Good read but I think one important aspect was left out when talking about Runescape. It's browser based! It's accessable to a great many people because of this and I've even heard of some people having access at work. There is no download required, the graphics are decent considering it's over a web-browser and the only barrier to entry is creating an account. I think that's a huge draw to people.

 FFXI is the best MMO I've ever played...unfortunately its a time sync, for which I can not appease.  One thing about it (which could be well noted) is that it is one of few big MMOs that continues very valuable dev content - making the game easier & more enjoyable over the years (level sync, etc).

But I am also sad to not see Asheron's Call on the list.  I met very few folks that played back in its hay-day, and for the amount of interesting features it had (which you did not see again in most other mmos) I think its worth at the least an honorable mention :)

Other mention -> Warrior Epic

DAoC and FFXI under the radar?? Only under the radar because you guys would rather cover crap like Aion and AoC.

Good to see Ryzom on the list.

Great game even if the community is small.

Definitely agree with your list, especially FFXI. The game is barely ever spoken about and it has a good 500k subs, and with it's age (2002 release, so it is over 7 years old actually) it is still going strong.

Despite the huge time commitment you have to make with the game, you really can't find a better community in an MMO than that of the FFXI group. Luckily, FFXIV won't have a hype factor to it as it isn't really being discussed very much either here in the states.

I'm also going to tentatively suggest Asheron's Call. AC was my first MMO and while I did not play it as much as I have more current mmos (due to untimely hardware failure, no fault of AC whatsoever).
 

I remember being completely enthralled with it. I know part of that has to do with the fact that it was my first game, but I do think there is something to be said for it. It's also one of those games that not too many MMO players seem to know about, and that's a shame. I am not sure if AC belongs on this list though, due to the fact that I don't think many people today would log in and get that same feeling.  AC was awesome for it's time, but it's due for a new breath of life, one that is done better than the failed AC2.
 

I would love to see a new game in this setting, but I realize this is not likely to happen. It would also probably need to have quite a few tweaks to be successful today. Such as a more coherent questing system. I do think though, with the common knowledge of what (most) MMO gamers like, that they could make a good run of it.

Also going to add my support for Ryzom. That game is amazing for it's age, and really feels different from many games out now. If you haven't tried it, and enjoy sandbox games you owe it to yourself to at least do a trial.

Really disappointed with this list. As others have said, almost none of these games are "under the radar." Four out of the five of these come up all the time, especially when talking about games that are doing things different from the cookie-cutter style that's constantly popping up (RuneScape and MapleStory for grabbing a younger audience and proving that a different format/less emphasis on heavy graphics can be a good thing; DAoC for its three-way RvR; and FFXI for it's group-or-die mentality). RS, MS and FFXI have very strong and steady numbers, and are pretty good about releasing new content on a regular basis.

Ryzom is probably the only one that I would say belongs here, but the rest? Not even close. I was hoping to read over a list of lesser-known MMOs that are a lot of fun or are trying new things, not the granddaddies who are still, many years later, proving how revolutionary they are.

I know

I thought this article was going to be about Indie games under the radar as well, as in "in development" but very few whispers about it....guess I was wrong....all the games on the list are pretty good though I've played all of them except for FFXI but my neighbor's kid plays it to death and has for years so I know there's people playing it...just not me...course I didn't like any of there other games either, just not my type of game...

I've tried quite a few games in an almost 3 year span and finally went back to FFXI.  It's amazing after playing 5 years how much some things change and some stay the same.  I have enjoyed my time back and recommend people trying it out if they haven't.  Playonline is a little goofy and they seem to have more security than your bank or your mom's bank but once you get on the excitement is there.

Your 1st 10 levels you are pretty much alone.  As you venture further and further out, you learn more about your surroundings.  So many exciting things happen and you feel good about your achievements.  It is not a press 1,2, 3 I win game.  It takes skill and strategy and sometimes a little luck.

I only get about 16-20 hours a week with a game(wife, job, etc)  The key is if you don't have much time, set little goals for each playing session.  Make sure they are attainable, don't be afraid to ask for help or shout for assistance.  Some people are afraid to do so.  As long as you act with respect and ask, you will find many people who are looking to do the same thing.

 With both of these titles technically or literally "Under Development" it's no wonder they aren't listed under the Game Forums section yet.

Shin Megami Tensei fans might be interested to hear that there is a Shin Megami Tensei MMO out there on the Free to Play market (made to survive on a micro-transaction system). Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE is definitely a more unique approach to an MMO with some of the old MMO touches thrown in. There are three or more difficulties to dungeons based on the "plate" you use to enter them. So, yes, there are instances. PvP is an event only type thing and events do happen quite regularly. Keep in mind that this MMO is based in Anime, has kids that play on it and whatnot, but the events will tend to cater to them a bit. The site address is http://www.megaten.aeriagames.com  MegaTen being short for Megami Tensei, of course. Characters all start out the same way. There are no pre-defined classes, but that's not necessarily a new thing either. Developed by Cave and Atlus and bought by Aeria Games, MegaTen might hit some sort of spot somewhere. 

Another game that doesn't have a game forum on MMORPG would be a Brasilian made title that is most definitely still in development, even the mining rules have yet to be implemented. This title is pretty much in open beta at this time, there are missions already and you can craft and gather resources (though there is a good chance that there is seriously more to come and rules to be implemented) as well as shoot the living daylights out of your fellow pilots on quite a few different PvP enabled maps. This game is not your standard fantasy game, nor will you have to pay incredulous rates a month to play. What is it? It's a free to play (with optional micro-transaction support) Sci-fi game from Hoplon Infotainment! Hoplon, such a strange name, right? Well, it's not only their name but it's the name of their micro-transaction currency too!

Well, let's see, oh I haven't said the title of the game yet. It's Taikodom! Sounds silly, I know, but you haven't heard it explained yet. Taiko means Space in chinese and Dom for kingdom from old english, put them together and you get (basically) spacekindgom or Taikodom. Which one sounds more streamlined to you? If I got my information straight at this hour, (I've been up for over 24 hours now) this game was originally created as an interactive Sci-fi story. There are even books slated to come out about the lore of Taikodom if a few haven't already been published. Well, have a look for yourself at http://taikodom.com and use the quick links at the top of the page to find out more about the universe. Oh, and fair warning, right now most of the community are Portuguese speaking but that doesn't mean they aren't nice. If you're looking for English speakers, they are out there, I fly for a Corporation called The Syndicate which is comprised of all English speaking people and wish nothing more than to be able to help newcomers sort things out and get to enjoying the game.

Asheron's Call is the original under the radar game and has stayed that way, should be number 1 on the list.

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Originally posted by Stradden
MMORPG.com's Jon Wood takes over this list this week, taking a look at five MMOs that have, for whatever reasons, fallen off the radar of both journalists and the playing public.

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In the world of video game journalism, it's all about the next big thing. When you're trying to bring your readers the freshest and most up-to-date information on what's going on in the world of MMORPGs, not to mention drive traffic to the site, the bulk of your focus has to be on what's coming up. Such is the way of MMORPG sites and of the MMO consuming public as well.
In the rush for the next thing, it's inevitable that some games fall through the cracks and don't get talked about as much in the public eye, not because they've been canceled or because no one is playing them, or even because they're bad games, they just, for whatever reason, fell off the radar.
In this week's list, we take a look at five games that have slipped off of the collective radars of media and community alike:

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Read Five Under the Radar MMOs.

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Played them all, all horrible.

They dont need to make a DAoC2 - only a DAoC 1.5 ;)

Just improve the game - streamline some parts and revamp the envrroiment graphics (character graphics are good enough with the "cata"-Models).

Then let WAR Players play it for really low money (or for free) and they will have 2 well populated games (as accounts counts for both ;)) - yes its a trick to raise numbers, but its better than the "we have 10 Mio customers" of other companies, counting every asia account with some rest of gametime on it.

With some advertising in the scene and media that could help enough to populate both game's servers.

I never played 1-3 and can't say much about them except for the fact the graphics are dated. Dark Age of Camelot had its time back in the days but when it reached its peak for subs it quickly went down hill fast. FFXI is one of the best mmos ever. I ti isn;t everyone's cup of team but it sure defines what a mmo should be. Great community and it focuses on group play as a mmo should. Its 5 years old now but still hanging in there and FFXIV is on the way.

Oh, a bit similar to Ryzom, in that it's French-based, th MMOG Dofus is pretty huge in French-speaking countries (+10 milions accounts)but I rarely ssee it mention on English-speaking forums.

Likewise, galaXseeds is Quebec-based and I think it is quite nice in the "niche" genre of kids MMOs.

Add a fresh interface and some fresh quests to DAoC and  I'd sign up in a minute.  

Originally posted by Yamota

FF XI with up to date gfx, solo content and PvP would probably be one of the best MMORPGs ever.

agree with the gfx but main FF titles have never been about PvP or doing things alone, Party are involved in FF. So IMO an FF MMO that is soloable and PvP oriented would be the worst MMO ever.

Edit and if I wanted that style of game I would play EVERY new mmo thats released. This genre needs diversity, not more of the exact same crap with different gfx.

Not shocked FFXI made this list, went back to lotro for some Pvmp (lifetime account ftw) and i said FFXI...i got alot of "huh1?" and "Firefoot?" (One of the server names) i lawled.

FFXI has the best PvE out there hands down imo, fyi still has 500k accounts for many years now because it's a solid mmorpg with many things to do with my friends.

Playonline fails, thank god SE will NOT be using it for FFXIV!! :D

I would say your article is misleading because these games were never really on the radar. They are more games that are underrated because they were not widely massively popular.

Age of Conan is something that should be on this list. A game with a ton of pre hype and "radar" but now is on life support and not talked about much anymore.

I think I'd have to agree with most that these arent really much the "under the radar" type of games. When I started reading I was hoping for a list of games I'd never heard of , niche type games out of the eye of mainstream gamers, not a list of games almost everyone has tried. I'll second all the praise of Ashrans Call,  truly a great game,  and to me one great game currently under the radar is Istaria Cronicles of the Gifted, this game released to great hype and fell on hard times quickly for releasing before ready. Suffered through multiple ownership changes into near collapse. BUT here it still is today with proper development from VI  (new content regularly), a small but great online community,  a game like AC where you roam at will( hate being told by any portal im to low to go through) I'll figure that out for myself thank you, Dragons and the ability of flight.

If your truly looking for an under the radar type of game check out Istaria Chronicles of the Gifted, formerly known as Horizons, If you've never heard of it check it out its good, if your slanted against it because of release and all the bad press it got switching owners, put that behind you and give it a fresh try, its healthy and better than its ever been, just waiting to be found. You won't be disappointed giving this game a try or even a second try if youve tried already and left, its much improved.

This Jon Wood guy always make me laugh -- I'm not sure it is about is articles but all his articles are either out to date -- like did he right this article 5 years and just post it now?  Also I wish his articles told me something I didn't already know.  Five Under the Radar MMOs, come on now Jon use your imagination, surely you can find more obscure MMO's to right about *shakes his head*  Jon's a good writer, just his articles make me laugh.

All these posts about FF Online and no reference to its combat?  Really?  None of you remember those wonderful 10ish seconds between swings?  Or did people actually enjoy that? Turned based combat speed, just without the turns.  No thanks.  I actually dont have a problem with the graphics, grind, etc.  But come on, the combat, really?

Originally posted by Trollo

Well I can honestly say most kids when i was in junior high up even till highschool played runescape. Then a cuple buddies and I moved on to world of warcraft and to other games. Such as DAoC, FFXI, EQ, etc. I find i always go back to runescape every once in a while because its just neat to see all the changes they make over time. If you are one of the people who played in 2001 and look at it now you should be amazed.

I played Runescape a bit after it came out. All of my closest friends and I played.(This was in 4th grade btw I also played EQ at this time) We would go the the computer lab after school and play for a couple hours together before we got picked up. Man the game has always been so much fun. It is unfortunate that like many older games it has transitioned into the UBER gear kinda game instead of the good old grinding in Varrock on guards fun it used to be. Dont get me wrong, Runescape is a great game(though I dont play it anymore only EQ and LoTRO)

Every game on this list is terrible with the exception of FFXI, Maplestory is ew. If your looking for a cute game go play Ragnarok Online or Mabinogi, or even that new similar one Dragonica. Unless you enjoy spending all your time with 10 - 12 year olds.

Final Fantasy XI is wonderful! I loved it when I played it, the payment system though. I hate it. I wish they would let you just paypal for the month and not have to worry about canceling your subscription if your not going to pay the next month. So many times I forgot the day to cancel it and was charged for another month >_>. That class action lawsuit has some good points, and I wouldn't mind if it forced them to redo their payment methods.

Originally posted by Sensai

All these posts about FF Online and no reference to its combat?  Really?  None of you remember those wonderful 10ish seconds between swings?  Or did people actually enjoy that? Turned based combat speed, just without the turns.  No thanks.  I actually dont have a problem with the graphics, grind, etc.  But come on, the combat, really?

Combat was one of my favorite things in FFXI. It's unique and not just point and click like other games. I found myself having a lot more fun in battles.

 I dont mean to be rude however the fact remains this article was not put together well, none of the games you listed was under the radar in my honest opinion.

Runescape is like an MMO with training wheels most people on here played it before they rode the bike. I can guarentee a good amount of every forum goer on here has atleast tried the game out, while i personally have not been on in a while I used to be a very avid fan of the game however it has began to reach the end of its slope. 

However I would like to quote you on this fact "but it was the second most recognized game in the room" if you go to most middle schools, high schools, or maybe even a bit higher any one who has an intrest in MMOS has most likely atleast heard of the game please inform me how is this under the radar?

Ryzom I have heard of but never put much research into it so I will be skipping this just due to lack of experience on the subject.

Maplestory.... Not to be rude if any one here is a fan but this game is not under the radar; it is a pile of crap filled with 12 year olds I find the game boring, dull, and not any thing special at all. And I dont think anything can be considered under the radar with the amount of adds that they throw out.

DaOC is also once again a game that was not under the radar, by todays standards the amount of subscribers it had in its pinnacle was quite low however back in its prime it was a decently populated stable MMO back before WoW all games subscriptions were lower and thus the bar for sucssess was also much lower. The game is almost empty now but thats due to age and lack of inovation not initial attention.

FFXI has next to WoW most likely the largest international population around; I dont think this can be called under the radar and it has grown its own infamous reputation those who avoid it arn't due to a lack of knowing about it but because of the horrendous idea of spending 7 hours fighting one boss mob.