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Classical Age of MMORPG's
The Original Age of MMO's where games were good and wonderous, and challenging. -
Never Winter Nights
The Worlds first 2D Graphical MMORPG -
Ultima Online
The 2nd 2D MMORPG, Portrayed as super hardcore, and PvP centric. People would gank each other and steal all their stuff, it was a brutal Era. This gameplay would spur Everquest to be primarily PvE. -
Everquest
The First 3D Graphical MMORPG, the grandfather of all Modern MMO's. EQ is a true success story, a game made for the game's sake. No budget, No precedent for a game like this to work. It shot straight to the top gaining 550,000 Subscribers in a time where no one knew what an MMORPG was. Money from Nothing and you're SOE! -
Asheron's Call
Another Fantasy MMORPG launched the same year as EQ. It didn't really bring much to the table, but provided variety in the sparse early days of MMO's. It gained moderate success, but lost subscribers quickly. -
Anarchy Online
While Anarchy Online introduced the first ever Dynamic Mission/Quest system, It was still plagued with very many issues that caused its reception to be less than savory. Regardless as one of the very few Original MMORPG's it has a loyal dedicated fan base still today. -
Dark Age of Camelot
Dark age of Camelot was a great looking game and brutal. More of a pvp centric game, it brought to the table real PVP in the form of RvRvR. 3 factions to battle it out that could keep others in check. Planetside would later adopt this tri-faction model. -
Final Fantasy XI
One of the most hardcore games there has been, Leveling was no easy feat, but the world was beautiful for its time and everyone always wanted to play in a Final Fantasy World with others. This game was the first truly successful MMO since EQ. -
Planetside
Planetside, the first and still only MMOFPS, until Planetside 2 launches. An amazing experience, but before its time. The numbers never reached truly sustainable levels, however the game has not closed. -
Star Wars: Galaxies
The First MMO Sandbox, and Star Wars MMO. Heralded by many as the greatest Star Wars Experience EVER. Player cities were built in the worlds as well as homes, you could stake your claim and truly live in the Star Wars Galaxy. Closed down in 2011, due to Lucas Arts not renewing SOE's license, to make way for the Abomination SWTOR. -
City of Heroes
The First Super Hero MMO. Be anything gain any powers, it was all very RAD. -
Everquest 2
The Successor to the original EQ, however arguable by the Original EQ players. EQ2 launched with many issues, pushing the boundaries of technology yet having nothing to show for it. This was due to the Computer market taking a very weird turn, from more powerful single cores which the game was designed for, to less powerful yet more cores. The game had a fair share of success but never really reached its potential. Due to these issues,EQ2 couldnt compete, and World of Warcraft rose straight up. -
World of Warcraft
Thus the final game of the Classical Age of MMORPG's makes its debut, its success plummets the MMO Genre into the Dark Ages.
Only gainging its success due to the shortcomings of Everquest 2.
WoW has created a new breed of MMO gamers, Solo centric, selfish, and uncaring, and every MMO since then has shown that. -
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Dark Ages of MMORPG's
The Dark Ages brought about by WoW's Success, everyone believed it needed to copy WoW to get a peice of the pie, bringing about darkness and countless WoW Clones. No real innovation to be spoken of.
December 31 2012 is the potential and hopeful ending date of the MMO Dark Ages. -
The Matrix Online
Chock full of potential, I mean who didn't want to be THE ONE?
However the game launched from WB Interactive wracked with issues, SOE Purchased it, repaired it, and marketed it, but the steam from The Matrix had cooled, and the issues initially present deterred the game from ever truly growing. Resulting in the game being shut down in 2009. -
Dungeons and Dragons Online
Graphically good looking at the time, DDO was way too heavily instanced, and was more like a dungeon crawler with a lobby than a real MMO. -
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
Heralded to be the true successor in body and spirit to Everquest, Made by one of Everquests original developers Brad Mcquaid. Funding ran out, and the game launched wracked with bugs and performance issues that made it unplayable. SOE purchased it, repaired it as best as it could, but the game never got off the ground. -
Lord of the Rings Online
A ray of hope in a dim time period, but alas it was not to be. It brought about a world many had only dreamed of playing in, yet used many of the mechanics seen in WoW, getting it dubbed rightfully or not as another Clone. -
Tabula Rasa
Plagued with Bugs at launch, A great Idea, and Fun Game, perhaps before its time, Servers were closed due to lack of population in 2009 -
Age of Conan
While initial criticism of the game was positive, Player reactions were overwhelmingly negative in the months following the release, as the game was plagued by a vast number of bugs, missing zones, broken encounters and total lack of end-game content. Funcom dropped the ball with AOC just like with Anarchy Online, however the gamers of 7 years later were far less forgiving. -
Warhammer Online
Doesnt even deserve a description. Public quests came into play, populations fell just as fast as they had risen. -
Champions Online
Yet another Super Hero knock off. Couldn't dethrone City of Heroes. Graphics were better, some improved gameplay, but on the whole no real content in comparison. -
Aion
Another Ray of light in a dim time period. A bit too grindy, but a beautiful game and good mechanics. -
Star Trek Online
Champions Online with a Star Trek Skin....Brilliant....oh did I say Brilliant...I meant CRAP. -
DC Uninverse Online
Another Super Hero game, but bringing into the market the first MMO based on an existing comic book universe. DCUO Provided Visceral combat and the means to interact with your favorite DC Hero's and Villains. -
Rift
WoW Clone with a touch of Warhammer for public quests. -
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Bringing Story as a supposed 4th pillar to MMO's when story had always been a part of them. What it truly brought and is agruably a benefit or a detriment is complete voice over of all NPC's, Quests and Players. Making Recieving quests take too long. Personal Stories, which are great for a single player game, and not really much else.
Crappy WoW Clone, copied all the wrong things from WoW and left behind the things it did right. -
TERA
Visually Stunning close to the level of AION. True Action Combat, A bit too linear, and 90% of the Quests were Kill quests which is likened to grinding all for the sake of showcasing its Combat System.
