MMORPG News: Lost Ark Global, Dual Universe, New World, Life Beyond, Black Desert, Guild Wars 2, Elder Scrolls Online

Here we are, in our brand new house. I know it looks a little smaller than the old apartment, but that’s because this is actually our brand new office room as opposed to recording out of our guest bedroom. Don’t worry, we’re going to be decorating the background! Now, today we have another week filled with MMORPG News for all of you today. And there’s a ton of new games we need to talk about, so welcome to this week’s Weekly Byte of MMORPG News. Let’s jump right in.

For those of you unaware, I actually just uploaded a video on Fractured yesterday, coincidentally enough. That covered the last Alpha test that took place, but today we’re here to talk about their newest Alpha test – which is going to largely focus on player cities.
The Alpha test began on July 16th – and allows for players to log in and begin constructing their very own city. Or, at least that’s the case in theory.
In reality, you’re required to have 5 players total to begin construction on a small city, so if you’re playing alone or can’t find anyone to group up and create with you’re probably going to be at a bit of a loss.

I know some of you expected this to happen, but there are quite a few of you that didn’t see this coming at all: New World, the upcoming MMORPG from Amazon Game Studios has been delayed yet again, however this time it has been delayed until Spring 2021.
Yup, the middle of next year. And trust me, from what I’ve seen of the game, from what a lot of content creators and actual players have said, if it launches in its current form, there’s no way it’ll succeed.
It’ll follow their other title, Crucible, and die before even having the chance for players to enjoy it. According to Amazon, “players like the game,” however that’s a little disingenuous of a claim to make.
“Some players like the game” would be much more accurate and would make them sound less as though they’re lying to build false hype for the game. Regardless, this is a good move and I hope the hype isn’t dead by the time the game launches in 2021, or 2022.

For those of you still playing Astellia Online, or for those of you on the fence about trying it, the game is going to be getting a brand new update – taking players to Avalon.
Well, yes to Avalon, but an entirely reworked iteration of Avalon. Yup, the zone itself has been overhauled and is going to offer brand new rewards in the form of weapons and armor, along with Astel companions!
So I feel as though this is the perfect opportunity to test the game out if you haven’t already, or to come back and try out the new content.

This is another upcoming release – although this might be one of the more popular ones. I actually did a video on this just the other day, but Dual Universe is an upcoming Scifi MMORPG that takes place in a large, sandbox universe allowing you to not only explore, but conquer entire planets and solar systems.
The MMO is going to be launching surprisingly as a pay-to-play subscription based MMO on August 27th as opposed to free-to-play or buy-to-play which means they have fairly high hopes for how well the game is going to do.
Alpha packs are currently available for players to purchase in advance if you want to gain access to the game ahead of its launch, otherwise, we’re going to need to wait until next month.

miHoYo announced that as a thank you for the large amount of support they’ve received for the game – literally millions of interested players, they’re going to be holding an Open Beta event sometime in Autumn 2020.
Yes, this is Autumn within China, which means around approximately October through November – however they’ve yet to set an exact date for the beta test. Nevertheless, it’s exciting to know that an Open Beta is going to take place!
What we’re not aware of yet is whether or not the Beta test will allow players from other regions to take part in it and if the beta test isn’t going to be IP blocked, then will it also be available in their native language?

According to an official Facebook post made by Masangsoft, who have up until this point been pretty silent in terms of updates over the last 2 years, they have 2 brand new trailers detailing the progress made on the game and interestingly enough, some players aren’t happy.
Additions to the game include being able to remotely complete quests, animation upgrades, overhauls, a brand new talent system to make classes more “original” and much more.
Suffice it to say, the less this looks like a faithful RaiderZ game, the less people are interested in playing it.

Okay, I’ve actually never heard of Life Beyond but now I’m gonna have to go on do a video on it, as the studio behind the development of the game, Darewise have secured over $3 million dollars in funding to continue development of the MMO.
Life Beyond is a co-operative survival MMO – yes, I know, we have so many of these either in development right now or launching and shutting down within months of their launch due to how bad they ultimately end up being – but this time might be different.
This time it might work out, who knows. Regardless, we’ll keep an eye on this and see where it ends up going. Keep an eye out for my dedicated video on it!

Mrs Stix and I have been streaming Lost Ark every week over on Twitch – if you’re interested in seeing how the game looks then I recommend joining us.
But! in Lost Ark news, the game just launched into Closed Beta within Japan, and I believe that’s the final region slated for release before they begin thinking globally, so that’s promising news!
Additionally, the Closed Beta is up to date with the South Korean version of the game, adding in features that were going to be included in their latest update, including but not limited to the removal of the gender-lock present in-game.
This is something that has proven quite controversial not only with regards to Lost Ark but to MMOs in general, and player housing islands.

You might remember Pagan Online – I did several videos on it and honestly, it wasn’t a bad game. It was advertised as a “kind-of-an-MMO” title when in reality it was a small-scale multiplayer RPG.
Regardless of the label, Pagan Online is in the process of becoming Pagan Offline, as the game is going to be converted into a singleplayer RPG with the entire campaign being taken offline.
The team behind the game went on to state that “supporting multiplayer servers for Pagan Online is no longer sustainable,” obviously meaning that the game is making in the negatives, and as such they need to cut all corners possible.
Not that this’ll do much to save the game either way as it has had little in the way of updates, or, heck even positive reviews left in recent memory.

In an interesting, if not slightly cruel turn of fate, it turns out the brand new Hashashin class that is coming to Black Desert is going to be releasing onto PS4 and Xbox One before the PC release. Yup – you heard that correctly.
The console ports of Black Desert Online are going to be getting the brand new upcoming class ahead of their PC brethren, and that is due to the fact that console players had the release of the Guardian class delayed for whatever reason.
This is their solution, as much as it angers the PC playerbase. Also, interesting note, the new class name “Hashashin” actually means “Assassin.” That’s pretty cool, right? That’s today’s lesson, you’re welcome.

If you’re one of the few players waiting on Legends of Aria to leave Early Access, then you’re in luck as despite the repeated delays, the negative reviews and overall negative reception of the game, it has finally left Early Access!
And players are as upset with the final result of the game as ever, with many a player claiming they prefer the game when it was still Shards Online.
Shards Online was what Legends of Aria was originally Kickstarted as back in 2014, yup.. that long ago. If Steam reviews are anything to go off of.. players did not receive the game very well this time ’round, which has likely all but sealed the fate of the game before it’s even had the opportunity to take off.

Okay, I know, relax. This isn’t an MMO – don’t worry, I’m well aware, but if this remaster – this is a remaster, right? An overhaul? Remaster? Same thing. If this remaster actually does well, we very well might see an MMO made set within the Kingdoms of Amalur world.
Yup, originally they had intended on making a Kingdoms of Amalur MMO but opted to leave it as a single-player title much to the disappointment of the playerbase.
Regardless, with the remaster comes the brand new Fatesworn expansion for the game and a brand new title.. Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. Yup. They couldn’t have possibly thought of a stupider name if they’d tried.

I don’t play DC Universe Online nearly as much as I should. Maybe a couple times per year, if that. However, with their brand new update coming next month it looks like we’re moving to Themyscira, a brand new massive open-world zone.
Which is exciting, as there’s going to be large-scale events for players to take part in including raid-level bosses to fight together with groups of other players. Their goal with this update is to attempt to provide more meaning behind open-world content.
To try and get players outside of instances and out seeing and working with other players for a greater goal. This is something I truly think other MMOs should be doing! Get your players out in the world, actively participating in activities that require group coordination and participation!

A brand new blog post was made on the official Guild Wars 2 website, titled “Looking Ahead to Summer Days and Nights,” where ArenaNet went on to detail what players have to look forward to over the course of the year.
The next episode of The Icebrood Saga will be arriving at the end of this month on July 28th. Like the previous episode though, this will feature no voice acting as a precaution for the voice actors.
In August, we’ll have the Festival of the Four Winds, followed by Guild Wars 2’s 8th year Anniversary celebration – yup, the game is going to officially be 8 years old.
And then in September, we’ll have access to a brand new Fractal, closing up the 3rd Quarter of 2020. Exciting news for everyone playing right now! I’m curious what the 4th Quarter looks like!

Last week ZeniMax announced ESO’s brand new DLC, “Stonethorn.” The DLC is going to be launching with several new group dungeons, brand new gear, performance optimization, and will continue the storyline that has been going on taking us to Skyrim.
The launch date for the DLC specifically will be August 24th on PC and September 1st for consoles. Most noteworthy for this DLC, at least for me is the addition of brand new two-person mounts. Does ESO even have two-person mounts or is this the first introduction of it?
Regardless, Mrs Stix and I are actually streaming The Elder Scrolls Online over on Twitch so you’re more than welcome to come join us for our journey!

I don’t think I’ve ever included a Mabinogi segment in an MMORPG News video before, but here we are, talking about their brand new update regarding pets. I’m honestly not sure why this was deemed necessary, but having a pet follow you around – a pet that also aids you in combat is always a cool addition to the game.
I’m not sure if this’ll really do anything in terms of bringing in new interest to the game but.. I’ll actually have a video for it up sometime next week with my thoughts on it!