Massivelys Best Of 2022 Awards
It is nearly the end of the yr, a time for merriment, camaraderie, and cynical analysis of all the MMO triumphs and tragedies that 2013 offered us.
Immediately, Massively's employees honors the better of the best (and the worst of the worst) for the year 2013. Every writer was permitted a vote in each class with an anything-goes nomination process. No MMO, company, or headline was off the table, as lengthy as it met the standards. Can WildStar make it to 3 years in a row at the highest of our "most anticipated" pile, or did its delay dampen our enthusiasm? Can SOE repeat its win for finest studio? Which MMO is most likely to flop subsequent yr? And just what constituted the biggest MMO screw-up of the final 12 months?
Get pleasure from our picks for the best MMOs, expansions, studios, stories, and innovations of 2013... and our most-anticipated for 2014 and beyond.
Best New MMO of 2013: Last Fantasy XIV: A Realm RebornRunners-up: Tie between Neverwinter and Defiance
Jasmine: Last Fantasy XIV, palms down. This recreation managed to achieve one thing I assumed was inconceivable: Sq.-Enix took a game that I thought of the worst MMO I've ever performed and turned it into one thing that keeps me logging in each likelihood I get.
Eliot: Should you had asked me two weeks in the past, I might have stated Final Fantasy XIV with out reservation. Now do not get me unsuitable; every thing good about the unique model is dropped at the forefront, and every part negative has either been eliminated or minimized. However the 2.1 update and the housing fiasco have pushed dwelling the idea that we're not out of the woods and that we're simply taking a look at an period of daring new errors. If these points get mounted, then I've high hopes for the longer term; if not, it will be a shocking instance of a gorgeous turnaround adopted by a shameful crash.
Finest Enlargement or Replace of 2013: Guild Wars 2's Tremendous Journey BoxRunners-up: Tie between EVE Online's Odyssey, EVE On-line's Rubicon, and Star Trek Online'sLegacy of Romulus
Richie: Guild Wars 2's Super Journey Box patch stands out in such a profound means as a result of many players thought it was nothing more than an April Fools' Joke. The official website was up to date with amazing images from an 8-bit world accompanied by a hilarious, cheesy, '80s-fashion industrial. When i logged into the game and realized that SAB was really in the sport, my jaw hit my desk. There have been three full ranges of this 8-bit world full with secrets and techniques, puzzles, boss battles, original music rating, and custom sound effects -- a full platforming journey game neatly tucked inside of my MMO.
Brendan: I've written a good bit on why I like this year's Odyssey and Rubicon expansions, but Rubicon's personal deployable buildings push it simply over the sting. The Cell Depot has made long-term exploration a extremely feasible career by permitting tech three ships to refit wherever in deep area, and Ghost Websites have added some further reward for those scouring deep house. The change to warp acceleration has additionally mounted the disparity between small and huge ships and enabled real hit-and-run style warfare again.
Greatest Non-Traditional MMO or Pseudo-MMO of 2013: Path of ExileDifferent nominees: Hearthstone, Dota 2, Cube World, Defiance, MUSH
Matt: Path of Exile gets my vote for this one. The parents at Grinding Gear Video games have taken the time-honored motion-RPG formula popularized by Diablo and twisted it up into an experience that feels each recent and familiar. Eschewing conventional courses and progression in favor of an nearly inconceivably enormous skill tree and allowing gamers to customize their skill loadouts through interchangeable gems are just two of the unique spins Path of Exile brings to the table, and with its number of leagues and competitions, there's something here for all the casual-hardcore spectrum.
Justin: Hearthstone. If just about everyone's in beta, does it depend? I say it counts. Blizzard's acquired a money cow hit on its palms, and the combination of World of Warcraft and Magic-lite is solely impressed. Plus, it is fairly enjoyable.
Most Underrated MMO of 2013: NeverwinterRunner-up: Defiance
Larry: Neverwinter launched with a wide audience and the hopes of being a full-fledged Dungeons and Dragons MMO. But alas, that is not what Cryptic had in mind for the game, and gamers didn't admire Neverwinter for what it was: a enjoyable recreation that you spend a few minutes to a few hours playing to unwind from the daily stress. After i revisited the sport, I was actually shocked at how a lot enjoyable I had. I do not need to stress about rotations or builds or the usual MMO worries. I merely log in, pound through a couple of dungeons, then carry on with my day.
Tina: I believe a lot of people boxed Neverwinter under the "more of the identical" category with out giving it an opportunity. The normal charm is updated nicely via the 4th Version Dungeons and Dragons freshness.
Jef: Defiance isn't setting the world on fireplace or something, but I enjoyed my time in it, and i keep it installed in case I want some sci-fi shooter motion with questing and a purpose.
Most Anticipated for 2014 and Past: EverQuest SubsequentRunner-up: WildStarOther nominees: EverQuest Next Landmark, ArcheAge, Destiny, Pathfinder Online, TUG, The Elder Scrolls On-line
Brendan: There are some nice MMOs on the horizon, however the one I'm trying ahead to the most is EverQuest Subsequent. I'm an absolute sucker for sandboxes, and the thought of a fantasy sandbox with a voxel-based mostly and completely destructible world has me completely excited! The large financial success of Minecraft has inspired a deluge of voxel-based video games in recent years, but no game has yet accomplished the feature justice. EQ Next promises to be as removed from these blocky worlds as potential whereas retaining a lot of the identical sandbox gameplay.
Bree: The day I discovered Star Wars Galaxies was closing, Smed reassured a teary-eyed me that SOE was engaged on a good bigger and higher sandbox. That sandbox turned out to be EverQuest Next. I'm banking on SOE's capacity to parlay everything it learned from SWG -- especially the errors -- into EQN. There are different good sandboxes on the horizon, completely, however nothing as prone to thrive as Next.
Justin: Progressive sandboxes or huge fanbase followings aside, I am rooting for Carbine to drag off a wacky sci-fi themepark in WildStar. Minecraft servers I almost hope it doesn't launch tremendous-huge in order that it may develop from word-of-mouth as an alternative of developer hype.
Richie: I am wanting ahead to WildStar. Ever since I give up World of Warcraft, a part of me has missed having a couple of nights each week as scheduled hangouts with my pals. I'm itching to raid again, and it appears to be like as if WildStar can have the very best endgame options of the 2014 MMO crop.
Most Likely to "Flop" in 2014: The Elder Scrolls On-lineRunner-up: Mud 514
Anatoli: "Flop" is a very loaded term in the case of MMO. I don't suppose ESO will make a lot of a splash. I doubt it's going to fail as a recreation or as a venture, however I predict that lots of people will resolve that it did when it doesn't set the entire world on fire.
Bree: I think ESO will launch just fine and collect loads of field and sub fees initially, however lengthy-term, it's in bother. MMORPG fans are sick of story-driven single-player themepark MMOs, console followers might be mystified by subs and a 3-manner PvP endgame, and Elder Scrolls followers will wander again to the lore and mods of their solo sandboxes. I am truly not sure for whom the game is meant, and i say that as a TES fanatic.
Matthew: I am not likely a fan of The Elder Scrolls series, so perhaps I'm biased, however I am unable to see the net model having the success of the single-player installments.
MJ: If I have been forced to hazard a guess, I would say ESO. It feels as if there's a dark shadow of "can't meet expectations" hanging over it.
Finest Studio in 2013: Sony Online EntertainmentRunner-up: Trion WorldsHonorable Mention: Tiny Speck
Beau: SOE continues to churn out games, however the studio does so by itself terms. Love it or hate it, you can't deny that SOE has achieved many, many things that have changed the course of MMOs.
Mike: SOE seems like the studio that has the very best hold on what the market wants. It retains releasing participating new content material for its current properties, and EverQuest Next appears like the primary fantasy MMO to truly attempt anything new since Ultima Online. SOE additionally has a strong popularity for making big promises and failing to deliver, however I might say it had an excellent yr. No query all eyes are on EQN in the approaching years.
Toli: Glitch's shutdown final year was downright tragic, but Tiny Speck has made each effort to keep the spirit and group alive, going so far as to release the game's assets into the public domain only in the near past. That's preposterous, and i mean that in the absolute best means.
Greatest Story of 2013: The reveal of EverQuest Next and LandmarkRunners-up: Tie between Star Citizen's Kickstarter success and Last Fantasy XIV's relaunch
MJ: EverQuest Next Landmark grabs this one because the sport came literally out of nowhere! There was not a single whisper, hint, leak or anything to suggest there was a second game on SOE's horizon. In this industry, that's simply unheard of.
Tina: EverQuest Subsequent. Everybody just went nuts, and for good cause!
Matthew: EverQuest Subsequent. Because the announcement, it seems as if the whole future of the trade is coloured by comparisons to our new savior. I am not going to disagree. I am going to exit on a limb as far as to say I think Blizzard went back to the drawing board on Titan due to EQN.
Jef: Star Citizen. You might not want to play it, and you could also be tired of the Chris Roberts hero-worship, but you can't deny the impression that it is had and continues to have on the best way video games are made.
Largest Disappointment of 2013: Mud 514Different nominees: Defiance, Warhammer's sunset, the Kickstarter craze, Age of Wushu, Neverwinter, uninspired MMO design, conventional subscription fashions, no EverQuest Subsequent at SOE Live, the gloom and doom surrounding World of Darkness, and Guild Wars 2's dwelling story.
Jef: Dust 514. I could be beating a lifeless horse right here, however console-solely plus similar-old-shooter-gameplay equals meh. And CCP hyping the crap out of the EVE On-line connection wasn't particularly smart since there actually isn't one.
Mike: This may be a cop-out, however I'm pinning this on the complete MMO genre. The year was dominated by numerous re-treads of acquainted fantasy worlds and numerous uninspired work from developers that should really know higher (Trion, I am looking at you). With the line between MMO and non-MMO getting blurrier by the minute, MMO builders need to get their acts together in the event that they're hoping to stay competitive. And so they need stop asking for handouts via Kickstarter.
Eliot: Kickstarter. We've had lots of funding drives for games, some profitable, some not, with practically each single one in every of them promising the same fundamental gameplay philosophies, none of which has been backed up by actual finished MMOs. At the very least a type of studios has gone again to the properly and requested for more cash from Kickstarter backers, and I don't imagine will probably be the first. It's not a trend I'm comfortable to see, and one which I've already written about at size. There's some nice stuff on Kickstarter, but this 12 months's glut was unpleasant.
Biggest Blunder of 2013: Subscription models for Elder Scrolls On-line and WildStarDifferent nominees: Console MMOs, All the things ESO does, LucasArts' closure, Blizzard's lore sexism, Star Wars: The Outdated Republic's space combat, FFXIV's launch woes, CCP's World of Darkness layoffs, Guild Wars 2's horrifying PR campaigns, and Diablo III's auction house fiasco.
[Update: We talk more about this award and the rationale behind it in December 26th's Ask Massively.]
Eliot: WildStar's business model not less than seems to be taken from a ebook written by someone with the vaguest knowledge of business developments, however ESO's seems to have been designed with the assumption that each other sport that went free-to-play after launch (often known as "just about every game that has launched within the previous 4 years") was a worse recreation than ESO will be. Can we please stop pretending that you would be able to launch with a subscription now?
Mike: I feel, in the long term, putting a subscription fee on The Elder Scrolls On-line will turn into a reasonably bad concept. Bethesda will make piles of cash before it is pressured to shift to free-to-play, however I am unsure what the price can be by way of loyalty to the model. If followers really feel burned or taken advantage of, the Elder Scrolls franchise will undergo. A subscription charge essentially says, "You will give up World of Warcraft/EVE Online/Final Fantasy XIV for this," and that's exceptionally daring from a studio that's by no means made an MMO.
Tina: I truthfully do not see how CCP can keep its commitment to finish World of Darkness while continually reducing the workforce. We have to see some strong results in 2014 to show otherwise.
Largest Innovation or Pattern of 2013: The return of sandbox gameplayRunner-up: Defiance's transmedia synergyOther nominees: Oculus Rift, Guild Wars 2's cadence, streaming games, blurring genre strains, actiony MMOs, voxels, and Warhammer's sunset.
Toli: I like that trends are swinging again toward a wide range of gameplay options this 12 months. Voxels! Sandboxy things! I turn around and all of the sudden MMOs are launching with housing again! Holy smokes!
Matt: I'm pleased to see more studios tapping into the sandbox market. From heavy-hitters like EverQuest Subsequent and Star Citizen to much less-hyped titles like Pathfinder Online, the sandbox genre is gaining a number of traction.
Larry: Defiance was a disappointment as a sport, however as a product it broke the mold. I really enjoyed the tie-in launch of a tv sequence with an MMO. I do not think different games want to copy this mannequin precisely, however I do assume that tie-ins, crossovers, and multi-media launches add value to a product. And that i additionally believe that outdoors-the-box considering must be inspired in MMOs, even if it does in the end flop.
Justin: Oculus Rift: Could VR come back to be an precise future for MMOs? It's a possibility, and what teases we're seeing this yr have whet my need to strive it out for actual.
Shawn: Closing Warhammer Online. I imply, the sport was kinda enjoyable at first, but can we cease with that precise method now? Thanks. (I am already putting my vote in for 2015's Largest Trend to be "the end of voxel-primarily based on-line games.")
Most Improved in 2013: Last Fantasy XIVRunners-up: Tie between Star Wars: The Outdated Republic and RuneScape 3
Jasmine: Final Fantasy XIV. It improved so much from 1.0 to 2.Zero that it performs like an nearly solely different recreation. I do not think you may get way more improved than that.
Beau: RuneScape three brought a lot to the older sport that it actually is a distinct game. It's at all times been dynamic and felt like a living world, but this relaunch made it that a lot better.
These are our picks. Howsabout yours?
