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[Column] General: The Most Important MMOs Of The First Modern Decade
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
There's no absolute consensus as to when the modern MMOG era started. Depending on the frame of reference you favor, it's possible to make a case for various dates. For the purpose of this article, I arbitrarily chose 1996, which is the year Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds launched in Korea and Meridian 59 in North America. This means the titles I selected all entered service between then and 2005.
Read more of Richard Aihoshi's The List: The Most Significant MMOGs Of The First Modern Decade.
Comments
Such a horrible article...
No EQ mention - pretty much what WOW came from.
No DAoC - Which is still to this day held as one of the great PVP games.
UO, Lineage, EQ, DAoC, WoW... most important games of the first MMO decade
I would include FFIV also... but to leave out EQ and DAoC... pitiful
This.
Just with more cussing and spitting...
I must concur.
Gaming community: IRONFIST
New World: Lilith - US East
WoW Guild: IRONFIST <Burning Legion> Alliance(We transferred to Illidan)
WoW Guild: IRONFIST <Illidan> Horde
SWOTR: IRONFIST <Satele Shan> Empire/Republic
I am focusing only on Western mmos
1. Ultima Online - sandbox mmo done right
2. Everquest - the most popular Western mmo for 5 years before dethroned by WOW. Jokingly referred to as EverCrack
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/everquest-or-evercrack/
3. DAOC - 3 faction RVR
4. SWG - another sandbox done right, later faltered due to NGE changes
5. WOW - Polish with a capital P, casual friendly and accomodated many playstyles including soloing for all classes
EQ2 fan sites
The MMOs on that list can be argued. Some points are more or less invalid IMHO, others depend on the perspective.
Ultima Online - yes of course, no "important MMOs" or such lists would be complete without.
Everquest - see UO
DAOC - given that seemingly no other MMO managed to get a handle on PVP the way DAOC did (didn't play it, but people *crave* something DAOC style)
WoW - well, of course, if you include 2004/2005, though it's a completely different generation.
Lineage..it may be importanft for the development of the Korean/Asian MMO industry, but it didn't leave much of a splash in history for players.
FF XI - cross platform? Still rather uncommon, so it basically went unnoticed. Therefore, it wasn't important. And MMOs before and after and along side FF XI had a coherent art style etc.
Heck, WoW manages to improve character models several times without breaking style or immersion.
I personally also think that games like SWG, Lotro (though the later being released in 2007 excludes it) had more impact, by making the transfer from a franchise where video games are just tacked on to the MMO.
I'll wait to the day's end when the moon is high
And then I'll rise with the tide with a lust for life, I'll
Amass an army, and we'll harness a horde
And then we'll limp across the land until we stand at the shore
Leaving EQ off this list tells me this article is nothing more then a troll. Guildwars contributed quite a bit to the genre as well. The rest have been mentioned numerous times.. by fans, not the author who like I said is either a troll, or knows absolutely Nothing about the subject he's writing on.
Pre-Trammel Ultima was great, until it was destroyed by the concept of the "PvE" server.
I don't think FFIV was released after 1996. Not to mention online. Was the internet even available to the normal person when it released?
I can fly higher than an aeroplane.
And I have the voice of a thousand hurricanes.
Hurt - Wars
um, Asia is a pretty large place. How many Asian mmo players were there during that time period as compared to Western?
His list isn't the top most influential western mmo's.
Having said that, EQ should be there.
Now, to the other games that some have mentioned? DAoC and SWG? What did they influence?
So, just because there are a decent amount of people who want them some DAoC pvp doesn't mean that it was influential. Actually there really haven't been many three faction pvp games until ... ESO? How influential can it be if such a huge span of time passed before we saw another three faction game?
As far as Star Wars Galaxies, it was notable and infamous but what did it influence?
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
My thoughts mirror most of the comments so far.
No mention of Dark Ages? The game that allowed players control over in-game politics and laws as early as 1999 and even went as far as allowing players to shape in-game history so that players from the past are now part of the game's lore?
Author clearly didn't do his/her research that well.
On another note, is it funny to anyone else that the old-school MMORPGs were more innovative than the MMORPGs that come out these days? Old school MMORPGs really seemed to support role-players too... Todays MMORPGs, not so much.
Smile
I could understand this list if by "The First Modern Decade" you meant 2001-2011 or even 2000-2011 or something.
But it's really weird that you're not including certain games when you go further back than that with games like UO and Lineage.
Similarly, I respect that you're trying to show some games from different parts of the world, but you shouldn't forget about the games that your core audience might have played, like the original EQ.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
Since i was there well before MMo's,i would have to say EQ was the first influential because that was the ONLY game i heard bantered around.I never even heard of DAOC before,the only good thing coming out of EA was their sports games.
Even though EQ was really the only talked about MMO,it was not good enough to get me to sway from my fps games.It was not until FFXI that i really enjoyed a MMO and became entrenched in that same game for many years.
That is sort of what i look for in my games,something that will keep me interested for a very long time,hence why UT99 is still one of my favorite games as well as Half Life and COD.
When i see all these recent MMO's dying off after 1-2 months ,to me that really proves how badly these games are rushed and designed.I have several games that still have me playing them 10-15+ years later,yet these multi million dollar games i have either little to no interest at all in them.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
any list that has no eq1 in it is completely bananas. eq1 was the first "household name" MMORPG.
5) FF11
4) Lineage
3) World of Warcraft
2) Dark Age of Camelot
1) Eq1.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
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Henry Rollins
I swear, MMORPG.com is commissioning flamebait "articles" to up the click count.
No EQ?
No SWG?
No EvE?
Was this person even around in that decade?
What a joke.
"Important" is a pretty relative term so this list could have included any number of MMOs (and not the others).
If this list were the most "influential" (the most impact on other things)..
WoW, EQ, Lineage, and UO would all be on my list, but I'm not sure FFXI, DaoC, or SWG would be on the list. They may have been good games that people liked and introduced new things, but 10+ years later I can't say those three had a massive impact on how other MMOs were or are being developed...
As as said earlier "important" could mean anything.. I dun see the point in getting too upset by it.
Joined - July 2004
EQ
SWG
WoW
are the definite four for me. I can't quite decide on a fifth, but I would certainly not rank Lineage or FFXI above any of those four.
UO - First MMO I ever played and ever knew existed. It was and still is the definitive MMORPG for me.
EQ - This game brought MMORPG to a much wider audience and was the first Western MMO with a third person/first person view.
SWG - Initially dubbed 'EQ in space', this game proved to be an immense sandbox with some of the best crafting and housing in the genre to this day.
WOW - MMO's go mainstream. Brilliant streamlining and repacking to appeal to a wider audience. Back that up with witty writing, great art, and a blossoming IPO to beat, this one hit all the right spots.
I just don't understand how you could leave out EQ and SWG?