https://massivelyop.com MMORPG news and opinions Wed, 26 Apr 2023 13:25:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/26/amazon-is-shutting-down-new-worlds-forums-next-week-in-favor-of-discord/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/26/amazon-is-shutting-down-new-worlds-forums-next-week-in-favor-of-discord/#comments Wed, 26 Apr 2023 13:00:56 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=437243 Yesterday, I said in MOP’s work chat that the New World team deserved kudos for being one of the few major MMO studios pumping out weekly videos with the top devs. Well, I’m about to crush that goodwill for the core MMO audience, as last night Amazon announced that it’s shuttering the game’s forums in […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/26/amazon-is-shutting-down-new-worlds-forums-next-week-in-favor-of-discord/feed/ 45 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/that-netease-lawsuit-against-blizzard-turns-out-to-have-been-a-clerical-error/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/that-netease-lawsuit-against-blizzard-turns-out-to-have-been-a-clerical-error/#comments Tue, 25 Apr 2023 13:00:48 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=437062 Yesterday, we – and just about everyone else in the industry – picked up a Wowhead story about a lawsuit being lodged by NetEase against Blizzard in a Shanghai court to the tune of $43M, sourced through a legitimate Chinese financial website. But the story is far weirder than that, as it turns out, as […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/25/that-netease-lawsuit-against-blizzard-turns-out-to-have-been-a-clerical-error/feed/ 9 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/square-enix-claps-hands-with-a-blockchain-game-platform-that-hides-web3-technology-under-the-hood/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/square-enix-claps-hands-with-a-blockchain-game-platform-that-hides-web3-technology-under-the-hood/#comments Fri, 21 Apr 2023 15:30:50 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=436618 At this point, game publishers and developers are likely wise to the fact that the vast majority of gamers don’t want, like, or need speculative blockchain and NFT nonsense worming its way into their games. It’s likely because of this that Square-Enix has decided to enter a partnership with Elixir Games, a company that actively […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/21/square-enix-claps-hands-with-a-blockchain-game-platform-that-hides-web3-technology-under-the-hood/feed/ 30 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/nexon-formally-files-a-copyright-infringement-lawsuit-against-dark-and-darker-studio-ironmace/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/nexon-formally-files-a-copyright-infringement-lawsuit-against-dark-and-darker-studio-ironmace/#comments Mon, 17 Apr 2023 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435864 Considering the very public back-and-forth between Nexon and Dark and Darker developer Ironmace, this development seems like a foregone conclusion, but it is now official: Nexon is taking Ironmace to court for copyright infringement. Nexon’s legal complaint makes similar accusations that it did when the dungeon crawler was first hit with a Steam copyright strike […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/17/nexon-formally-files-a-copyright-infringement-lawsuit-against-dark-and-darker-studio-ironmace/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/players-cry-foul-over-call-of-duty-warzone-cash-shop-skins-that-offer-unfair-advantages/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/players-cry-foul-over-call-of-duty-warzone-cash-shop-skins-that-offer-unfair-advantages/#comments Fri, 14 Apr 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435600 More often than not, the term “pay-to-win” is used as a weapon against almost anything, but in the case of some discovered premium skins coming to the DMZ mode of Call of Duty: Warzone, that may actually be the case, as these cash shop outfits confer some sizeable advantages. Some of the furor first erupted […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/players-cry-foul-over-call-of-duty-warzone-cash-shop-skins-that-offer-unfair-advantages/feed/ 17 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/steams-automodding-of-counter-strike-skin-selling-bots-is-catching-legitimate-players-in-its-dragnet/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/steams-automodding-of-counter-strike-skin-selling-bots-is-catching-legitimate-players-in-its-dragnet/#comments Fri, 14 Apr 2023 18:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435610 Welcome back to another episode of We Don’t Need to Fear the Singularity Because the People Writing AI Are Too Stupid for That to Happen. Today, we focus in on Steam, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skin selling, and the automod algorithm that’s dishing out hefty bans to legitimate players in its zeal to stop bots. The […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/14/steams-automodding-of-counter-strike-skin-selling-bots-is-catching-legitimate-players-in-its-dragnet/feed/ 1 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/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/genshin-impacts-latest-update-replaces-tighnaris-english-voice-actor-after-sexual-allegation-scandal/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/12/genshin-impacts-latest-update-replaces-tighnaris-english-voice-actor-after-sexual-allegation-scandal/#comments Wed, 12 Apr 2023 21:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=435210 The latest patch available for Genshin Impact features a lot of things in its notes, but fans might also see an important piece of detail in the audio section, which outlines updated English voice lines for the character Tighnari. That new voice is being provided by Zachary Gordon, who takes up the role after original […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/12/genshin-impacts-latest-update-replaces-tighnaris-english-voice-actor-after-sexual-allegation-scandal/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/10/swords-of-legends-online-continues-to-focus-its-updates-on-cash-shop-items-instead-of-content/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/10/swords-of-legends-online-continues-to-focus-its-updates-on-cash-shop-items-instead-of-content/#comments Mon, 10 Apr 2023 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434718 At the top of this year we wondered whatever happened to Swords of Legends Online and found that the answer was a continually updating cash shop… and not much else. We’re circling back to this one again in the vain hope that playable content updates were being made, but it looks like that is not […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/10/swords-of-legends-online-continues-to-focus-its-updates-on-cash-shop-items-instead-of-content/feed/ 11 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/2023/04/06/dark-and-darker-studio-claims-nexon-is-trying-to-bleed-it-dry-in-court-fees/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/06/dark-and-darker-studio-claims-nexon-is-trying-to-bleed-it-dry-in-court-fees/#comments Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:00:33 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434423 Readers who were following the brewing legal drama between Korean publisher Nexon and Dark and Darker developer Ironmace might have suspected it would be a mess – but maybe not quite the morass that fomented in the game’s official Discord when devs made claims against Nexon, tried to drum up fiscal support, and then abruptly […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/06/dark-and-darker-studio-claims-nexon-is-trying-to-bleed-it-dry-in-court-fees/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/06/ncsoft-is-taking-kakaos-archeage-war-to-court-over-alleged-plagiarism/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/06/ncsoft-is-taking-kakaos-archeage-war-to-court-over-alleged-plagiarism/#comments Thu, 06 Apr 2023 13:30:02 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434427 ArcheAge War isn’t just a delayed blockchain mess: It’s also the subject of a new lawsuit. According to The Korea Times, NCsoft has filed a complaint in the Korean courts against XL Games and Kakao over what it alleges is copyright infringement and unfair competition. “NCsoft confirmed that ArcheAge War, released by Kakao Games and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/06/ncsoft-is-taking-kakaos-archeage-war-to-court-over-alleged-plagiarism/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/05/monster-energy-drink-is-hassling-indie-game-dark-deception-monsters-mortals-over-its-name-and-logo/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/05/monster-energy-drink-is-hassling-indie-game-dark-deception-monsters-mortals-over-its-name-and-logo/#comments Wed, 05 Apr 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434321 Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals hasn’t ever crossed our desk before, not being anything resembling an MMORPG, but it’s multiplayer with PvP and co-op play, so it’s close enough to highlight, albeit for less-than-pleasant reasons. Apparently, last week indie games studio Glowstick Entertainment was threatened with legal action over the name and logo of the […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/05/monster-energy-drink-is-hassling-indie-game-dark-deception-monsters-mortals-over-its-name-and-logo/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/05/massively-on-the-go-its-pokemon-no-time-again-for-pokemon-go-players/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/05/massively-on-the-go-its-pokemon-no-time-again-for-pokemon-go-players/#comments Wed, 05 Apr 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=434185 Niantic is the master of drip information, and most of it is both poor and incomplete, which is why we relegate most Pokemon GO news to monthly event roundups here in Massively on the Go. Those who have been following our April guide or social media won’t be terribly surprised by this, but Niantic once again […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/05/massively-on-the-go-its-pokemon-no-time-again-for-pokemon-go-players/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/04/a-year-after-ftc-complaint-roblox-will-now-hide-ads-for-players-13-and-under/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/04/a-year-after-ftc-complaint-roblox-will-now-hide-ads-for-players-13-and-under/#comments Tue, 04 Apr 2023 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433755 Last year, the watchdog group Truth in Advertising (TINA) filed a complaint with the FTC over Roblox’s “deceptive advertising” reach towards younger players, claiming that “brands [the game] has invited into its metaverse, […] along with undisclosed avatar brand influencers and AI-controlled brand bots, are running roughshod on the platform, manipulating and exploiting consumers” and […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/04/a-year-after-ftc-complaint-roblox-will-now-hide-ads-for-players-13-and-under/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/03/galaxies-of-eden-insists-that-its-shuttering-the-social-mmo-completely-to-develop-a-dubious-ai-generated-playground/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/03/galaxies-of-eden-insists-that-its-shuttering-the-social-mmo-completely-to-develop-a-dubious-ai-generated-playground/#comments Mon, 03 Apr 2023 20:00:57 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433955 So remember how Galaxies of Eden had delayed its pre-alpha testing because of technical roadblocks and bugs? Well, we’ve finally heard from the studio behind the game again, and it’s… perhaps not what anyone was expecting. Instead, it’s the studio announcing that it is completely abandoning the social MMO that it was developing and will […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/03/galaxies-of-eden-insists-that-its-shuttering-the-social-mmo-completely-to-develop-a-dubious-ai-generated-playground/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/03/ark-2-is-delayed-into-2024-original-ark-will-get-a-an-august-ue5-remaster-youll-have-to-re-buy/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/03/ark-2-is-delayed-into-2024-original-ark-will-get-a-an-august-ue5-remaster-youll-have-to-re-buy/#comments Mon, 03 Apr 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433702 The weekly newsletter out of ARK: Survival Evolved is arguably a tale of bad news, then interesting news, then worse news. On the bad news side, the sequel has been pushed back, but the good news is that the original game is getting a UE5 re-release, but that launch ultimately means a maintenance mode of […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/04/03/ark-2-is-delayed-into-2024-original-ark-will-get-a-an-august-ue5-remaster-youll-have-to-re-buy/feed/ 14 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/31/eden-eternal-starts-pre-registration-and-offers-players-nfts-for-participation/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/31/eden-eternal-starts-pre-registration-and-offers-players-nfts-for-participation/#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2023 19:00:54 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433548 If you were looking forward to the relaunch of Eden Eternal under X-LEGEND, we have some bad news for you. It’s not exactly the bad news you might normally expect. The game has started its pre-registration phase for players to sign up for the upcoming game’s launch, and that’s fine… up until the part where […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/31/eden-eternal-starts-pre-registration-and-offers-players-nfts-for-participation/feed/ 18 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/30/ubisoft-paris-is-accused-of-developer-crunch-and-poor-project-management-by-french-game-workers-union/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/30/ubisoft-paris-is-accused-of-developer-crunch-and-poor-project-management-by-french-game-workers-union/#comments Thu, 30 Mar 2023 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433032 Solidaires Informatique, the French game workers union that has been working with employees at Ubisoft Paris since the developer’s widespread sexual harassment claims came to light in 2020, is once more calling out Ubisoft Paris with fresh allegations of mismanagement and employee crunch as the studio worked on last November’s Just Dance 2023. These revelations […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/30/ubisoft-paris-is-accused-of-developer-crunch-and-poor-project-management-by-french-game-workers-union/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/30/wizard101-players-are-already-ruining-the-fun-of-its-recent-rate-my-stitch-feature/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/30/wizard101-players-are-already-ruining-the-fun-of-its-recent-rate-my-stitch-feature/#comments Thu, 30 Mar 2023 16:30:05 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433295 Sharing glamorous looks is arguably a large part of the fun in MMOs, so when KingsIsle decided to encourage that in Wizard101 with the in-game Rate My Stitch feature, we were pretty jazzed. Unfortunately, the problem with most MMO systems is other people, and players were reportedly manipulating ratings to climb the fashion leaderboard by […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/30/wizard101-players-are-already-ruining-the-fun-of-its-recent-rate-my-stitch-feature/feed/ 3 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/29/disney-axes-its-fledgling-metaverse-division-as-part-of-a-7000-employee-layoff-round/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/29/disney-axes-its-fledgling-metaverse-division-as-part-of-a-7000-employee-layoff-round/#comments Wed, 29 Mar 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=433003 How long does it take for the House of Mouse to decide the metaverse isn’t worth it? Roughly a year, apparently, as Disney has handed 7,000 employees a pink slip, including the 50 employees who were hired for its metaverse division. The so-called “Next Generation Storytelling and Consumer Experiences team” was formed last November with […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/29/disney-axes-its-fledgling-metaverse-division-as-part-of-a-7000-employee-layoff-round/feed/ 26 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/27/warner-bros-pulls-multiversus-beta-offline-in-june-plans-full-launch-next-year/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/27/warner-bros-pulls-multiversus-beta-offline-in-june-plans-full-launch-next-year/#comments Mon, 27 Mar 2023 21:30:32 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=432754 When Player First Games launched MultiVersus into open beta last summer, it was an instant hit with our writers and readers and everyone else too. But then the game began its first official season of play with 20 million players, which was followed by its second season. Neither the studio nor Warner Bros. ever formally […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/27/warner-bros-pulls-multiversus-beta-offline-in-june-plans-full-launch-next-year/feed/ 16 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/24/nexon-dives-further-into-nft-and-blockchain-games-with-maplestory-n-and-a-maplestory-universe-ecosystem/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/24/nexon-dives-further-into-nft-and-blockchain-games-with-maplestory-n-and-a-maplestory-universe-ecosystem/#comments Fri, 24 Mar 2023 17:30:17 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=432370 Readers might remember that Nexon’s push into crypto has gone as one might expect, with $40M disappearing into the void in 2021 and continued losses reported in last year’s fourth quarter financial report. Even so, the company is still driving forward into the scheme with the reckless abandon of a rabid moose as it confirmed […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/24/nexon-dives-further-into-nft-and-blockchain-games-with-maplestory-n-and-a-maplestory-universe-ecosystem/feed/ 15 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/23/ftc-finalizes-fine-for-fortnites-dark-patterns-as-epic-talks-up-nft-games-on-egs/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/23/ftc-finalizes-fine-for-fortnites-dark-patterns-as-epic-talks-up-nft-games-on-egs/#comments Thu, 23 Mar 2023 16:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=431551 Usually when people says things are going “pretty well,” your first sympathetic instinct is to ask about what might be troubling them; those words aren’t often used as an indication of sunny days and strong business dealings. But those words were used by Epic Games’ store GM Steve Allison when asked about the company’s decision […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/23/ftc-finalizes-fine-for-fortnites-dark-patterns-as-epic-talks-up-nft-games-on-egs/feed/ 8 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/22/ea-is-sunsetting-another-trio-of-online-games-from-the-battlefield-ip/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/22/ea-is-sunsetting-another-trio-of-online-games-from-the-battlefield-ip/#comments Wed, 22 Mar 2023 23:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=431988 Prepare to say farewell to a whole ‘nother slew of online games and a whole ‘nother reason to support widespread game preservation. Though technically these aren’t MMORPGs, they’ll suffer the same fate, as EA announced yesterday that it’s sunsetting Battlefield 1943, Battlefield: Bad Company 1, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in December, removing them from […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/22/ea-is-sunsetting-another-trio-of-online-games-from-the-battlefield-ip/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/21/ccp-games-officially-unveils-plans-for-a-new-blockchain-game-set-within-the-eve-online-universe/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/21/ccp-games-officially-unveils-plans-for-a-new-blockchain-game-set-within-the-eve-online-universe/#comments Tue, 21 Mar 2023 14:50:01 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=431865 For many players, it was probably a matter of when EVE Online developer CCP Games would dip into the blockchain gaming space, not whether, especially since publisher Pearl Abyss cited a blockchain project in a Q3 earnings call and CCP Games itself has been dipping its toe into those waters several times over. While CCP’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/21/ccp-games-officially-unveils-plans-for-a-new-blockchain-game-set-within-the-eve-online-universe/feed/ 103 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/20/square-enix-is-still-all-in-on-its-nft-game-symbiogenesis/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/20/square-enix-is-still-all-in-on-its-nft-game-symbiogenesis/#comments Mon, 20 Mar 2023 18:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=431558 Square-Enix has made no bones about its excitement to throw good money after bad on the pyre of NFT and crypto gaming, with its highlighted foray being Symbiogenesis, which readers will recall was announced last November. That game has now officially launched its website, and the whole thing reads just as tone-deaf as the company’s […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/20/square-enix-is-still-all-in-on-its-nft-game-symbiogenesis/feed/ 67 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/16/a-counter-strike-player-shelled-out-six-figures-for-an-ak-47-skin-because-it-had-flowers-and-stickers-on-it/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/16/a-counter-strike-player-shelled-out-six-figures-for-an-ak-47-skin-because-it-had-flowers-and-stickers-on-it/#comments Thu, 16 Mar 2023 16:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=431125 The worth of digital items can very often be attributed to personal preference no matter how much crypto-hawking gremlins would like you to believe otherwise. However, the skin trade of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is most assuredly the exception that proves the rule, and that has been made abundantly clear as someone pointed out a huge […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/16/a-counter-strike-player-shelled-out-six-figures-for-an-ak-47-skin-because-it-had-flowers-and-stickers-on-it/feed/ 12 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/14/ukraine-based-stalker-2-dev-studio-has-been-hacked-and-blackmailed-by-a-pro-russian-group/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/14/ukraine-based-stalker-2-dev-studio-has-been-hacked-and-blackmailed-by-a-pro-russian-group/#comments Tue, 14 Mar 2023 19:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=430810 We haven’t been tracking the development trajectory of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl very closely, particularly since it’s projecting a December 2023 launch with the addition of multiplayer sometime after that as a free update. Even so, it has arrived to the headlines for a pretty unfortunate reason, as Ukraine-based development studio GSC Game World […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/14/ukraine-based-stalker-2-dev-studio-has-been-hacked-and-blackmailed-by-a-pro-russian-group/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/13/after-14-years-enjin-drops-guild-site-building-tools-in-favor-of-blockchain-and-nft-tech/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/13/after-14-years-enjin-drops-guild-site-building-tools-in-favor-of-blockchain-and-nft-tech/#comments Mon, 13 Mar 2023 16:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=430475 It has been a very long time since the name of Enjin crossed our minds. Long-time MMORPG gamers will recognize it as a service that helped guilds form their own websites and forums. The march of time has apparently seen Enjin’s original intent leave it far behind, which has prompted VP of engineering Brad Bayliss […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/13/after-14-years-enjin-drops-guild-site-building-tools-in-favor-of-blockchain-and-nft-tech/feed/ 17 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/12/smite-studio-promises-to-hunt-and-ban-accounts-tied-to-a-harassment-campaign-that-targeted-women/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/12/smite-studio-promises-to-hunt-and-ban-accounts-tied-to-a-harassment-campaign-that-targeted-women/#comments Sun, 12 Mar 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=430376 Titan Forge Games, aka the Hi-Rez Studios team behind SMITE, are making it very plain that targeted harassment will not be tolerated. The studio put out a statement yesterday concerning reports of a Reddit and Twitter campaign that began earlier this week meant to target female members of the MOBA’s community, while pointing out its […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/12/smite-studio-promises-to-hunt-and-ban-accounts-tied-to-a-harassment-campaign-that-targeted-women/feed/ 13 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/12/star-citizens-alpha-3-18-craters-its-initial-launch-causing-players-to-riot-across-the-internet/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/12/star-citizens-alpha-3-18-craters-its-initial-launch-causing-players-to-riot-across-the-internet/#comments Sun, 12 Mar 2023 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=430481 Alpha 3.18 was meant to be Star Citizen’s “biggest update yet,” but what appears to have happened is a spectacularly buggy launch instead, causing players to rage all over the game’s official channels. At the time of this writing, the forums are on fire as players report login errors, lobby errors, and an apparently bug-filled […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/12/star-citizens-alpha-3-18-craters-its-initial-launch-causing-players-to-riot-across-the-internet/feed/ 40 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/11/roblox-confirms-it-had-that-150m-in-silicon-valley-bank-now-shut-down-by-regulators/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/11/roblox-confirms-it-had-that-150m-in-silicon-valley-bank-now-shut-down-by-regulators/#comments Sat, 11 Mar 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=430406 We would love to be in the kind of position where seeing millions of dollars disappear registers an “everything is fine” response. That looks to be the situation that Roblox finds itself in, as the company that owns the multiplayer games platform confirmed that $150M of its funds were stored in a bank that was […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/11/roblox-confirms-it-had-that-150m-in-silicon-valley-bank-now-shut-down-by-regulators/feed/ 14 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/08/uncharted-waters-origin-debuts-on-pc-and-mobile-devices-runs-afoul-of-gamers-thanks-to-gacha-monetization/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/08/uncharted-waters-origin-debuts-on-pc-and-mobile-devices-runs-afoul-of-gamers-thanks-to-gacha-monetization/#comments Wed, 08 Mar 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=429872 Today marks the day when the latest entry in the Uncharted Waters franchise releases its next global title. Uncharted Waters Origin has officially arrived to PC and mobile devices around the world today, promising a seafaring sandbox set in the 16th century and all of the quasi-historical adventuring that setting hopes to evoke. Just in […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/08/uncharted-waters-origin-debuts-on-pc-and-mobile-devices-runs-afoul-of-gamers-thanks-to-gacha-monetization/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/04/bless-global-is-already-delisted-on-steam-after-trying-to-push-crypto-racket/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/04/bless-global-is-already-delisted-on-steam-after-trying-to-push-crypto-racket/#comments Sat, 04 Mar 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=429450 Did we expect anything different? Not really. Just days after Bless Global relaunched the franchise for the umpteenth time on Steam, the MMO was delisted from Valve’s platform. Maybe this is because of a wild conspiracy involving aliens, the Illuminati, and the mole people. Maybe it’s a clerk’s unfortunate error. Or maybe — just stick […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/04/bless-global-is-already-delisted-on-steam-after-trying-to-push-crypto-racket/feed/ 6 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/03/square-enixs-babylons-fall-went-out-with-the-wimpiest-of-whimpers/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/03/square-enixs-babylons-fall-went-out-with-the-wimpiest-of-whimpers/#comments Fri, 03 Mar 2023 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=429249 How do you imagine your favorite online service game going dark? Hopefully it’s with bittersweet parties among the faithful community and massive end-of-game events that serve to put an exclamation mark on the history of the game. Or, alternatively, you could be Square-Enix and do this to Babylon’s Fall: It may be the saddest, most […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/03/square-enixs-babylons-fall-went-out-with-the-wimpiest-of-whimpers/feed/ 7 https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/02/cwa-files-charges-against-activision-blizzard-over-latest-unionbusting-efforts/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/02/cwa-files-charges-against-activision-blizzard-over-latest-unionbusting-efforts/#comments Thu, 02 Mar 2023 15:00:08 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=429095 Activision-Blizzard’s unionbusting reputation precedes it, I’m afraid, as the company has been playing a very public whackamole game with its burgeoning workers’ movements over the last few years, so you might find it hard to grant it the benefit of the doubt in this story. Yesterday, Communications Workers of America (CWA) accused Activision-Blizzard of breaking […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/03/02/cwa-files-charges-against-activision-blizzard-over-latest-unionbusting-efforts/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/23/ubisoft-swings-the-banhammer-at-nearly-19000-accounts-for-using-an-unspecified-fraudulent-exploit/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/23/ubisoft-swings-the-banhammer-at-nearly-19000-accounts-for-using-an-unspecified-fraudulent-exploit/#comments Thu, 23 Feb 2023 17:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=428009 We can all generally agree that using an exploit in an online multiplayer game is just asking for trouble at best and is the behavior of a jerkwad at worst, so we’re pretty happy to see that Ubisoft elected to ban nearly 19,000 accounts from its games earlier in the week. That said, there’s no […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/23/ubisoft-swings-the-banhammer-at-nearly-19000-accounts-for-using-an-unspecified-fraudulent-exploit/feed/ 2 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/22/singapore-detains-teen-for-playing-on-roblox-terrorist-worlds/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/22/singapore-detains-teen-for-playing-on-roblox-terrorist-worlds/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2023 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=427842 You know how they say that “all publicity is good publicity?” Maybe that’s not quite true in the case of Roblox and… well, everything that’s been going on in this popular yet troubled online game platform in the past few years. With massive net losses from 2022, accusations of sketchy monetization, and even a lawsuit […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/22/singapore-detains-teen-for-playing-on-roblox-terrorist-worlds/feed/ 5 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/22/massively-on-the-go-pokemon-gos-vegas-hoenn-tour-was-absol-utely-bad/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/22/massively-on-the-go-pokemon-gos-vegas-hoenn-tour-was-absol-utely-bad/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2023 18:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=427739 Prior to Pokemon GO’s recent in-person Las Vegas Hoenn Tour, a few people in my community joked about what could go wrong. Obviously lag and login issues were on the list, as were borked rewards, broken features, the need for a make-up, and compensation. Turns out, my friends were right: All of that happened and more. […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/22/massively-on-the-go-pokemon-gos-vegas-hoenn-tour-was-absol-utely-bad/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/20/subreddit-founder-who-started-the-2021-gamestonk-craze-sues-reddit-over-his-ouster/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/20/subreddit-founder-who-started-the-2021-gamestonk-craze-sues-reddit-over-his-ouster/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2023 17:30:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=427422 One of the many, many weird stories to come out of 2021 was the one about Gamestonk, a memelord-led stock market charge that ballooned the stock valuation of GameStop despite the company losing money, which in turn ended up squeezing hedge funds, arousing the ire of the House financial services committee and investors, and ultimately […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/20/subreddit-founder-who-started-the-2021-gamestonk-craze-sues-reddit-over-his-ouster/feed/ 12 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/17/final-fantasy-xivs-far-northern-attire-is-accused-of-appropriating-sami-cultural-property-by-the-saami-council/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/17/final-fantasy-xivs-far-northern-attire-is-accused-of-appropriating-sami-cultural-property-by-the-saami-council/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2023 21:00:02 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=427275 Back in December, you may recall that Final Fantasy XIV added a new cosmetic outfit, the Far Northern Attire. The outfit in question lacks any kind of cultural attribution to real-world inspirations, which in and of itself is unsurprising and normal for FFXIV outfits from the cash shop or in-game additions. But the Saami Council, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/17/final-fantasy-xivs-far-northern-attire-is-accused-of-appropriating-sami-cultural-property-by-the-saami-council/feed/ 54 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/17/blizzards-mike-ybarra-stuns-devs-with-demoralizing-bonus-slashing-and-return-to-work-meeting/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/17/blizzards-mike-ybarra-stuns-devs-with-demoralizing-bonus-slashing-and-return-to-work-meeting/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2023 15:30:20 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=427205 Earlier this week, we noted that Activision-Blizzard was preparing to end more of its COVID-induced work-from-home policies and that some of its studios that had previously opted out were now planning to follow suit. Apparently, that includes Blizzard. GameDeveloper.com has a lengthy recap of a surprise meeting at Blizzard run by president Mike Ybarra yesterday, […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/17/blizzards-mike-ybarra-stuns-devs-with-demoralizing-bonus-slashing-and-return-to-work-meeting/feed/ 84 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/16/genshin-impact-voice-actor-is-fired-after-allegations-of-grooming-harassment-and-abuse-arise/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/16/genshin-impact-voice-actor-is-fired-after-allegations-of-grooming-harassment-and-abuse-arise/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2023 20:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=427009 One of the English voice actors for Genshin Impact has lost his job as a result of some serious allegations leveraged against him. Elliot Gindi, who voiced the character Tighnari, has been fired by Hoyoverse and his existing voice lines will be retroactively replaced. Gindi stands accused of abuse, sexual harassment, and attempts at sexual […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/16/genshin-impact-voice-actor-is-fired-after-allegations-of-grooming-harassment-and-abuse-arise/feed/ 10 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/13/survival-mmo-the-day-before-struggles-to-secure-trademark-as-youtube-bans-its-videos/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/13/survival-mmo-the-day-before-struggles-to-secure-trademark-as-youtube-bans-its-videos/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2023 15:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=426544 Boy, we hope that you’re not holding your breath for The Day Before because what was once Steam’s most-anticipated title is a hot mess of development delays, copyright bans, and somewhat empty promises. The post-apocalyptic survival MMO was recently delayed all the way into November; Studio Fntastic first claimed a trademark dispute had taken it off […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/13/survival-mmo-the-day-before-struggles-to-secure-trademark-as-youtube-bans-its-videos/feed/ 11 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/12/massively-on-the-go-pokemon-gos-hoenn-tour-is-another-reminder-that-niantic-cares-more-about-data-collection-than-public-safety/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/12/massively-on-the-go-pokemon-gos-hoenn-tour-is-another-reminder-that-niantic-cares-more-about-data-collection-than-public-safety/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=426348 I was hoping to be more positive as Pokemon GO’s Las Vegas Hoenn Tour is fast approaching, but ever consistent in disappointment, Niantic has given the playerbase another reminder as to why so many people stopped giving it money in 2022. In a new support tweet, the company claims that players who submit “low quality […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/12/massively-on-the-go-pokemon-gos-hoenn-tour-is-another-reminder-that-niantic-cares-more-about-data-collection-than-public-safety/feed/ 1 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/08/mobile-mmorpg-world-of-zenonia-resurfaces-with-a-new-name-and-planned-connection-to-the-blockchain/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/08/mobile-mmorpg-world-of-zenonia-resurfaces-with-a-new-name-and-planned-connection-to-the-blockchain/#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=425848 Back in March 2020 we reported on World of Zenonia, an upcoming mobile MMORPG based on the long-running series of action RPGs that primarily released on mobile devices but also landed a couple of times on the PSP and the Nintendo DS’s DSiWare. At the time of reporting, this new mobile MMORPG had no assets […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/08/mobile-mmorpg-world-of-zenonia-resurfaces-with-a-new-name-and-planned-connection-to-the-blockchain/feed/ 4 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/07/final-fantasy-xiv-guild-wars-2-communities-erupt-over-gshade-malware-mod-drama/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/07/final-fantasy-xiv-guild-wars-2-communities-erupt-over-gshade-malware-mod-drama/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2023 14:00:31 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=425789 We’re back in the thick of the games modding controversy this week, this time over what was meant to be a benign mod – GShade – and a potentially malicious update to it that ran amok on gamers’ computers. If you mod at all, you’ve probably heard of GShade; it’s essentially a graphics injector tool […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/07/final-fantasy-xiv-guild-wars-2-communities-erupt-over-gshade-malware-mod-drama/feed/ 54 https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/04/workers-call-out-activision-blizzard-management-as-it-reaches-35m-settlement-with-sec/ https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/04/workers-call-out-activision-blizzard-management-as-it-reaches-35m-settlement-with-sec/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://massivelyop.com/?p=425404 A Better ABK, the proto-union workers group that supports the developers at Activision-Blizzard, has once more thrown a spotlight on management malfeasance, sharing its attempts to adjust performance review processes and listing demanded adjustments. According to the Twitter thread, QA employees across the company sent an open letter to QA leadership at the company’s Eden […]]]> https://massivelyop.com/2023/02/04/workers-call-out-activision-blizzard-management-as-it-reaches-35m-settlement-with-sec/feed/ 12