MJ Guthrie    Last week, Massively OP’s MJ searched for the diary pages of Ireena in DDO’s Ravenloft. This time, she’s seeking those of Strahd himself She wants to piece together more of his back story, especially after the blurbs she learned from Baba Lysaga’s hut. Will that reveal more of his motivations...

Bree Royce    I was jolted into a near panic earlier this past weekend when I saw a tweet from Lord of the Rings Online in which Standing Stone Games told players that carry alls have been disabled. Carry alls are basically inventory extensions for specific items, like crafting mats and task items. I have around...

Chris Neal    This is either a tale of two games that start with the letter V, two games that are working on new zones, or two tardy sandboxes as Bree succinctly put it. Either way, both V Rising and Valheim have some new things to highlight for fans of each respective survivalbox. We’ll begin with V Rising

Chris Neal    Last week saw Embers Adrift begin testing of a content compression adjustment that would see the MMORPG’s max level lowered in order to get more people grouping together and make every level feel more impactful all while not squishing stats or changing the required amount of XP to reach each...

Eliot Lefebvre    If you’re still salty about being asked this ages ago, don’t worry, World of Warcraft fans. Blizzard no longer cares if you have a phone. At least not as far as WoW is concerned, because the WoW Companion App is officially being retired when The War Within’s pre patch arrives. That means no more...

Bree Royce    File this one under this is why we can’t have nice things : Apparently, some Lost Ark players thought they’d faff around with cheating the game’s current race to first, and now they’re finding out. The issue revolves around the Thaemine The First leaderboard; the event essentially pits player...

Chris Neal    Despite the backdrop of Frontier Developments setting Elite: Dangerous players on fire with talk about cash shop ship bundles, the studio came together for another Frontier Unlocked livestream to talk more about Powerplay . and how its various interlocking mechanics will work when it goes live....

Bree Royce    Well, you can read the headline: There’s no BlizzCon this year after all, in spite of the fact that this is Warcraft’s th anniversary and World of Warcraft’s th and there are actually major releases coming from the studio this year. After careful consideration over the last year, we at...

Bree Royce    ArcheAge isn’t the only MMORPG announcing a sunset this week: Kickstarter success Genfanad is apparently closing its doors too. Genfanad is a browser based nostalgia driven indie MMO that was first announced back in and actually pulled in just under , on Kickstarter. Developer Rose...

Chris Neal    After a week long false start, publisher Gaijin Entertainment and developer Three Whales Studio have brought Age of Water into the roiling and arguably crowded seas of multiplayer survival sandbox early access games today. Civilization as we know it has vanished into the ocean, with everything...

Eliot Lefebvre    So last week, I spent a whole lot of words talking about what the meta actually means when it comes to MMOs. Put very simply, the meta is just a description of what the game is like beyond the concepts and into the specifics. I didn’t even have the time and space to talk about

Bree Royce    Just a few weeks ago, the MassivelyOP team gathered round to speculate on what the Classic Guild Wars anniversaries might look like and what we’d wish them to look like . The game turns this year and next year, meaning that if ArenaNet is going to ramp up into something big to celebrate, now...

Justin Olivetti    All the way back in , Bethesda introduced an interesting feature with its second Elder Scrolls RPG. Daggerfall included spellcrafting, a system that allowed players to modify and combine spells to make new ones. As it sounds, spellcrafting was a very sandboxy feature prone to exploitation,...

Bree Royce    When Daybreak dropped producer letters for EverQuest and EverQuest II earlier this month, the MMORPG fanbase immediately started buzzing about the new progression servers on deck and this week, the studio is beginning to explain a lot more about what players can expect from them. Let’s start with...

Chris Neal    Yesterday saw Frontier Developments enrage the Elite: Dangerous playerbase when it announced plans to sell pre built ship bundles in its cash shop, with many players calling the move tantamount to pay to win. Shortly after that reveal, Frontier posted a follow up explainer that gave complete...

Bree Royce    Believe it or not, this week marks the th anniversary of the launch of the original City of Heroes and naturally, the officially licensed Homecoming branded City of Heroes servers are planning a fitting celebration. Didn’t you just love reading the words officially licensed just now Same, my...

Justin Olivetti    The Fallout franchise really is taking the world by storm this month, largely thanks to the super successful Amazon Prime series which already has been renewed for a second season . And since a rising tide lifts all boats, the popularity of the TV show has given new life to all of the Fallout...

Bree Royce    I’m sorry to report this morning that the western version of ArcheAge is apparently shutting down: While we were sleeping, Kakao announced that it will sunset its ArcheAge servers come June th, . Its final content update rolls out today as the Discord is locked to new participants. After...

Eliot Lefebvre    Considering the fact that every MMORPG is in a war of content basically forever, I say it makes sense that they would embrace level scaling to some extent. From syncing people to lower levels for quests or specific experiences to just changing the whole world to sync with your level, it’s harder to...

MJ Guthrie    Last time, Massively OP’s Larry managed to wiggle his way out of his second Party Animals showing unintentionally, he insists . MJ and Chris won’t be letting him get away this time. No, they must fully indoctrinate him in the art of plushy warfare. Indoctrination via weaponry. Sounds totally...

Chris Neal    As most people have now noticed, Fortnite has made some pretty sweeping changes, from a survival shooter to battle royale to a place where live events happened, right up to its most recent transformation into a platform of new games and different bespoke experiences. If you happen to be among those...

Chris Neal    The new and the next are once more available to Sea of Thieves fans in moving pictures form, as the sandbox’s latest news digest video provides a look at what’s coming for the final parts of April, discusses the pre order beta woes on PS , and grants a look ahead at updates coming later this spring...

Bree Royce    Amazon’s latest New World dev blog isn’t going to shake any foundations with breaking news, but it does deep dive the new artifacts added in Season of the Guardian earlier this month. System designer Isaiah Cartwright goes through all eight new artifacts and more specifically why Amazon chose them...

Bree Royce    If you can believe it, we’re almost a third of the way into , which means we’re due for more roadmaps out of Amazon including roadmaps for Lost Ark’s next quarter of content. According to the studio, May will see the wind down of the Thaemine chapter with an epilogue quest, Shadow of the Moon...

Chris Neal    It certainly feels like live service is being tacked on to many recent game releases whether it makes sense or not , which of course leads to worries among gamers and industry watchers that the walls of this bubble are likely to burst soon. If it’s any consolation, most game developers reportedly...

Chris Neal    Phantasy Star Online : New Genesis is kicking off a celebration of its third anniversary this week with a big event that has a similarly big mouthful of a name: Halpha’s Super Origin Festival. Starting today, April th, through June th, players will be able to crack into free scratch ticket...

Chris Neal    MOP’s Chris and his best friend are once again coming together for some more Cat Quest II adventuring When we last left our cat and dog duo, they were nearing the end of the main quest, which means it’s time to divert to side activities instead Join them today at : p.m. EDT for the

Bree Royce    If ever you needed another reason not to purchase or play games in early access, Valve has stepped forward to give you a huge one with the latest update to Steam’s refund agreement: It’s now going to count time played in early access against the refund timer, meaning that sinking more than two...

Chris Neal    It’s been a busy time for the developing sandbox MMORPGs of Pax Dei and Abyss, as both games entered into their respective alphas this month and have been tackling a bunch of expected issues along the way. We’ll begin with Pax Dei, which has elected to keep its information stuffed in Discord. Most...

Eliot Lefebvre    You may or may not feel that The Wagadu Chronicles as it currently exists in its playable state is delivering on its premise. We’re not here to litigate that. But if you feel the game’s setting is interesting enough to draw you in anyhow, perhaps you’d like it more in tabletop form Yes, the game’s...

Justin Olivetti    There are two types of people on April st: those who are annoyed and indifferent to the tomfoolery going on all around them, and those who gleefully embrace the zany antics and bald faced lies. For the record, I am of the latter crowd. I love April Fools’ Day and the humor and creativity that it ...

Justin Olivetti    It’s quite likely that we have several veterans of Infantry Online in our Massively OP audience. After all, this was a Sony Online Entertainment game from back in the EverQuest glory days around that developed a loyal cult following. Infantry lasted until , after which it was revived as...

Tyler F.M. Edwards    For the past few months, Amazon Games has repeated the same mantra in regards to New World s future: Wait for the announcement in June. But what will this announcement be Let’s take a look at some of the possibilities. There’s two popular fan theories on what the big ticket feature of the...

Bree Royce    KingsIsle is continuing to make good on its plan to revitalize Pirate this week with its new story driven update, dubbed Through Death’s Door. Through Death’s Door seeks to expand the story of Pirate , with the update serving as the beginning of the game’s second story arc, the studio says...

Bree Royce    There was a bit of a hiccup in getting it off the ground this morning, but it’s here now: Albion Online’s Albion Europe server has officially entered its first phase of early access yes, there are several phases, just as there were several phases of beta before this. Today is the big one, however...

Chris Neal    A new announcement from Elite: Dangerous has lit a tinderbox among its playerbase, as Frontier Developments has confirmed that it plans to start selling internet spaceships to players in its cash shop including the upcoming Python Mk II, the game’s first new ship in years. These pre built ship...

Bree Royce    In case you haven’t noticed, Pearl Abyss is on a massive campaign this quarter to improve the public’s perception of Black Desert with one quality of life upgrade after another, chiefly to the game’s enhancement systems. This week’s QOL boost is a pass on family based lifeskills. Life Skill levels...

Justin Olivetti    Last week, all productivity in the MOP office ground to a halt when we started playing a game to change an MMO’s title into another one by swapping a single letter. Because we’re children at hearts, this tickled us greatly and we couldn’t stop. Some of the better ones we came up with include: Wife ...

MJ Guthrie    It’s a whole new world in Guild Wars ’s Super Adventure Box. OK, maybe a whole new world is a slight exaggeration how else would we get that song stuck in your head, but there are a chunk of changes. Along with the addition of shops and blue ooze, there are new things to

Chris Neal    Mad World’s upcoming April th patch is bringing a lot to its table, not the least of which being a first anniversary celebration along with some harder encounters for players to face and easier gear refinement for the higher levels of progression. The OARPG’s first year of operation is being...

Justin Olivetti    At years old, Runes of Magic has to keep working hard to retain player interest and challenge those who think that they’ve seen and done everything. To wit, the studio is pushing out its latest entry in the Timeless Dungeon series on April th with the Shadows over the Altar update. In this...

Chris Neal    Do you remember Vigor It’s a multiplayer shooter from Bohemia Interactive set in a post war Norway where players have to scrounge, survive, and well, shoot at people. The game first made its appearance at E , when it was an Xbox One exclusive, after which it proliferated to other...

Justin Olivetti    Justin and Bree discuss PlanetSide ’s new developer, Elder Scrolls Online’s rollback situation, the revival of Life is Feudal, and the resurrection of Legends of Aria Classic, with adventures in LOTRO, ESO, and World of Warcraft, plus mailbag topics on Palia, Blade and Soul, Dragons Dogma Online,...

Justin Olivetti    You know how it’s a bad idea to plunge into a dangerous animal’s lair That rule clearly doesn’t apply to a massively powerful undead dragon and its home. So feel free to antagonize this beast on its home turf in RuneScape’s latest update, Requiem for a Dragon. The quest, live as of this week’s...

Justin Olivetti    Sharpen your pitchforks, dust off your billy clubs, and restock your quiver Dark Age of Camelot is calling you into action once more with a leveling catch up event. Yesterday, Broadsword activated the th Caledonia event to help boost players to the max level with all sorts of assists: The ...

Bree Royce    Palia’s first beta update since its confusing Steam launch and the layoff of more than a third of its team is here today, complete with a springy theme and new content. Starting today, Palians will be greeted with a new spring themed login page, and Kilima Village has been beautified to reflect...

Chris Neal    Nothing feels worse in a multiplayer game than asking other people around you for help and getting silence. Hopefully that situation will improve for any players within Skull and Bones with its latest patch, which significantly widens the call for help feature to make those in game shouts extra...

Chris Neal    Western fans of MapleStory have some understandable concerns about the future of their favorite cutesy MMO following news from the Korean version, specifically Nexon’s manipulation of gear boosting cubes and attempts to limit meso earnings. Hopefully those worries can be eased with help from Head...

Chris Neal    When it comes to MMORPG games, most of the time I hold just one home title an MMO that I stay subscribed to or play pretty religiously because I’ve gotten invested in terms of time, effort, money, and social connection. I’ve planted roots. I’ve established myself among peers and friends. I’ve...

Bree Royce    I can’t tell you how relieved I am to see Neverwinter get back on the tracks of its traditional cadence, and that’s exactly what’s happening today, as the game’s th module is officially going live on PC and console simultaneously. Adventures in Wildspace is meant to conclude the Spelljammer arc...