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 2017.
February, abbreviated as it was, was still a packed news month for MMOs. Two games dominated the headlines as they racheted up their test schedules: the Korean import Black Desert and the much-delayed Ubisoft shooter hybrid The Division. We also saw ArcheAge and RIFT try to outdo each other with player-alienating business model changes. Meanwhile, we were still scoping out the brand-new Blade & Soul.
February was also the month the site got a much-needed back-end upgrade. Read on for the whole list of our favorite stories that month!
TOP NEWS STORIES OF FEBRUARYÂ 2016
WildStar’s next major update promises to be very, very cool (in an ice region)
The Division extends beta test, plots open beta, grapples with rampant cheating
DUAL Universe promises a seamless galaxy on a single shard
Funcom’s Q4 2015 revenues are up from Q3, creditors restructure loans
Black Desert launches in the west on March 3rd
Experiencing Bless Online’s open-world PvP
DUST 514 will sunset on PS3 in May, replaced by new PC FPS
Star Trek Online is discontinuing its Mac client
Square-Enix’s 2015 sales and profits were up, thanks in part to Final Fantasy XIV
Ingress event moves from Brazil to Seattle over Zika virus fears
RIFT’s subscription package improves as F2P gets a little worse
H1Z1 is splitting into two games, landing on consoles this summer
GameSpot lists EverQuest Next as a missing game in 2016
ArcheAge’s costumes will soon come with stats and levels
Skill Trading is coming to EVE Online tomorrow, prices revealed
SWTOR continues the expansion story with today’s Anarchy in Paradise release
Amazon reveals new game engine and multiplayer game service
Gigantic studio Motiga suffers another round of layoffs
Blade & Soul releases Rising Waters, reaches 2M players in the west
RIFT will soon let you buy any of its 8,100 artifacts for credits
NCsoft Q4 2015: Sales surge for Guild Wars 2, bump for WildStar
Warcraft film audience might get WoW free as a bonus
Interview: John Smedley on Hero’s Song crowdfunding and the future
How Shroud of the Avatar is making a fortune on the housing market
EVE Online player buys nearly $7,000 worth of skill injectors
Activision-Blizzard Q4 2015: WoW sees ‘growth,’ Legion still on track for summer
Interview: The Repopulation’s lead dev on its new engine and survival spin-off Fragmented
Lord of the Rings Online immortalized on game show Jeopardy
ArcheAge bans raiding guild for Leviathan exploit
EVE player uses $28,000 of skill injectors to create max character
BBC investigates ‘mind-boggling’ Star Citizen project
The mystery of BioWare’s new online IP
Black Desert gears up for its final closed beta test
Former Funcom CEO charged with market manipulation and insider trading
Someone actually won The Elder Scrolls Online’s million dollar prize
How The Elder Scrolls Online is making grouping less painful
Landmark is introducing the new build mode
ArcheAge introduces stat-granting costumes and clothes laundering
The Secret World’s subscriber badge reward unwittingly provokes dismay
6.4 million people propelled The Division’s beta to a new console record
HTC Vive will cost $799 but comes with two controllers and sensors
Black Desert’s devs on gender-locking, future plans
Camelot Unchained’s Mark Jacobs explains CSE’s Beta 1 ‘hard crunch’
Three staffers depart EVE Online after huge financial year for CCP
Black Desert preorders close, headstart preload begins tomorrow
Elite Dangerous contemplates allowing players to name star systems
Daum compensates Black Desert players for headstart server mixup
MMORPGs celebrate The Revenant’s Oscars
FAVORITE EDITORIALS OF FEBRUARYÂ 2016
Hyperspace Beacon: How to approach SWTOR as a total newbie
Choose My Adventure: Entering the fray in Blade & Soul
Jukebox Heroes: Six soundtracks from MMOs that never launched
WoW Factor: Thoughts from inside the Legion alpha
Exploring ‘The Video Game Debate’: Social outcomes and online gamers
The Game Archaeologist: Ten strange pre-release facts about World of Warcraft
EVE Evolved: The right way to reboot DUST 514
Flameseeker Chronicles: A visual guide to gliding in Guild Wars 2
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR Knights of the Fallen Empire Chapter 10 impressions
Choose My Adventure: Blade & Soul’s school of hard knocks (and mysterious, potentially deadly curses)
Sword and Bored special edition birthday comic: ‘Anniversary gifts’
Perfect Ten: MMO problems we don’t really have these days
WoW Factor: Being positive vs. being honest in games criticism
Massively OP’s guide to MMO podcasts
MMO Mechanics: Eight annoying MMORPG mechanics that grind my gears
Hands-on with The Division’s beta: From character creation to Dark Zone PvP
Choose My Adventure: Blade & Soul’s questing, PvP, combat, and impractically revealing outfits
Perfect Ten: What you need to know before you play an older MMORPG
Leaderboard: Are you up in arms over Black Desert’s cash shop?
Hyperspace Beacon: An open letter to the creators of the SWTOR Cartel Packs
Perfect Ten: Ten weapons that should be in more MMOs
Choose My Adventure: Crafting catastrophes and dungeon doldrums in Blade & Soul
Massively Overthinking: The new normal of early access MMORPGs
WoW Factor: Is this the time Blizzard’s changes stick?
The Game Archaeologist: Meridian 59
Leaderboard: What do you think of Black Desert so far?
ALL 2016 MONTH-IN-REVIEW POSTS TO-DATE
MMO Year in Review: Blade & Soul reaches western shores (January 2016)
MMO Year in Review: A wild Black Desert approaches (February 2016)
MMO Year in Review: EverQuest Never (March 2016)
MMO Year in Review: WoW’s legacy server snarl (April 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Carebear tears of Elyria (May 2016)
MMO Year in Review: The Landmark and WildStar Steam parade (June 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Pokemon madness (July 2016)
MMO Year in Review: We are Legion (August 2016)
MMO Year in Review: A whole New World (September 2016)
MMO Year in Review: One foot in One Tamriel (October 2016)
MMO Year in Review: New Eden free-for-all (November 2016)
MMO Year in Review: Turbine gave the ring to the eagles (December 2016)
