Massively OP Podcast

On this week's show, Justin and Bree talk about walking into Mordor, warping over to Argus, delving into secret conspiracies, battling on a comet, resurrecting super villains, and more!

It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your own letter to the show, use the "Tips" button in the top-right corner of the site to do so.

Show notes:

• Intro
• Adventures in MMOs: Secret World Legends, Elder Scrolls Online
• News: World of Warcraft starts testing Patch 7.3
• News: LOTRO starts testing Mordor
• News: Secret World Legends' launch and post-launch changes
• News: RIFT makes expansion free, preps July patch
• News: Kritika Online goes into open beta
• News: Master X Master launches
• Mailbag: Nothing like Star Wars Galaxies!
• Mailbag: Following the MMO crowd
• Outro

• Podcast theme: "Kingsmouth Ahead" from The Secret World
• Your show hosts: Bree and Justin
• Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, Google Play, and Pocket Casts
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On this special bonus episode, Justin catches up with Richard Garriott and Starr Long about Ultima Online's spiritual successor, Shroud of the Avatar. How is this project shaping up now that it's nearing launch? Listen and find out!

It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your own letter to the show, use the "Tips" button in the top-right corner of the site to do so.

Show notes:

• Intro
• Geocaching
• What is Shroud of the Avatar?
• How do you retrain players to this type of game?
• How did May's free trial program go?
• Can you clarify the rollout? Why not do a wipe right before launch?
• What's the status on the offline mode? How will that work for grouping?
• What are the paths?
• Are you still aiming for a five-episode rollout? How big is an episode?
• When is optimization coming?
• How many scenes are in the game?
• How are you going to promote and hype the launch?
• Player investments
• Why a spiritual successor?
• Outro

• Podcast theme: "Kariela's Song" from Shroud of the Avatar
• Your show hosts: Justin
• Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, Google Play, and Pocket Casts
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On this week's show, Justin sits down with Ashes of Creation's Steven Sharif to talk about the game's successful Kickstarter, handling a wild community, and the next steps for this up-and-coming sandbox MMORPG.

It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your own letter to the show, use the "Tips" button in the top-right corner of the site to do so.

Show notes:

• Intro
• What is Ashes of Creation?
• What do you like best about some other MMOs you've played?
• What's the office environment like there at Intrepid?
• Why was this Kickstarter such a success?
• What did you learn from the Kickstarter process?
• Why did the web store take so long to start up?
• Will the store post totals? Why no stretch goals?
• Will there be continued fundraising?
• Have you done anything to mitigate complaints about the affiliate system?
• How much of the game is playable right now?
• Will we start getting blog posts again?
• How do you time nodes so they don't feel too quick or too static?
• What is the roadmap for this year?
• How will you wrangle a contentious community?
• What traditional MMO systems and features are you rethinking for Ashes?
• What will the housing system be like?
• Outro

• Podcast theme: "Trailer Theme" from Ashes of Creation
• Your show hosts: Justin
• Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, Google Play, and Pocket Casts
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On this week's show, Justin and Bree talk about FFXIV: Stormblood's early access launch, Destiny 2's PC delay, Elder Scrolls Online's next DLC drops, breaking up the trinity in MMOs, and more!

It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your own letter to the show, use the "Tips" button in the top-right corner of the site to do so.

Show notes:

• Intro
• Adventures in MMOs: Sims 4, FFXIV, LOTRO, Elder Scrolls Online
• News: FFXIV sounds the starting pistol to Stormblood
• News: Destiny 2 is coming out on PC in late October, won't see PS4 exclusives until next year
• News: BioWare's Anthem makes waves
• News: Bless Online will be released here after all
• News: Elder Scrolls Online's next DLC revealed
• News: LOTRO's secret anniversary quest
• Mailbag: Fencing in MMOs
• Mailbag: Better patch numbering?
• Mailbag: Non-combat progression systems
• Outro

• Podcast theme: "Stormblood Menu Theme" from FFXIV
• Your show hosts: Bree and Justin
• Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, Google Play, and Pocket Casts
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On this week's show, Justin and Bree talk about the huge revelation of Cryptic's Magic: The Gathering MMO, the premature demise of Bless Online, World of Warcraft's new launch, and more.

It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your own letter to the show, use the "Tips" button in the top-right corner of the site to do so.

Show notes:

• Intro
• Adventures in MMOs: A summer malaise
• News: Cryptic announces Magic: The Gathering MMO
• News: Fractured is revealed
• News: Aeria Games drops Bless Online from western release
• News: World of Warcraft Patch 7.2.5 is rolling out this Tuesday
• News: Secret World Legends announces headstart, widens beta
• News: Wild West Online sells early bird packages
• Mailbag: Managing inventory
• Outro

• Podcast theme: "Salty Sailor" from World of Warcraft
• Your show hosts: Bree and Justin
• Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, Google Play, and Pocket Casts
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On this week's show, Justin and Bree welcome summer by talking about SWTOR's roadmap, Black Desert's amazing Steam debut, and a troubling Shroud of the Avatar announcement, as well as a mailbag question about casual gaming.

It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your own letter to the show, use the "Tips" button in the top-right corner of the site to do so.

Show notes:

• Intro
• Adventures in MMOs: FFXIV, Marvel Heroes, Elder Scrolls Online
• News: SWTOR's summer road map
• News: Ashes of Creation ends Kickstarter at $3.27M
• News: Lots of FFXIV: Stormblood coverage
• News: Neverwinter's Tomb of Annihilation update
• News: Shroud of the Avatar's July launch
• News: Black Desert does very well on Steam
• Mailbag: Casual gaming
• Badge update
• Outro

• Podcast theme: "Kariela's Song" from Shroud of the Avatar
• Your show hosts: Bree and Justin
• Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, Google Play, and Pocket Casts
• Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Twitch
• If you're having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.

When does Final Fantasy become, well, final? It's probably not going to end with Final Fantasy XIV, which shows every intention of outlasting all of us as long as it keeps pumping out Moogle plushies and Hildebrand quests. On the show today, Eliot lends his FFXIV expertise on the next step of this saga.

It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your own letter to the show, use the "Tips" button in the top-right corner of the site to do so.

Show notes:

• Intro
• Adventures in MMOs: FFXIV, FFXI, Neverwinter, World of Warcraft
• News: Secret World Legends talks about its F2P model
• News: LOTRO signs back on Chance Thomas to score Mordor
• News: Alternative server rulesets launch in EverQuest and Allods Online, while RIFT mulls challenge server
• News: Black Desert releases on Steam
• Mailbag: Role homogenization (FFXIV blog post)
• Mailbag: PvP pay-to-win
• Mailbag: Marvel Heroes overreaction?
• Outro

• Podcast theme: "Rivendell" from LOTRO
• Your show hosts: Eliot and Justin
• Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, Google Play, and Pocket Casts
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Just when you think the MMO industry is predictable, it jukes and jags all over the place, tossing out surprises left and right in an attempt to shake you off its tail (or to pull you in, we haven't decided on that one yet). Marking one of the most unpredictable news weeks of 2017, Bree and Justin ride out westerns, space operas, and fantasies with aplomb.

It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your own letter to the show, use the "Tips" button in the top-right corner of the site to do so.

Show notes:

• Intro
• Adventures in MMOs: SWTOR, Dreamfall Chapters, Ultima Online
• News: Morrowind launches head start
• News: Crowfall reveals class/race choices, graphical improvements
• News: Wild West Online kills Kickstarter plans
• News: Destiny 2 details revealed
• News: Funcom has a great quarter, offers free Age of Conan boosts
• News: Star Citizen crosses $150M in crowdfunding
• Mailbag: Dating in MMOs
• Outro

• Podcast theme: "Ad Victoriam" from Destiny
• Your show hosts: Bree and Justin
• Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, Google Play, and Pocket Casts
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Kind of a weird and fascinating week for MMOs, as an expansion has a legal showdown with a charity, a western MMO is announced, and Vvardenfell decided to come to us two weeks early. Is the industry shaping up for the most explosive June on record? It might just be!

It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your own letter to the show, use the "Tips" button in the top-right corner of the site to do so.

Show notes:

• Intro
• Adventures in MMOs: Warframe, Guild Wars 2, ARK, Conan Exiles, EverQuest 2, The Secret World, LOTRO
• News: Wild West Online announced
• News: RIFT: Starfall Prophecy changes its name
• News: Secret World Legends gets June 26th launch date
• News: Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind gets a two-week head start
• News: TERA pushes out Velik's Fate
• Mailbag: Getting back into MMOs
• Mailbag: Marvel Heroes guild
• Mailbag: F2P MMO recommendations
• Outro

• Podcast theme: "Wild Wild West" by Will Smith
• Your show hosts: MJ and Justin
• Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, Google Play, and Pocket Casts
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Is Ashes of Creation destined to be the Kickstarter event of the year? Today on the 'cast, Bree and Justin talk about this crowdfunding tsunami, several MMO patches, a superhero preview, and even a launch. It was a busy week!

It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your own letter to the show, use the "Tips" button in the top-right corner of the site to do so.

Show notes:

• Intro
• Adventures in MMOs: SWTOR, Guild Wars 2, Marvel Heroes, Ultima Online
• News: Ashes of Creation weathers first week of Kickstarter
• News: Blizzard's Q1 2017 financials
• News: Darkfall: Rise of Agon launches
• News: Guild Wars 2 starts talking expansion
• News: Marvel Heroes' 2017 plans
• Mailbag: How satisfied are we with these plans?
• News: WildStar drops 1.7.1, Neverwinter is go for Shroud of Souls
• Mailbag: Parched on sandboxes
• Update on Patreon and badges
• Outro

• Podcast theme: "Pub Tune" from Ultima Online
• Your show hosts: Bree and Justin
• Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, Google Play, and Pocket Casts
• Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Twitch
• If you're having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.