https://massivelyop.com MMORPG news and opinions Fri, 21 Apr 2023 14:58:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 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-wars-the-old-republic-previews-several-class-balance-adjustments-coming-in-update-7-3/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/star-wars-the-old-republic-previews-several-class-balance-adjustments-coming-in-update-7-3/#respond Fri, 21 Apr 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436612 Another major update is looming on the horizon of Star Wars: The Old Republic, and it’s bringing with it a variety of balance tweaks for several classes. The post reads like these changes aren’t quite set in stone, as BioWare seeks player feedback now and PTS input later, but players can look through what’s planned […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/star-wars-the-old-republic-previews-several-class-balance-adjustments-coming-in-update-7-3/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/lost-ark-aims-to-spend-2023-reducing-grind-and-improving-the-newbie-and-catch-up-experience/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/lost-ark-aims-to-spend-2023-reducing-grind-and-improving-the-newbie-and-catch-up-experience/#comments Thu, 20 Apr 2023 14:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436400 Lost Ark has been live in the west over a year now, giving Amazon and Smilegate the opportunity to reflect on how far the game has come – and where it’s going from here. “Last year, our top priorities were introducing content into the Western shores of Arkesia at an appropriate cadence to avoid burnout, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/20/lost-ark-aims-to-spend-2023-reducing-grind-and-improving-the-newbie-and-catch-up-experience/feed/ 8 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/2023/04/13/microsoft-president-and-us-intel-say-russian-operatives-are-targeting-gaming-for-espionage/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/microsoft-president-and-us-intel-say-russian-operatives-are-targeting-gaming-for-espionage/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2023 16:30:07 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435394 Earlier this week, we covered the bizarre but sadly believable news that the military secrets leak every major newspaper is currently focused on may have been promulgated through a Minecraft server. As we noted at the time, while a lot of the classified info turned out to be fake or already public, other parts appeared […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/13/microsoft-president-and-us-intel-say-russian-operatives-are-targeting-gaming-for-espionage/feed/ 27 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/12/perfect-ten-10-reasons-new-world-deserves-a-second-look/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/12/perfect-ten-10-reasons-new-world-deserves-a-second-look/#comments Wed, 12 Apr 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=432588 If you were one of the many, many players who skipped off New World after giving it an initial try, well, we don’t blame you. The launch was a bit of a mess, the subsequent months were a morass of unsteady development, the population plummeted, and an aura of uncertainty seemed to hover over Amazon’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/12/perfect-ten-10-reasons-new-world-deserves-a-second-look/feed/ 42 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/09/the-mop-up-pokemon-go-and-the-mystery-of-the-missing-15-foot-spoon/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/09/the-mop-up-pokemon-go-and-the-mystery-of-the-missing-15-foot-spoon/#respond Sun, 09 Apr 2023 20:00:55 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434051 A Pokemon Go player helped solve a bizarre mystery: A 52-year-old man playing the MMOARG stumbled upon a massive 15-foot red spoon near a middle school baseball field. Turns out it had been stolen from an Arizona Dairy Queen, whose owners were relieved to get the rather expensive statue back. The POGO player turned down […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/09/the-mop-up-pokemon-go-and-the-mystery-of-the-missing-15-foot-spoon/feed/ 0 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/2023/04/02/the-cycle-frontier-adds-new-weapons-and-monsters-applies-new-anti-cheat-measures-and-ends-server-wipes/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/02/the-cycle-frontier-adds-new-weapons-and-monsters-applies-new-anti-cheat-measures-and-ends-server-wipes/#comments Sun, 02 Apr 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433618 This week has brought a fresh season to the PvPvE survival FPS The Cycle: Frontier, and by all accounts it is a whopper of an update, bringing new weapons, new critters, new mechanic updates, and a host of updates intended to fight against cheating. The game’s anti-cheat tactics are one of the headliners of this […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/02/the-cycle-frontier-adds-new-weapons-and-monsters-applies-new-anti-cheat-measures-and-ends-server-wipes/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/29/foxhole-studio-announces-anvil-empires-a-persistent-war-sandbox-mmo-with-thousand-person-battles/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/29/foxhole-studio-announces-anvil-empires-a-persistent-war-sandbox-mmo-with-thousand-person-battles/#comments Wed, 29 Mar 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=432964 If you thought Foxhole is a great MMO – as we sure do – and were wishing its devs would expand their skills to fresh settings, then feast your eyeballs on Anvil Empires, Siege Camp’s next big thing. The studio rolled up to Steam yesterday with a new dev blog introducing the medieval war simulator […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/29/foxhole-studio-announces-anvil-empires-a-persistent-war-sandbox-mmo-with-thousand-person-battles/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/28/albion-online-teases-legendary-weapons-new-weapon-line-and-proper-castle-and-siege-fights/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/28/albion-online-teases-legendary-weapons-new-weapon-line-and-proper-castle-and-siege-fights/#comments Tue, 28 Mar 2023 14:30:41 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=432803 The launch of Albion Online’s Albion East server last week has seen multiple ups and downs for both realms over that period of time, but Sandbox Interactive is calling it successful and pushing ahead to the future in its new dev video, which may be welcome for players now looking for something new to actually […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/28/albion-online-teases-legendary-weapons-new-weapon-line-and-proper-castle-and-siege-fights/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/28/star-wars-the-old-republic-kicks-off-galactic-season-4-pvp-season-2-and-64-bit-client/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/28/star-wars-the-old-republic-kicks-off-galactic-season-4-pvp-season-2-and-64-bit-client/#comments Tue, 28 Mar 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=432765 An urgent communique has gone out over the galactic holonet, informing the denizens of a galaxy far, far away that Star Wars: The Old Republic has a new update for them to investigate. Update 7.2.1 is the second significant patch of 2023, bringing with it absolutely no new story content whatsoever. However, what it lacks […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/28/star-wars-the-old-republic-kicks-off-galactic-season-4-pvp-season-2-and-64-bit-client/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/23/for-science-crit-rate-is-another-survey-driven-attempt-to-match-gamer-personalities-to-games/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/23/for-science-crit-rate-is-another-survey-driven-attempt-to-match-gamer-personalities-to-games/#comments Thu, 23 Mar 2023 15:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=432202 I have to admit I almost deleted the press release for this story without reading it, but my finger twitched, and let me tell you why: One of the most common Reddit threads I see and one of the most common emails we get here at MOP can be boiled down to “what MMO should […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/23/for-science-crit-rate-is-another-survey-driven-attempt-to-match-gamer-personalities-to-games/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/21/the-daily-grind-do-you-still-craft-in-mmos-where-crafting-is-pointless/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/21/the-daily-grind-do-you-still-craft-in-mmos-where-crafting-is-pointless/#comments Tue, 21 Mar 2023 12:00:04 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=429674 I could swap out the words “craft” and “crafting” in the question in today’s Daily Grind topic and I think the same point would be made: What you do when you’re not being extrinsically rewarded for it by a game is who you really are as a gamer. If you PvP even though the rewards […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/21/the-daily-grind-do-you-still-craft-in-mmos-where-crafting-is-pointless/feed/ 30 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/20/lord-of-the-rings-online-talks-crafting-vocations-recipes-and-guild-rep-decay/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/20/lord-of-the-rings-online-talks-crafting-vocations-recipes-and-guild-rep-decay/#comments Mon, 20 Mar 2023 16:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=431671 Lord of the Rings Online crafters, listen up, all two of you! OK, three of you if I count myself! I kid, I kid, and Standing Stone Games is more than aware that the state of crafting is not strong, which is precisely why it’s addressing the crafting system this year. In a post on […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/20/lord-of-the-rings-online-talks-crafting-vocations-recipes-and-guild-rep-decay/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/20/the-daily-grind-should-mmo-servers-use-linked-or-independent-auction-halls/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/20/the-daily-grind-should-mmo-servers-use-linked-or-independent-auction-halls/#comments Mon, 20 Mar 2023 12:00:59 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=427588 I’m of two minds on this one. I really like server-linked auction halls! I like when there’s just one shared economy for everyone, so you know you’re not getting screwed because you landed on the biggest server (or the smallest server), and you can always see the best price. It’s got to be easier to […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/20/the-daily-grind-should-mmo-servers-use-linked-or-independent-auction-halls/feed/ 26 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/16/massively-overthinking-when-is-localization-itself-the-kiss-of-death-for-an-imported-mmorpg/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/16/massively-overthinking-when-is-localization-itself-the-kiss-of-death-for-an-imported-mmorpg/#comments Fri, 17 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=429968 Last week, when I was poking around the internet trying to understand why Amazon was still making excuses for de-sexualizing some Lost Ark characters for the western audience as if the game hasn’t been undergoing identical localization already for over a year now, I stumbled into the Blue Protocol subreddit, where a vocal segment of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/16/massively-overthinking-when-is-localization-itself-the-kiss-of-death-for-an-imported-mmorpg/feed/ 19 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/06/star-citizen-previews-upcoming-underground-locations-visual-effects/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/06/star-citizen-previews-upcoming-underground-locations-visual-effects/#comments Mon, 06 Mar 2023 16:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=429477 The underground sprawls planned for Star Citizen, which readers will recall was one of the features highlighted at last year’s CitizenCon, is back under CIG’s video spotlight as the latest Inside Star Citizen episode offers a progress report. Overall, underground locations are halfway through whitebox phase, which was demonstrated with a live playthrough of a […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/06/star-citizen-previews-upcoming-underground-locations-visual-effects/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/02/bless-global-is-back-again-this-time-on-mobile-and-steam-as-a-shambling-blockchain-horror/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/02/bless-global-is-back-again-this-time-on-mobile-and-steam-as-a-shambling-blockchain-horror/#comments Thu, 02 Mar 2023 14:00:03 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=429088 I’m sorry to report this morning that Bless is back and at it again. Oh, that sounds cruel if you don’t know the history, so let me recap: Bless Online launched here on PC in 2018, and it was a mess that sunsetted in 2019, which was followed with a console spinoff a few months […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/02/bless-global-is-back-again-this-time-on-mobile-and-steam-as-a-shambling-blockchain-horror/feed/ 12 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/22/lost-ark-protects-its-market-from-gold-farmers-casts-the-witchers-geralt-into-oblivion/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/22/lost-ark-protects-its-market-from-gold-farmers-casts-the-witchers-geralt-into-oblivion/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2023 18:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=427836 After over a month in the game, Lost Ark is bidding farewell to its oddball pairing with The Witcher and sending poor Geralt into the west. This “magical crossover event,” as it was presented, featured a collaboration between the two franchises with a new story, events, and cosmetics. However, the collab is now over, and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/22/lost-ark-protects-its-market-from-gold-farmers-casts-the-witchers-geralt-into-oblivion/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/14/albion-onlines-beyond-the-veil-patch-4-is-live-with-zh-in-language-support-and-combat-balancing/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/14/albion-onlines-beyond-the-veil-patch-4-is-live-with-zh-in-language-support-and-combat-balancing/#respond Wed, 15 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=426738 Yesterday saw a major planned outage for Albion Online as studio Sandbox Interactive pulled the servers offline for patch 4 and preparations for the Asian server beta. The game is back online now, with support for Chinese and Indonesian languages as well as a ton of perks and tweaks, including filtering options, trading UI slots, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/14/albion-onlines-beyond-the-veil-patch-4-is-live-with-zh-in-language-support-and-combat-balancing/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/13/tamriel-infinium-18-activities-to-do-at-max-level-in-elder-scrolls-online/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/13/tamriel-infinium-18-activities-to-do-at-max-level-in-elder-scrolls-online/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=420782 As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and so it’s been with the past six months between me and Elder Scrolls Online. Sometimes you take a break from an MMO not because you hate it, but because you like it enough to give space to rejuvenate that interest. So I’m back and chronically […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/13/tamriel-infinium-18-activities-to-do-at-max-level-in-elder-scrolls-online/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/12/global-chat-where-does-wow-classic-go-from-here/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/12/global-chat-where-does-wow-classic-go-from-here/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=425538 As Wrath Classic gets closer to its preordained expiration date, Priest with a Cause is asking a question that a lot of people are: What’s going to happen next for WoW Classic? Where is Blizzard taking it from here? This post isn’t so sure that it will be Cataclysm after all. “So… I’m honestly not […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/12/global-chat-where-does-wow-classic-go-from-here/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/27/destiny-2s-day-long-outage-this-week-was-the-result-of-a-config-error-in-a-dev-tool/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/27/destiny-2s-day-long-outage-this-week-was-the-result-of-a-config-error-in-a-dev-tool/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2023 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=424172 Destiny 2 suffered a nasty outage earlier this week that took the game down more than 24 hours and even caused a rollback. Now, Bungie’s explained just what the heck happened in its weekly dev write-up. “We discovered that the issue was caused when some currently incompletable EDZ and Nessus Triumphs were moved from Forsaken […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/27/destiny-2s-day-long-outage-this-week-was-the-result-of-a-config-error-in-a-dev-tool/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/26/the-soapbox-comparing-the-monetization-of-physical-and-digital-card-games/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/26/the-soapbox-comparing-the-monetization-of-physical-and-digital-card-games/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=423819 Earlier this week, we reported on the recent Blizzard survey about a possible Hearthstone sub. When I read the news, I almost choked on the sourdough jack I was noshing on as I accidently blurted, “That’s foolish!” loud enough to get the attention of most of my fellow diners. But you know, after a little […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/26/the-soapbox-comparing-the-monetization-of-physical-and-digital-card-games/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/24/pvp-mmo-gloria-victis-will-officially-launch-february-7-after-six-years-of-early-access/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/24/pvp-mmo-gloria-victis-will-officially-launch-february-7-after-six-years-of-early-access/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2023 14:00:32 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=423576 Back in June of last year, Black Eye Games told Gloria Victis fans that the gritty siege warfare MMO was getting close to release with just a few big milestones to go. This morning, the studio confirmed that it’s finally ready to launch its 1.0 version and leaving access in just two weeks on February 7th. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/24/pvp-mmo-gloria-victis-will-officially-launch-february-7-after-six-years-of-early-access/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/12/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-trainwrecks-we-aint-lettin-go/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/12/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-trainwrecks-we-aint-lettin-go/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2023 01:00:19 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414762 As we wrap up our end-of-the-year and turn-of-the-calendar content until next December, there’s one more recurring Massively Overthinking I like to do – and that’s this one that makes sure we don’t leave any dank stones unturned. See, as we’re debating our awards like “biggest blunder” and “stormiest future,” we put together one hell of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/12/massively-overthinking-eoty-2022-trainwrecks-we-aint-lettin-go/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/05/gloria-victis-is-making-its-death-penalty-a-lil-bit-more-punishing/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/05/gloria-victis-is-making-its-death-penalty-a-lil-bit-more-punishing/#respond Thu, 05 Jan 2023 17:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=421226 Gloria Victis isn’t dawdling after the holidays: It’s already pushed out its first big update of the year, the star of which is yet another revision to the game’s death penalty – this time to make it more punishing. “With the recent changes in the loot and non-loot zones, we have found out that without […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/05/gloria-victis-is-making-its-death-penalty-a-lil-bit-more-punishing/feed/ 0 https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/02/square-enixs-yosuke-matsuda-is-still-all-in-on-blockchain-and-nfts-even-after-2022/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/02/square-enixs-yosuke-matsuda-is-still-all-in-on-blockchain-and-nfts-even-after-2022/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2023 20:00:41 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=420955 You might think that after watching the steady erosion and collapse of blockchain and NFTs in general and in the gaming space after 2022, the obvious conclusion would be to quietly accept that this is not welcomed or wanted and it’s probably best to abandon any ill-conceived ventures built upon that framework. But you’re not […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/01/02/square-enixs-yosuke-matsuda-is-still-all-in-on-blockchain-and-nfts-even-after-2022/feed/ 18 https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/19/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-offered-the-best-crafting-in-2022/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/19/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-offered-the-best-crafting-in-2022/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2022 13:00:59 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414563 “Best crafting” has always been a hard pick for me as it’s one of my core content magnets in an MMO, which tends to mean I’m playing older MMOs – one in particular – that still does crafting better than anything that’s come since. And giving an award to an MMO from 2003 is pretty […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/19/the-daily-grind-which-mmo-offered-the-best-crafting-in-2022/feed/ 14 https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/14/end-of-year-eleven-the-biggest-mmo-stories-of-2022/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/14/end-of-year-eleven-the-biggest-mmo-stories-of-2022/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2022 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=418764 I might be biased – by which I mean I am definitely biased – but 2022 was a year of big stories and big surprises. And that’s without getting into the way that my life got wildly upended, became very frightening, and generally fell apart in cataclysmic fashion. But just like Andre 3000 foretold, y’all […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/12/14/end-of-year-eleven-the-biggest-mmo-stories-of-2022/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/28/warhammer-40k-darktide-works-on-server-stability-balance-and-its-crafting-system/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/28/warhammer-40k-darktide-works-on-server-stability-balance-and-its-crafting-system/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2022 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=415996 The world is less than a week away from the co-op multiplayer shooter Warhammer 40K: Darktide making its full release, but before then the game has been in pre-order beta, which reads like a marketing ploy but has actually been making honest-to-goodness beta test-style adjustments, including server performance updates, progression and gameplay tweaks, and the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/28/warhammer-40k-darktide-works-on-server-stability-balance-and-its-crafting-system/feed/ 24 https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/24/massively-overthinking-the-best-cooking-in-mmorpgs/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/24/massively-overthinking-the-best-cooking-in-mmorpgs/#comments Thu, 24 Nov 2022 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414029 You probably thought tonight’s Massively Overthinking would have a gratitude theme, what with the holiday and all. Nope, not this time, although it’s sort of Thanksgivingy. We’re going to talk about food! Video game food, that is. Y’all know that I’m not an amazing cook in real life, but I absolutely love cooking in video […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/24/massively-overthinking-the-best-cooking-in-mmorpgs/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/16/lost-ark-compensates-players-for-pheon-exploit-debacle-patches-in-feast-with-friends/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/16/lost-ark-compensates-players-for-pheon-exploit-debacle-patches-in-feast-with-friends/#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2022 14:30:09 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414675 Lost Ark’s narrative today is a good news/bad news kind of story. Let’s start with the bad news first: As we noted on Monday, Amazon had apparently bungled the handout of bonus pheon currency as part of its skill tree transfer system overhaul; the studio accidentally gave out too much and shut down the servers […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/16/lost-ark-compensates-players-for-pheon-exploit-debacle-patches-in-feast-with-friends/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/13/roblox-q3-2022-revenue-rises-by-a-small-margin-but-net-losses-continue-for-the-foreseeable-future/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/13/roblox-q3-2022-revenue-rises-by-a-small-margin-but-net-losses-continue-for-the-foreseeable-future/#comments Sun, 13 Nov 2022 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=414041 The strange financial tale that is Roblox continues to be told in much the same way it has in prior reports, the third quarter results from 2022 show another rise in revenue but a continual net loss for the company. Revenue for the quarter hit $518M – a 2% increase QoQ – and bookings rose […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/11/13/roblox-q3-2022-revenue-rises-by-a-small-margin-but-net-losses-continue-for-the-foreseeable-future/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/21/the-daily-grind-whats-your-favorite-way-to-interact-with-your-mmos-economy/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/21/the-daily-grind-whats-your-favorite-way-to-interact-with-your-mmos-economy/#comments Fri, 21 Oct 2022 12:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=406015 I know there are some folks playing MMOs who hate MMO economies, who don’t want crafting to even exist, who don’t want any kind of economic interdependency or auction hall or vendor relating to other players. This Daily Grind is not really for them. Instead, this Daily Grind is for the people who do engage […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/21/the-daily-grind-whats-your-favorite-way-to-interact-with-your-mmos-economy/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/17/wisdom-of-nym-final-fantasy-xivs-original-manderville-man/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/17/wisdom-of-nym-final-fantasy-xivs-original-manderville-man/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2022 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=410104 There are some divisive characters in Final Fantasy XIV, but in some ways Hildibrand Helidor Maximilian Manderville stands above all of them – not just because he is probably the divisive character who has lasted the longest, having a major role from the original version of the game up until the present, but because he […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/17/wisdom-of-nym-final-fantasy-xivs-original-manderville-man/feed/ 12 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/13/massively-overthinking-do-gaming-tourists-ruin-mmos/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/13/massively-overthinking-do-gaming-tourists-ruin-mmos/#comments Fri, 14 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=406858 Yes, I know that’s a provocative title. Yes, we’re gonna talk about it with some nuance. It’s a topic inspired by a Reddit thread from several weeks ago in which the original poster railed against “MMO tourists,” who he claims hurt the genre more than they help when they treat MMOs as disposable, zipping between […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/13/massively-overthinking-do-gaming-tourists-ruin-mmos/feed/ 24 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/11/smite-raises-regional-prices-for-turkey-and-ukraine-due-to-economic-forces-and-abuse-from-players/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/11/smite-raises-regional-prices-for-turkey-and-ukraine-due-to-economic-forces-and-abuse-from-players/#comments Tue, 11 Oct 2022 17:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=409247 I’m personally not smart enough to even speculate about what’s happening in the global economy, but apparently Turkish and Ukrainian fans of SMITE are going to be facing a harder bite on their wallets from developer Hi-Rez Studios, as it announced regional price hikes related to Turkish lira and Ukrainian hryvnia “to account for recent […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/11/smite-raises-regional-prices-for-turkey-and-ukraine-due-to-economic-forces-and-abuse-from-players/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/04/ultima-online-dev-reminisces-on-chasing-cheaters-and-combusting-castles/ Tue, 04 Oct 2022 16:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=408158 If you’re a longtime Ultima Online player, you surely know the name Tim “Draconi” Cotten, even if only from seeing his name on holiday reward objects in the game. That’s because he worked for Mythc under EA’s banner back in the late aughts, running the live events team and taking point on the Stygian Abyss […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/03/wisdom-of-nym-the-problem-with-final-fantasy-xivs-consumables-and-buffs/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/03/wisdom-of-nym-the-problem-with-final-fantasy-xivs-consumables-and-buffs/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=407886 All right, gang, who wants a sandwich? Especially if that sandwich involves… a boost to your Determination and Critical Hit rating for the next half hour? Congratulations, and welcome to the wonderful world of Final Fantasy XIV’s consumable items including both food and potions. It seems like a very straightforward field when you look at […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/03/wisdom-of-nym-the-problem-with-final-fantasy-xivs-consumables-and-buffs/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2022/10/02/the-mop-up-shooter-looter-rift-loopers-rolls-out-in-early-access/ Sun, 02 Oct 2022 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=407205 Experience the multiverse — and then blow up a small part of it — in Rift Loopers, a new twin-stick survival shooter that just released in early access on Steam. The $5 game challenges you to “fight your way through worlds lost to the insectoids on your mission to collect the resource needed for dimensional […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/30/runescape-swings-a-banhammer-at-accounts-caught-exploiting-its-fresh-start-worlds/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/30/runescape-swings-a-banhammer-at-accounts-caught-exploiting-its-fresh-start-worlds/#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2022 16:30:08 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=407680 RuneScape’s Fresh Start Worlds are not looking so crispy and fresh out of the gate. First, Jagex had to rollback the servers due to a problem, and now it’s having to swing the banhammer at players who took advantage of an exploit in these worlds. Specifics on how many were hit in the ban wave […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/30/runescape-swings-a-banhammer-at-accounts-caught-exploiting-its-fresh-start-worlds/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/26/new-world-scrambles-to-close-a-very-serious-trading-exploit-rises-into-steams-top-20-list/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/26/new-world-scrambles-to-close-a-very-serious-trading-exploit-rises-into-steams-top-20-list/#comments Mon, 26 Sep 2022 13:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=406938 A rather serious trading exploit rocked the New World economy late last week, with Amazon Game Studios taking swift steps to hotfix it and deal with the perpetuators. Amazon reported the exploit on September 22nd, disabling player trading and banning those participating in what appears to have been rampant duping. Responding to concerns that the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/26/new-world-scrambles-to-close-a-very-serious-trading-exploit-rises-into-steams-top-20-list/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/23/multiplayer-4x-rts-dune-spice-wars-introduces-the-house-corrino-faction-in-latest-update/ Fri, 23 Sep 2022 22:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=406580 Dune: Spice Wars, the early access 4X RTS that recently introduced multiplayer to the mix, has now added something else new to its melange: the playable House Corrino faction, which is the centerpiece of the game’s latest update. “As House Corrino, wield influence over the other factions by manipulating the CHOAM market and the Landsraad. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/20/roblox-announces-plans-immersive-ads-and-a-marketplace-with-scarcity/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/20/roblox-announces-plans-immersive-ads-and-a-marketplace-with-scarcity/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2022 18:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=405902 The beginning of September saw Roblox hold its own developers conference, which outlined several planned features and updates to the way players can play “experiences” in the game and how creators can make said “experiences” with new tools… and a couple of features that are probably not going to delight many people. Some of the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/20/roblox-announces-plans-immersive-ads-and-a-marketplace-with-scarcity/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/19/fractured-onlines-latest-patches-stabilize-the-game-squash-bugs-and-close-up-a-duping-exploit/ Mon, 19 Sep 2022 20:00:14 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=406060 Now that Fractured Online has hit the seas of early access, it’s time for the inevitable bug patching and stability improving updates that invariably arrive shortly after an MMORPG goes live. Two such patches went out this past Sunday and today, both of which attack various early problems with the sandbox. Sunday’s patch was about […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/15/kickstarted-mmo-sandbox-fractured-online-swings-into-early-access-today/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/15/kickstarted-mmo-sandbox-fractured-online-swings-into-early-access-today/#comments Thu, 15 Sep 2022 14:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=405502 As promised, Fractured Online is officially moving from beta to early access as of this morning. MMO readers will remember that Fractured Online – then going by just Fractured – was originally Kickstarted back in 2018 for over $130,000 as an indie economy-and-PvP-focused sandbox MMORPG from Italian company Dynamight Studios. At the tail end of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/15/kickstarted-mmo-sandbox-fractured-online-swings-into-early-access-today/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/12/wisdom-of-nym-making-money-in-final-fantasy-xiv-isnt-what-you-think/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/12/wisdom-of-nym-making-money-in-final-fantasy-xiv-isnt-what-you-think/#comments Mon, 12 Sep 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=404914 So let me start with a statement: Gil is pretty much irrelevant to me in Final Fantasy XIV because I already have enough. We are going to be talking about making money today, and as these things go, I have to lay down my bona fides, if for no other reason than to make it […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/12/wisdom-of-nym-making-money-in-final-fantasy-xiv-isnt-what-you-think/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/03/the-game-archaeologist-how-ultima-online-got-made/ https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/03/the-game-archaeologist-how-ultima-online-got-made/#comments Sat, 03 Sep 2022 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=403650 You know how there’s that yokel in every global chat channel that likes to troll players by claiming that World of Warcraft was the first MMO? If you’re me and you sense even a whiff of sincerity behind that statement, you kind of want to smack them with a thick history book. Yet as we’ve […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2022/09/03/the-game-archaeologist-how-ultima-online-got-made/feed/ 16