It’s time for our MeinMMO format “MMORPG News in Two Minutes”. We summarize the most important news in the best genre in the world. Look forward to the official release of WoW: The War Within, free content for ESO and HdRO, as well as easier raids in Lost Ark. Not so great: An anime MMORPG lands on the MMO graveyard before its global launch.
The highlights of the week:
- The people at Bandai Namco are pulling the plug on the Japanese version of Blue Protocol in January 2025. The planned and repeatedly postponed launch in the West by Amazon Games will never happen. At least: The employees of Amazon Games do not have to fear layoffs.
- On August 27, 2024, WoW: The War Within was officially released – at the weekly reset on August 28, 2024, there was a whole bunch of new content – here is the schedule for the upcoming weeks. However, don’t go overboard, like this pro player who leveled 17 characters to level 80.
- At the launch of WoW: The War Within, there were serious issues with level scaling. The Blizzard developers have responded and made leveling harder. According to some reports, the designers may have once again missed the target (via icy-veins.com).
- But is the return to WoW worth it overall? MeinMMO tells you how good The War Within is.
- Fun fact: In the new regions of WoW you can meet SpongeBob and his friends.
What else has happened? MeinMMO demon Cortyn shares her launch experiences of WoW: The War Within. The story of the new expansion is wonderfully dark. Fishing in the new regions has proven to be an incredibly effective gold farming method. Not so positive feelings are triggered by the new hero talents for Cortyn.
The MeinMMO community has voted for the best MMORPGs for PC and consoles of all time:
Visit Middle-earth and take on dragons
This is what happened in the big MMORPGs:
- For the launch of WoW: The War Within there are new Twitch Drops.
- Those who log in diligently to Elder Scrolls Online in September 2024 can secure not only some particularly cool in-game goodies but also dungeons from a dungeon DLC.
- With the update from August 28, 2024, three challenging raid challenges in Lost Ark have become noticeably easier. A few days earlier, a adjustment of the roadmap for the coming months was made.
- On September 12, 2024, Black Desert will receive a new expansion titled “Land of the Morning Light: Seoul”.
- In an interview, Director Naoki Yoshida clarified one of the biggest fan theories of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail.
- From August 27, 2024 to September 11, 2024, the Festival of Rebirth is taking place in Final Fantasy XIV (via de.finalfantasyxiv.com).
This is what happened in the smaller MMORPGs:
- A new patch, Update 41.2, has been released for Lord of the Rings Online, introducing “The Year of the Dragon”. Starting with it: the new dungeon “The Dragon and the Storm” for up to six players with characters at level 150. Also cool: You can now secure the contents of the “Before the Shadow” expansion for free. All details can be found on lotro.com.
- After numerous complaints, the developers of Tarisland are finally taking action against cheaters.
- The people at Warner Bros. Games and Portkey Games unexpectedly announced the premature end of the MMO Harry Potter: Magic Awakened in America, Europe, and Oceania.
- The developers of Albion Online have presented plans for updates after “Paths to Glory”, via albiononline.com. The MMORPG is to become more solo-friendly through adjustments to the open world and offer more content for medium-sized groups.
- The new update for Aion Classic brings new adventures in the “Apheta Beluslan” fortress (via gameforge.com).
- The VR MMORPG Zenith: Nexus received its final update with Season 4: Golden Isles on August 27, 2024. From now on, the game will enter maintenance mode (via zenithmmo.com).
- A new update titled “The Immeasurable Menagerie” was released for EverQuest II on August 27, 2024 (via everquest2.com). You can find the short teaser trailer on YouTube.
- RuneScape is increasing its subscription price, which is not being received well by the community.
This is what happened in the MMORPGs in development:
- The new online role-playing game Brighter Shores by Andrew Gower is expected to release on Steam later this year, which has been known for a while. Now, the MMORPG veteran has revealed the release date for early access during an in-game hearing.
- With Apogea, a new MMORPG is expected to be released on Steam soon, which is set in a medieval fantasy setting, promises “no pay-to-win”, and is reminiscent of genre giants like Tibia and RuneScape.
- The new MMORPG by Amazon Games for Lord of the Rings is still in an early development phase, according to Vice President Christoph Hartmann.
- With Forsaken World 2, a new mobile MMORPG has entered beta. The final launch is scheduled for September 2024 (via mmorpg.org.pl).
We have summarized the most important things that have recently happened in the world of MMORPGs for you.
What have you been excited about this week? What have you been upset about? Let us know in the comments. If you’re looking for an entertaining yet informative overview of online role-playing games, be sure to check this out: Report, columns, talks, and the top list of the best MMORPGs of all time – that was MeinMMO’s theme week
