual again due to that little virus that's been going around for over a year now, it should come to no surprise that it's been…
Conan Chop Chop studio finally acknowledges and apologizes for latest delay - Just a few weeks ago, we pointed out that Conan Chop Chop, a Mighty Kingdom game being published by Funcom, was long overdue. The roguelike OARPG was announced in 2019, but…
Massively on the Go: How Jackbox Games helped gamers stay social through COVID - For some people, Jackbox Games' Party Packs were a COVID lifesaver. While many of us have a lot of virtual connections thanks to our MMO communities, others don't have much…
Massively Overthinking: The curious cycle of MMO refunds, tutorials, and reviews - MOP reader Steve recently posed us an intriguing question about the state of tutorials in MMOs and other games - and how those tutorials' increasing lengths have impacted everything from…
Guild Wars 2 gives a full technical accounting of last year’s server rollbacks - Guild Wars 2 studio ArenaNet has been the subject of many side-eyes over the last few years, amassing a reputation as a studio with a messy and opaque technical side…
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen offers up more details and video footage of the new Monk class - Developer Visionary Realms is really excited to showcase the Monk class that's being added to Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. Hot on the heels of an in-depth gameplay breakdown video,…
Ashes of Creation kicks off its long-awaited Alpha One playtest - Arriving amid a frantic summer season where every MMO is clawing for attention and engagement, the Ashes of Creation Alpha One test hopes to make an impact on the gaming…
LOTRO considers improving its business model as players present Weatherstock XIII - After years of guarded communication, Lord of the Rings Online’s fanbase has a new champion in Producer Oleg “Raninia” Brodskiy, who joined SSG a few months ago. In yet another…
Black Desert sets Atoraxxion launch for July 21 as console counts 3M players - I'm sorry to report that Cursed, the Netflix TV show that Black Desert collaborated with on a whole patch last year, has been canceled. This isn't exactly Defiance levels of…
New World teases next week’s closed beta test – and no, there’s no NDA - Just this morning we asked our readers what expectations they had for Amazon's New World, and hopefully somewhere in that thread, someone asked for a solid beta. That's certainly what…
Perfect Ten: MMOs with the noisiest fanbases - In my particular neck of the woods, there are a lot of big fans of the Boston Red Sox. There's also something of a joke about that. How do you…
Bless Unleashed hypes up its August 6 Steam launch with a new trailer - Round8 Studios is very excited to remind players that Bless Unleashed is arriving to Steam this coming Friday, August 6th. So excited, in fact, that it's kicking out a new…
Guild Wars 2 adds legendary armory and Twisted Marionette boss today, picks up Homeland actress for End of Dragons - Guild Wars 2 is about to have a pretty big day, what with the launch of both the legendary armory and the return of the Twisted Marionette in this afternoon's…
Perfect Ten: The 10 most huggable boss monsters in multiplayer online hunting RPGs - Have you ever fought a boss monster that didn't feel like it deserved your fatal blows? Sure, it's just a video game, and the pang of guilt can sometimes be…
Wisdom of Nym: Looking at lost actions as a key to more job customization in Final Fantasy XIV - Let's talk a little bit about the Save the Queen content in Final Fantasy XIV, but perhaps not in the way you might be expecting. I come here not to…
Hands-on with Monster Hunter Stories 2: Teasing out the multiplayer content - So Monster Hunter Stories 2 is out in the wild now, and to be honest, the demo does the game no justice for MH fans, and worse, it hides essentially everything for…
Shroud of the Avatar’s Richard Garriott is joining an expedition to locate a sunken ship - He's been to the North Pole. He's been to space. He's been to the depths of the ocean. He's been everywhere but in the development studio in his role as…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 330: Swords of Crows Online
Battle Bards Episode 197: A royal affair
The Stream Team: Mission running in Elite Dangerous Odyssey
The Stream Team: Spaceship shenanigans in Star Wars Galaxies Legends
The Stream Team: Checking out the ninth anniversary hubbub in Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis
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.
