This week, BlizzCon took place, revealing new content for WoW Classic and the upcoming expansion The War Within for retail WoW. But there were also some big news offstage, including the introduction of the Ghostcrawler MMORPG, new information about Throne and Liberty, and Blue Protocol.
The highlights of the week:
- Ghostcrawler has released first information about his MMORPG codenamed Ghost. However, the really detailed information will only be available in a livestream on November 8.
- WoW has introduced its new expansion The War Within. It goes deep into Azeroth, and new areas, a new talent system, and a major plot that is expected to span across three expansions are planned.
- For WoW Classic, the Cataclysm expansion and a new system called “Season of Discovery” have been introduced. In this, you are expected to learn new abilities and discover secrets. Additionally, the leveling phase and raids will be revised.
The week in the podcast: In their own podcast MMO News, MeinMMO editors Alexander Leitsch and Mark Sellner talk about the most important news surrounding MMORPGs this week. As the episode was recorded before BlizzCon, it mainly focused on topics like private servers, Perfect New World, The Quinfall, and Pax Dei.
You can listen to the podcast on Apple, YouTube or here on Spotify:
Hardcore characters fall to their death, Throne and Liberty reveals new details, and our first MMORPGs
What happened in the major MMORPGs:
- The new WoW expansion is set to release in fall 2024. Players should be able to lay hands on the new features in tests as early as between April and June. Additionally, there will be some innovations that draw on the best features from Diablo.
- Hundreds of hardcore characters are falling to permanent death in WoW Classic, and we reveal why.
- In ESO, the new update 40 with the endless dungeon has been released. Additionally, a player made headlines by playing over 18,000 hours to complete all achievements in the game.
- FFXIV had a curious story where cat-boy players met for a raid exclusively in swim trunks.
What happened in the small MMORPGs:
- At Cryptic Studios (Neverwinter, Star Trek Online), there reportedly has been a wave of layoffs (via gamesindustry).
- TRAHA Global, an MMORPG that we tested ourselves in 2022, will be shut down in December (via Steam).
- Gloria Victis was finally shut down on October 30.
- The sandbox MMORPG Fractured is returning to Steam next week. Some users can already create characters for it (via Fractured).
- Ashes of Creation has released 45 minutes of gameplay footage on the caravan system. We have integrated it here for you:
What happened in the MMORPGs in development:
- Throne and Liberty will forego all probability mechanics in the shop, such as gacha and loot boxes. Additionally, the release date for Korea has been revealed. It will be released there on December 7.
- Blue Protocol will start a technical test in November, in which selected players from the West can participate.
- Tarisland, the new MMORPG from Tencent, will start its second beta test in the West in November.
- Perfect New World will start its beta on November 14 and will bring a new region, mounts, a new dungeon, world bosses, a fourth class, and a PvP mode compared to the last test (via mmorpg.org.pl).
Our first MMORPGs: As part of a small project, several editors have written down their first MMORPG experiences for you:
- DAOC offered the feeling that new MMORPGs lack today 20 years ago
- For my first MMORPG, I needed two attempts; only a dancing catboy convinced me
- My first MMORPG gave me wonderful memories and took away my fear of online contacts
- I had my first relationship in an MMORPG
These are the MMORPG news of the week at a glance. What was your personal highlight? Did you experience anything interesting this week that you would like to share? Or did we perhaps forget something important? Feel free to share it with us in the comments here at MeinMMO.
Those looking for a new MMORPG will find it here:
