NCsoft and Amazon pushed Throne & Liberty into its paid headstart this week, ahead of the proper free-to-play launch next week – and it’s going over pretty well, with a new all-time peak earlier today of 56,910 people – sure to keep climbing. Oh yeah, and we didn’t hate it.
Meanwhile, we’re anticipating New World’s Aeternum launch in just a few weeks, keeping watch on Final Fantasy XIV’s 7.1 Crossroads, making frowny faces over the latest Blizzard revelations, and rolling our eyes at XLGames’ attempt to rebrand ArcheAge 2 as ArcheAge Chronicles.
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
First Impressions: Throne and Liberty blends the overly familiar with the intriguingly unique - Throne and Liberty represents a new big-label MMORPG launch, which is something that feels like a rare occurrence, particularly as most players are likely very set in their favorites. So…
Interview: New World devs on Aeternum’s features and regaining PC player trust - With the launch of New World's Aeternum update fast approaching, Amazon Games agreed to chat with us about what to expect - and how the team is shaping its public…
XLGames rebrands ArcheAge 2 as ‘online action RPG’ ArcheAge Chronicles, but it still sounds like an MMO - If you thought endless delays and the unceremonious sunset of ArcheAge were the worst things that could happen to ArcheAge 2, think again because at PlayStation's State of Play event…
Interview: Amazon on Throne & Liberty’s PvE vs PvP, lifeskilling, and small guild content - October 1st, you may have noticed, is right over there peeking at us from around the corner, dragging along the upcoming Amazon-published NCsoft title, Throne & Liberty. In fact, if…
Final Fantasy XIV shows off patch 7.1, Crossroads, including a new alliance raid difficulty and new housing options - The next patch for Final Fantasy XIV is on its way, with patch 7.1, Crossroads, scheduled for a mid-November launch. As is tradition, producer and director Naoki Yoshida offered a…
Jason Schreier’s new book blames Activision – and the Titan MMO’s cancelation – for Blizzard’s degradation - When Blizzard president Mike Morhaime announced he was stepping down from his 27-year-run at the company back in 2018, he didn't give much of a reason, and it didn't seem…
Perfect Ten: The MMO races that nobody ever seems to choose - Just because an MMORPG offers a wide array of character options doesn't mean that player interest will be equally divided among them. We've long known that plain Jane humans are…
Throne & Liberty saw over 50K concurrent players last night – and it’s only going up from there - Yesterday, we asked our readers whether they were gunning to play Throne and Liberty, and almost two-thirds of those who responded said they were at least going to wait a…
Progress Bar: Nightingale’s Realms Rebuilt update is a strong step in the right direction - As most of you fine readers likely know, I was something of a fan of Nightingale. I enjoyed the previews I was a part of. I enjoyed playing the early…
The Day Before studio Fntastic is back on Kickstarter to try to fund a multiplayer obstacle course platformer - Most gamers in our sphere are very familiar with the meteoric crash of The Day Before, a survival shooter MMO from developer Fntastic that talked up a huge game ahead…
Why I Play: Satisfactory scratches my MMO crafting itch - My first real exposure to Satisfactory was long, long before playing it or even being more than peripherally aware of it, because I really enjoy Let's Game It Out. Those…
LOTRO Legendarium: Five ways to fully fix LOTRO’s virtue system - Newer players to Lord of the Rings Online may not be aware that the game's virtue system used to be very difficult, requiring certain deeds for certain virtues, all for…
StarCraft is reportedly getting a shooter, Hearthstone has a new patch, Overwatch 2 shares anime outfits - Some people don't like it when their food touches on a plate. Others don't care. And others stack food servings on top of one another because they see restaurants doing…
‘Infinite sandbox MMO’ DreamWorld introduces AI-powered tools as it readies for an October 10 playtest - Do you remember DreamWorld? It came to our attention back in 2021 when its inexperienced developers laid out huge promises as part of its Kickstarter drive while suspicions only deepened…
Fallout 76 surprises fans with the news of CAMP pets for 2024 - It may seem like a strangely late addition to a game whose franchise often featured a pet German Shepherd called "Dogmeat," but Fallout 76 is finally getting cats and dogs…
Massively Overthinking: Do you expect compensation for MMORPG trainwrecks? - Earlier this week, Blizzard admitted that a major bug had resulted in serious and permanent data loss for some World of Warcraft players, including the loss of millions of gold…
Here’s how New World’s crossplay, servers, and transfers will work when Aeternum launches - If you remember the New World launch just a few years ago, you may already be wondering whether the Aeternum launch will offer the same sort of server and character…
MapleStory’s player-made creation game MapleStory Worlds confirms October 16 soft launch in the Americas - Have you ever wanted to make your own MapleStory game world but couldn't land a job at Nexon America? Well that dream became a reality for those kinds of fans…
Vague Patch Notes: When leveling too quickly becomes a problem in MMORPGs - Last week, I talked about how slow leveling design could become a problem. In that piece (and the one before it - it's become a whole series now), I noted…
Ultima Online devs are working with ClassicUO modders to rehab the ancient client and renderer - We're going for a record here, clearly! This will mark the third time we've needed to write about Ultima Online this week, what with its 27th birthday and the final…
Elite Dangerous confirms next update for October 22 as it answers questions about ‘Powerplay 2.0’ - Hot on the heels of its Type-8 Update (or at least as hot on those heels as far as Frontier Developments' update cadence is concerned) will be the next content…
Throne & Liberty officially begins its paid headstart today – are you playing? - OK, folks, it's game day, literally: The game is Throne and Liberty, which we've been waiting for for over a decade, though of course it's gone through a lot of…
Duckside is a new PvPvE survival shooter and not something I just made up I swear - Don't look at me like that. Duckside is a real game, not an MJ-inspired fever dream, and it's from tinyBuild, which is a real games studio you have heard of.…
Throne & Liberty lays out three-month post-launch roadmap, promises big patches every 3-4 months - We're on the eve of Throne and Liberty's early access debut here in the west, and that means Amazon and NCsoft are taking their time in the spotlight to deliver…
EverQuest II announces its fall expansion, Scars of Destruction, launching in November - The final stretch of the "Year of Darkpaw" is underway for EverQuest II, and Head of Studio Jenn Chan is here to talk all about the remainder of 2024 --…
Star Wars The Old Republic opens tester signups for its native Mac launcher - Surprised but pleased by last week's announcement that Star Wars The Old Republic is getting a native Mac client? We were too. And now, Broadsword is reving up the ol'…
DC Universe Online launches new Harley Quinn episode – and controversial paid currency - This week's content release for DC Universe Online would normally be a nice thing to point out since, you know, it's adding new gameplay content. Instead, most of the conversations…
Blizzard releases Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred gameplay trailer ahead of October 8 launch - Diablo IV's Vessel of Hatred is vying for your eyeballs this fall, and that means yet another video drop from Blizzard, this time a two-minute "gameplay launch trailer" that shows…
Ultima Online has officially turns 27 years old today as it kicks off its final New Legacy stress test - So listen, an MMORPGs 27th birthday is not a big deal, except in the sense that I can count on less than one hand how many games have actually made…
Co-op cozy game My Time at Evershine funded on Kickstarter in just 35 minutes - Last week, MOP's Chris took a look at My Time at Evershine, the latest multiplayer cozy game from Pathea Games, best known for My Time at Portia and My Time…
Choose My Adventure: The quest for power and pants in Once Human - After last week's Choose My Adventure episode, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that my Once Human character would get some pants for herself - this is a basic…
Vitae Aeternum: What new and returning players need to know about New World Aeternum - The long wait is almost over. In just a few weeks, New World's soft relaunch as New World: Aeternum will be live. With so many new players about to dive…
Wayfinder studio Airship Syndicate’s latest layoff cuts the teams down to 50 people ahead of launch - Wayfinder studio Airship Syndicate has already faced a round of layoffs over the last year, and I'm sorry to report this morning that it's just undergone yet another one. "In…
PlanetSide 2 studio Toadman was hit with some nasty layoffs and studio closures this month - A few weeks back, Daybreak's Enad Global 7 announced that it was laying off a chunk of its subsidiary Toadman Interactive and closing down several of its offices. "Like many…
Social First’s ‘social cross-platform MMO’ Nexus Station is officially announced - Back in August we got wind of a new Finnish game studio called Social First and its plans to create a "cross-platform social MMO"; little much was known beyond the…
Massively on the Go: Pokemon GO’s Max Battles’ rollout shows Niantic is stuck in 2019 - The Pokemon Go's fall 2024 seasonal update, Max Out, has brought players a new feature: Max Battles. Max Raid Battles were the Pokemon series' first mainline co-op content using Sword and Shield's Dynamax gimmick,…
New World announces Season of Opportunity, launching alongside Aeternum - Throughout the summer as MMORPG players on PC and console have awaited the launch of New World Aeternum, PC players have been more than a little grumpy over the lack…
Rumor: Bungie’s Marathon will cost $40 and is aiming for a 2025 release - News about Bungie's new-look version of Marathon has been pretty thin, which isn't really a surprise considering layoffs at Bungie last year delayed the shooter's launch and its former director…
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV v1.0 is gone – except when we’re told to think about it - In Final Fantasy XIV's version 1.0, the Coral Tower was not home to the Marauder's Guild. The Marauder's Guild was, in fact, located in the southern part of Limsa Lominsa…
Legal analysts paint a grim picture for Pocketpair’s chances in Nintendo’s Palworld lawsuit - Last week saw Nintendo's lawyers rouse themselves from slumber and roar forth at Pocketpair's wildly successful critter-catching survivalbox Palworld as the company filed a patent lawsuit in Japan, leaving the…
World of Warcraft data loss fiasco deletes items out of guild banks – and Blizzard can’t fully restore them - What can be worse than a bank being plundered by thieves? It's when that vault is robbed by the very game code that's supposed to defend it with its life.…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 486: Amazon’s daring October gambits
The Stream Team: Facing the horde as a little critter in Temtem Swarm
The Stream Team: The best trials are by fire in Dungeons & Dragons Online
The Stream Team: Gaga for gliders and grappling hooks in Enshrouded
The Stream Team: Catventuring for quest clears and shiny loot in Cat Quest III
The Stream Team: Picking up journeykin poo in Guild Wars 2
The Stream Team: Convincing Conservator Daraneth in Elder Scrolls Online
The Stream Team: The pirates vs ninjas war comes to an end in AdventureQuest 3D
The Stream Team: Come to the DUCKSIDE!
The Stream Team: Let’s talk Final Fantasy XIV’s Patch 7.1 update
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.
