It’s time again for our MeinMMO format “MMORPG News in Two Minutes.” We summarize the most important news around the best genre in the world. Look forward to many updates on Throne and Liberty, FFXIV, and WoW. But Guild Wars 2, Lost Ark, Everquest 2, Aion Classic, and many other online role-playing games have also received updates.
The highlights of the week:
- Since July 18, 2024, the open beta of Throne and Liberty has been running. Until July 23, you can try out almost all release content of the MMORPG on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series. If you want to check it out: Here are 5 things you should test in the open beta of Throne and Liberty.
- Shortly before the start of the open beta, Amazon Games revealed first details about the payment model of the western version of Throne and Liberty. Furthermore, there was fresh information about guilds and guild activities. Details about the early access packages are also known.
- Impression from the beta: Haven’t seen this many players in an MMORPG for a long time, but Throne and Liberty is also receiving criticism.
What else happened? MeinMMO had the opportunity to talk to the Blizzard developers about WoW: The War Within. Find out why the campaign of the expansion is so short. MeinMMO editor Karsten looked at the early access version of Pax Dei and had a lot of fun with the relaxed walks through the beautiful medieval setting.
You can’t get far in Throne and Liberty without a guild – the trailer shows it:
Throne and Liberty: Trailer introduces you to the guild system
No summer hole for MMORPGs!
This is what happened in the big MMORPGs:
- On July 16, 2024, Patch 7.01 was released for Final Fantasy XIV, introducing the new raid Arkadion-Heavyweight – and the community is enthusiastic. Additionally, the update brought extensive class changes.
- A player from Final Fantasy XIV invested almost two years and over 800 playing hours to master the hardest solo challenge from Eorzea. With his druid, he managed to conquer the Palace of the Dead without help.
- At the Japan Expo in Paris, Naoki Yoshida revealed that Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail will receive a new field operation in the style of Eureka or Bozja. The release is planned for Patch 7.2.
- New World is preparing for the console launch: Characters who have been inactive for at least six months by October 15, 2024, will lose their names.
- With the new book “Chronicles IV”, Blizzard authors are changing the story of WoW and turning the events of the Battle for Azeroth expansion upside down.
- With WoW: The War Within, Blizzard is bringing back an old system: The first raid of the expansion will become increasingly easier over time. In return, all tanks will become significantly weaker.
- On July 9, 2024, a patch for WoW Classic introduced too many unwanted changes to the era-realms – at least that’s what many fans of the vanilla version claim, who started a petition demanding the rollback of the changes. And lo and behold: Blizzard responds to the community’s wishes!
- For Lost Ark, the July update has been released. Included: the solo mode for raids and dungeons. There are also various events through which you can quickly prepare for the current endgame.
- Tarisland bans 65 cheaters and publishes the names of the banned in Discord.
- On July 16, 2024, extensive changes for the PvP of Guild Wars 2 went live. You can find the official German patch notes on de-forum.guildwars2.com. Additionally, there was a detailed introduction of the Warclaw mount, which is supposed to expand your stable with the Janthir Wilds expansion (via guildwars2.com).
- From July 25, 2024, the White Plank Massacre event will start again in Elder Scrolls Online, with some adjustments (via elderscrollsonline.com).
This is what happened in the small MMORPGs:
- On July 18, 2024, a 1.6 GB patch for Black Desert was released, bringing many class changes as well as improvements for UI, post stations, transport means, and more (via naeu.playblackdesert.com).
- With the update Paths to Glory, Albion Online will receive a new achievement and quest system on July 22, 2024, which aims to guide beginners and provide further incentives for veterans. Additional new features include several crystal weapons, comprehensive adjustments for the streets of Avalon, and optimizations for guild islands, the fate board, and more.
- MU Legend was supposed to return after a complete overhaul by the developers. However, it currently seems like the Valofe team has buried the title for good.
- A player from Lord of the Rings Online was the victim of a nunchaku attack and was seriously injured. The wonderful community of the MMORPG is helping with donations and a great in-game event.
- Once again about Lord of the Rings Online: A fresh dungeon is surprisingly set to land on the live servers next month. Before that, on July 23, 2024, Update 41 will be released, featuring a birdwatching hobby and PvP revisions (via massivelyop.com).
- Until July 23, 2024, you can earn stylish unicorn mounts in Rift (via trionworlds.com).
- For Aion Classic, Update 2.8 named Conquest was released on July 17, 2024. Expect the new maximum level 58, new campaign quests, the battle for Apheta Beluslan, and the instance Diskos of Phaistos (via gameforge.com).
- On July 16, 2024, the update Mountain of Flame for Neverwinter brought the well-known adventure zone Mount Hotenow back in revamped form (via playneverwinter.com). In an interview with Gamerant, the developers explained why they chose this rather unusual approach with Module 29. In short: “Popularity and uniqueness! Compared to many other underground zones, it was a really prominent area, and many players desperately wanted us to bring it back as an iconic place on the Sword Coast.”
- In the July 2024 Producer’s Letter, there was a look ahead at the upcoming content for DC Universe Online. With the update Brainiac Returns: Aftershock, the first content has already gone live. The developers are now preparing for Episode 48 and the launch on Xbox Series. More information is expected on July 26, 2024 (via dcuniverseonline.com).
- The progression server Varsoon of EverQuest 2 is said to be supported by the developers until May 2025 and will receive content up to Tears of Veeshan. You can find the exact roadmap on everquest2.com.
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This is what happened in the MMORPGs in development:
- The VR MMORPG Zenith: The Last City unfortunately only managed to excite a few genre fans and will no longer be developed. The servers are expected to remain online for the foreseeable future.
- On July 29, 2024, Spellfarers, a new cozy MMORPG, will start its early access on Steam.
- With Lord Nine, Smilegate’s new MMORPG (Lost Ark) was recently presented in Asia.
- The second closed beta phase of The Quinfall ended on July 16, 2024, during which even non-access players could log into the servers at times. There remains much criticism from testers and a lot of work for developers.
- In November 2024, the fourth alpha test of Corepunk is set to begin, followed by a launch in early access. Additionally, there are details about Corepunk’s pre-order packages.
- MMORPG veteran Raph Koster explains what will distinguish his current project Stars Reach: It should be complex but not complicated.
- A small studio named Blue Scarab Entertainment is financially supported by NetEase to develop an undisclosed MMO. The team includes some genre veterans. Studio head Craig Morrison has worked for DICE, Blizzard (WoW), and Funcom (Age of Conan, Anarchy Online) (via bluescarab.com).
- Fractured Online will leave early access on July 24, 2024, and go into full release – with fresh-start servers and adjusted PvP rules. The tutorial will also be completely redesigned (via Steam).
With that, we have summarized for you the most important events that have recently occurred in the world of MMORPGs.
What have you been happy about this week? What have you been upset about? Let us know in the comments at MeinMMO. If you are looking for affordable MMORPGs in 2024, the following list may be helpful: The 12 best free-to-play MMORPGs 2024 compared
