This year, we’re taking a time-machine back through our MMO coverage, month by month, to hit the highlights and frame our journey before we head into 2016.
BlizzCon dominated November 2015 with details on World of Warcraft’s Legion expansion and its beta that apparently was not going to start “within weeks” of the con after all. The game’s sub dip was barely noticed amid news that Actiblizz had bought up Candy Crush dev King and opened a TV and movie studio.
Meanwhile, Funcom was granted a financial reprieve (and put it to good use), CCP raised money for VR, Guild Wars 2 got raids, and Bless and The Repopulation suffered delays. Read on for the rest of November’s top MMO news and editorials.
TOP NEWS STORIES OF NOVEMBERÂ 2015
Activision-Blizzard Q3 2015: World of Warcraft drops 100K subs, Actibliz buys Candy Crush dev for $5.9B
Orsinium arrives for PC and Mac Elder Scrolls Online players
Otherland devs deny buying positive Steam reviews
Dogma: Eternal Night brings MMO vampires to Kickstarter
War is coming: Check out the Warcraft movie trailer teaser
Destiny has 25 million registered users
NCsoft Q3 2015: Guild Wars 2, WildStar, all sales dip downward [Updated]
The Repopulation patches delayed due to Hero Engine issues
Funcom’s bondholders unanimously agree to defer Funcom’s debts
Activision-Blizzard opens movie and TV studio
BlizzCon 2015 opening ceremony recap, Warcraft movie trailer
World of Warcraft: Legion overview panel recap
Camelot Unchained reveals its magic-based classes
WoW Legion beta begins ‘within weeks,’ launches summer 2016
Yep, Borderlands Online is a goner
BlizzCon 2015: World of Warcraft Q&A liveblog
Star Citizen’s monthly report is out; also, some guy spent $30K on the game
Overwatch panel confirms gay characters, teases Blizzneyland
The Repopulation is ‘in a holding pattern’ thanks to Hero Engine woes
Guild Wars 2’s first raid wing launches next week
Black Desert confirms regional IP blocking
Bless has been delayed ‘indefinitely’
Blizzard sues alleged bot purveyors for WoW, Diablo III, and HOTS copyright infringement
Venture capitalists pour $30M into CCP’s VR plans
Martial arts MMO Moonlight Blade is freaking gorgeous
WoW, FFXIV, RIFT, and GW2 players gather to mourn Paris
Civil War multiplayer shooter War of Rights has been Kickstarted successfully
Tree of Savior will boast 53 classes at launch
Black Desert is now available for pre-order
Ever, Jane is now in closed beta
Guild Wars 2’s introduction of raids is followed shortly by the introduction of raid drama
Dragon’s Prophet has shut down
Here’s what John Smedley’s been up to lately
Blade & Soul makes Western debut on January 19th
Funcom to announce three new games in 2016
Smedley’s new game won’t have microtransactions
BioWare nerfs SWTOR companions hard, asks for feedback [Updated]
Star Citizen alpha 2.0 goes into testing
Rumor: Firefall studio Red 5 hit by layoffs [Confirmed]
Interview: Pantheon devs on funding, Unity, and the launch window
Gnome Hunters will be a thing in WoW’s Legion
Camelot Unchained unveils its healer archetypes
Here’s a shocker: Hellgate is shutting down (again)
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF NOVEMBERÂ 2015
EVE Evolved: Could achievements save EVE’s new player experience?
Global Chat: The frustrations and joys of Guild Wars 2’s Heart of Thorns
Perfect Ten: Why making an Old West MMO would be challenging (but worth it)
EverQuesting: Remembering EverQuest II’s bumpy 11th year
WoW Factor: What WoW Legion needs from BlizzCon
MMO Burnout: The Crew
The Game Archaeologist: The PLATO MMOs
Guild Chat: Wrestling with guild permissions and controlling leaders
Marvel Heroics: The joys of pet ownership
Ask Mo: The absurd advantages of MMO guilds
Perfect Ten: How playing MMOs can make you a better person
Chaos Theory: How my walk in The Park gave me hope for The Secret World
Nexus Telegraph: Evaluating WildStar’s free-to-play model and special events
EVE Evolved: Huge PvP battles and corp wars in Citadel
Hands-on with Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns’ first raid
Perfect Ten: MMOs you forgot existed (but are still running)
MMO Burnout: Star Wars Battlefront
The Game Archaeologist: Shadowbane
MMO Mechanics: Three game-changing movement mechanics
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online’s Veteran Ranks take center stage again
Perfect Ten: Ten MMOs to be thankful for by type
MMO Burnout: Five ways to fix Star Wars Battlefront
The Game Archaeologist: Ultima X Odyssey
EVE Evolved: Three EVE mechanics that need an update
ALL MONTH-IN-REVIEW POSTS TO-DATE
MMO Year in Review: Daybreak’s downslide (February 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Crowfall’s Kickstarter (March 2015)
MMO Year in Review: A Star Wars Galaxies postmortem (April 2015)
MMO Year in Review: WoW’s nosedive (May 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Heavensward’s arrival (June 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Smed & Smart (July 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Into the Heart of Thorns (August 2015)
MMO Year in Review: WildStar Reloaded (September 2015)
MMO Year in Review: The SWTOR vs. Guild Wars 2 showdown (October 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Blizzard’s big plans (November 2015)
MMO Year in Review: Star Citizen’s triumph (December 2015)
