https://massivelyop.com MMORPG news and opinions Wed, 26 Apr 2023 16:37:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/26/albion-online-previews-knightfalls-content-and-quality-of-life-perks/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/26/albion-online-previews-knightfalls-content-and-quality-of-life-perks/#respond Wed, 26 Apr 2023 20:00:26 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=437307 The Albion Online comfy chair welcomes you back to another video with Sandbox Interactive game director Robin Henkys, this one zeroing in on the Knightfall patch already heralded on the test server. Knightfall, Henkys says, is not meant as a major update, just a patch that “packs quite a punch.” It will introduce new chest […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/26/albion-online-previews-knightfalls-content-and-quality-of-life-perks/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/old-school-runescape-outlines-sailing-skills-upcoming-multi-month-player-feedback-steps/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/old-school-runescape-outlines-sailing-skills-upcoming-multi-month-player-feedback-steps/#respond Tue, 25 Apr 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=437088 Regular fans and followers of Old School RuneScape already know that Jagex likes to design new things by committee – aka through reams and reams of player polling – and the upcoming Sailing skill is definitely no exception as the devs have offered several polling steps to gather feedback and make the skill come to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/old-school-runescape-outlines-sailing-skills-upcoming-multi-month-player-feedback-steps/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/massively-op-podcast-episode-419-dining-at-the-mmo-news-buffet/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/massively-op-podcast-episode-419-dining-at-the-mmo-news-buffet/#comments Tue, 25 Apr 2023 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436859 Justin and Bree discuss Tarisland, NetEase, Throne and Liberty, Mad World, DCUO, and EVE Anywhere, with adventures in LOTRO and Fallout 76, plus mailbag topics on accessibility and special podcast guests.]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/massively-op-podcast-episode-419-dining-at-the-mmo-news-buffet/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/casually-classic-eight-legacy-mmos-to-satisfy-that-old-school-craving/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/casually-classic-eight-legacy-mmos-to-satisfy-that-old-school-craving/#comments Tue, 25 Apr 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436839 It was just five years ago in 2018 that MassivelyOP formally recognized an interesting and heartening trend in the MMO space: the rise of legacy MMOs and progression servers. Oh sure, they’d always existed, but we were rightly excited to see a huge uptick of studios work to deliver players a classic experience that rewound […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/casually-classic-eight-legacy-mmos-to-satisfy-that-old-school-craving/feed/ 13 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/24/star-citizen-discusses-design-development-and-plans-for-mission-content-in-latest-livestream/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/24/star-citizen-discusses-design-development-and-plans-for-mission-content-in-latest-livestream/#comments Mon, 24 Apr 2023 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436787 If you’re not answering beacons in Star Citizen, you’re probably running the missions that are available. If that’s the case, then you might be interested in the newest episode of Star Citizen Live, which brought on a portion of CIG’s team that designs missions to discuss how missions get made and offers yet more vague […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/24/star-citizen-discusses-design-development-and-plans-for-mission-content-in-latest-livestream/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/24/the-daily-grind-do-mmo-studios-manipulate-their-playerbases-with-trolling-and-tribalism/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/24/the-daily-grind-do-mmo-studios-manipulate-their-playerbases-with-trolling-and-tribalism/#comments Mon, 24 Apr 2023 12:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433908 A few weeks ago, MOP Chris and I were discussing Star Citizen’s antics – remember the video with the coffee? – and it was so bizarre that I asked Chris whether he honestly thought Cloud Imperium is trolling everyone with these videos, doing it on purpose for hate clicks. “During the coffee machine demonstration, CIG’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/24/the-daily-grind-do-mmo-studios-manipulate-their-playerbases-with-trolling-and-tribalism/feed/ 42 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/22/the-stream-team-seeking-out-strange-sights-in-no-mans-sky/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/22/the-stream-team-seeking-out-strange-sights-in-no-mans-sky/#respond Sat, 22 Apr 2023 17:55:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436723 Today’s Sandbox Saturday is featuring No Man’s Sky once again, but this time MOP’s Chris is taking the flight stick controls for the time being as he continues aiming himself in random directions in the hopes of finding the weird, the wild, and the weirder still. Join him today at 2:00 p.m. EDT as he […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/22/the-stream-team-seeking-out-strange-sights-in-no-mans-sky/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/craftopia-promises-its-seamless-world-is-coming-soon-while-sharing-updates-to-map-size-loadouts-and-weapon-refinement/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/craftopia-promises-its-seamless-world-is-coming-soon-while-sharing-updates-to-map-size-loadouts-and-weapon-refinement/#respond Fri, 21 Apr 2023 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436462 The strange survival sandbox Craftopia has spent the better part of a year and a half working on its seamless world update, which is making the title an open world game full of multiple biomes instead of instanced ones while adding a host of new updates. We’ve been chronicling many of the steps developer Pocketpair […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/craftopia-promises-its-seamless-world-is-coming-soon-while-sharing-updates-to-map-size-loadouts-and-weapon-refinement/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/mabinogi-adds-new-signets-for-high-tier-weapons-and-gives-away-sparkly-scooters-for-its-15th-anniversary/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/mabinogi-adds-new-signets-for-high-tier-weapons-and-gives-away-sparkly-scooters-for-its-15th-anniversary/#respond Fri, 21 Apr 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436204 You would think an MMO hitting the 15-year mark would be cause for a bigger celebration, but Mabinogi elected to go low-key for its latest milestone and hand out astral scooters to several players instead. Though to be fair, these are some very sparkly scooters. The bigger noise being made out of the MMO is […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/mabinogi-adds-new-signets-for-high-tier-weapons-and-gives-away-sparkly-scooters-for-its-15th-anniversary/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/black-desert-revamps-the-trading-lifeskill-for-its-console-edition/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/black-desert-revamps-the-trading-lifeskill-for-its-console-edition/#comments Fri, 21 Apr 2023 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436371 The virtual economy is the lifeblood of sandboxes like Black Desert, so when Pearl Abyss puts a trading skill revamp front and center in a console patch, we can assume that the change will ripple out to affect the game entire. With the patch, players now can only buy and sell at certain designated places […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/black-desert-revamps-the-trading-lifeskill-for-its-console-edition/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/star-citizen-releases-alpha-3-18-2-as-players-express-surprise-at-a-partial-wipe-and-outline-several-build-bugs/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/star-citizen-releases-alpha-3-18-2-as-players-express-surprise-at-a-partial-wipe-and-outline-several-build-bugs/#comments Fri, 21 Apr 2023 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436601 Yesterday saw another Star Citizen patch go live as alpha 3.18.2 hit the PU with nothing more in its notes beyond “general stability and bugfixes” and a lengthy list of known issues. This release was followed shortly after by three more patches that tried to further shore up stability, fix bugs, and kick off Jumptown […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/star-citizen-releases-alpha-3-18-2-as-players-express-surprise-at-a-partial-wipe-and-outline-several-build-bugs/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/pax-dei-demos-nighttime-housing-gameplay-teases-high-stakes-pvp-and-pvp-building/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/pax-dei-demos-nighttime-housing-gameplay-teases-high-stakes-pvp-and-pvp-building/#comments Fri, 21 Apr 2023 16:30:51 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436636 Earlier this week, the devs of upcoming sandbox MMORPG Pax Dei posted a video and FAQ all about the game’s buildable housing. Now, Mainframe Industries has followed up that infodump with yet another video and answers to more questions prompted by feedback on the first batch – including a teaser for PvP. Here are the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/pax-dei-demos-nighttime-housing-gameplay-teases-high-stakes-pvp-and-pvp-building/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/global-chat-black-desert-is-the-mmo-sandbox-to-beat/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/global-chat-black-desert-is-the-mmo-sandbox-to-beat/#comments Fri, 21 Apr 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435791 Those who wrote off or skipped by Black Desert on the way to other MMOs may be missing one of the best sandboxes on the market today. If you need some good word-of-mouth convincing, check out Mailvatar’s overview of a wide spread of personal in-game activities. “Since I first picked up the game in earnest […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/global-chat-black-desert-is-the-mmo-sandbox-to-beat/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/massively-overthinking-what-should-mmos-do-when-guild-leaders-vanish/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/massively-overthinking-what-should-mmos-do-when-guild-leaders-vanish/#comments Fri, 21 Apr 2023 00:00:14 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435850 Last week, we covered that wild story about a “heist” in EVE Online that allowed the perpetrators to make off with trillions of ISK in cash and assets, amounting to a value of something like $22,000 US. And when you look a little more closely at the story, you realize it wasn’t really a heist […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/massively-overthinking-what-should-mmos-do-when-guild-leaders-vanish/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/black-desert-pc-makes-a-long-list-of-improvements-to-the-archer-class-and-ramps-up-treasure-drops/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/black-desert-pc-makes-a-long-list-of-improvements-to-the-archer-class-and-ramps-up-treasure-drops/#respond Thu, 20 Apr 2023 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436269 If you play the Archer in Black Desert on PC, then this newest patch is pretty much just for you, as it introduces a significant number of updates and adjustments to the arrow-firing fighter with the intention of mitigating terrain issues, handling charging enemies, and improving low PvE damage output. In summary, certain greatbow skills […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/black-desert-pc-makes-a-long-list-of-improvements-to-the-archer-class-and-ramps-up-treasure-drops/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/ccp-games-is-already-sunsetting-eve-anywhere-after-just-a-year-in-the-wild/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/ccp-games-is-already-sunsetting-eve-anywhere-after-just-a-year-in-the-wild/#comments Thu, 20 Apr 2023 17:00:12 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436438 Back in 2021, CCP Games made a big to-do over a browser client for EVE Online called EVE Anywhere – essentially a cloud-hosted version of the game that denizens of New Eden could play from, well, anywhere (except for all the countries they couldn’t). It hit beta in 2021, expanding to multiple browsers and countries, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/ccp-games-is-already-sunsetting-eve-anywhere-after-just-a-year-in-the-wild/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/vague-patch-notes-if-theres-any-sort-of-metaverse-its-already-here-and-its-not-what-you-think/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/vague-patch-notes-if-theres-any-sort-of-metaverse-its-already-here-and-its-not-what-you-think/#comments Thu, 20 Apr 2023 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436387 We’ve had a lot of fun here having a good little giggle about the whole saga (if you want to call it that) of the metaverse, the bugbear of so many half-baked projects that don’t seem to be really going anywhere. It’s also become the favorite talking point of a lot of people who insist […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/vague-patch-notes-if-theres-any-sort-of-metaverse-its-already-here-and-its-not-what-you-think/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/19/new-worlds-springtide-bloom-event-invites-you-to-pick-all-the-flowers-next-week/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/19/new-worlds-springtide-bloom-event-invites-you-to-pick-all-the-flowers-next-week/#respond Wed, 19 Apr 2023 18:30:16 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436294 New World’s incoming themed event is so pretty and flowery and springy that I just had an allergy attack looking at the promotional pics. Achoooooo! Yep, it’s time for Springtide Bloom in Amazon’s sandbox starting next week. “Springtide Bloom calls its children to share an ancient secret capable of granting true freedom. Help the enigmatic […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/19/new-worlds-springtide-bloom-event-invites-you-to-pick-all-the-flowers-next-week/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/19/the-swordsmen-x-survival-quietly-lists-an-april-27-early-access-release-date-on-steam-and-releases-new-trailers/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/19/the-swordsmen-x-survival-quietly-lists-an-april-27-early-access-release-date-on-steam-and-releases-new-trailers/#comments Wed, 19 Apr 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436055 Last month we took a peek back in the direction of Swordsmen X: Survival, a martial arts survival sandbox that first crossed our desk last year with the promise of a large open world, world bosses to fight, and various weapons with their own associated martial art style; at the time, we found a Discord […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/19/the-swordsmen-x-survival-quietly-lists-an-april-27-early-access-release-date-on-steam-and-releases-new-trailers/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/old-school-runescape-opens-a-refreshed-salon-pauses-treasure-hunt-ii-beta-and-closes-fresh-start-worlds/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/old-school-runescape-opens-a-refreshed-salon-pauses-treasure-hunt-ii-beta-and-closes-fresh-start-worlds/#comments Tue, 18 Apr 2023 23:00:18 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436066 Getting a new hairstyle can often feel like a nice little refresh of your MMORPG character, and now players of Old School RuneScape can enjoy the sensation of this reset button with some improvements to its makeover system at a new salon location, which features several new hairstyles, a proliferation of existing hairstyles across all […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/old-school-runescape-opens-a-refreshed-salon-pauses-treasure-hunt-ii-beta-and-closes-fresh-start-worlds/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/trove-celebrates-tax-day-by-adding-new-market-taxes-aimed-at-curbing-inflation/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/trove-celebrates-tax-day-by-adding-new-market-taxes-aimed-at-curbing-inflation/#comments Tue, 18 Apr 2023 19:00:15 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436105 It’s tax day here in the US, so I’m sure our US readers just cannot wait to get off work today and log into video games to pay taxes! But that’s pretty much the exact cheeky move Gamigo’s blocky MMO sandbox Trove is pulling with its Fees and Felines update. The “Fees” part of the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/trove-celebrates-tax-day-by-adding-new-market-taxes-aimed-at-curbing-inflation/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/valheim-developer-offers-a-brief-preview-of-several-difficulty-options-and-manual-build-piece-snapping/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/valheim-developer-offers-a-brief-preview-of-several-difficulty-options-and-manual-build-piece-snapping/#respond Tue, 18 Apr 2023 18:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436029 “Are your ready for hardcore mode in Valheim? …or do you prefer something more chill?” These were the Twitter questions posed by the survival sandbox’s lead dev Jonathan Smårs, who also offered a preview of several upcoming difficulty options that look to cover a broad range of player preferences. This new world modifiers UI, which […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/valheim-developer-offers-a-brief-preview-of-several-difficulty-options-and-manual-build-piece-snapping/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/pax-dei-elaborates-on-its-sandbox-housing-and-building-systems-check-out-the-new-video/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/pax-dei-elaborates-on-its-sandbox-housing-and-building-systems-check-out-the-new-video/#comments Tue, 18 Apr 2023 16:30:52 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436036 Pax Dei’s reveal at the top of March was a surprise of the welcome sort for fans of immersive fantasy sandbox MMOs, as studio Mainframe Industries – headed up by former CCP Games bosses – welcomed lookyloos to its fold. The studio has continued teases over the last few weeks, albeit largely in Discord. Most […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/pax-dei-elaborates-on-its-sandbox-housing-and-building-systems-check-out-the-new-video/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/the-daily-grind-what-are-some-demonstrably-wrong-things-about-old-mmos-that-people-insist-were-true-anyway/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/the-daily-grind-what-are-some-demonstrably-wrong-things-about-old-mmos-that-people-insist-were-true-anyway/#comments Tue, 18 Apr 2023 12:00:15 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=430928 A while back, there was a thread on the MMORPG subreddit arguing that “minmaxing an information abundance has ruined MMORPGs” and posited that devs had “stopped fighting it.” After the thread spiraled out of control, the mods probably wisely deleted it, though some of the conversation was intact. In a nutshell, the thread harkened back […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/18/the-daily-grind-what-are-some-demonstrably-wrong-things-about-old-mmos-that-people-insist-were-true-anyway/feed/ 36 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/sandbox-mmorpg-ethyrial-echoes-of-yore-ties-down-a-may-1-release-date/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/sandbox-mmorpg-ethyrial-echoes-of-yore-ties-down-a-may-1-release-date/#respond Mon, 17 Apr 2023 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435905 Mines are dark places and that’s no different in the mines of sandbox MMORPG Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore. You need a helmet with a strong light attached to it in order to see where you’re going. Luckily, the game is offering precisely that as previewed in a new video, which features a character delving a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/sandbox-mmorpg-ethyrial-echoes-of-yore-ties-down-a-may-1-release-date/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/mmo-legend-richard-bartle-reviews-the-highs-and-lows-of-new-world/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/mmo-legend-richard-bartle-reviews-the-highs-and-lows-of-new-world/#comments Mon, 17 Apr 2023 14:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435775 When one of the founding legends of MMORPGs spends 360 hours in your game, chances are that he has Opinions about how you did stuff. And so the New World team best be listening to Dr. Richard Bartle, the co-creator of MUD1 and researcher upon whose work the Bartle test was devised, who delivered his opinions […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/mmo-legend-richard-bartle-reviews-the-highs-and-lows-of-new-world/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/a-serious-guild-wars-2-exploit-led-to-a-temporary-elementalist-nerf-over-the-weekend/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/a-serious-guild-wars-2-exploit-led-to-a-temporary-elementalist-nerf-over-the-weekend/#comments Mon, 17 Apr 2023 13:00:49 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435820 On Saturday, ArenaNet took the unusual move of disabling a couple of Elementalist traits in Guild Wars 2 that made the Weaver spec nigh on unplayable. “We are temporarily disabling two elementalist minor traits, Weaver and Sunspot, while we address an issue. We will reactivate them as soon as possible,” the studio said late that […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/a-serious-guild-wars-2-exploit-led-to-a-temporary-elementalist-nerf-over-the-weekend/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/bitcrafts-next-pre-alpha-will-test-the-games-new-backend-infrastructure/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/bitcrafts-next-pre-alpha-will-test-the-games-new-backend-infrastructure/#comments Fri, 14 Apr 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435382 We’ve had an eye on BitCraft, a procedural-gen MMORPG sandbox, since it first surfaced in 2019 as Clockwork Labs’ well-funded new toy. In spite of the “bit” in its name, it’s not a crypto game (the studio referred to such games as a “crypto blackhole“); it’s a Unity game that counted 752,000 signups for its […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/bitcrafts-next-pre-alpha-will-test-the-games-new-backend-infrastructure/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/gloria-victis-introduces-a-siege-mode-for-valley-of-death-and-a-werewolf-boss-for-guilds-to-fight/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/gloria-victis-introduces-a-siege-mode-for-valley-of-death-and-a-werewolf-boss-for-guilds-to-fight/#respond Fri, 14 Apr 2023 16:30:56 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435619 With Gloria Victis making its full launch this past February, the next logical step for the sandbox is to introduce a werewolf. Yes, this is totally normal progress. Don’t question it. Fight the wolf man. This new boss fight will let guilds challenge the werewolf in order to get their hands on valuable alchemy components, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/gloria-victis-introduces-a-siege-mode-for-valley-of-death-and-a-werewolf-boss-for-guilds-to-fight/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/kickstarted-survival-sandbox-fractured-veil-delays-early-access-to-september-plans-engine-upgrade/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/kickstarted-survival-sandbox-fractured-veil-delays-early-access-to-september-plans-engine-upgrade/#comments Fri, 14 Apr 2023 15:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435493 Just about two years ago, we first learned about a new survival MMO called Fractured Veil. It pulled in $110,000 on Kickstarter to fund a unique multiplayer base-builder set in a post-apoc Hawaii, and it’s been chugging along in development ever since. In fact, it was supposed to hit early access last year – but […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/kickstarted-survival-sandbox-fractured-veil-delays-early-access-to-september-plans-engine-upgrade/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/black-desert-pc-makes-further-tweaks-to-trade-black-desert-mobile-adds-umbral-chaos-gear/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/black-desert-pc-makes-further-tweaks-to-trade-black-desert-mobile-adds-umbral-chaos-gear/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2023 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435393 It’s time yet again for another bundle of Black Desert news coming out of the PC and mobile versions of the MMORPG, with the former continuing to make adjustments to the trading life skill and the latter adding a new layer to its gear refinement system. We begin with the PC version’s patch notes, which […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/black-desert-pc-makes-further-tweaks-to-trade-black-desert-mobile-adds-umbral-chaos-gear/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/sea-of-thieves-revamps-golden-sands-outpost-adds-helpful-seagulls-and-applies-a-long-list-of-fixes/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/sea-of-thieves-revamps-golden-sands-outpost-adds-helpful-seagulls-and-applies-a-long-list-of-fixes/#respond Thu, 13 Apr 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435413 Nine times out of 10, seagulls aren’t helpful; they’re either being monstrous little bastards or harassing Yoda. Luckily in Sea of Thieves’ latest update they’re going to be much more helpful, as they’ll fly around treasure dropped from a defeated megalodon. We still advise caution when going near them while holding food, though. Of course, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/sea-of-thieves-revamps-golden-sands-outpost-adds-helpful-seagulls-and-applies-a-long-list-of-fixes/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/old-school-runescape-beta-tests-the-rewards-for-its-upcoming-desert-treasure-ii-quest/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/old-school-runescape-beta-tests-the-rewards-for-its-upcoming-desert-treasure-ii-quest/#respond Thu, 13 Apr 2023 21:00:14 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435409 What MMORPG beta tests the rewards of its quest line before those rewards or the quest itself go live? Old School RuneScape, that’s what, and testing of rewards for the Desert Treasure II quest is precisely what’s happening this week to ensure players “feel confident in the rewards [they’ll] get for completing this epic quest.” […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/old-school-runescape-beta-tests-the-rewards-for-its-upcoming-desert-treasure-ii-quest/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/anvil-empires-solicits-serious-testers-for-upcoming-technical-pre-alpha-tests/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/anvil-empires-solicits-serious-testers-for-upcoming-technical-pre-alpha-tests/#respond Thu, 13 Apr 2023 20:00:34 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435503 MMO players were treated to a delightful surprise at the end of March, when Foxhole developer Siege Camp took the wraps off its next venture: Anvil Empires, a serious persistent MMO focused on massive battles and sandbox simulation. At the time, we noted that Siege Camp was soliciting alpha testers as needed in Discord, but […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/anvil-empires-solicits-serious-testers-for-upcoming-technical-pre-alpha-tests/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/elite-dangerous-joins-a-host-of-science-fiction-focused-events-at-the-london-science-museum-on-may-4/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/elite-dangerous-joins-a-host-of-science-fiction-focused-events-at-the-london-science-museum-on-may-4/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2023 19:00:55 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435426 May the 4th celebrations are usually aimed at the Star Wars fandom, but this year the London Science Museum will expand them to include Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Elite: Dangerous, as the sci-fi sandbox will be joining in on a special late-night event focused on science fiction. Frontier will host one of the features […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/elite-dangerous-joins-a-host-of-science-fiction-focused-events-at-the-london-science-museum-on-may-4/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/eve-online-players-commandeer-a-guild-and-make-off-with-22k-in-plunder/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/eve-online-players-commandeer-a-guild-and-make-off-with-22k-in-plunder/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435323 As most longtime MMO players know, leaders going AFK for extended periods can result in all kinds of shenanigans in player organizations behind their backs. I’ve seen whole cities and guilds – and their vaults of valuables – snatched away by sneaky members through stealthy votes, putting whole communities in uproar when it happens, to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/eve-online-players-commandeer-a-guild-and-make-off-with-22k-in-plunder/feed/ 18 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/massively-overthinking-how-to-alienate-your-mmorpg-playerbase/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/massively-overthinking-how-to-alienate-your-mmorpg-playerbase/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434862 I am not a Pokemon Go player, but I can’t help but stare at its many trainwrecks thanks to the detailed coverage of our Massively on the Go columnist Andrew. And the latest trainwreck is one that I’ve seen play out in MMOs many times. I’ll spare you a full rundown of the gory details leading […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/massively-overthinking-how-to-alienate-your-mmorpg-playerbase/feed/ 21 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/star-citizen-releases-alpha-3-18-1-prepares-for-a-free-fly-event-and-recounts-marchs-dev-progress/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/star-citizen-releases-alpha-3-18-1-prepares-for-a-free-fly-event-and-recounts-marchs-dev-progress/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2023 15:30:16 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435402 After nearly a full month since its initial 3.18 launch, Star Citizen is considering itself fully operational once again with the launch of alpha 3.18.1, which is both noted as “not a silver bullet” and heralded as a patch that has “a tremendous number of fixes” applied. As a result of this patch, the game’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/star-citizen-releases-alpha-3-18-1-prepares-for-a-free-fly-event-and-recounts-marchs-dev-progress/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/eve-online-is-putting-its-new-launcher-and-graphical-upgrades-to-the-test-today/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/eve-online-is-putting-its-new-launcher-and-graphical-upgrades-to-the-test-today/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2023 14:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435327 MMO launchers follow a very basic principle: Nobody ever notices a good one, but a bad one can sully the whole game. Which one will EVE Online’s new launcher be? You can find out for yourself, literally, when CCP Games runs a sneak peek test on Singularity today at 1 p.m. EDT. Or you can just […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/eve-online-is-putting-its-new-launcher-and-graphical-upgrades-to-the-test-today/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/12/star-citizen-continues-to-promise-alpha-3-18-1-fixes-shortly-while-more-testing-tools-are-developed/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/12/star-citizen-continues-to-promise-alpha-3-18-1-fixes-shortly-while-more-testing-tools-are-developed/#comments Wed, 12 Apr 2023 14:30:58 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435187 The alpha 3.18 release of Star Citizen continues to look like a gamedev engineering nightmare as the partial outage state of the persistent universe moves into its 33rd day. Even so, CIG continues to try to keep communication and progress reports rolling in, and this week’s event calendar is no exception as it briefs players […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/12/star-citizen-continues-to-promise-alpha-3-18-1-fixes-shortly-while-more-testing-tools-are-developed/feed/ 50 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/12/star-vault-says-newly-announced-sci-fi-mmo-mortal-exodus-wont-pull-resources-from-mortal-online-2/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/12/star-vault-says-newly-announced-sci-fi-mmo-mortal-exodus-wont-pull-resources-from-mortal-online-2/#comments Wed, 12 Apr 2023 13:00:52 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435148 We’re not sure whether to raise our eyebrows or be impressed by the ambition shown by the fact that a small company with two live games (including a newer game that’s been plagued by issues) has just announced a third. Yes, last night developer Star Vault, which currently operates Mortal Online and 2022’s Mortal Online […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/12/star-vault-says-newly-announced-sci-fi-mmo-mortal-exodus-wont-pull-resources-from-mortal-online-2/feed/ 19 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/11/runescape-launches-its-unwelcome-guests-quest-old-school-runescape-players-want-to-go-sailing/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/11/runescape-launches-its-unwelcome-guests-quest-old-school-runescape-players-want-to-go-sailing/#respond Tue, 11 Apr 2023 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435028 If you have unwelcome guests, the best practice is to not wield medieval weaponry at them in order to make them go away, but in the world of RuneScape that reaction is definitely the correct one, particularly since the guests in question are undead monsters who want to hurt you. Unwelcome Guests are the target […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/11/runescape-launches-its-unwelcome-guests-quest-old-school-runescape-players-want-to-go-sailing/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/11/albion-online-surpassed-300k-daily-players-a-new-record-thanks-to-albion-easts-launch/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/11/albion-online-surpassed-300k-daily-players-a-new-record-thanks-to-albion-easts-launch/#comments Tue, 11 Apr 2023 14:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435012 So, after all the downtime and compensation issues, was the launch of Albion Online’s Albion East server a success? By the measure of player count alone, it sure looks like it. According to Sandbox Interactive, the game has smashed its previous daily active user record. “After a successful Closed Beta and Early Access period, Albion’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/11/albion-online-surpassed-300k-daily-players-a-new-record-thanks-to-albion-easts-launch/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/11/eve-onlines-month-long-battle-at-x47l-q-concludes-with-a-destroyed-keepstar-and-trillions-of-isk-in-losses/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/11/eve-onlines-month-long-battle-at-x47l-q-concludes-with-a-destroyed-keepstar-and-trillions-of-isk-in-losses/#comments Tue, 11 Apr 2023 14:00:07 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435009 Over the past few weeks, a battle has been unfolding in EVE Online in X47L-Q, which drew in some impressive numbers in terms of players and ISK losses. That fighting kept on happening over the past few days, ultimately leading to the destruction of the keepstar located in the system. EVE’s twitter feed offered some […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/11/eve-onlines-month-long-battle-at-x47l-q-concludes-with-a-destroyed-keepstar-and-trillions-of-isk-in-losses/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/10/chatgpt-is-utilized-by-mud-aetolia-to-generate-npc-dialogue-and-send-someone-on-a-fake-quest/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/10/chatgpt-is-utilized-by-mud-aetolia-to-generate-npc-dialogue-and-send-someone-on-a-fake-quest/#comments Mon, 10 Apr 2023 17:30:19 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434899 Some game developers continue to laud AI generation tools like ChatGPT as the future of many frontiers, including NPC behavior in MMORPGs and gaming in general, all while downplaying the potential negative human impact. One such developer is Matt Mihaly, the man behind the MUD Aetolia, who ran a live experiment on players that used […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/10/chatgpt-is-utilized-by-mud-aetolia-to-generate-npc-dialogue-and-send-someone-on-a-fake-quest/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/10/world-of-titans-fails-its-kickstarter-pulls-its-demo-and-promises-something-huge-all-while-selling-founders-packs/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/10/world-of-titans-fails-its-kickstarter-pulls-its-demo-and-promises-something-huge-all-while-selling-founders-packs/#comments Mon, 10 Apr 2023 15:30:47 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434860 The end of 2022 and the very beginning of 2023 offered up some hefty MMO studio drama centered around the game TitanReach. In summary, the game’s IP was allegedly stolen from disgraced original developer Square Root Studios by new developer Archage Studios to be repurposed into its own game, first called Titan Reach (note the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/10/world-of-titans-fails-its-kickstarter-pulls-its-demo-and-promises-something-huge-all-while-selling-founders-packs/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/09/earth-and-beyond-rogue-server-project-may-be-the-space-mmo-you-crave/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/09/earth-and-beyond-rogue-server-project-may-be-the-space-mmo-you-crave/#comments Sun, 09 Apr 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433844 Just the other day, the MOP staff was bemoaning the fact that the pickings for space sim MMOs are slim and lacking. But instead of looking forward to future projects, perhaps the answer lies in the past? After all, EA published a rather robust space MMO called Earth and Beyond in 2002 before shutting it […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/09/earth-and-beyond-rogue-server-project-may-be-the-space-mmo-you-crave/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/08/ccp-games-ceo-defends-project-awakenings-existence-as-the-studio-seeks-a-blockchain-ecosystem-dev/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/08/ccp-games-ceo-defends-project-awakenings-existence-as-the-studio-seeks-a-blockchain-ecosystem-dev/#comments Sat, 08 Apr 2023 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434700 Any cryptocurrency-focused video that opens with a gigantic legal disclaimer stating its content shouldn’t be taken as legal or financial advice should immediately set off every single instinct to flee, but we’re going to dive in anyway because this particular video features CCP Games CEO Hilmar Petursson, the recently announced blockchain game in the EVE […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/08/ccp-games-ceo-defends-project-awakenings-existence-as-the-studio-seeks-a-blockchain-ecosystem-dev/feed/ 22 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/08/the-stream-team-hunting-for-resources-in-no-mans-sky/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/08/the-stream-team-hunting-for-resources-in-no-mans-sky/#respond Sat, 08 Apr 2023 17:55:11 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434725 Tomorrow may be about hunting for eggs, but MassivelyOP’s MJ doesn’t really need eggs in No Man’s Sky. Instead, she needs resources. Lots of them! She has a base to build up and many ship parts to repair. So today, the hunt is on for resources. Who knows, she might even head of planet in […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/08/the-stream-team-hunting-for-resources-in-no-mans-sky/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/07/dark-age-of-camelots-killer-bunny-returns-wurm-online-hides-easter-baskets-for-subscribers/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/07/dark-age-of-camelots-killer-bunny-returns-wurm-online-hides-easter-baskets-for-subscribers/#respond Fri, 07 Apr 2023 21:00:04 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434590 When the words “Harbinger of Spring” are read, most people would be forgiven for thinking pleasant, colorful, and sunny things. Maybe a faun wearing a crown of butterflies causing people with pollen allergies to be miserable. Dark Age of Camelot players know better, however, as the Harbinger of Spring is a killer rabbit, and it’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/07/dark-age-of-camelots-killer-bunny-returns-wurm-online-hides-easter-baskets-for-subscribers/feed/ 0