Its nice to have your own list and i can't say its bad or stupid list becouse its your list your personal favored list of mmo's.
But you still put this on mmorpg.com and share it with all of us and we are aloud to give hour opinion about your personal list of 10 most favorite mmo's.
Well is realy bad list and again top aaa titles at first 4 spots makes this whole topic supicieus the least.
You say you play 11 years mmo's but started with UO that you played for short while then say you realy started with ac2, what in between UO and AC2 3years you.ve played?
And if you pop in most mmo's from time to time only to see whats happen you dont realy play that game right i think you realy dont play mmo's and like those games at all, you just bought it and when next best thing comes along you jump on next wagon.
What mmo you have realy realy played and still played extensively?
I think none, accept maybe ac2 if it was not closed down.
If im al wrong in my analyse sorry, then be more clear and open then now, i would have believed you now i have my doubs.
This topic is in my eyes a rather failor sorry for saying.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009..... In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
EVE is the PhD of not only MMOs but of all PC Gaming, any list without EVE is deeply flawed.
1/10
Thats rather bold statement the least, your reply is far from PhD level, not only is it very wrong one, its also very undemocratic saying if you dont like my idea your not aloud to your opinion.
He prolly dont like spacegames but more into fantasy so EVE did not make his list whats wrong with that lol.
This is his personal list so your reply is total failor.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009..... In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
Maybe you should just go do PR for MMOs by AAA companies instead of claiming to list the top ten MMOs.
NO SUCH CLAIM WAS MADE.
What is it with you people and your inability to recognize an editorial piece?
This definitely is one of those articles where you have to question mmorpg.com's integrity.
No, actually....this is one of those articles where you have to question the INTELLIGENCE of the MMORPG.com community of readers (or people who CLAIM to be able to read, rather).
Sure they have to keep on good terms with mmo developers, but really poor articles like this do no good for the site.
There isn't even an attempt at objectivity. Eg.
Opinion/editorial pieces...don't require "objectivity." This isn't a news item. It's an opinion column.
Age of Conan was a title I was ready to love from the moment I heard about it. I'm a Robert E. Howard fan, and the chance to play in his world was very tempting. And while the game initially underwhelmed, Funcom has done everything they can to bring it up to par in the two years since its launch. The forthcoming expansion, with its focus on lateral character development as opposed to simply raising the level cap among a slew of other updates is just one more reason among many that Age of Conan is currently my most-played title.
Why is this MMO at position 3?
Because the writer...you know...the one who WROTE the article, is writing his OPINION and that IS his OPINION. That's why.
the author is a Robert E. Howard fan (subjective)
Funcom screwed up the launch but they've been trying to fix it (who cares? This isn't a top-10 for effort list)
there's an expansion coming (newsflash - this isn't the first mmo to release an expansion)
they have "lateral character development" - whatever that means (how does this earn it position 3?????)
Not one of mmorpg.com's finer moments....
Not one of MMORPG.com community's finer moments of showing their massive intellectual capacity to discern rightly the intent and foundation of an article.
Opinion/editorial pieces...don't require "objectivity." This isn't a news item. It's an opinion column.
Scroll up to the top of the page. Look at what section of the forums we're in.
It's News Discussion.
Mmmm....
And even if you want to treat it entirely as an "opinion" piece, it was posted to generate discussion. You can't argue with an opinion or personal taste. I like apples. You can't argue that I'm wrong about that. But then again who cares about my liking apples?
This really is a poorly written article. Half of the reasons he gave for Conan being at number 3 are completely absurd and the only potentially objective reason - i.e. something worthy of discussion - is inadequately described.
This really is a poorly written article. Half of the reasons he gave for Conan being at number 3 are completely absurd and the only potentially objective reason - i.e. something worthy of discussion - is inadequately described.
Seems he did exactly what he set out to do..generate a discussion:)
It was his list, and the games that made the list are what he liked. Was not a list of the best triple AAA, nor most popular, just the games that he liked the best.
Some i can agree on, others i can not, but hey, it is not my list now is it?:)
It was his list, and the games that made the list are what he liked. Was not a list of the best triple AAA, nor most popular, just the games that he liked the best.
But it wasn't just a list - it was an article.
I would, for example, put Ryzom in my top 10 list. Some of the reasons for that would be somewhat objective, but shared by many other mmo'ers so worthy of mention - because if I like those things then others who like them too might like Ryzom and might go and try it.
For example, Ryzom has an open skill system with no classes, but gear restrictions prevent players from using all of their skills simultaneously at maximum effectiveness which means that typical mmo type roles still apply. But rather than needing to create and separately play and level alts to experience different roles (if you want to) you can do it all with one character.
Some people won't care about that or might prefer typical class-based games - but there's actual information about the game there.
And just casting an eye back over the other games in his list, some of his attempts to provide real information are just plain wrong. From City of Heroes:
While its user-base has certainly shrunk in recent years, there is still a very faithful group of followers who keep the game thriving and fun to explore.
Shrunk? Certainly? Really?!
I know he's curiously put Champions Online ahead of CoH but that's no reason to go making stuff like this up. Unlike CO, CoH publicly report their number of subscribers. Their numbers dipped after WoW released and then suddenly peaked again at the end of 2005 (coinciding with the release of City of Villains) and declined during 2006. Some players tried it, finished it, and moved on.
Igoring the 05/06 spike - which boosted their subscriber base by a massive 25% - their subscription numbers are now, compared to pre CoV, almost the same. By comparison Age of Conan numbers plummted post launch and are now lower than CoH's.
What has happened on CoH is a general migration towards 2 of their 8 servers. If you played on any of the 6 less populated servers you might think the user-base had "certainly shrunk" but not if you looked at any actual data.
Maybe you should just go do PR for MMOs by AAA companies instead of claiming to list the top ten MMOs.
NO SUCH CLAIM WAS MADE.
What is it with you people and your inability to recognize an editorial piece?
This definitely is one of those articles where you have to question mmorpg.com's integrity.
No, actually....this is one of those articles where you have to question the INTELLIGENCE of the MMORPG.com community of readers (or people who CLAIM to be able to read, rather).
Sure they have to keep on good terms with mmo developers, but really poor articles like this do no good for the site.
There isn't even an attempt at objectivity. Eg.
Opinion/editorial pieces...don't require "objectivity." This isn't a news item. It's an opinion column.
Age of Conan was a title I was ready to love from the moment I heard about it. I'm a Robert E. Howard fan, and the chance to play in his world was very tempting. And while the game initially underwhelmed, Funcom has done everything they can to bring it up to par in the two years since its launch. The forthcoming expansion, with its focus on lateral character development as opposed to simply raising the level cap among a slew of other updates is just one more reason among many that Age of Conan is currently my most-played title.
Why is this MMO at position 3?
Because the writer...you know...the one who WROTE the article, is writing his OPINION and that IS his OPINION. That's why.
the author is a Robert E. Howard fan (subjective)
Funcom screwed up the launch but they've been trying to fix it (who cares? This isn't a top-10 for effort list)
there's an expansion coming (newsflash - this isn't the first mmo to release an expansion)
they have "lateral character development" - whatever that means (how does this earn it position 3?????)
Not one of mmorpg.com's finer moments....
Not one of MMORPG.com community's finer moments of showing their massive intellectual capacity to discern rightly the intent and foundation of an article.
Opinion/editorial pieces...don't require "objectivity." This isn't a news item. It's an opinion column.
Scroll up to the top of the page. Look at what section of the forums we're in.
It's News Discussion.
Mmmm....
And even if you want to treat it entirely as an "opinion" piece, it was posted to generate discussion. You can't argue with an opinion or personal taste. I like apples. You can't argue that I'm wrong about that. But then again who cares about my liking apples?
This really is a poorly written article. Half of the reasons he gave for Conan being at number 3 are completely absurd and the only potentially objective reason - i.e. something worthy of discussion - is inadequately described.
I once read an opinion piece in a publication claiming to be a NEWSpaper. Like you say, such an obvious black stain on their integrity as journalists. This is why I won't read either the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. Any so called 'news'paper with an opinion piece, obviously an amateur production.
Why don't you show us how a real journalist would do it. Please reply to show all these people how your opinion is entirely based on facts alone. Please show us the definitive news article which proves conclusively which order they should go in. Please. You hold the secret nexus between fact and opinion.
It's pretty much impossible to rate any Game you've barely played, or have not played at all...Especially an MMO, which take months and months to get to the end game...Then more time still for raiding, crafting, alts., etc...So I'm not too bothered by any Game left off the Author's list because obviously no one man can play every MMO...There's simply not enough time to do so...
I've played a lot of MMO's...But not even close to all of them...I can do a Top 5...I've never played WOW, but I can understand why it would normally be #1 on many lists...I should also mention I'm almost exclusively a PvE Player...
For Me it's...
1. LOTRO - By far the best all-around MMO I've played...I'm woking on My 3rd Level Capped Toon and I never get bored of it...Graphics, Questing, story, content, crafting, community...LOTRO has it all for a PvE Player...
2. AoC - SO much better now that it's mostly cleaned up...Awesome looking Game...Can't wait for the expansion to come out...
3. Vanguard - Incredible depth, nice visuals. It was SO broken at launch it really had no chance. But the Game had massive potential...It's still a lot of fun for me when I pop in every now and again...
4. EQ II - Solid all around Game...
5. SWG (CU was my favorite version) - My 1st MMO...I know most Folks don't agree...But even at times during the NGE I had a blast on SWG...The Community aspect during the Pre CU-Cu time was the most fun I've ever had Gaming...When you're a Combat centered Player and you find yourself spending hours on end just talking and cutting up with Guildies, or simply decorating your House well...I HAVE to admit they did something right at SOE...They just made a few BIG, HUGE, MASSIVE, CRITICAL mistakes...lol...Oh well...I still miss it from time to time...
I started with AC2 as well. Even though it was seriously buggy and incomplete at launch it was immersive and fun to play. I really wish they hadn't closed up shop because now I want to play it again.
As far as current MMO's I seem to have a distaste for almost all of them. They all seem to repeat the same path where they hype up up to get you excited then fail to deliver the total package due to lacking content, concept failures and slow fixes. Aion was the lastest on my quit list even though I played it long after my guild left for other things mostly because I had nothing better to do. Just that it wasn't fun and felt more like a chore to play. Not that I'm casual and hate working for things it's just like that was all the game had to offer. Huge time sinks with you tied down to a random number generator.
Warhammer was before Aion. I have to say that was probably the more disappointing one because it looks so good on paper and the world is really well done. Not that it was bad it was just that they messed up with the RvR. Would have been much better with 3 realms as I'm sure has been brought up many times. They were also too slow to react to gamebreaking abilites/bugs. Before you know it a year has passed and 3/4 of the subscriber base has left because RvR was more aggrivating than fun.
Well, not to cover every game I've played for the last decade but WAR brings me to the point as to why I'm sitting here not playing a MMO even though its my genre. No matter how much you like a MMO it's really only fun if you have lots of people there to enjoy it with and a active community. Case in point is a game like AoC that fumbled at launch but have made some nice changes since. I go back to give it a try again and promptly quit a week later. Why? Because the game is barren and I don't want to play a MMO like one would a single-player RPG. It's the same for like most of the games on the authors list. I guess I'll never really get back into a MMO long-term until a company can put out a product at launch that can retain customers. I know that's easier said than done but I think we're all getting tired of the treand of starting off big and flopping hard shorlty after takeoff which has happened in almost every mainstream game the last 5 years or so.
I've played EVE Online as a trial and that was an awesome game I wouldn't mind going back to play it though after my 14 day is over but I gotta wait for my paycheck to come in.
Shoot, if I had to come up with a top 10 all time favorites of my own, its difficult but they'd be in this order.
10. EQ
9. AO
8. Seed - Just for its strangeness and non-combat roleplay heavy stance
7. Matrix Online- Had some fun times in that and roleplay was excellent as well as the roleplay events
6. EQ2-yes I was the barbarian Shadow Knight running around spouting off on GUK/Toxxulia
5. WOW-i take it with a grain of salt and rarely touch it, am usually forced to play by my sister and borther in law.
4. Eve Online-Brilliant Sci-fi World, dazzling environment, fell asleep mining alot, but it had potential I just couldn't stick past it
3. Star Trek Online- I know people really don't like it, but hey i'm an original trekkie what can i say if it was a big pile of shit in the shape of the enterprise 1701-A i would still fly it...
2. Star Wars Galaxies CU, NGE and onwarrds-I sorta fell off the wagon not long after NGE arrived on the scene like most people...being the last member of a 4-500 man guild still playing does that to you...
1. Star Wars Galaxies Pre-CU-- It had it all for me, what more is there to say...roleplay, combat, mystery of jedi, roleplay, community, crafting my gawd what a game...
Well, not to cover every game I've played for the last decade but WAR brings me to the point as to why I'm sitting here not playing a MMO even though its my genre. No matter how much you like a MMO it's really only fun if you have lots of people there to enjoy it with and a active community. Case in point is a game like AoC that fumbled at launch but have made some nice changes since. I go back to give it a try again and promptly quit a week later. Why? Because the game is barren and I don't want to play a MMO like one would a single-player RPG. It's the same for like most of the games on the authors list. I guess I'll never really get back into a MMO long-term until a company can put out a product at launch that can retain customers. I know that's easier said than done but I think we're all getting tired of the treand of starting off big and flopping hard shorlty after takeoff which has happened in almost every mainstream game the last 5 years or so.
It's difficult to determine what you mean by retain customers -- if you were a WoW fanboi and that was your bar, then you argument would make sense. But you're not, so it really, to use your own word, flops.
I won't be too verbose here and will try to cut to the chase.
OK, sure, subscriptions got up and down for a variety of reasons.
The case in point you mention, AoC, is on fire right now -- I don't know when you returned for a week, but on my server, Set, the population is quite good and growing all the time -- you can expect AoC to really take off like a rocket when the RotG Expansion goes live 11 May.
I'll mentiion one more MMO that's also doing well by any standard -- LotRO -- this casual friendly, lore accurate, content abundent MMO continues to please long time and new players which are very happy to be part of what is arguably the best MMO community in the hobby.
I could go on, but I'll stop here.
Lets just say that the author here expressed his own views -- we can agree or disagree -- It starts the discussion with his opinion and, like noses, everybody has their own.
I played world of Warcraft for about a half an hour, Trickster just dominotes over fighting eachother, with that much said, it loses becase it only has 4.4Gigabytes. It really needs to be a hard drive or Trickster two crafted around Gazillionaire. Fighting itself is as bad as anything. Especially limited powers and dudes in oldy costumes. Hiding out is supposed to be for stealing things, not because everyone else finds your gameplay shameful. Thats the opposite motivation. When they say P2P, I assume you can hack the server to death, not a client server relationship where you play for pennies per hour.
I think lists like this really spotlight just how bad the genre is right now when FIVE of the top TEN games first 12-18 months can be summed up as:
Closing over half of their game servers
Losing hundreds of thousands of players (Millions when combined)
Closing down entirely
Even beyond that we have to go back 6-12 years just to fill up empty spots.
I understand these are your personal choices, but in order to fill up 10 spots on a list it really shows how low we as mmo gamers have to set our standards just to be able to name 10 games.
Very true...
Well I'll try to make a list...
1. Ultima Online
2. Darkfall
3. Age of Conan
4. EVE
5. DAoC
6. AC
7. SWG
8. EQ
9. WoW
10. bleh... this is hard.. can't think of anything else...
Oh shit.. GW's should but near the top dunno were to put it though.. ekk!
I haven't played as many mmo as alot of you, so I will list and rank ONLY the ones I have played.
1. Everquest----The best community of all in list. My first mmo and the one I compare all the others to. Played 7 years and still return from time to time. It requires hardcore gaming to stay on top of the game. Unless you have ALOT of time, don't start this game. It takes years to master. Game really requires grouping and raiding to accomplish alot. It has alot of mature/older players. This isn't a game you can casually play and enjoy. It is possible now to solo better than when it first came out. The layout of the guilds was outstanding and no other game can compare to it. I wish the game was more colorful and had better graphics for the characters/armor. Compared to most, it now pretty much falls short.
2. WoW---Fun, easy to level, love the graphics. Doesn't require much time to play. You can be a casual player and still have fun. This game seems to have alot of younger people playing. I still play this from time to time,
3. Aion---Fun to play. Characters can fly and easy to level. I didn't play it long, but will return at some point.
4. Warhammer Online----I wouldn't play again. It was so boring. I did max out my levels and raids were ok but BORING.
5. Age of Conan---THE WORST MMO I HAVE PLAYED. This game simply SUX. Once you max level your character, game is over. There simply is nothing to do.
There is a reason why it is called "Bill's Top Ten P2P MMOs" and not "The Best Top Ten MMOs" it's opinionated and was meant to be. This goes one step further than the usual "this game blows" "this game rocks" shit you see everyday on the forums. He actually *gasp* I know it! Explains why his choices are his choices.
While I don't agree with the choices he has made, it is just that, his choices. And while it pains me to see WoW #1 in someone's eyes I know that 6mil+ see WoW as #1 in their eyes.
Overall thanks for the explanations gives me a taste or a look rather inside the MMO part of Bill's brain.
Fair enough, but what is the value in Bill's or Ted's or Fred's top 10 list if it is just that, their fav 10 games? Any top 10 list has to be the composers attempt at an objective listing or it is of zero value to the world. And in that context the list was a total joke and should never have been offered as content on a gaming website.
What's the value? For one thing, it seems to generate a lot of thought and feedback with people giving their own ideas --- isn't that what a forum is about? I like to see people talk about their connection to games, not hear what they imagine others might be thinking/doing.
Let's see, a top ten list could be ---- a) my own personal experience with the games; b) my idea of which games are better based on some external (to me) objective/subjective criteria (which no two people in these forums could possibly agree on, as we can't even agree on what "immersion" is; OR c) a complete fabrication made up to cater to the game companies.
I submit that someone's idea of what the criteria should be is CONSIDERABLY less interesting than a discussion of the games themselves. Maybe just me, I admit. The only way to do (b) is to have a poll I guess. Bleh.
(c) I think one could make a stab at guessing whether the columnist is just an outright shill to the game companies in his choices. Has he selected games and the order to appease producers who support MMORPG with advertising. OK, I don't care to pursue that. It looks like a dead end.
So I am left with (a). His opinion. And you know, that is what I want to hear --- from anyone. A non-personal top ten list of anything must necessarily be associated with a poll or vote of some kind. This isn't that kind, clearly labelled. And it got me thinking a little and was curious to see other people's ideas. Works for me.
Comments
Its nice to have your own list and i can't say its bad or stupid list becouse its your list your personal favored list of mmo's.
But you still put this on mmorpg.com and share it with all of us and we are aloud to give hour opinion about your personal list of 10 most favorite mmo's.
Well is realy bad list and again top aaa titles at first 4 spots makes this whole topic supicieus the least.
You say you play 11 years mmo's but started with UO that you played for short while then say you realy started with ac2, what in between UO and AC2 3years you.ve played?
And if you pop in most mmo's from time to time only to see whats happen you dont realy play that game right i think you realy dont play mmo's and like those games at all, you just bought it and when next best thing comes along you jump on next wagon.
What mmo you have realy realy played and still played extensively?
I think none, accept maybe ac2 if it was not closed down.
If im al wrong in my analyse sorry, then be more clear and open then now, i would have believed you now i have my doubs.
This topic is in my eyes a rather failor sorry for saying.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
Thats rather bold statement the least, your reply is far from PhD level, not only is it very wrong one, its also very undemocratic saying if you dont like my idea your not aloud to your opinion.
He prolly dont like spacegames but more into fantasy so EVE did not make his list whats wrong with that lol.
This is his personal list so your reply is total failor.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
Opinion/editorial pieces...don't require "objectivity." This isn't a news item. It's an opinion column.
Scroll up to the top of the page. Look at what section of the forums we're in.
It's News Discussion.
Mmmm....
And even if you want to treat it entirely as an "opinion" piece, it was posted to generate discussion. You can't argue with an opinion or personal taste. I like apples. You can't argue that I'm wrong about that. But then again who cares about my liking apples?
This really is a poorly written article. Half of the reasons he gave for Conan being at number 3 are completely absurd and the only potentially objective reason - i.e. something worthy of discussion - is inadequately described.
Seems he did exactly what he set out to do..generate a discussion:)
It was his list, and the games that made the list are what he liked. Was not a list of the best triple AAA, nor most popular, just the games that he liked the best.
Some i can agree on, others i can not, but hey, it is not my list now is it?:)
But it wasn't just a list - it was an article.
I would, for example, put Ryzom in my top 10 list. Some of the reasons for that would be somewhat objective, but shared by many other mmo'ers so worthy of mention - because if I like those things then others who like them too might like Ryzom and might go and try it.
For example, Ryzom has an open skill system with no classes, but gear restrictions prevent players from using all of their skills simultaneously at maximum effectiveness which means that typical mmo type roles still apply. But rather than needing to create and separately play and level alts to experience different roles (if you want to) you can do it all with one character.
Some people won't care about that or might prefer typical class-based games - but there's actual information about the game there.
And just casting an eye back over the other games in his list, some of his attempts to provide real information are just plain wrong. From City of Heroes:
While its user-base has certainly shrunk in recent years, there is still a very faithful group of followers who keep the game thriving and fun to explore.
Shrunk? Certainly? Really?!
I know he's curiously put Champions Online ahead of CoH but that's no reason to go making stuff like this up. Unlike CO, CoH publicly report their number of subscribers. Their numbers dipped after WoW released and then suddenly peaked again at the end of 2005 (coinciding with the release of City of Villains) and declined during 2006. Some players tried it, finished it, and moved on.
Igoring the 05/06 spike - which boosted their subscriber base by a massive 25% - their subscription numbers are now, compared to pre CoV, almost the same. By comparison Age of Conan numbers plummted post launch and are now lower than CoH's.
What has happened on CoH is a general migration towards 2 of their 8 servers. If you played on any of the 6 less populated servers you might think the user-base had "certainly shrunk" but not if you looked at any actual data.
I once read an opinion piece in a publication claiming to be a NEWSpaper. Like you say, such an obvious black stain on their integrity as journalists. This is why I won't read either the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. Any so called 'news'paper with an opinion piece, obviously an amateur production.
Why don't you show us how a real journalist would do it. Please reply to show all these people how your opinion is entirely based on facts alone. Please show us the definitive news article which proves conclusively which order they should go in. Please. You hold the secret nexus between fact and opinion.
no anarchy online, no dark age of camelot, no everquest, dude get out of here with that list.
It's pretty much impossible to rate any Game you've barely played, or have not played at all...Especially an MMO, which take months and months to get to the end game...Then more time still for raiding, crafting, alts., etc...So I'm not too bothered by any Game left off the Author's list because obviously no one man can play every MMO...There's simply not enough time to do so...
I've played a lot of MMO's...But not even close to all of them...I can do a Top 5...I've never played WOW, but I can understand why it would normally be #1 on many lists...I should also mention I'm almost exclusively a PvE Player...
For Me it's...
1. LOTRO - By far the best all-around MMO I've played...I'm woking on My 3rd Level Capped Toon and I never get bored of it...Graphics, Questing, story, content, crafting, community...LOTRO has it all for a PvE Player...
2. AoC - SO much better now that it's mostly cleaned up...Awesome looking Game...Can't wait for the expansion to come out...
3. Vanguard - Incredible depth, nice visuals. It was SO broken at launch it really had no chance. But the Game had massive potential...It's still a lot of fun for me when I pop in every now and again...
4. EQ II - Solid all around Game...
5. SWG (CU was my favorite version) - My 1st MMO...I know most Folks don't agree...But even at times during the NGE I had a blast on SWG...The Community aspect during the Pre CU-Cu time was the most fun I've ever had Gaming...When you're a Combat centered Player and you find yourself spending hours on end just talking and cutting up with Guildies, or simply decorating your House well...I HAVE to admit they did something right at SOE...They just made a few BIG, HUGE, MASSIVE, CRITICAL mistakes...lol...Oh well...I still miss it from time to time...
I disagree.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
I started with AC2 as well. Even though it was seriously buggy and incomplete at launch it was immersive and fun to play. I really wish they hadn't closed up shop because now I want to play it again.
As far as current MMO's I seem to have a distaste for almost all of them. They all seem to repeat the same path where they hype up up to get you excited then fail to deliver the total package due to lacking content, concept failures and slow fixes. Aion was the lastest on my quit list even though I played it long after my guild left for other things mostly because I had nothing better to do. Just that it wasn't fun and felt more like a chore to play. Not that I'm casual and hate working for things it's just like that was all the game had to offer. Huge time sinks with you tied down to a random number generator.
Warhammer was before Aion. I have to say that was probably the more disappointing one because it looks so good on paper and the world is really well done. Not that it was bad it was just that they messed up with the RvR. Would have been much better with 3 realms as I'm sure has been brought up many times. They were also too slow to react to gamebreaking abilites/bugs. Before you know it a year has passed and 3/4 of the subscriber base has left because RvR was more aggrivating than fun.
Well, not to cover every game I've played for the last decade but WAR brings me to the point as to why I'm sitting here not playing a MMO even though its my genre. No matter how much you like a MMO it's really only fun if you have lots of people there to enjoy it with and a active community. Case in point is a game like AoC that fumbled at launch but have made some nice changes since. I go back to give it a try again and promptly quit a week later. Why? Because the game is barren and I don't want to play a MMO like one would a single-player RPG. It's the same for like most of the games on the authors list. I guess I'll never really get back into a MMO long-term until a company can put out a product at launch that can retain customers. I know that's easier said than done but I think we're all getting tired of the treand of starting off big and flopping hard shorlty after takeoff which has happened in almost every mainstream game the last 5 years or so.
Yeah I did that. It was the post directly before your one.
1 - WORLD OF WARCRAFT
2 - WARHAMMER ONLINE
3 - EVE ONLINE
4 - AION ONLINE
5 - CITY OF HEROES/VILLAINS
6 - LOTRO
7 - EVERQUEST 2
8 - FINAL FANTASY XI
9 - LINEAGE 2
10 - RUNESCAPE
I've played EVE Online as a trial and that was an awesome game I wouldn't mind going back to play it though after my 14 day is over but I gotta wait for my paycheck to come in.
Shoot, if I had to come up with a top 10 all time favorites of my own, its difficult but they'd be in this order.
10. EQ
9. AO
8. Seed - Just for its strangeness and non-combat roleplay heavy stance
7. Matrix Online- Had some fun times in that and roleplay was excellent as well as the roleplay events
6. EQ2-yes I was the barbarian Shadow Knight running around spouting off on GUK/Toxxulia
5. WOW-i take it with a grain of salt and rarely touch it, am usually forced to play by my sister and borther in law.
4. Eve Online-Brilliant Sci-fi World, dazzling environment, fell asleep mining alot, but it had potential I just couldn't stick past it
3. Star Trek Online- I know people really don't like it, but hey i'm an original trekkie what can i say if it was a big pile of shit in the shape of the enterprise 1701-A i would still fly it...
2. Star Wars Galaxies CU, NGE and onwarrds-I sorta fell off the wagon not long after NGE arrived on the scene like most people...being the last member of a 4-500 man guild still playing does that to you...
1. Star Wars Galaxies Pre-CU-- It had it all for me, what more is there to say...roleplay, combat, mystery of jedi, roleplay, community, crafting my gawd what a game...
http://www.forceofarms.com/index.php
It's difficult to determine what you mean by retain customers -- if you were a WoW fanboi and that was your bar, then you argument would make sense. But you're not, so it really, to use your own word, flops.
I won't be too verbose here and will try to cut to the chase.
OK, sure, subscriptions got up and down for a variety of reasons.
The case in point you mention, AoC, is on fire right now -- I don't know when you returned for a week, but on my server, Set, the population is quite good and growing all the time -- you can expect AoC to really take off like a rocket when the RotG Expansion goes live 11 May.
I'll mentiion one more MMO that's also doing well by any standard -- LotRO -- this casual friendly, lore accurate, content abundent MMO continues to please long time and new players which are very happy to be part of what is arguably the best MMO community in the hobby.
I could go on, but I'll stop here.
Lets just say that the author here expressed his own views -- we can agree or disagree -- It starts the discussion with his opinion and, like noses, everybody has their own.
I played world of Warcraft for about a half an hour, Trickster just dominotes over fighting eachother, with that much said, it loses becase it only has 4.4Gigabytes. It really needs to be a hard drive or Trickster two crafted around Gazillionaire. Fighting itself is as bad as anything. Especially limited powers and dudes in oldy costumes. Hiding out is supposed to be for stealing things, not because everyone else finds your gameplay shameful. Thats the opposite motivation. When they say P2P, I assume you can hack the server to death, not a client server relationship where you play for pennies per hour.
my top 10 would be
10) Pirates of the Burning Sea
9) Lotro
8) Age of Conan
7) Vanguard
6) EQ2
5) Daoc
4) Warhammer Online
3) WOW
2) Horizons/Istaria
1) Asheron's Call
Very true...
Well I'll try to make a list...
1. Ultima Online
2. Darkfall
3. Age of Conan
4. EVE
5. DAoC
6. AC
7. SWG
8. EQ
9. WoW
10. bleh... this is hard.. can't think of anything else...
Oh shit.. GW's should but near the top dunno were to put it though.. ekk!
Fail.
I haven't played as many mmo as alot of you, so I will list and rank ONLY the ones I have played.
1. Everquest----The best community of all in list. My first mmo and the one I compare all the others to. Played 7 years and still return from time to time. It requires hardcore gaming to stay on top of the game. Unless you have ALOT of time, don't start this game. It takes years to master. Game really requires grouping and raiding to accomplish alot. It has alot of mature/older players. This isn't a game you can casually play and enjoy. It is possible now to solo better than when it first came out. The layout of the guilds was outstanding and no other game can compare to it. I wish the game was more colorful and had better graphics for the characters/armor. Compared to most, it now pretty much falls short.
2. WoW---Fun, easy to level, love the graphics. Doesn't require much time to play. You can be a casual player and still have fun. This game seems to have alot of younger people playing. I still play this from time to time,
3. Aion---Fun to play. Characters can fly and easy to level. I didn't play it long, but will return at some point.
4. Warhammer Online----I wouldn't play again. It was so boring. I did max out my levels and raids were ok but BORING.
5. Age of Conan---THE WORST MMO I HAVE PLAYED. This game simply SUX. Once you max level your character, game is over. There simply is nothing to do.
What's the value? For one thing, it seems to generate a lot of thought and feedback with people giving their own ideas --- isn't that what a forum is about? I like to see people talk about their connection to games, not hear what they imagine others might be thinking/doing.
Let's see, a top ten list could be ---- a) my own personal experience with the games; b) my idea of which games are better based on some external (to me) objective/subjective criteria (which no two people in these forums could possibly agree on, as we can't even agree on what "immersion" is; OR c) a complete fabrication made up to cater to the game companies.
I submit that someone's idea of what the criteria should be is CONSIDERABLY less interesting than a discussion of the games themselves. Maybe just me, I admit. The only way to do (b) is to have a poll I guess. Bleh.
(c) I think one could make a stab at guessing whether the columnist is just an outright shill to the game companies in his choices. Has he selected games and the order to appease producers who support MMORPG with advertising. OK, I don't care to pursue that. It looks like a dead end.
So I am left with (a). His opinion. And you know, that is what I want to hear --- from anyone. A non-personal top ten list of anything must necessarily be associated with a poll or vote of some kind. This isn't that kind, clearly labelled. And it got me thinking a little and was curious to see other people's ideas. Works for me.
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Rose-lipped maidens,
Light-foot lads...