The MOP Up: Final Fantasy XI Deserves a Second Look After Two Decades

The second part of an interview with famed manga artist Mamoru Nagano is out, in which he talks about what he likes about Final Fantasy XI and encourages players to come back, saying, “It’s easier to play the game solo than ever before, and given all of the content that has been added over the span of more than twenty years, it truly features endless replay value.”

And this is just the beginning of the rest of the news! Read on for a roundup of other smaller MMO news stories and videos from this past week in this edition of The MOP Up (and if you don’t see a news story that we should have covered, drop us a tip)!

Catch up with the latest from Destiny 2 as it’s in the middle of the Guardian Games, and while you’re in that neighborhood, read this dev retrospective on one of the bigger mistakes that Bungie made with the game.

Fractured Online welcomed a new community manager on board.

SMITE 2 added Merlin as a playable character — and even more: “OB6 introduces the brand-new Aspect of Pandemonium for those who crave unpredictability, a groundbreaking Prisms system that unlocks alternate color schemes and VFX for select skins, and a slew of new and returning cosmetics.”

Marvel Rivals has a limited-time gift to grab: “We’ve added a special April Fool’s Easter Egg gift! Remember, only those who collect all rewards from Galacta’s Cosmic Adventure will unlock this hidden twist surprise.”

King of Meat sent out a press release saying that the title will release sometime in 2025. “Set in the mystical world of Loregok, King of Meat takes you into the wildest survival gameshow imaginable, where you become a contender battling through dungeons with a team of up to four players, desperately seeking glory, gold, and fame.”

Reader Yrys shared with us the news that LOTRO composer Chance Thomas has retired: “Yes, I have retired from a long composing career. That’s literally the main reason why I’m speaking on this panel at GSC in two weeks.”

Crossout’s New Frontier patch arrived this past week: “The main event of the season is the return of the Founders faction, which brought new weapon systems, wheels, cabins, and new frames for assembling new unique armored vehicles. Update also brings a new location, Cradle of Mind, cool rewards for the Battle for Uranium brawls, and events in honor of April Fools’ Day, including the unique battle Toy Car Inside.”

Another union has popped up over at Activision Blizzard, the Activision User Research Union-CWA. This is an industry-wide union that anyone can join.

War Robots: Frontiers added its second post-launch mech with the Ravana, “a Defender-class War Robot that can save allies from destruction with its Guardian Matrix.”

The Finals Season 6 arrived: “The season brings new ways to compete, an updated arsenal to utilize when impressing the Sponsors, and more ways than ever to climb the ranks!”

Warcraft Rumble is adding Arthas the Lich King with Season 13:

Hearthstone: Into the Emerald Dream expansion set is now live:

ARK is selling 109 costumes based on the animated series:

Get a quick update on the state of EVE Online’s mining:

The MMO industry pumps out more and more news every year – no site could possibly cover everything. That’s why we gather together all the extras every week in The MOP Up, our weekly compilation of MMO info we don’t want lost in the cracks of time. Send us your news bits through our tips line!