I'm not going to say Anarchy Online didn't have a bad launch, it was at least 6 months after launch until I was willing to try it. The reason, during beta I had been stuck in my room the entire time. Yep, my character couldn't leave his apartment. Making a new character didn't help either, they were stuck in what may have been the same featureless room. I know they eventually fixed it, but not before I got tired of trying. :P
ArcheAge was the worst launch I've ever experienced in my 15 years of MMO gaming.
#1. Many Founders were bugged and did not get their benefits, e.g., ability to plop down housing, etc. By the time the issue was fixed, the land was gone and most hardcore players had already grinded to 50... smashing everyone they see.
#2. Those few who were able to get in the game dominated the land grab. They are still sitting pretty with $$$$. People are still struggling with the economy just to get the smallest plot.
Any list of the worst MMO launches that fails to place AO in the number one slot is suspect. AO had, without any doubt, the worst launch in the history of MMO's and anyone who actually experienced it can verify that.
Placing it 3rd here makes me strongly suspect that the author didn't actually experience AO's launch.
I totally disagree with that list.. Here is mine :
5 Horizons
4 warhammer online
3 Vanguard
2 Spellborn
1 FF XIV
woW does not belong on that list... Sure there where some lag and queue problems adn things where far from smooth, the sheer quallity and unheared of level of detail prevents it from ever making that list
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Originally posted by Randayn I never look foward to this type of article cuz i know Anarchy Online will be there :P...not that it's not true, just that I love that game...lol
Oh yeah, it was an awesome game way back when.
In fact, I'm probably one of the few people that thinks there's always something interesting and special going on with a Funcom MMO. All three of their titles were a bit left of center and always had a few things here and there that made them unique and interesting.
Originally posted by Randayn I never look foward to this type of article cuz i know Anarchy Online will be there :P...not that it's not true, just that I love that game...lol
Oh yeah, it was an awesome game way back when.
In fact, I'm probably one of the few people that thinks there's always something interesting and special going on with a Funcom MMO. All three of their titles were a bit left of center and always had a few things here and there that made them unique and interesting.
WoW the worst? No when WoW came out it was the best launch the genre had to that date.
Stupid article.
It wasn't the worst in the article either. But to say that it wasn't bad, is just wrong.
WoW launch was fine. If you played on a low pop server there were very few issues. It's people that insisted on playing on high pop servers that ran into all the server stability/login issues and are the ones going around talking about how bad WoW's launch was. The only issue of any kind I encountered in WoW launch was getting stuck in the looting animation, and it was not a frequent issue.
Final Fantasy XIV was pretty bad the second time around too. It should be on the list twice. Archeage needs to be on this list pretty high. What about Age Of Conan? The Secret World too.
"As far as the forum code of conduct, I would think it's a bit outdated and in need of a refre *CLOSED*"
Really hate these "articles" on MMORPG.com that sound more like forum rants.
Seems like the writer put no actual effort or the slightest research into this.
What's next? An article about how 90% of WoWs population are Chinese that only pennies a month? Or how about an article on Trion Worlds' CEO Scot Hartsman eating live puppies?
Two of the games on this list were some of my favorite launches. I played APB faithfully until they shut down, and then again after it re-launched up until the pay 2 win became too extreme to ignore.
The other was Vanguard. Man was that a riot. The bugs were huge and often game breaking but they only added to a hilarious and fun filled experience for me.
DAoC's EU launch should be up there, too. Rollbacks, server crashes, attacks showing up as strings of random words spanning several lines in the log, all there. Not to mention that out of 3 realms only one was finished, one had vikings and some content without loot..... and then there was something green.
AA with the land grab issues while patrons/founders unable to log in for long stretches. Especially since all of that was eminently foreseeable with Trion having the scoop on how many had bought up front and the benefits of having AA launched in two other regions much earlier. I'm just glad I didn't stay around for the opening of the new continent... because if even a quarter of the griping I read about that was accurate, I'd be pretty ticked off.
I consider the original FFXIV to be a failed launch not so much due to the launch itself, but rather that the game was so obviously unfinished. I've made this point before, and people usually disagree, but you can't tell me that a Final Fantasy game that didn't even have chocobos ready was in any way ready for launch. Add that to the copy and paste leves, severely incompletely systems (parley, targeting), and incomplete zones, and you have a game that should have had another year of development time. I really enjoyed the design and feel of the original 1.0 game, but there was so much missing that it was amazing.
Given a choice between ARR and a properly implemented 1.0, I would definitely take the latter. ARR is basically WoW 2.0 with a Final Fantasy theme. The only thing that keeps me playing is that I enjoy the crafting and gathering systems.
There are roughly 2 dozen + MMOs that launched before or the same year as WoW. Yet WoW still had a worse launch experience than all of them. So....sorry, but fandom won't save that fact.
Ah man you got me, I haven't played WoW in three years or so !!! It must be "fandom" and NOT my opinion !!
A fact would be when WoW launched less than 1% of launched MMORPG existed at that time, using your link of course.
Just because a game with a bad launch isn't on this list. Doesn't mean it was a good launch, or even that this site thinks it was a good launch. Honestly, most MMOs have bad launches! These were just the 5 that the writer thought were the worst, in their experience.
Many people mention ESO as one of the worst launches. In my personal experience, it was a phenomenal launch. I was there for the beginning of head start and never had any issues. Obviously not everyone had the same experience, I am aware of that.
Also, I am amazed no conspiracy theorists have suggested this article was paid for by Blizzard in the aftermath of their rocky launch for Warlords of Draenor! haha... see! There's other worse launches, including vanilla WoW!! I don't actually believe this of course, but usually some guy in a tinfoil hat on here starts screaming foul.
Originally posted by DMKano I played WoW at launch, as well as Vanguard. AO was so much worse - I am having a hard time even seeing other MMOS in the same category as AO.
haha, finally something else we can agree on besides Trove! Anarchy Online was really and truly a test of patience to play. I honestly have no idea how I did it. I was 17 that year, and I think I just really really wanted to play it. My brother and I both did.
I'd say the big difference between AO and most of the other titles on this list, is with AO it wasn't just the launch that bombed, but the game's issues went on for months if not years after it released. I remember people actually holding an in game protest at the Bronto Burger for changes. It was either a protest, or a "log out". Something of that sort, either way... it was bad.
Fun note, wasn't AO the pioneer of epic comeback and successful P2P -> Fremium conversion? I remember years later after Shadowlands the game got rave reviews from every outlet. I did come back for a bit after Shadowlands and it was a much better experience... if there was ever a game in need of new character models though...good lord.
yeah, chiming in here... eso was nowhere near a "bad launch". he who says so hasn't played enough MMOs. TSW was a far worse mess for eg. it then went on to be one of my favorite all time games. what has anyone learned? bad starts don't mean you finish last.
Comments
People, bad LAUNCH, not bad GAME.
I'm not going to say Anarchy Online didn't have a bad launch, it was at least 6 months after launch until I was willing to try it. The reason, during beta I had been stuck in my room the entire time. Yep, my character couldn't leave his apartment. Making a new character didn't help either, they were stuck in what may have been the same featureless room. I know they eventually fixed it, but not before I got tired of trying. :P
Lost my mind, now trying to lose yours...
ArcheAge was the worst launch I've ever experienced in my 15 years of MMO gaming.
#1. Many Founders were bugged and did not get their benefits, e.g., ability to plop down housing, etc. By the time the issue was fixed, the land was gone and most hardcore players had already grinded to 50... smashing everyone they see.
#2. Those few who were able to get in the game dominated the land grab. They are still sitting pretty with $$$$. People are still struggling with the economy just to get the smallest plot.
#3. 14 hour queues for weeks.
Any list of the worst MMO launches that fails to place AO in the number one slot is suspect. AO had, without any doubt, the worst launch in the history of MMO's and anyone who actually experienced it can verify that.
Placing it 3rd here makes me strongly suspect that the author didn't actually experience AO's launch.
"This is not a game to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force"
I totally disagree with that list.. Here is mine :
5 Horizons
4 warhammer online
3 Vanguard
2 Spellborn
1 FF XIV
woW does not belong on that list... Sure there where some lag and queue problems adn things where far from smooth, the sheer quallity and unheared of level of detail prevents it from ever making that list
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
You forgot Dark and Light completely.
That is a truly catastrophic MMO launch.
Severe network issues, catastrophic fps issues, and the lack of promised functionality.
Archeage is the number one for me, I've experienced the WoW one aswell and I don't remember it being that bad.
2 weeks (or 3?) of only being able to log in after being in queue for 8! + hours, and these lasted all day and night.
Oh yeah, it was an awesome game way back when.
In fact, I'm probably one of the few people that thinks there's always something interesting and special going on with a Funcom MMO. All three of their titles were a bit left of center and always had a few things here and there that made them unique and interesting.
Here's my Top 5:
Dark and Light
Vanguard
Anarchy Online
Mourning
ArcheAge
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
nope, Im a true Funcom Fanboy as well
WoW launch was fine. If you played on a low pop server there were very few issues. It's people that insisted on playing on high pop servers that ran into all the server stability/login issues and are the ones going around talking about how bad WoW's launch was. The only issue of any kind I encountered in WoW launch was getting stuck in the looting animation, and it was not a frequent issue.
Star Wars Galaxies has to be on the list. I mean, launch day was...
... No launch day at all, cause the game just wouldn't come online.
Bugs here, bugs there, many things still had to be added and so on
The game was a complete unfinished wreck. Thanks to SOE who didn't get things finished on time and thanks to LucasArts who pushed the release anyway.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Seems like the writer put no actual effort or the slightest research into this.
What's next? An article about how 90% of WoWs population are Chinese that only pennies a month?
Or how about an article on Trion Worlds' CEO Scot Hartsman eating live puppies?
Two of the games on this list were some of my favorite launches. I played APB faithfully until they shut down, and then again after it re-launched up until the pay 2 win became too extreme to ignore.
The other was Vanguard. Man was that a riot. The bugs were huge and often game breaking but they only added to a hilarious and fun filled experience for me.
I consider the original FFXIV to be a failed launch not so much due to the launch itself, but rather that the game was so obviously unfinished. I've made this point before, and people usually disagree, but you can't tell me that a Final Fantasy game that didn't even have chocobos ready was in any way ready for launch. Add that to the copy and paste leves, severely incompletely systems (parley, targeting), and incomplete zones, and you have a game that should have had another year of development time. I really enjoyed the design and feel of the original 1.0 game, but there was so much missing that it was amazing.
Given a choice between ARR and a properly implemented 1.0, I would definitely take the latter. ARR is basically WoW 2.0 with a Final Fantasy theme. The only thing that keeps me playing is that I enjoy the crafting and gathering systems.
Ah man you got me, I haven't played WoW in three years or so !!! It must be "fandom" and NOT my opinion !!
A fact would be when WoW launched less than 1% of launched MMORPG existed at that time, using your link of course.
Just because a game with a bad launch isn't on this list. Doesn't mean it was a good launch, or even that this site thinks it was a good launch. Honestly, most MMOs have bad launches! These were just the 5 that the writer thought were the worst, in their experience.
Many people mention ESO as one of the worst launches. In my personal experience, it was a phenomenal launch. I was there for the beginning of head start and never had any issues. Obviously not everyone had the same experience, I am aware of that.
Also, I am amazed no conspiracy theorists have suggested this article was paid for by Blizzard in the aftermath of their rocky launch for Warlords of Draenor! haha... see! There's other worse launches, including vanilla WoW!! I don't actually believe this of course, but usually some guy in a tinfoil hat on here starts screaming foul.
haha, finally something else we can agree on besides Trove! Anarchy Online was really and truly a test of patience to play. I honestly have no idea how I did it. I was 17 that year, and I think I just really really wanted to play it. My brother and I both did.
I'd say the big difference between AO and most of the other titles on this list, is with AO it wasn't just the launch that bombed, but the game's issues went on for months if not years after it released. I remember people actually holding an in game protest at the Bronto Burger for changes. It was either a protest, or a "log out". Something of that sort, either way... it was bad.
Fun note, wasn't AO the pioneer of epic comeback and successful P2P -> Fremium conversion? I remember years later after Shadowlands the game got rave reviews from every outlet. I did come back for a bit after Shadowlands and it was a much better experience... if there was ever a game in need of new character models though...good lord.
bad starts don't mean you finish last.