It’s time for our MeinMMO format “MMORPG News in Two Minutes.” We summarize the most important news about the best genre in the world. Look forward to a party in Middle-earth, new updates for WoW and FFXIV, and more.
The highlights of the week:
- With patch 7.21, Cosmo explorations are starting in Final Fantasy XIV – here’s what you need to know. By the way, just one day after the release of the update, many servers were almost finished and player emotions were running high.
- The next update for World of Warcraft is live. We reveal what’s included in patch 11.1.5 – and which content will be activated when.
- On May 14, a new Turbo Boost event starts for WoW: The War Within: “During this event, the upgrade ranges for heroic and mythic will be expanded by 2 upgrades (from 6 to 8), the cap for emblems will be lifted, and valor stones will be locked to war gains for the rest of the season. Additionally, the drop rate for equipment in Mythic+, which is locked to war gains until equipped, will be doubled” – via blizzard.com.
- On May 14, the new “Dinare” will also come to WoW: The War Within, allowing you to buy epics from the current raid. This new feature, however, has a catch that is causing unrest in the community.
- Defiance made its comeback this week. Unfortunately, there were extensive technical issues at the restart, which likely stemmed from the new developers’ lack of experience with the game’s engine, but the unexpectedly large influx of players also took the team by surprise – there were 4 times as many players online as during the most recent stress test, via massivelyop.com.
What else happened? Lord of the Rings Online is currently celebrating its 18th anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, there are new anniversary rewards and gifts. You can find the guide to the party on lotro.com. Additionally, update 44 has been released. “The Crown of Hamât” brings several new quests and a 6-player dungeon. Unfortunately, only VIPs have free access. The official German patch notes can also be found on lotro.com.
Here’s gameplay from the stress test before the Defiance comeback:
Defiance is about to make a comeback, shows gameplay from the stress test in the trailer
All sorts of MMORPG oldies are celebrating birthdays
This happened with the major MMORPGs:
- Due to the various versions of World of Warcraft, which receive regular updates, a lot of data junk accumulates on your hard drive or SSD. It’s time for a spring cleaning; players were able to free up 170 GB and more of storage!
- In World of Warcraft, there are not only many references to pop culture or the game’s developers, but also some special players that Blizzard has immortalized in Azeroth. The mystery surrounding a truly beautiful tribute has only now come to light after 12 years.
- In WoW. there are recurring situations where players get angry and insult others. One player has now shown how he dealt with such a situation and calmed a flamer with one sentence.
- Anyone who thinks that World of Warcraft is just a game should definitely read the heartwarming message from PlastikdaN to the entire Blizzard team.
- Players from Throne and Liberty have deliberately exploited bugs to gain advantages. In the current edition of “Tico Talks,” the focus was on fair play and rewards for the part of the community that did not cheat. Also, update 2.7.0 is live. You can find all the info about the exploits and the official patch notes here.
- Additionally, the developers of Throne and Liberty introduced the Illusion Workshop feature. Where? On playthroneandliberty.com.
- The developers of New World have detailed Season 8. Instead of a PvP focus, this time there will be a hardcore gaming experience, a new Outpost Storm map, world boss events, and more.
- In the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV you level the first class with the main story, while the secondary classes level primarily through combat. One player has now reached level 100 with a class without using its abilities.
- On April 24, a new update for Black Desert went live that contains 175 adjustments and is 1.78 GB in size. You can find the German patch notes here: playblackdesert.com.
- On April 23, a new update for Lost Ark was released, which among other things includes a new honing boost event that helps you improve your characters. Unfortunately, the patch notes are currently only available in English, via playlostark.com.
- As part of the Seasons of the Worm Cult, the developers at Zenimax are changing how you conduct dialogues with characters from Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls Online. A first taste is already live.
This happened with the smaller MMORPGs:
- Until April 30, you can secure the Jubilee Hover Capsule as an in-game item in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Anyone with an active subscription between April 17 and May 23 will also be able to enjoy a Naboo C-Type Speeder as well. The details can be found on swtor.com.
- 20 years ago, the first Guild Wars was released. For the birthday celebration, which falls around Easter, the player numbers on Steam are surging once again.
- On April 22, there was again a stream from the new developers of Fractured Online (via fracturedmmo.com). The developers announced a comprehensive overhaul of the combat system as well as the classes, and also talked about backend optimizations and the performance of the MMORPG.
- Aura Kingdom is set to receive a new version with Aura Kingdom Impact, featuring fresh weapon classes, a companion system, and the ability to switch between characters. Interested players can register for the launch this quarter at x-legend.com.
- For Aion Classic, patch 3.7 has been released, featuring the new instance Burning Blood Fortress, the return of the Tiarkh Testing Station, and more. You can find the German patch notes at gameforge.com.
- The classic MMORPG NosTale has received new NosFire event servers. On these, you can level your characters particularly quickly and unlock many rewards through a progress book. The details can be found at gameforge.com.
- On April 23, a small balancing patch for Albion Online went live. You can find the German patch notes at albiononline.com.
- As part of the 20th anniversary of MapleStory, the developers announced a classic version of the MMORPG (via YouTube).
- Project Wolf has now been released for the global version of Lineage 2. You can expect the new werewolf class, a fresh region, and other innovations. More about this on lineage2.com. Here is the teaser trailer again:
This happened with the MMORPGs in development:
- The third phase of Alpha Two of Ashes of Creation was supposed to start on May 1, 2025. It is now clear that this will not happen. The developers at Intrepid Studios provide good reasons for the postponement. You can find an overview of the current state of the MMORPG here.
- The developers of Quinfall have released an updated roadmap on Steam, outlining the new features expected in May and June. Key updates include the clan war system, PvP/PvE events, a revamp of the arena system, group searching, and updates to professions as well as new professions.
- A new patch has been released for the Early Access version of Pax Dei, introducing the new fast travel system “New Miracle.” The English patch notes can be found at playpaxdei.com.
- In Corepunk, there were issues. This time, various players exploited a bug to duplicate gold and items. This has reportedly severely impacted the economy of the MMORPG. As a result, the developers have disabled the in-game market, deleted items, reversed transactions, and announced penalties for exploit users (via mmorpg.org.pl).
- NCsoft is currently building a team that is reportedly working on a new MMORPG for the Lineage series. It is said to be a next-gen game in Unreal Engine 5.
- On April 22, a small content update for Brighter Shores was released, consisting of a side quest, bug fixes, and quality-of-life improvements (via Steam).
More about MMORPGs:
One of the most successful MMORPGs of the last decade gets better graphics, now shows how beautiful it is
Developer wanted to make WoW very differently, players are sure: “That would have changed the last 20 years of my life”
So we’ve summarized the most important things that have happened recently in the world of MMORPGs.
What have you enjoyed this week? What has frustrated you? Let us know in the comments. If you’re looking for a fun yet informative overview of online role-playing games, be sure to check here: Reports, columns, talks, and the top list of the best MMORPGs of all time – that was the theme week of MeinMMO
