Top 3 trending MMOs

Introduction:

Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games have been the dominion of level grinders, role players and dungeon diving fanatics ever since they came into existence. As the trend began to rise, new mechanics of raid bosses, pvp, rare loot drops, pets, mounts, companions and base building were well accepted by the community. We are all familiar with the worlds of the evergreen World of Warcraft, the undying Runescape, the community’s champion Guild Wars 2, the massive expanses of Eve Online, the FPS extravagant Planetside 2, the rng madness Maplestory, the sci-fi elite Star Wars: The Old Republic, the niche Elder Scrolls online and the aesthetically pleasing Final fantasy XIV which have persevered throughout the ages. Recent launches of visually pleasing MMOs like Black Desert Online, Lost Ark and New World have had their moments as well and still have a consistent player base.

However we are not here to indulge in these glorious titles but to shed a light on the ones making their way up into being considered as one of the elites. These are some of the recently released titles whose fate shall be decided as the time passes by and how well they respond to their communities. Without further ado I present to you a list of the top 3 MMOs that are well received these days thanks to a sudden interest from the gaming community due to maybe events that surround them or just their appeal in general.

1. Blue Protocol

This is an MMO developed by Bandai Namco, publishers of well known and well received titles such as Tekken, Dark Souls and Armored Core. Currently it’s only available in Japan and will be released worldwide in 2024. The game is hosted on a planet known as Regnas and the player spawns as a spectre that is encountered by a horde of enemies, upon defeating them you are then pacified by Carvain. After the character creation you then meet your companion Feste from here on you start your journey. Blue protocol has a variety of new features the most interesting one is the Echoes. Echoes are companions that aid you in battles and can be crafted from materials dropped by the enemies you defeat. The fighting playstyle is smooth and the world is alluring. There are ways by which you can play the game over VPN but might as well wait as it could lead to an account ban.

2. Fallout 76

With the recent release of the TV series on Amazon that goes by the name Fallout, there has been a recent spike in the amount of players that have returned to Fallout 76. It had an unsteady launch but since then it has improved over the years and since it’s a Bethesda game you can undoubtedly expect one of the nicest communities to help you start with the game. The game is based on a fictional representation of the map of West Virginia called Appalachia. The game starts off with the player being the last person to wake up in vault 76, inspecting the Overseer’s terminal leads you to discover that the Overseer has left the Vault on her own expedition. The first establishment the player comes across is The Wayward, a small bar where you are assigned a task to take out a gang leader, well unless you choose to ignore the place entirely since there is no predefined path to follow. The player will encounter random events that might trigger quests apart from the main, daily and event quests. Apart from this there is a mission that needs to be completed to unlock expeditions, which are missions that take you to different locations apart from the main map. Missions can be completed solo or as a party. If you are familiar with V.A.T.S then there is a slight change in the game since the map has other players running around the game can no longer be slowed down. Hence in this game it functions as an aim assist tool that consumes AP.

3. Palia

The game is named after the world itself, a beautiful place with a community of NPCs all over the place that follow certain routines. As you start and make your way down to the village you will be greeted by NPCs that will take you to a plot of land and assign you the rights to it. You can clear the land and build your home and workshops over here. They also have in game players whose assistance can be of great help, may it be via the requests you put out for materials that you require or something that requires a little bit of team effort that hastens the process and shares the drops with everyone participating. There are a lot of activities that are just purely stress busters in this game. Apart from that the NPCs also favour specific gifts, react to your choice when communicating and also commission tasks that the player can complete at their home or by collecting stuff. There are dungeons with puzzles that the player has to figure out to understand the story behind the world itself. Special events quests that unlock unique storylines are fulfilling. All in all a great game that makes you feel relaxed and help you calm down after a stressful day.

Fallout 76 – Mistress of Mystery

Introduction:

Fallout 76 has a fair share of quests some of which even need to be replayed in order to experience all the different scenarios. Other quests are dailies and events. Among all of them some are considered to be critically acclaimed by the community and we will be delving into the most interesting quest called the Mistress of Mystery. This quest is part of the Faction quests for the Order of Mysteries and is the last quest of the entire chain. The questline can be activated upon discovering the dead corpse of a young women on whom we find a damaged Holotape and a Worn Veil belonging to the Order of Mysteries. The corpse is part of randomly encountered events and can be found at various locations across Appalachia.


The Mission

After successfully completing Seeker of Mysteries the player is finally able to access the Headmistress’ office. It’s finally time for some clarity on this whole mess of events that occurred. Going back to a cryptos terminal you will finally get to access it as Olivia and authorize access to the Headmistress’ office. A hand scan terminal outside the office grants the player access to her cabin and upon accessing the terminal and reading the message sent by Olivia we finally find out that she came across members of the order gossiping about how they knew they were suspicious about her. She confesses to killing them and how she then wanted to get rid of the entire order, with a final message to her mother suggesting that meet at the usual spot they used to meet on the day of her birthday.


The Final Events:

At this point you will unlock the optional quest to search for clues regarding the meeting place, which can be found on Olivia’s terminal using her credentials. A new location marker appears on the map just north of your current location known as Seneca Rocks. Once you reach the place you will find the dead bodies of Olivia and her mother, the headmistress Shannon Rivers. Upon interacting with them you find the Holotape that has the recording of the final moments between the two of them. You can initially hear Shannon requesting disclosure and her daughter explaining how she was tired of the way they were operating. Olivia ends up killing her mother with the help of Brody, a raider who was assigned the task of doing away with the entire order. At the end he betrays Olivia finally putting an end to the entire Order of Mysteries.


Conclusion:

Now if we go back to the cryptos terminal we can finally login as Headmistress Shannon Rivers. You can access a few new things and promote yourself to the rank of Mistress of Mystery. The Holotape that you receive has an entry of Shannon delivering her final message, welcoming you as a full fledged member of the Order and briefly describing her reasons for the order. Apparently she had high hopes for Olivia and could not stand what her daughter had turned into at the end.

Fallout 76 – Billy Beltbuckles & Atlantic City’s Tax Evasion

Introduction:

The latest update to one of the most popular MMO by Bethesda introduces an entire new expedition location in the game. Atlantic City – Boardwalk Paradise, released in December of 2023 as an expansion to the current map of the game introduces an entire new region and characters for the players to interact with that can be accessed via the expeditions section on the map. Players will require access to the vertibirds as a prerequisite in case they haven’t unlocked them yet. To go to Atlantic city simply open the map and in the expeditions menu select Atlantic City.

Once you get to the new area you will come across quite a few prominent NPCs such as Salvatore AKA Sticky Fingers, Buttercup, Juchi and Jullian Batsuuri, Mother Charlotte and Veracio Cruz who have their own quests that they will assign to the players upon speaking to them. We are not here to talk about them but rather focus on the most interesting quest of them all which is none other than Atlantic City: Tax Evasion. Before proceeding to the mission area make sure that you have tons of ammo and have carried all your correct equipment. This mission may involve defending target areas from a number of waves and having your best equipment will also allow you to complete the missions in a timely manner earning you bonuses at the end.


The Mission:

On your first playthrough you will receive a notification for the mission and will have to head over to the Casino Entrance where you will find a showman holding an NPC at gunpoint. After getting a little bit closer and inspecting the scene we find out that the person who is on his knees is none other than Billy Beltbuckles AKA William, the Mafia’s accountant. Upon eavesdropping on the conversation we find out that the showman is apparently sent by Mother Charlotte to collect her dues from the accountant that the Mafia owes her. We also find out that the Atlantic City Municipal Government is after them as well for the same reason. Upon listening to his whole ordeal we find out that the Mafia cannot help him with his worries and he needs an external source to help him with his problems.

The mission itself is divided into three different phases. First two phases are randomly assigned from a predefined list of missions, whereas the last phase always involves saving Billy from Buttercup. At first we will be assigned a mission from the following:

  • Disable a jammer whilst defending against a wave of showmen.
  • Put down some auditors that spawn around the map.
  • Destroy some evidence by throwing them in trucks whilst dealing with some tax auditors.

As soon as we are done with the set of tasks we are contacted by Billy and summoned to the Neapolitan Casino where we are assigned can be assigned the following missions:

  • Find a vault and swap caps with casino chips
  • Roam around the casino till we find all the bugged locations and destroy the planted devices using a proximity tracker
  • Find and hack a set of terminals used for accounting purposes that have compromising data on them

Bonus rewards will be allocated provided you completed the phases within the time limit. Once the two phases are complete you will receive an emergency call from Billy requesting immediate assistance at the Quentino’s Nightclub. Mission objective changes to save Billy from Buttercup. The place is packed with Munis so make sure you have sufficient ammo. Buttercup himself will be in a suit of Power Armor next to Billy who is tied up.


Ending:

Once you have taken care of the enemies and saved Billy he thanks you only to inform you to be ready for the same set of events for the following week as well. Also if you managed to complete Sal’s missions along the way speak with him as well. Finally head out and make your way to the vertibird that you and your friends arrived in. Speak with Lennox to finally end the expedition.