[Column] General: Five Things That Shook the MMO World Before WoW

SBFord

It wasn't very long ago that the MMOG category was practically unknown. Indeed, with only a very small selection of titles running, none of which had the number of players we can often find these days on a single server, it was barely a category at all. So, for those of us who remember the original Neverwinter Nights, Air Warrior, The Realm Online et al, many pleasant surprises lay ahead. A lot of them took place between 1997 and 2004. Naturally some particularly stood out. 

Read more of Richard Aihoshi's The List: Five Things That Shook the MMO World Before WoW.

Verum0

Loved UO played that game for years

Wizardry

First of all ,i don't know why ANYONE compares numbers when we didn't even have many DSL options and definitely not the massive online gamer's we see now.

If  Wow was released in 2000 it would have had the same thing maybe as high as 500>million  being that Battle net was a popular hangout.

The BEST game option was not in top 5 lol,FFXI was and still is the best ever mmorpg made.

I obviously had been online gaming before MOST of the Wow generation and i never gave much consideration to any mmorpg until FFXI came out.I finally played a bit of UO was not that good,then was asked many times to try EQ1 ,finally tried that and was frustrated by the terrible coding and networking and bugs.

I know Eve eventually became popular but to me,it looked like a budget game and it was a budget game.SWG often talked about just looked real bad,so much that i never gave it much of a chance.

Before FFXI i was more interested in fps games because they were not about graphics but more about player skills.

IMO MMORPG's or MMO's in general have never catered to player skills,the furthest they have come is manual aiming,lol ya one step 500 more to go to get there.

 

 

 

Lord.Bachus

I dont know, but why didnt EQ and AC make that list?

nehuy

It's impossible for people that never had the chance to play Tibia, to know how it feels to be frustrated by a game, again and again, and still love it, tbh.

KenFisher

quoted: "RuneScape becomes the second MMOG to surpass a million subscribers"

Who would have been the first?

MissAdventure

Originally posted by Wizardry

First of all ,i don't know why ANYONE compares numbers when we didn't even have many DSL options and definitely not the massive online gamer's we see now.

If  Wow was released in 2000 it would have had the same thing maybe as high as 500>million  being that Battle net was a popular hangout.

The BEST game option was not in top 5 lol,FFXI was and still is the best ever mmorpg made.

I should have stopped reading there, because:

I obviously had been online gaming before MOST of the Wow generation and i never gave much consideration to any mmorpg until FFXI came out.I finally played a bit of UO was not that good,then was asked many times to try EQ1 ,finally tried that and was frustrated by the terrible coding and networking and bugs.

I know Eve eventually became popular but to me,it looked like a budget game and it was a budget game.

and..

SWG often talked about just looked real bad,so much that i never gave it much of a chance.

and all of this as well:

IMO MMORPG's or MMO's in general have never catered to player skills,the furthest they have come is manual aiming,lol ya one step 500 more to go to get there.

See, you simply have no idea of what you are talking about.  You just blew off all the foundation MMORPGs, flippantly, which utterly discredits you. 

 

As to the OP, nice highlights for the millions whose MMO life began and continues with WoW.  For the rest of us who've been there and done that../sigh. 

 

SavageHorizon

Lol what  a load of bull, seriously you don't mention the leading mmo of that day. EQ was the first main stream 3d mmo. 

DijonCyanide

To exclude EQ's impact is really exposing the author's ignorance &/or bias.

MissAdventure

Originally posted by Deekins

Originally posted by Lord.Bachus
I dont know, but why didnt EQ and AC make that list?

Because it is the same writer that wrote this craptastic article.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/6501121#6501121

So, really it isn't surprising this article sucks just as much. It is as if this person has something against EQ.

^ Intentional omissions twice in a row, or he simply doesn't know what he's talking about.  Or both?  I'm voting for personal bias.  You can't possibly hope to be taken seriously as a gaming writer if you omit EQ from two articles which talks about the first, most popular MMORPGs. 

 

 

nyxium

EVE Online gets the best eartgquake on the MMO scene before WoW. Well done for still surviving this long, EVE.

Runescape, I will never forget the first intro missions ever.

 

P.S. Don't forget EverQuest.

 

 

RemyVorender

No AC or EQ1? Ooooook....

Kyleran

Only 5 slots on the list folks, and of course the games you played will cause a bias.

ceratop001

In the late 90"s you had 3 games that owned and changed the mmorpg world forever.  They are called affectionately the Original big 3. This is history and it revolutionized the gaming world.: Ultima Online ,  EverQuest, and, Asheron's Call.

InquisitiveDuck

Ultima Online should forever be recognized as the game that created the MMO genre, but what surprises me is the distinct lack of mentioning Everquest... the franchise that made the genre popular before Blizzard even began to conceptualize World of Warcraft (which even had a sequel, EQ2, before Warcraft).

World of Warcraft attracted the "casual" gamer crowd, making it build up a large audience over time, but to dismiss that was in no large part possible by the foundations set by Ultima Online and then Everquest shows lack of historical awareness. 

Fortunately, you saved yourself by prefacing this blurb with "subjective".

RemyVorender

Originally posted by Kyleran
Only 5 slots on the list folks, and of course the games you played will cause a bias.

Normally I would agree with you, but this list requires EQ1 and AC1 on it. This is not open for discussion. 

toljar

I agree with everyone here, AC1 and EQ1 should be included.

Mitara

Nah, Everquest and AC1 was not that important. They had an impact, but wasnt the most important games. Or to put it in anaother way Everquest was as important as Everquest Next is now...

BillMurphy

Guys, this isn't a "best games" list. It's slanted more to achievements by other games before Azeroth broke records. No worries, I'm sure Richard loves AC1 and EQ1.

Hrimnir

Of course nothing about the sleeper being awoken in EQ...

Shoko_Lied

I think part of RuneScapes success is due to the accessibility of the game to students since it was a web-browser game. I can remember clearly being in 6th grade computer class playing runescape during the time the teacher gave us as "free-time". It seemed like just about everyone at school knew about the game and kids talked about it constantly.  I only found out about it at school in 2001, and played from then until just prior to the launch of Runescape 2. Which I find sort of ridiculous that Runescape 2 is what most players these days fondly look back on and call "Runscape classic". I'm like "Please kiddo, I remember when bronze armor was the sh*t, and in a good way".

 

But wow, the game certainly let your imagination run free. It's the first game where I felt like I could really go in any direction, do just about anything I wanted since it didn't have class or trade restrictions, and I loved the original trading mechanic as it actually got players to interact with others and openly advertise for trades. The game also taught me to grow accustomed to recognizing scam artists as I was once scammed and learned from the lesson quickly, albeit later on I became a fairly jerkfaced scammer myself and had amassed more than 20 full sets of Rune armor (best armor in the game at the time).

Looking back, my introduction into Runescape is probably what made SWG appeal to me so much when it released.

 

 

BillMurphy

Originally posted by Deekins

Originally posted by BillMurphy
Guys, this isn't a "best games" list. It's slanted more to achievements by other games before Azeroth broke records. No worries, I'm sure Richard loves AC1 and EQ1.

Except EQ did shake up the MMO world, quite a few MMO's today are influenced by EQ, including WoW and FFXI, and by extent FFXIV since it is influenced by WoW. And every clone there of.

If that isn't a shake up of the MMO world I don't know what is.

This list sucks and the author should feel bad.

I'll pass this along to Richard, but honestly it's just FIVE things. Maybe he felt EQ would be a little too obvious? AC1 sure, but this list catalogs SOME events in the MMO past, not EVERY event. And chances are, these are lesser known and talked about than EQ1's place in our hearts. We all know that story. 

In any case, I'll beg Richard to write a List just about EQ1 for you guys so you can all feel better and stop having panic attacks.

hestah

WTH no SWG I Played it from pre CU right until they closed it down even though I was playing LOTR More and if it was still around today I would still play it

waynejr2

Originally posted by InquisitiveDuck

Ultima Online should forever be recognized as the game that created the MMO genre, but what surprises me is the distinct lack of mentioning Everquest... the franchise that made the genre popular before Blizzard even began to conceptualize World of Warcraft (which even had a sequel, EQ2, before Warcraft).

World of Warcraft attracted the "casual" gamer crowd, making it build up a large audience over time, but to dismiss that was in no large part possible by the foundations set by Ultima Online and then Everquest shows lack of historical awareness. 

Fortunately, you saved yourself by prefacing this blurb with "subjective".

UO was built on the shoulders of a lot technology that came before it in other games. 

ZoeMcCloskey

I was there for Anarchy Online and DaoC releases and played both for years.  Still look back on both with rose colored goggles, hehe.

I may play AO again but sure wish for an AO2!

derekash

Interesting that You wouldn't include EQ1 or AC but in reference to a lot of comments here, I remember a game I use to play before all of these called Meridian 59 in 1995 even before UO came out that should be on this list, and should be considered the original mmorpg imo