MMORPG News, Tips, Tricks, Ideas

Developer Tiny Trinket Games hasjust released its new CRPG, Zoria: Age of Shattering. Having played many CRPGs and, more recently, the phenomenal games released in this genre over the past few years, I was looking forward to dipping into another similar title. Unfortunately, many may have preconceptions similar to mine when initially looking at picking up Zoria: Age of Shattering. This may be setting the expectations for the game at an unfair level. Let’s look at what works, what’s lacking, and what is fun.     

Marvel Snap’s latest season is now live and it features one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic story arcs: Avengers vs. X-Men. Comic book fans always love a good superhero vs. superhero fight and what could be a more high profile conflict than pitting the Avengers and X-Men against each other?

The acclaimed dark fantasy collection RPG — RAID: Shadow Legends — has just marked its 5th anniversary! Since its launch in 2019, the game has surpassed 100 million downloads across various platforms and 12 billion hours of play time. 

Unforetold: Witchstone entered Early Access in January, and developer Spearhead Games is now ending production “indefinitely” this week on the CRPG after “difficult” financial circumstances that also see the studio laying off most of its staff.

When it comes to seating, few names are as widely known and respected as Steelcase. It has been in business for more than 100 years and has released iconic pieces of furniture, such as the Steelcase Leap, a staple recommendation for chair shoppers and a staple ergonomic chair in offices around the world. Today, we’re looking at the company’s flagship, the Steelcase Gesture. It’s an ergonomic chair that’s perfect for long hours at the PC and one of the best gaming chairs — nay, chairs in general — we’ve ever experienced. It’s expensive but worth every penny.

The Keysme Mars 03 is one of the most unique mechanical keyboards I’ve ever seen. Themed after space exploration, its appearance is equal parts spaceship and custom mechanical keyboard. With a fully aluminum chassis and some of the best attention to detail I’ve encountered, there’s nothing else like it. It also offers a great typing and gaming experience thanks to its smart design, pre-lubed switches, and tri-mode wireless connectivity. At $330, it’s middle of the road for custom keyboard pricing but is more than a little original. 

Final Fantasy 14’s upcoming graphics update is one of the, if not the, most anticipated changes taking place in when Dawntrail launches this summer, if not either of the new classes or newly-playable female Hrothgar. Thankfully, it seems the feeling of relief will be mutual between both players and its developers responsible for the game’s already-beloved visuals. 

Fractured Online is holding its first Steam free weekend since the Early Access relaunch, along with a special discount on founders’ packs.

Capcom continues its spotlights of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s playable vocations with two videos focused on a pair of the game’s hybrid vocations: the Magick Archer and Mystic Spearhand.

At only $89, the Celest Plutus Beast offers a lot for the money. It uses a unique tribrid design consisting of an unlikely trio: one balanced armature, one bone conduction driver, and full-range square planar driver.  We would expect these drivers at a higher price point, but the Plutus Beast seems designed to act as a gateway drug to the IEM hobby and Celeste/Kinera’s wider line-up. It’s a good value and a better listen for music and gaming alike. 

Reported by Insider Gaming (via XboxEra’s Shapeshal_Nick) there appears to be a suggestion that the long rumored PC port of Ghost of Tsushima may finally be announced sometime this week.

The Pokemon-like MMO-lite, Temtem, will be getting its final updates and the removal of all monetization according to an announcement made by its developer Crema in a new community update.

TheTower of Fantasy x Evangelion collaboration is coming next week on March 12th, and the team is previewing some of what we can expect, with a story teaser and new look at Mirroria Mech Bay.

War Thunder’s next major update, Alpha Strike, will bring the Hungarian aviation tech tree, and a slew of new vehicles. 

After a successful launch in 2022 on Steam, Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters made its way to consoles last month. Now, you can pursue the demons of chaos with the illustrious Grey Knights on PC, Xbox, or PlayStation. If you’ve ever wanted to try XCOM with a side of Space Marines, now is your chance!

A new trailer for Greedfall 2: The Dying World premiered at this year’s Nacon Connect livestream. The trailer gives us our first look at the game’s story, where we see the player character fight to free herself from enslavement.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown publisher Nacon and developer KT Racing have been releasing a number of videos over the past couple of months highlighting the various playstyles in the game, such as The Cruiser and The Racer, and now we’ve got a look another playstyle in The Explorer.

A new developer update video from the Tarisland team dives into how cross-platform play will work in the upcoming MMORPG. Importantly, they show examples of how they've created a fully cross-platform experience, without sacrificing quality.

It’s a week of unique keyboards here at MMORPG and we have another for you today! The Epomaker Brick 87 allows you to build on it with LEGOs to make it truly unique. It also offers hot-swappable switches, smooth switches, and tri-mode wireless connectivity for an enhanced typing and gaming experience. It has some areas for improvement but is a decent option for LEGO fans.

Moon Studios, the folks behind the Ori platformer games, are working on a new project titled No Rest For The Wicked. The game is a Soulslike ARPG that was announced at The Game Awards late last year. The studio’s “Wicked Inside” livestream gave fans their first extended look at the game and we’ve got the details.

Corsair just launched its latest gaming mouse, the M75 Wireless. It’s ambidextrous in the truest sense, features swappable side buttons, high-speed wireless with a 2,000Hz polling rate, and an ergonomic shape tailored for speed. It’s a heavier take on the M75 Air Wireless which launched earlier this year, a gaming mouse for gamers not sold on the ultralight craze. At $129.99, it’s expensive but its performance is hard to argue with.

Just days after the conclusion of Capcom Cup X, Capcom has dropped a new update for Street Fighter 6, adding Street Fighter 5 alum Ed as the game’s latest DLC character. The update also includes a number of balance changes, though they’re a bit narrower in scope than we expect to see later on.

Players got their first look at Age of Mythology: Retold, Microsoft and World’s Edge’s upcoming remaster of beloved real-time strategy game, Age of Mythology.

No Rest For The Wicked, a new ARPG from Moon Studios and Private Division, has announced the “Wicked Inside” to showcase gameplay and more tomorrow on Twitch. Announced via trailer during The Game Awards this past November, this is the latest contender in the ARPG genre, which has seen heavy hitters such as Diablo 4 and Last Epoch released in this past year. 

With Scions of Ithelia coming in March, and the 10th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls Online, ZeniMax has an important early gift to kick off the celebration: The Orisinum DLC.

When Inflexion Games announced Nightingale in 2021, I was mildly interested in what I saw. I genuinely like survival games, having dabbled in Valheim and V Rising quite a bit. But what drew me towards this particular game was its setting. 

Honkai Impact 3rd, HoYoverse’s ARPG, will see the release of its Part 2 update later this week on February 29. The update will send players on an adventure to Mars with a host of new characters, maps, combat, and monsters.

With Dragon’s Dogma 2’s March release date fast approaching, Capcom has been releasing new trailers showcasing the game’s various vocations. This week, players got a look at two of the game’s advanced vocations: the Sorcerer and Warrior.

A new trailer released for Rise of the Ronin gives us a focused look at the game’s combat systems and features.

Team Ninja, the developers behind Nioh and Ninja Gaiden, have released the second episode in a behind-the-scenes video series focused on the game development of its forthcoming open-world action RPG, Rise of the Ronin.

A major title update for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is coming March 7 and will add the long awaited New Game+ mode to the game, new suits, photo mode updates, and more.

MOBA hero shooterGigantic received a new lease on life recently with the announcement of its revival as Gigantic: Rampage Edition, a buy-to-play re-release of by its new developer Abstraction Games.

Destiny 2 brings back the Guardian Games competition, this time as an all-stars event. The event and offers new challenges, new rewards, and Destiny 2's first hoverboard.

Final Fantasy VII REBIRTH, the second installment in the REMAKE project trilogy, has been released on PlayStation 5 today, letting players experience the timeless story in a new way. The RPG has also reached critical acclaim since reviews went live last week.

Over the years, we’ve explored many different audio brands in this column. They’ve come from all around the world, including many from China where the personal audio market is exploding. But one place we haven’t yet examined closely is right here at home in the United States. That’s changing this year with our proverbial home-town hero: Campfire Audio.

Sennheiser is what many would consider to be a legendary audio brand. It has been in the business for decades making some of the most popular and highly acclaimed headphones you can buy today. We’ve loved its true wireless offerings going all the way back to the original Momentum True Wireless in 2020 and most recently with the Momentum True Wireless 3 in 2022. 

RuneScape’s venture into the tabletop gaming era is here, as RuneScape Kingdoms: Shadow of Elvarg, the new board game, and RuneScape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game, have both launched.

Nintendo’s latest Direct gave us the official announcement of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, the definitive edition of SMT V, which originally released exclusively on the Nintendo Switch back in 2021. With pre-orders now live, Atlus has dropped a new ‘extended cut’ of the announcement trailer as well as new information on pre-order bonus items.

Want to immerse yourself in the world and history of the 25-year-old legendary MMORPG EverQuest with other fans, in-person in California? 

What’s harder than an Ironman MMORPG run? Doing an Ironman MMORPG run with literally no outside help. If you’re up for that challenge in an old-school setting, World of Warcraft Classic has you covered, with its Self-Found mode launching on Leap Day. 

The Pokémon Company today announced a new game in the Legends open-world ARPG series of Pokémon games. Titled Pokémon Legends: Z-A and releasing worldwide sometime in 2025, players will return to the Lumiose City in the Kalos region, which made its first appearance in Pokémon X and Y back in 2013.

World of Tanks has announced a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collaboration with a brand new Season 13 Battle Pass, themed rewards, customization options, and vehicle event makeovers.

If you’re looking for a cheap early access survival game among many other not-as-cheap early access survival games, you’ve got a new option. 

After several recent brief preview videos, breaking down some of the mechanics, gameplay elements, and the characteristics of the environment of Arrakis and why a survival MMO works there, the latest Dune: Awakening video takes a different direction.

Ever wanted to bring some guns to a swordfight? Well, Redemption Road Games and tinyBuild are allowing players to do just that withKingmakers.

Keen Games announced that its voxel-based co-op survival ARPG, Enshrouded, has hit two million players in its first month of launch.

Pocketpair’s survival crafting monster collecting game Palworld has hit yet another milestone, hitting 25 million players in its first month. 

The Cooler Master MK770 is the first keyboard we’ve reviewed in some time from the brand and it seems that it has something to prove. Like Razer, Corsair, and ASUS, the MK770 is Cooler Master’s custom-inspired gaming keyboard, complete with sound dampening silicone, gasket mounting, and pre-lubing. It easily offers the best out-of-the-box typing experience of any Cooler Master keyboard to date, and is competitively priced at only $119.99, but misses the mark in a number of ways.

Bandai Namco have published a new video for Sand Land, the upcoming action RPG set in the world of legendary Dragon Ball artist Akira Toriyama’s eponymous manga series. The video gives players an in-depth look at Sand Land’s key gameplay features.

Nightingalelaunched into its official Early Access this week to plenty of anticipation and mixed feedback, as it presents a unique theming and spin on the popular co-op survival game. But it turns out that many players didn’t want the co-op part, as the game has plenty to offer already on its own. In response, the development team has announced that it’s bringing an “Offline Mode” up on its list of priorities. 

The Tarisland team has a new behind the scenes video featuring award-winning composer, Russell Brower, who was announced as part of the project last fall, detailing the process of composing for Tarisland, how tailoring the music to the story matters, and creating a cohesive musical identity for the game.

I had high expectations for Skull and Bones, anticipating a stellar “AAAA” pirate experience: peg legs, sliders—the whole nine yards. However, my hopes were quickly dashed as I emerged from a botched naval battle, coughing up sand on an unfamiliar island. Surveying my reflection in a broken barrel on the shoreline, I sifted through the limited presets available to customize my pirate avatar.

In a surprising turn of events, Motiga’s short-lived MOBA hero shooter, Gigantic, is set to return this spring, five years after being shut down in 2018.

It’s hard to argue against Helldivers 2 being one of the biggest releases of the year so far, far surpassing expectations. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where they have to prevent players from staying in the game for too long, by way of a new idle timer. 

When NZXT launched their new line of peripherals two years ago, I was conflicted. The LIFT mouse did a great job marrying that classy NZXT aesthetic while being both comfortable to use and functional. But for the FUNCTION keyboard… I had a few more critical words for it. Don’t misread that though: there was still a lot that I liked about the FUNCTION, but there were a few missteps along the way.

Crema, the studio behind Pokemon-like MMO Temtem, announced a new spinoff this week with Temtem: Swarm, a Vampire Survivors style “bullet heaven.”

Palia is about to make its debut on another platform, with Singularity 6 announcing the game’s arrival on Steam on March 25th. 

Welcome back to Golden Ears, our semi-regular column exploring the world of high-end audio. Apart from highlighting neat and interesting products you might not otherwise know about, our goal here is simple: to discover exactly what makes these headphones worth their high entry price. Today, we’re looking at the HIFIMAN HE-1000se, a $2,000 pair of headphones that have been out for several years and are widely regarded as some of the best money can buy. 

Questyle is a brand we’ve visited before here at MMO with one of our favorite portable DACs/amps (soundcards) ever, the Questyle M15. It just released its latest set of in-ear monitors, the NHB15. Complete with a built-in hi-res DAC and amplifier, these earphones come ready to connect directly to your smartphone or laptop thanks to its modular USB Type-C cable. At $349 MSRP (and $299 as of this writing from Bloom Audio), these earphones don’t come cheap, but they’ll surprise you with how good they sound.

It’s an exciting day for console players wanting to get into Final Fantasy 14, the critically-acclaimed MMORPG with an extended free trial… you know the copypasta by now. Now, after much demand and controversy both,today the FFXIV open beta launches on the Xbox Series X|S. 

Myth of Empires, the multiplayer sandbox survival MMO taking place in a feudal world where the threat of war looms, has officially launched on PC via Steam. Explore the world, gather resources and supplies, and craft a society and an army to fit your playstyle. 

Elden Ring’s upcoming expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, got its first gameplay trailer, and FromSoftware isn’t easing up on the mystery, or the depth in the new content on the way. 

Last Epoch, the upcoming action RPG developed by Eleventh Hour Games, has been in Early Access since 2019 and is set for its 1.0 launch today. The studio has published a new video giving players a breakdown of all the key additions in the 1.0 patch notes, including Item Factions, offline mode, controller support, visual upgrades, and new Rogue and Acolyte masteries.

Final Fantasy VII REBIRTH has an odd task as the middle entry in an eventual three-part RPG series. REBIRTH, for its part, has to simultaneously bring some resolution to the lingering questions brought on by 2020’s Final Fantasy VII REMAKE, set up the final chapter in the series, while also telling a compelling story in its own right.

Corsair’s K65 Series Keyboards have always been about high performance in a compact size. For the original K65, Corsair took a full-sized 104-key gaming keyboard, tossed out the 10-key pad, and then chopped off as much of the case as possible. Gamers are now screaming for even more compact options, and Corsair is answering the call with a new keyboard option — the K65 Plus Wireless 75% Keyboard. A marriage of gaming aesthetics and custom keyboard features, the K65 Plus Wireless may just be the perfect choice for the gamer on the go. It works pretty darn well for living-room gaming, too.

Ravendawn is previewing Friday’s major update that will bring the Elder Coast, along with Northern Steppes, and over 660 new pieces of land to claim per server. The Tavernlight Games team also addressed the community about recentefforts to combat scammers, reinforced rules, and announced another banwave had taken place.

PowerWash Simulator's latest collaboration is with Games Workshop’s iconic Warhammer 40K IP and the DLC is out next week on February 27.

After years of demand, Final Fantasy 14, the critically-acclaimed MMORPG with an extended free trial that goes up to the second expansion, Stormblood, up to level 70 with no limits on playtime, is now live as an open beta on the Xbox Series X|S. But there are a few catches—and if you’re a current player, you should pull the reins for a bit. 

I joined the Kickstarter for Pantheon: Rise Of The Fallen ten years ago, fully understanding that my money might be a write-off. Watching as the end date came and went without the project being successfully funded was disappointing. But I was happy to sign up shortly after that on the official website as a Champion-level pledge when Visionary Realms decided that they would move ahead with development anyway. A decade later, those outside of the VIP pledges have started having limited hands-on time testing the game.

Epomaker is no stranger to partnerships, and the Epomaker x Feker Galaxy 80 may just its best yet. Even more than that, it may wind up being the best budget tenkeyless mechanical keyboard of the year — and it’s not even March yet. With a fully aluminum design, tri-mode wireless connectivity, a custom keyboard sound and feel, and a crazily cheap $105.99 price tag, it’s hard to imagine how it could really be much better. 

The drumbeat towards launch continues with two new videos giving Dragon’s Dogma fans a look at how some of the game’s basic vocations will play in Dragon’s Dogma 2. This time, Capcom’s put a focus on the Archer and Mage vocations.

Eleventh Hour Games action-RPG Last Epoch is set to leave Early Access this week and the team has dropped a new ‘technical trailer’ showcasing the game’s various classes (and sub-classses), systems, and impressive visual improvements.

Yanuo joins the Tower of Fantasy roster tomorrow, and there’s a new showcase showing off the latest simulacrum and her weapon, Wicked.

Each week, we scour the internet for all things indie MMO-related, so you don’t have to. This week, Nightingale (image above) goes full speed on the hype train, Corepunk talks Alpha Test #2, and Ravendawn pulls out the banhammer. Plenty of other stuff is also going on, so let’s quit wasting time and get started with this week’s Indie MMO Spotlight.

If you want your Realm-traveling survival game for your own travels, you’re a little lucky. In a post about pre-launch updates for Nightingale, the “gaslamp fantasy” survival game releasing its Early Access on February 20th, the developers at Inflexion Games answered a common question for many Steam users: Will this play on the Steam Deck? The answer is yes and no. 

In the upcoming Season of the Guardian, New World is not only adding new content, the team is overhauling and improving a few things. One of those overhauls is coming for the old combat and animation system, and the team has a preview of what this all means.

Seekers of Skyveil announced this week via its Discord that it’ll be moving from an independent launcher to Steam—and it’s eager to bring its entire player base along. 

After a weekly Realm reset and some hotfixes, North American players in World of Warcraft had a big question… Where’s the sun? Logging back in, these players found their realms to be a little darker (or lighter) than they expected.  

Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind Apex Legends and the Star Wars Jedi series, are reportedly working on a Mandalorian project.

After almost five years in Steam Early Access, Eleventh Hour Games is finally releasing Last Epoch to the masses on Wednesday, February 21st. As the newest action role-playing game (ARPG) on the block, Last Epoch has already been compared to genre giants like Diablo and Path of Exile. Does Last Epoch deserve to be mentioned in such a distinguished crowd? I’ve only spent a handful of hours with Last Epoch, but I can already definitively say, eh, maybe.