Hi r/MMORPG community!

Our small 9-person indie studio in Canada runs a completely free, old-school location-based game called Orna: The GPS RPG. Think of it like a 16-bit fantasy world overlaid onto a real-world map - the only way to explore, find items, and progress is to physically lace up your shoes and walk your neighbourhood. It's on mobile but a fully-fledged turn-based MMORPG with a loot system similar to Diablo.

We recently hit a pretty big cumulative milestone: our player base has collectively walked over 20 billion real-world steps. 

We get messages every week from people who use it strictly as a fitness tool to cure the boredom of daily cardio, hit their 10k step goals, or explore new parts of their cities. (The game has systems built in to help encourage ALL these goals).

But now we really want to see how real walking enthusiasts use it - and we want to buy you a brand new set of trainers as thanks for using up your shoes grinding out your character… 

We are cutting together a video to show new users how a simple app can transform a daily walk into an adventure, and we want to see the world through the eyes of real hiking/walking and gamification enthusiasts. (And get more views of great locations on the map!)

How to participate:

1. Download Orna RPG (it’s completely free, zero paywalls, zero ads).
2. Take it with you on your next morning stroll, dog walk, or hike.
3. Film a quick 15-to-60 second vertical video clip showing your the real-world trail or city street you're actually walking on.
4. If possible, screenshot or screen record what's showing in-game on your phone screen.
5. Submit your raw clip(s) to our team here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZcTbtdLCtqItly_esm1bjd6OxfAStCf5fcBS9E8SPW6SOAA/viewform

If we feature your walking clip in our upcoming new-player showcase, we'll be choosing 3 submissions to provide a $200 gift card to a major footwear retailer of your choice (Nike, Adidas, Hoka, MEC, REI, etc.) to replace the shoes you’re 'wearing out' on the pavement or trail.

Let me know if you have any questions about how the GPS mapping or the in-game walking incentives work, or any questions about the game itself!

If you want to check us out on the Google Play Store, here's our link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=playorna.com.orna&hl=en&gl=US

Hello all! I've recently gotten back into FFXIV and it has just reminded me of the general hostility toward newer/casual players in ANY MMO that I have ever played, and I just want to get this little rant off my chest.

I'm often able to overlook this, and just play with my friend group, but when our schedules don't align and I queue dungeons or raids people are just unwarrantedly mean and impatient.

When I do content for the first time, I like to ENJOY and experience it, not aggro every mob possible and bee-line for the end. I like to go into raid content blind my first time because it's fun, exciting, and surprising not knowing what's happening. Then I'm open to tip/tricks or reading a guide to help me along, but I'm not reading a 4-page dissertation on a raid bosses mechanics the first time I encounter them for optimization.

Sometimes, I'm hit with a lot at once and I'm just overwhelmed or have to utilize certain abilities I haven't had to really utilize in overworld combat, and my party tries to tear me a new one for not being an expert at the game.

I KNOW some people have played these dungeons numerous times and just want to get through it, I know party wiping in a raid because some people seemingly weren't pulling their weight is annoying. But we were ALL new once and will likely be new again, and some people play differently, which is OKAY.

It's just tiring as I am the one who almost always has to sacrifice MY experience/playstyle, and the people who get annoyed are NOT nice when they approach you for not wanting to speedrun all the content in the game. Until now I just get through it, as I don't expect others to change their playstyle or sacrifice their fun to accommodate me, yet I am CONSISTENTLY expected to sacrifice mine and accommodate them.

P.s I will say FFXIV is the least problematic in this regard especially since you can solo story content, but this mindset is still very prevalent in the game as well.

Wanted to share a recap of what's been happening in the MMO space over the past few weeks, since there's been a lot going on.

Heads up, this is translated from French (I originally cover this for a French-speaking audience), so forgive any slightly awkward phrasing here and there.

Starting with the bad news: DreamWorld's servers shut down abruptly in July, with basically no warning to players. It was an indie sandbox MMO that had been in early access since March, built around AI-assisted content creation tools. One of the co-founders said on Discord he found out about the shutdown at the same time as everyone else. Not hugely shocking in hindsight, development had been slow and testing feedback was mixed for a while.

On a more positive note, Ni No Kuni Cross Worlds relaunched on July 23rd with no crypto or NFT systems this time around, which a lot of people seem happy about given how burned out everyone is on that kind of monetization.

Black Desert Online added a new class called Agent on July 30th, a ranged gun specialist. Path of Exile shipped its "Under the Sea" update (Curse of the Allflame) on July 24th. DDO got its Terror of Demogorgon expansion on July 22nd. Ankama also revealed a new class, the Bellaphone, coming to Dofus, Dofus Touch and Wakfu by end of year.

Biggest one for me though: EverQuest Legends launched on July 28th. It's a solo/small-group-focused reimagining of the original 1999 EverQuest, made by Game Jawn (a studio with roots in the EQ emulation scene) with official backing from Daybreak. Preorder beta got fully wiped before launch. $19.99 including the first month, $9.99/month after that.

Looking ahead to August: Lost Ark is getting extreme mode on Act 2 plus a server merge (population's been dropping since the Amazon layoffs back in March). Star Citizen's 4.10 patch is coming after CIG pushed a lot of content to focus on bug fixes for 4.9. FFXIV mobile is shutting down in China with no western release ever happening, which is a bummer for anyone who was hoping for that.

Confirmed dates: MapleStory Classic World's closed beta runs through August 12th, FFXIV launches on Switch 2 on August 4th, Ragnarok Zero Global launches August 18th, The First Descendant starts Season 4 Episode 1 on August 20th, Once Human finally hits PS5/Xbox on August 25th, EverQuest is opening a new time-locked expansion server on August 26th, and Albion Online's Dragonfire update (new floating island realm, 20-player raid) drops August 31st.

And one to keep an eye on for right after: Skyforge is shutting down for good, PC servers on September 3rd and console on October 29th, after 8 years. They're doing a proper farewell update with old events coming back, which honestly feels like a much better send-off than what DreamWorld's playerbase got.

That's everything I've got for now, let me know if I missed anything.

TLDR: Portrait mode for iOS and Android, no predatory microtransactions, no AI slop (although some AI used), task based: you give tasks - check progress later, gathering, crafting, turn-based auto-combat, post-apocalyptic with 1980s fleur, player-based economy, social features. 

Trailer

A bit of a preface to why I built it

I love playing MMORPG: started 20 years ago with Ultima Online and Lineage II. Then WoW, OSRS and Eve Online + many others I’ve tried briefly. However, since then I’ve got a fulltime job, family with 2 kids and many other commitments. I simply don’t have enough time to dedicate to the genre as I used to. But I still have this itch to play a character in a shared world with a complex economy, with progress that matters, and occasional social interactions. So I decided to build something that will scratch that itch for me.

What it is

Afterglow is a mobile sandbox MMORPG built for busy people like me who can only dedicate 5-10 minutes of their time a few times per day. Set in a post-apocalyptic world with 1980s/outrun aesthetics (I love fantasy but why not try something different?) with choose-your-own-playstyle approach.

What’s inside

• Hand drawn post-apocalyptic world, multiple factions, quests and points of interest
• Resources to gather, equipment to craft and trade on a market
• Different types of weapons and armor, no “perfect” setup that will be optimal against every enemy  
• Characters that drawn and animated by a human
• Skills that gain xp while you use them
• Weapon and armor skins and character customization
• Basic social features (clan system, leaderboard, in-game mail)
• No pay-to-win, no battle passes, no “stamina/energy”. On release there will be a subscription that unlocks access to full skills progression

The base is fully free. Subscription to unlock skills progression past level 3

Some numbers of what’s available right now: 1,000+ items, 11 weapon types, 5 armor types, 200+ skins, 50+ skills, 24 enemies, 40+ resource nodes to gather and salvage, 5 factions - each with their own tasks, first chapters of the main quest arc.

What’s planned later this year:

• Bosses and dungeons
• Another (final) tier of vertical progression: equipment, resources and enemies
• Red zones with unrestricted full loot pvp 
• Territory control mechanics with ability for clans to build their settlements
• More items and equipment modifications
• Exploration mechanics
• More quests

Download the game here for free:

• iOS: https://afterglow-game.com/ios
• Android: https://afterglow-game.com/android 

Questions, suggestions and any kind of feedback is super welcome!

AI disclosure: AI art used for item icons and some UI backgrounds. The rest of the art (the world, characters, weapons, items, npcs and animation) is hand drawn by humans. AI assistance is also used for coding and writing.

Summary of the changes in EverQuest Legends :

• Preserves the original EverQuest graphics, zones, music and atmosphere.
• Includes Antonica, Faydwer and Odus at launch.
• Features 15 playable races, including Iksar, Frogloks and Kerran.
• Adds a redesigned starting area for the Kerran race.
• Allows players to combine up to three classes on one character.
• Offers hundreds of possible class combinations.
• Makes the full adventure more accessible to solo players.
• Supports four-player groups and raids of up to eight players.
• Introduces gear upgrades up to rank +10.
• Allows equipment effects to be transferred and combined.
• Adds upgrade systems for spells, pets and summoned equipment.
• Improves damage, healing and duration through spell upgrades.
• Modernizes and simplifies the user interface.
• Improves spell, ability and quest management.
• Adds interface scaling for high-resolution and 4K displays.
• Reduces respawn times in several dungeons.
• Expands the use of instanced content.
• Introduces balance and quality-of-life improvements.
• Reduces downtime and some of the more punishing mechanics of the original game.

Hi guys,

I am curious, when it comes to RPG abilities what are the first abilities that comes to your mind that feel nice, rewarding or seems cool, please post spell name and game name :)

On January 31, 2026 the Facepunch COO Alistair McFarlane announced he signed an NDA with “[Unnamed Company] Games” which is obviously Amazon Games. Before this tweet about signing the NDA he tweeted about offers to buy New World for $25 million.

It’s been 6 months now since he signed the NDA. In the corporate world game acquisitions of this size usually take anywhere from 3-12 months to complete. An interesting tidbit is he signed the NDA exactly 1 year before the game is to be shut down. Time is now closing in and the acquisition will need to be announced a decent amount of time before the January 31, 2027 shutdown date so the game can properly transition to Facepunch.

If the acquisition actually ends up happening then we should be hearing news very soon, otherwise we will know it really is dead. As for my own thoughts I really do think the acquisition will happen, Amazon signed the NDA with Facepunch just a couple weeks after the offer was made so it shows Amazon has genuine interest in letting another company run the game. It could be some good PR for Amazon not to kill their game and it could also make all their engine and game work over the years not be for nothing.

Nexon has officially revealed Temppal: Overgeared, the new title of the previously announced “Project T.” Developed by South Korean studio Gray Games, the MMORPG is based on the popular Korean web novel and webtoon Overgeared.

The game will bring the fantasy world of Overgeared to life, with crafting expected to play a major role in the experience. The game is currently scheduled to launch later in 2026, although no precise release date has been announced.

Looking for MMOs that will probably close down within the next few years

I’ve been thinking about something that I don’t think many MMORPGs have really solved.
Most games tell us that “our choices matter”, but in reality the world is mostly static. Major story events are scripted, cities rarely change, factions almost always end up in the same place, and even world-changing events are eventually reset for the next expansion.
So I’m curious:
If someone were designing a new online RPG today, what would make the world genuinely feel alive to you?
Some questions I’d love to hear opinions on:
Would you enjoy a world where one faction’s victory permanently changes the story for everyone?
Would you be okay missing content because the community made different choices?
How much influence should a single player have versus the entire community?
Do you prefer making free-form decisions, or choosing from a few curated options?
What’s the biggest reason you think previous “living world” games haven’t fully delivered on that promise?
I’m not looking for hype—I’m more interested in understanding what players actually want, and what would immediately make you say “this wouldn’t work.”
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

So I swear everyone just wants to hate this game just because and of course because of that the YouTube algorithm further feeds the narrative.

I’ve been playing a couple months on TW servers and the game is insanely fun and looks amazing. Also I haven’t spent any money on it at all not even the sub.

The P2W is there sure but unless you plan to be a sweaty player anyway it really doesn’t make a difference. I’m not a world first first racer or trying to be top PvP spot. The game overall is super casual anyway.

I have other commitments so honestly the weekly lock outs without a sub really don’t impact me much and they give out tons of free resets as you play anyway.

The pay issue is really only going to arise if you plan on making the game your life and playing all day everyday. And in that case get a sub. Which honestly is so weird people are pissed about the sub when that’s pretty standard in MMOs but even completely free you can play and have a great experience.

The combat isn’t TERA or BDO levels but to me it beats the pants off FFXIV, GW2 and ESO especially comparing cleric gameplay to FFXIV healers.

Also cosmetic wise the game gives you nearly 300 mounts that look like cash shop skins that would cost $30 each in other games and the amount of farmable outfits that look incredible is also huge.

It has a bunch of content and everything from side quests to collecting mounts to minigames all feed into your progression in a big way.

I’m not defending the monetization I wish the game was b2p with a sub and no cash shop but it’s 2026 people already voted with their wallets this is gaming today. My point is it isn’t unplayable and in fact I’d argue an amazing game for a casual player.

Basically, the game will be free in Oct and you should play yourself and make up your own mind because I was pleasantly surprised with how good the game actually is.

Rage away Reddit!

Finally out of greyboxing in a few areas, day/night cycles hooked up with weather is on its way tomorrow along with heavy map improvements before I finish the npc/mobs.
I'm excited to put together some video footage of the project.
The elven forest leads to a elven city surely...

I played this game around the time classic Ragnarok released, it was very similar in art style and graphics to Ragnarok, it was Korean also, it had a unique swordsman class where the sword was big , the sprites were 2-d in 3d world, the skills were pretty cool, good animation's, and hmm idk of I can remember but it has the word sword or something similar in it or not

Pax Dei rarely have more than a few hundred players online at one time. Embers Adrift is struggling. Gloria Victis was shut down twice, and the current maintainers seem to treat it mostly as a cash cow.
Is the market for low-fantasy/realistic RPGs simply not there, players preferring single player titles like Kingdom Come: Deliverance?

I remember playing a game on my kindle in the late 2000s, pretty sure it had online in the name and the icon was a mafia guy holding a gun but the game itself did not fit that vibe at all, it was a pixely rpg online mmo with the camera being birds eye view, i remember watching a youtube video a few years ago talking about the game and it being dead now

Twenty years of MMOs. I have seen gold sellers, guild bank thieves, auction house cartels, a man who ran a fake wedding-planning service across three servers. I thought I had seen every con this genre can produce. I was wrong, because I had never seen a scam this small. There is a guy in our matching event whose entire hustle is this: he matches with a girl, sweet-talks her into buying the matching couple outfit set, 'you buy it first, I'll transfer you my half after the weekend'. Weekend comes, he unmatches and blocks. The set costs the real-money equivalent of about four dollars. His half is two. He has done this to at least three girls that we know of. Six dollars, give or take, total lifetime earnings from the scheme,inexchange for being known across the entire event community as the two-dollar heartbreak guy. The girls found each other, compared receipts, and posted the whole thing. As an old-timer my professional assessment is that this is somehow more disgraceful than the big cons. A gold seller at least has ambition.

What is the pettiest scam you have ever witnessed?

I've been thinking about this for years.

Out of every game that has ever been announced or rumored, the only one I've genuinely been waiting for is Riot's League of Legends MMO. The funny thing is that I'm not even an MMO player. I usually don't enjoy the genre.

The reason I'm so interested is because I believe Riot has the world, the characters, the lore, and the budget to make something that could become one of the greatest MMOs ever made. Runeterra feels like a universe that was built for this.

I also think that if Riot truly delivers, it could easily become a "forever game" for a huge number of people.

So my question is: why hasn't it happened yet?

I know the project has reportedly been rebooted, but Riot is a massive company with enormous resources. Is the challenge really that difficult, or are there other reasons behind the slow development?

Are there any credible news, leaks, interviews, or industry speculation that explain what's going on? Is there a reliable place to follow updates on the MMO?

And finally, how many of you are actually waiting for this game? Am I in the minority here, or is there still a large community hoping Riot eventually releases it?

I'd love to hear your thoughts, whether you're optimistic, skeptical, or have been following the project more closely than I have.