Whether you’re all-in for WoW Classic’s launch this week or convinced it’s just gonna die standing in a fire, we’re pretty sure you’re not prepared for the reality. We did a dozen WoW pieces this week and still had people begging for more, and that crushing roar is only getting louder as we head for the release tomorrowday.
Meanwhile, we got the scoop on ArcheAge’s new clean server, the EverQuest franchise’s next big thing, Astellia’s launch date, and the bizarre trailer from the newly-launched-on-PS4 Black Desert.
Read on to catch up with the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions today as every Sunday in Massively Overpowered’s Week in Review!ALL WOW CLASSIC ALL THE TIME
WoW Classic has an LFG addon for forming groups (but Blizzard’s going to block it) - If you're excited to take a trip back to the days of talent trees and expensive mounts but not to the days of shouting in vain looking for a group…
WoW Factor: Forecasting the future of WoW Classic - It's probably chiefly due to my professional life that I find myself kind of looking forward to the launch of World of Warcraft: Classic next week, simply because that's at…
WoW Classic’s launch day plans include nine more servers - If you remember nothing else about World of Warcraft Classic, remember the number "10." That will come in very handy on Monday, as the retro version of this fantasy MMORPG…
The Daily Grind: Are you making any special preparations ahead of WoW Classic? - This is it, folks: your last weekend before WoW Classic. It's your last time to prepare yourselves before you dive into the comfortable old grind and pony up your Blizzard…
Vague Patch Notes: How time distorted what ‘hardcore’ means for WoW Classic - There's a contingent of players looking forward to the launch of World of Warcraft: Classic next week that is vocally thrilled about one specific element of the game's mechanics: the…
Blizzard warns people off overcrowded WoW Classic servers (again) - You can almost hear the desperation rising in Blizzard's voice as the studio witnesses the avalanche of humanity flooding onto World of Warcraft Classic's servers to make characters -- and…
Blizzard’s new WoW Classic video takes you – and the devs – back 15 years - WoW Classic hype is only climbing as we push onward to next week's launch, and more servers - Mankrik, most recently - are filling up. So why not mark some…
Last night’s WoW Classic AMA touched on moving into Burning Crusade and Wrath - One of the, ahem, burning questions regarding World of Warcraft Classic is what Blizzard plans to do with and for those players past the full rollout of the base content.…
WoW Classic has added still more servers a week out from launch - Remember Blizzard's last post warning WoW Classic players to stop trying to pile onto the poor Herod PvP server, to plan to play elsewhere lest they face 10,000-player queues? And remember…
WoW Classic warns against overpopulating servers - We're at T-minus one week until the launch of World of Warcraft Classic, and Blizzard is hoping that it can get its server populations balanced out by the time the…
WoW Classic’s PvP server community is already at war over streamers - Browsing the subreddit for World of Warcraft: Classic will pretty quickly reveal something about the community as it exists now. Specifically, a lot of these people do not like streamers,…
WoW Classic’s latest dev video touches on the original design of Stormwind - Did you think Wednesday's WoW Classic video, in which old-school World of Warcraft devs reminisce about their early development experience, was going to be a one-off thing? If so, you…
THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES
ArcheAge’s secret project is ArcheAge Unchained, a monetization do-over and B2P server - Last week, Gamigo raised eyebrows with a countdown website under the old Trion domain promising a big Gamescom reveal. Subsequent ArcheAge tweets and details from the site itself made it…
EverQuest II drops GU111 next week, EverQuest gets an ice shader, and Daybreak gauges fan event interest - Daybreak's updated the EverQuest and EverQuest II communities this week with what's next for both games. EverQuest II, for example, is preparing for GU111 Carnage in Kael, and it's coming sooner…
Perfect Ten: MMOs that flirted with permadeath - This month, Dungeons and Dragons Online will be venturing where many MMORPGs have feared to tread: into the realm of officially supported permadeath. The 90-day "hardcore league" server will be…
Hands-on: Neverwinter post-Uprising is a mixed bag for newbies and vets - A long time ago, for a few months after it launched, I was an avid Neverwinter player. I loved its visceral combat, and to this day I'd rate its take…
Flameseeker Chronicles: What would a mobile Guild Wars 2 look like? - Ever wished Tyria could fit in your pocket? That dream could one day become a reality. A couple of weeks ago, we heard rumblings that ArenaNet may be looking into…
Astellia Online is launching on September 27 – here’s what to expect - [Now confirmed - see update at the end!] German website Mein MMO has a Gamescom interview up that seemingly announces the launch date for Astellia Online. "The release of the western…
The Matrix is getting a fourth movie – so can we have The Matrix Online back now please? - Last night, Twitter exploded with the news that Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss - along with Lana Wachowski - will return for another go at the Matrix movie franchise, with…
LOTRO Legendarium: Lord of the Rings Online’s prettiest and ugliest places - Depending on how you count it, at the present Lord of the Rings Online boasts somewhere around 45 zones -- a vast improvement on the eight or nine original regions…
Elite Dangerous will revamp the newbie experience in September, add fleet carriers in December - Fresh outta Gamescom is the news that Elite Dangerous is cooking up multiple updates for commanders across the galaxy. First up: the September Update. Launching September 17th for PC, PlayStation…
Riot settles class action discrimination lawsuit as victims claim victory - Last year, Kotaku published a brutal exposé of Riot Games’ culture, replete with sexual harassment and sexual discrimination problems. In response, Riot promised a "cultural revolution" but followed up with…
Phantasy Star Online 2 is getting a new mecha-themed class in Japan - Now that Phantasy Star Online 2 is coming to North America (really, they mean it this time, until they don't), it feels a little more pertinent to check on what…
Black Desert launches on PS4 today – with a new video starring actress Megan Fox - Did you know Megan Fox was a big Black Desert fan? I didn't either, but maybe it's no surprise, given that she's become pretty popular in the South Korean film…
Ashes of Creation drops new gameplay trailer after battle royale Steam test - Wading into the Ashes of Creation community is one of those things that makes me wish I had those beach sandals that keep the sharp rocks and pointy shells out…
Path of Exile announces Blight league for September 6 – here’s our preview interview with Grinding Gear! - Fall is creeping up on us, and that means back to school is almost -- if not already -- here. That also means it is back to the beginning as…
Torchlight Frontiers’ latest alpha update adds new optional difficulty settings - Don't you forget about Torchlight Frontiers: PWE and Echtra Games are still zooming along in alpha, and today the studios have dropped the game's eighth big test update. While it's…
Guild Wars 2 is serving up a cooking patch and ascended food next week - ArenaNet clearly knows that the way to gamers' hearts is through their stomachs. This is not, of course, how anatomy works, but it seems to be the new Guild Wars…
Choose My Adventure: Rediscovering the simple joy of flight in No Man’s Sky - Boy is it good to be back here. I'll be honest, not much of what I did while flying around in No Man's Sky was terribly different from what I'd…
PWE’s co-op shooter Remnant From the Ashes has officially launched - My guild chat channel is buzzing this morning over a game at least one friend likened to Hellgate, but in a good way: I'm talking about Remnant: From the Ashes,…
Neverwinter, Champions Online, and Star Trek Online end XMPP chat client support - In an effort to reportedly take on the ever-encroaching menace that is gold selling spammers, outside chat client support powered by XMPP will be ended for Star Trek Online, Champions…
Rumor: Nexon Korea is shedding more employees and dropping in-development MMOs - More bad news appears to be coming out of the home office of Nexon in Korea. According to unconfirmed and anonymous reports from Inven, the gaming giant is in the…
Apex Legends boss apologizes for Reddit dust-up, but there’ll be no auto-da-fé for the devs - It was just a matter of time before the apology came out - we all know how this script goes. Yesterday we covered the weekend blow-up between Reddit and Apex…
Wisdom of Nym: Final Fantasy XIV’s moving violations - Here's a bit of full disclosure: I still cannot reach the top of Kugane's tower to this day. It's the one jumping puzzle that stymies me in Final Fantasy XIV.…
Not So Massively: Comparing looter shooters, from Destiny 2 and Division 2 to Anthem and Warframe - Looter shooters -- online games with shooter gameplay and loot-based progression -- are all the rage these days. But maybe this trend has passed you by, and you're not sure…
Apex Legends devs and gamers clash over Iron Crown monetization - Wanna know how not to put out a dumpster fire? Pour some gasoline on it! That's the lesson we'd like to think was learned this weekend by the Apex Legends…
MMO Cartographer: Welcome to the Aura Kingdom - For this week's edition of the MMO Cartographer, I have pulled Aura Kingdom out of my magical bag of maps. It is a bright, colorful, adorably cute anime game from…
THIS WEEK’S CASTS & STREAMS
Massively OP Podcast Episode 234: ArcheAge’s game changer
Battle Bards Episode 151: Minions of Mirth
The Stream Team: Join us for our Mo Mania stream-athon!
The Stream Team: The Warframe story saga continues
The Stream Team: Scoring SWTOR’s Republic datacrons on Taris
The Stream Team: AdventureQuest 3D’s KORN concert is live!
The Stream Team: Peeking through PixARK portals
Every week, get caught up on the MMO genre’s latest news and Massively OP’s best content in our MMO Week in Review! Want more roundups of content? Try Friday’s Betawatch for MMO testing highlights, Saturday’s Make My MMO for MMO crowdfunding updates, and Sunday’s The MOP Up, which mops up all the bits of news we didn’t cover anywhere else.
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