Blade & Soul’s headstart launched this weekend, and quite a lot of you are playing it already or planning to jump in Monday night/Tuesday morning when it officially launches. It hasn’t been the best of headstarts for the game, given its bumpy server conditions and GM naming controversy. Stay tuned this week for our launch festivities, including an updated hands-on with the game, and read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.
GUILD WARS 2 NEWS
Guild Wars 2 winter 2016 update, gliding confirmed for Central Tyria - As part of Game Director Colin Johanson's Q1 state of play update, ArenaNet has confirmed that gliding is coming to the Guild Wars 2Â zones that we know as Central Tyria after being warmly received as part…
Flameseeker Chronicles: Examining Guild Wars 2’s winter 2016 update plans - [AL:GW2]Guild Wars 2Â Game Director Colin Johanson dropped a massive amount of information about the direction development will take in the first quarter of 2016 and beyond in his Q1 state of the game update yesterday. This…
Buffs and nerfs are coming for Guild Wars 2’s classes - ArenaNet's Karl McLain has a new Guild Wars 2 blog post today focused on the "high-level changes" on the way for the game's classes. "While we’ll still make minor adjustments in between as needed," he writes,…
Guild Wars 2 shares the simple details of gliding in central Tyria - Here's what will be necessary to start gliding in central Tyria once it's unlocked in Guild Wars 2: unlocking the start of the Mastery gliding line. That's it. Yes, it's no more complicated than gliding anywhere…
Guild Wars 2 introduces players to the new and improved Shatterer - Given enough time, the most exciting moment in any video game will become mundane. If you were one of the earliest Guild Wars 2 players fighting the Shatterer, you probably have fond memories of the fight…
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
SWTOR is plotting new companions and solo arena fights - [AL:TOR]There's a lot of stuff coming to Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2016. Not all of it was ready to be discussed during yesterday's livestream; the archived version is just below, and within the first…
Elder Scrolls Online subscribers to get bottomless crafting bags - Packrats rejoice! If you ever wanted a bag of holding in The Elder Scrolls Online to store all your piles crafting components, then you are luck. During last night's livestream, Game Director Matt Firor revealed that…
Eternal Crusade preps for Steam early access launch - Eternal Crusade is preparing for Steam early access, says Behaviour Interactive Senior Producer Nathan Richardsson. "We are now preparing to fully move over to the Early Access program on Steam, where you can easily get into…
Winning Putt is a free-to-play golf MMO in open beta, and yes, you read that correctly - We live in a world where Winning Putt exists. It is a golf MMO. There are no epic endgame raids against the Grand Wrath-Beast that lurks behind Hole #14; it's just golf. Golf with short skirts,…
Black Desert explains how both of its cash shops will work - Black Desert rep Belsazar has posted a lengthy missive from the Pearl Abyss developers explaining the details of the game's cash shop and announcing that the date for closed beta 2 will be posted next week.…
Alien life discovered in Elite Dangerous — and it’s not what you think - Ever since Elite Dangerous dropped its Horizons expansion and allowed players to land on planet surfaces, captains have been scouring the galaxy for interesting sights. Well one player has found the following definitive proof that we're…
WoW Factor: The importance of class fantasies - Here's a fun thought exercise for you all: explain the differences between Fire Mages and Destruction Warlocks in World of Warcraft. But before you do so, let's make things a little more interesting by saying that…
Star Citizen releases Alpha 2.1 with new flyable ships and player-trapping elevators - The skies are a little more crowded today in Star Citizen with the release of Alpha 2.1 to the live servers. The patch added two new flyable craft to the roster: there's the mighty Freelancer base…
TERA apologizes for the last producer’s letter, content gulfs - [AL:TERA]Yesterday's letter to the TERA community went over like something of a lead balloon. Sure, the game had its best year ever, but players are going to be waiting for an extended time for any further…
ESPN officially launches an e-sports division, picks up e-sports journalists - When Activision-Blizzard acquired Major League Gaming earlier this month, CEO Bobby Kotick revealed his plans to create a kind of "ESPN of e-sports." It turns out that ESPN has had its own eye on the world of competitive gaming all along, having previously tested the…
Massively Overthinking: Just how massive is massively multiplayer? - Recent tweaks to the taxonomy structure of Massively OP and coverage of what we formerly called "Not-So-Massive" games prompted a resurgence of internal discussion about the types of games we cover and just what the genres mean. MOBAs are…
Lord of the Rings Online’s server woes continue - Days after Lord of the Rings Online moved to its new datacenter, the game is still being plagued by server issues that is causing it to be unplayable for some. One player reports why she's unsubscribed…
Elite: Dangerous has sold 1.4 million copies - After a solid year's worth of updates and the first pass of planetary landing mechanics, Elite: Dangerous has hit a grand total of 1.4 million copies sold. Average play time for a given copy is apparently…
2015 was TERA’s biggest year to date, but players aren’t appeased - [AL:TERA]TERA Senior Producer Matthew "Denommenator" Denomme has the honor of penning TERA's 2016 community address this week. In the post, he tells players that "2015 was TERA’s most successful individual year" to date. "In fact," he…
Activision-Blizzard’s TV and movie studio taps creative lead - Back in November, Activision-Blizzard announced it was launching a TV and movie studio to build out its franchises. Former Disney exec Nick van Dyk was tapped to co-lead the endeavor, and today, we know who his…
Crowfall on experimental design and ship dates for crowdfunded MMOs - In January's Crowfall Q&A video, Design Lead Thomas Blair and Founder/Art Director J. Todd Coleman discuss Crowfall as an "experimental project." So many game design elements, Coleman explains, are subject to change because of the team's experimental…
Destiny’s upcoming sequel may heavily feature the planet Mercury - If you're one of the many Destiny players hoping to see more of the planet Mercury, you may be in luck. Destiny was reportedly supposed to have more content on the planet Mercury, but in the end it…
Hyperspace Beacon: How to make a million credits in an hour of SWTOR - [AL:TOR]I can’t help but attempt to find some of the most efficient ways to make credits in Star Wars: The Old Republic. I have written guides on how to make credits through dailies and how to be…
Richard Garriott cuts off (some of) his rat tail to raise money for Shroud of the Avatar - Richard "Lord British" Garriott is well-known for several things: his creation of the Ultima series, his lavish geeky parties, his trip to space, and of course, his ever-present rat tail. This week that rat tail has…
Black Desert’s Ranger is gorgeous and deadly in melee - Daum Games has this afternoon released a trailer and info for Black Desert's Ranger -- specifically, the Ranger's melee skills. The Ranger's ranged skills have already been established; in melee, she'll wield a short-sword as her awakening…
DCUO launches on Xbox One this spring - During its DC Universe Online's fifth anniversary stream this afternoon, Daybreak announced that the superhero MMORPG is launching on Xbox One this spring. https://twitter.com/DaybreakGames/status/686635498954186752 The game is currently playable on PC, PS3, and PS4. We've updated…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 46: The high price of VR
The Stream Team: The hunt for ARK’s pooper scoopers
The Stream Team: Blade & Soul’s headstart
The Stream Team: Searching for cyborg secrets in The Secret World
The Stream Team: Testing out MechWarrior Online’s Hunchback
The Stream Team: Show me the SWTOR money!
The Stream Team: Anniversary adventures in DC Universe Online
AND FROM OUR FRIENDS AT BLIZZARD WATCH
Happy birthday, Burning Crusade!
How to help your guild’s struggling raid DPS
New Legion mounts and pets datamined from latest alpha build
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.
