Games in our Multiplayer category are multiplayer online games that share some but not all mechanics in common with traditional MMORPGs. Generally, their “massive” nature is contested. They frequently include OARPGs, online shooters, online strategy games, mobile MMOs, and other pseudo-MMOs that optionally provide single-player, offline, or custom-server support. We formerly categorized Multiplayer titles as “Not So Massively” games. You may also be interested in our MOBA category for PvP-centric arena battlers. [Follow the Multiplayer Online Games category’s RSS feed]
The free trial of DEATHGARDEN is still going, so Massively OP’s MJ is diving right back in for some more… well, death. Hopefully she can avoid the hunter a little better in the arena this time around, or perhaps she’ll try her hand at being the hunter! Join in live at 9:00 p.m. for more savagery amid the foliage.
What: DEATHGARDEN
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 9:00 p.m. EDT on Monday, August 20th, 2018
Enjoy the show!
Now that Massively OP’s MJ is more amenable to blocky games, it’s time to up the ante with Broke Protocol! A persistent sandbox game, Broke Protocol allows her to make her own goals and even roleplay in a low-poly open-world action game. Will she run around and help others, or will she be a menace to society? Tune in live at 2:00 p.m. as OPTV‘s infamous Stream Team brings you a first look at…
What: Broke Protocol
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 2:00 p.m. EDT on Monday, August 20th, 2018
Enjoy the show!
Blizzard is rolling into Cologne with a bunch of Gamescom reveals for some of its titles, two of which are on display already today.
First up: Heroes of the Storm has announced Mephisto, Lord of Hatred, the latest Diablo franchise character to port over to the MOBA. “In his Heroes incarnation, Mephisto is a deadly mage who thrives on momentum-based combat and rewards an aggressive playstyle,” says the studio. The game is also getting a facelift for the HOTS version of the Hanamura Temple battleground “to emphasize team fights,” complete with layout tweaks and new payload mechanics.
For those of you who missed it over the past year or so, the path of Boss Key Productions was one of being founded by well-known talent, releasing LawBreakers with some buzz, then crashing and burning hard. Founder and face of the company Cliff Bleszinski promises that the circumstances around the studio will be one of the matters discussed in his upcoming autobiography, as he states that he has avoided interviews due to a need to tell this story in his own words and on his own terms.
Bleszinski has not yet shared any of the details about this section beyond the chapter introduction, which emphasizes the stress experienced working in the game industry. It’s unsure how much of it will involve information which was heretofore unavailable and how much will be Bleszinski’s personal reactions to the situation, but you’ll have to wait until more is shared about the book to find out.
Niantic’s Pokemon Go updates are still chugging along and providing fans with more than just new Pokemon. But new Pokemon are kind of the lifeblood of the series, so the addition of Regirock, the storyline line event continuation on August 20th (Celebi hype!), and evidence of other unique Pokemon being added are obviously welcome additions. We also now know that Gen 2 starter Pokemon are getting Community Day attention, starting with Chikarita on September 22nd. Fun stuff, but just the tip of the iceberg, especially for those of us enjoying the friend system.
The Silph Road’s recent APK Breakdown notes that the clientside changes are introducing things like QR Codes for friend sharing, additional parental controls via Niantic Kids, visual indications for which friends you can share gifts with, Go+ tweaks (like fixing the disappearing arrow bug), and more. There’s also evidence of Ditto quests finally being implemented, potential login changes, Meteor Smash (a signature move of Metagross), and the sharing of EX Raid passes. This last bit is in the data, but the details are still scant, so stay tuned for more information. In the meantime, server-side data-miner Chrales found the first conclusive evidence that Generation 4 really is around the corner.
It’s been a weird week in MMO crowdfunding. The Codename Reality Kickstarter isn’t looking good; devs have raised under 2% of their original half a million dollar goal. Project Oasis World is over this week too, well under its goal. EverFeud‘s Kickstarter has already been canceled, as that studio says it’ll hunt for other options. As for Endless Trials, that Kickstarter has also ended abruptly; team Fire Hurts says it’ll try a fresh campaign with a video at some point in the future.
AdventureQuest 3D, however, has already seen outrageous success with its Kickstarter for… plushies. For real. As I type this, the game is four times over its goal. Plushies are happening.
Meanwhile, Pathfinder still isn’t dead, Elite Dangerous’ next big thing will launch at the end of August, SOTA is hard at work on player-created dungeons, Dual Universe updated its roadmap, Camelot Unchained is working on its 64-bit client, Ashes of Creation showed off its alpha combat, and a judge is permitting most of the Crytek Star Citizen lawsuit to continue.
Read on for more on what’s been up with MMO crowdfunding over the last couple of weeks and our roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following.
US courts have once again aligned with game companies in a lawsuit against cheaters and purveyors of cheat programs.
This time, it’s Take-Two Interactive doing the winning. The Grand Theft Auto developer had sued Georgia man David Zipperer for essentially creating and distributing for profit a GTAV/GTAO hack, Menyoo, designed for griefing and cheating purposes. While the court dismissed Take-Two’s claim that Zipperer had engaged in “unfair competition” to the tune of half a million dollars in corporate losses, it did grant the company’s petition for an injunction against the hacker, who is now legally barred from selling his hacks.
Similar suits have been won by both Blizzard and Epic; Epic has been on a tear suing cheatmakers and promoters one by one, while Blizzard famously took bot-maker Bossland to court, ultimately running the cheaters out of business.
Rockstar and Take-Two specifically have begun taking a tougher stance on mods that veer into cheating territory. Gamers will recall that last year, the companies sent cease-and-desist letters to legitimate modders whose tools supposedly enabled less legitimate mods to exist, causing much dismay across the community.
If a new game is going to give out a free weekend, that sounds like a pretty decent time to check it out! Massively OP’s MJ is going to give DEATHGARDEN a go. (It’s quite possible the Death Counter talked her into this.) She’d prefer to do the five-man team up of this battle royale, so feel free to join in live at 2:00 p.m. as OPTV‘s infamous Stream Team brings you a first look at…
What: DEATHGARDEN
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 2:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, August 18th, 2018
What: Warframe
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 9:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, August 17th, 2018
As a buy-to-play game, Overwatch has always had that financial barrier that’s kept some potentially interested players at bay. For those who haven’t taken the plunge yet, Blizzard is planning to tempt them with an extended free play weekend in the near future.
From August 23rd through the 27th, anyone can access Overwatch on the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One and enjoy it with no restrictions for the duration of the event. It’s a good time to have this happen, what with the Summer Games going on and all. And yes, progression made during this weekend will carry over if you decide to purchase the game afterward.
“For this free weekend, we’re making Overwatch’s full roster of 28 heroes — along with the newly released Wrecking Ball — and 18 maps available for play in a variety of modes, including Quick Play, Custom Games, and the Arcade,” said Blizzard.
A hefty 17 GB patch is on its way to Conan Exiles soon, but before it arrives, it needs to run through the gauntlet of player testing.
So what’s making this patch so big? Several content additions, actually, starting with a new dungeon called The Midnight Grove. Barbarians will get some offhand combat skills and new types of arrows to play with, but the star feature here is most definately the pet taming system. There looks to be a wide variety of pets to start, including rhinos, hyenas, and crocodiles. What, no fluffy kittens?
And speaking of patches, those waiting on the promise PlayStation 4 parity patch… are going to have to wait even longer. Funcom announced that it has had to delay the patch again until sometime next week.
One of the best things about Rend is its emphasis on teamwork and cooperation. And although Massively OP’s MJ is only one person, she knows her contributions help. She’ll be heading out into the wilds and continuing to collect resources for her faction base while she explores. Of course, all this will also help get her a step closer to making portals so she can raid the spirit realm and get a pet. Tune in live at 2:00 p.m. to check out the Conclave base.
What: Rend
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 2:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, August 17th, 2018
Rend is enjoying some strong popularity since transitioning into early access at the end of July. To handle the influx of interested adventurers, Frostkeep Studios moved a whole host of North American and European servers over to new and better hardware earlier this week.
Since the studio also changed the saga restart timer from 72 hours to 24 hours, it manually reset seven of its servers to restart their sagas and get on this new timeframe. It is even granting bonus AP for any of the server ascensions that happened before Patch 2.1.
Patch what, now? The studio pushed out an update this past Tuesday with a huge number of balance changes and several bug fixes. As a result of all of this, talent and skill perk points were reset and will need to be reallocated. Frostkeep also used the patch as an opportunity to warn players that abusing the outcast system is a bannable offense, especially against “new or inexperienced” players.
Join the MOP Stream Team today at 2 p.m. EDT, when we’ll be diving back into the game live on OPTV.
