Columns

As part of our planned expansion for 2019, Massively OP brought on a slew of new writers to perk up our pages with new voices and ideas. They’ve now been on the job for a few weeks, and I’d like to introduce them to you more formally along with the work they’re already doing. I’d also like to highlight their columns – and some of our other new features – in case you missed them along the way! Here be the new folks – give ’em a hearty welcome: Desert Oasis – Carlo Lacsina has reinvented our Black Desert column. Fight or Kite – Samon Kashani has joined us as our PvP MMO columnist. Lawful Neutral – Andy McAdams will be tackling law and business in his new column. MMO Cartographer – Mia DeSanzo is covering wee and weird MMOs in her column. Flameseeker Chronicles – Colin Henry has joined Tina to collab on our Guild Wars 2 column. Tamriel Infinium – Ben Griggs has joined Larry to collab on our Elder Scrolls … [Read more...] about Ask Mo: Introducing Massively OP’s latest columns and columnists

Who would have thought that reality, not unlike Hollywood, would start running out of ideas and reboot failures from the 90’s for the modern day audience? Grab your Nintendo 64 controllers and crack open a Mountain Dew Surge kids, we’re going back to the past to give a platform to one of Florida’s worst attorneys. Jack Thompson, best known for his failed campaign against the games industry ultimately leading up to being disbarred in disgrace for disparaging litigants, making false statements to tribunals, etc, has once again returned to exploit school shooting victims and this week ran an op-ed in The Washington Examiner (archived) to remind us of something we all know: Jack Thompson has no qualms about lying to push his agenda. So to follow up this piece (and I do recommend reading it for yourself), I decided to roll a point by point fact check for Jack’s major topics. 1. The FBI finds fascination with violent entertainment to be a trait of school shooters … [Read more...] about [Column] Fact Check: You Can’t Teach An Old Jack New Tricks

Fire Emblem Heroes is Nintendo’s latest mobile game and the first mobile entry in the long running tactical role playing series. Heroes allows players to summon characters from across the Fire Emblem series and create teams of up to four units. While free to play, the catch is summoning heroes requires a premium currency called Orbs. These Orbs can be very expensive to purchase, costing $1.99 for 3 (~$0.66ea) for the lowest sum or $74.99 for 140 (~$0.54ea) for the highest sum. That’s right, Nintendo went with the controversial Gacha (or gachapon) system for Fire Emblem Heroes and there are already stories of players spending thousands of dollars on the game and still not getting every character! Fortunately for us free-to-play users, there are plenty of ways to earn Orbs in-game without spending a dime! Below is a list of the best ways to get Orbs in-game ranked roughly in order of difficulty. Remember, even after you complete the main story stages, you can still get free … [Read more...] about Guide: How to Get Free Orbs in Fire Emblem Heroes

We often hear that a MMORPG doesn't really start until the end game. This can be one of the most frustrating statements for new player to hear. Not only will that player not be able to play with the friends who introduced them to the game, but they will have to pour countless hours into grinding through abandoned zones by themselves. Several games have found a band-aid solution to this problem in the form of level-up potions. These allow players to instantly level up to either max level or to the level cap prior to the latest major patch. While I don't have a problem with this solution if it comes packaged with a retail expansion such as with World of Warcraft and Guild Wars 2 offer this. Most MMORPGs also offer this service as a stand alone paid product. Final Fantasy 14 is perhaps doubly guilty by not including an exp potion with their expansion packs. Free to Play MMORPGs have found other ways to speed up the early game experience -- MapleStory has dramatically increased EXP rates, … [Read more...] about The Weekly Raid: How Should MMORPGs Handle The Early Game?

Today's big story is Trion's announcement of Defiance 2050, a remake of their 5 year old sci-fi MMORPG shooter Defiance. The game originally launched alongside a SyFy series of the same name that lasted 3 seasons. While the show isn't making a comeback, Trion has announced that Defiance 2050 will be ready by summer 2018. We don't have all the details just yet, but we do know players won't be able to transfer their current characters over. Besides a graphics overhaul, Defiance 2050 will have a new class and progression system. In many ways Defiance 2050 reminds us of another dated MMORPG that got a new lease on life: Secret World Legends. Funcom managed to revitalize an otherwise archaic game into something that can compete in the free to play reality of today's MMORPG marketplace. Defiance 2050 is set to launch as a free to play title available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. With that in mind, we're hopeful that other studios will adopt this strategy. There are so many great MMORPGs with … [Read more...] about The Weekly Raid: Which MMORPGs Should Get a Defiance Style Reboot?