My vote is for Eve

Could never get into the game.  Couldn't really understand the appeal.  But its one of the few games that is continually growing and building in numbers.  The developers have remained loyal to a consistent vision, where most developers change their vision to garner a more mainstream audience.  So many games I've played, I got burned out on because the game was made 'easier' or made parts of the game 'obsolete' (I'm looking at you EQ, DAoC, and EQ2!!!). 

My other vote would go to FFXI

Square-Enix has done an impressive job of retaining the overall feel and atmosphere of the original game while still making healthy compromises to make the game a little more accessible and forgiving to casual players.  That, and its the only true cross-platform out there and has carried this torch alone since its release 4-5 years ago(US release that is).

The best is yet to come......

EQ is my personal favorite as Best MMORPG.

Originally posted by avalon1000

The best is yet to come......

good one...

there are new MMORPGs that will come out eventually...

but as of now, i think WoW is still the best among all the better games we have.

Everquest

Most MMO's since have been based off this game, including WoW.

Originally posted by djFEVA

The title "Best MMORPG" is like polling farmer's market and asking "What's the best fruit?"

The word best is very subjective, and thus superfluous, because everyone is entitled to their opinion. Players look for different things in their game. What one player favor may be boring or down right irritating for others. I look for a deep storyline that doesn't make leveling seem like a chore or end game a repetitive cycle of raiding for gear for raiding (same holds true for PvP, although I'm not a big fan of PvP). I've read quite a few threads of gamers who gear for PvP, and that's an aspect they look for in a game. Obviously, I'm going to differ in wildly in opinion about what's best.

With that being said, I haven't played enough MMOs to be able to judge... that'd be like asking someone who's only eaten apples their opinion on best fruit.

I do like reading other people's opinions on their favorite for best. I'm in the market searching for a MMO to play, and this is a good source to start doing some digging =)

I'm very impressed at the level of civility I've seen (*thus far*). Usually, a post with this type of question would generate a lot of dispute, which has great potential to get very ugly.

Limes are the best fruit.
No question.

Originally posted by Inf666

But if I were allowed to take a single MMO to an isolated island it would be... SWG before the doomsday patch.

I am with inf666 on this one, my first mmo was everquest, although i never got it to work on the gateway i had, the sound wouldnt come on and i gave up on it for some reason, been awhile ago.  Star wars galaxies was my first mmo i ever spent any amount of time on. 

Best Classic MMO - DAOC (pre TOA/New Frontiers)

Best modern MMO - EVE (hands down)

DAOC up to and through SI but no further. The game is now a travesty compared to what it was then (hence, why so many wanting an Origins server).

SWG at launch. Sure it ran like crap, looked like crap (because if you had a mediocre computer you had to turn the graphics way down), and it was buggy as all heck, but man was it fun. A true world where you could make your own existence and make a life for yourself however you wanted.

guess i cant give my opinion here...

no game can hold this title...in this equation, exist the variable "person-like"...

he like it, she like that, we love it, they hate that and so on

i play lotro just because the graphics and the story(fan of Tolkien's world), and i know there will be regular updates (book=new stuff) and festivals. and i dont play WoW because the graphics is so toon and i dont play WAR cause Lotro exists... :)

Originally posted by kamikkaze

guess i cant give my opinion here...

no game can hold this title...in this equation, exist the variable "person-like"...

he like it, she like that, we love it, they hate that and so on

i play lotro just because the graphics and the story(fan of Tolkien's world), and i know there will be regular updates (book=new stuff) and festivals. and i dont play WoW because the graphics is so toon and i dont play WAR cause Lotro exists... :)

 

 

LOTR Online is one of my fav games, but its not on my fav games list on this site because I cant pay for it atm. Its an awsome story though.

In terms of a true meaning of the acronym, I'll have to go with Ultima Online. It is the only game to day which really feels like a real world with limitless potential. At least that's how I remember it when I left back in 2002.

EVE Online would be my close second.

World of Warcraft would be my choice for the absolute best theme park MMO.