More often then not, when we get together my gaming friends and I always seem to wind up dissecting various MMO failures, e.g., "This game failed because of this. That game failed because of that." This got me thinking. What was the greatest MMO failure? Was it HGL? AoC?

Just curious as to the collective wisdom of the interwebs.

World of Warcraft because it changed all high budget MMOs into themeparks

Out of curiosity.. what's HGL?

Personally I'd say the biggest MMO failure would be Tabula Rasa. A game developed by Richard Garriot and several other members of the Ultima Online team, set in a sci-fi setting when everyone else was doing high fantasy, released in november 2007.... and closed down a year and a half later in february 2009.

AoC personally I wouldn't consider a failure (not a success either, though), mainly because, while it did have a really bad launch, it's not only still running, but being actively developed, and producing enough of a profit to Funcom to fund TSW (and personally think it's a very fun game).

Originally posted by L0C0Man

AoC personally I wouldn't consider a failure (not a success either, though), mainly because, while it did have a really bad launch, it's not only still running, but being actively developed, and producing enough of a profit to Funcom to fund TSW (and personally think it's a very fun game).

^ This.

Even though I tried, and didn't like AoC, I can't call any game a failure thats still alive and making a profit.

Final Fantasy 14. It was so bad, it made people angry. The game was broken in every possible way.

Yes Age of Conan was a failure, but at least parts of it worked. You could at least argue levels 1-20 was fun. FF14 was boring/broken from the start.

Two games that I hoped would succeed more than they have, and also failed to deliver in terms of my expectations..

Warhammer Online

Vanguard Saga of Heroes

Originally posted by L0C0Man

Personally I'd say the biggest MMO failure would be Tabula Rasa. A game developed by Richard Garriot and several other members of the Ultima Online team, set in a sci-fi setting when everyone else was doing high fantasy, released in november 2007.... and closed down a year and a half later in february 2009.

I really enjoyed playing Tabula Rasa, so I would agree with that assesment. The fact it had a lot going for it and still failed makes it a pretty big fail. Obviouly someone somewhere really messed up.

I would say FFXIV was the biggest fail.

I would put SWTOR second but that is because I don't feel it wasn't a MMO, by definition it isn't.

I would say Rift was a bigger fail than AoC because I spent more time playing AoC and enjoying myself than I did in Rift. Beta tested and launched both games. Being bug free doesn't make you a success. Content and Gameplay are what matter most.

Would have to add Tabula Rasa to my top 3 fails only because it didn't go f2p and closed instead..had tons of fun with it in its short life

Stargate has to be up there in the 3 just because umm how did that mess happen? lol

SWG:nge just because it proved to be a disaster

I would have to go with a mmo that did not make release, due to last minute problems....So probably something like Tabula Rasa or however its spelled....Not saying it is the worst mmo, as a lot liked the potential...Just to take os much time, and spend so much money....So like it, or APB, but I think APB is getting back out there, but the original makers probably took the bath on it still...

Worst MMO game wise that I have paid for was TOR, not that it is the worst game ever or anything, but I don't think the MMO/Single player story worked well....Now I have to say this, I do not buy a ton of mmos, as I generally had played most of my mmos around a 6 months to a year+

1. UO - 6-8 years...This and EQ are my 1/2 all time.

2. EQ - 7-8 years

3. DAoC -  1.5 years (got tired of the nerfing, still was a great RvR game)...Favorite open PvP/RvR game ever. Top 5 for me.

4. EQ2 - 2-3 months, couldn't get the wife interested, and replaying a world I already had was a negative, more so than the game..Even with it being different, it killed some of the mystery.

5. SWG 6-8 months, got in late, CU/NGE ruined a lot of the crafting materials and changed the game too much...Needed fixed, not changed...

6. WAR 6 months, bad RvR incentive implimentation, people wouldn't defend, and crafting was pretty non-existent...Other things...

7. Vanguard 1 to 1.5 years (cant remember exact timeline) Loved the game, despite the problems, quality crafting, harvesting, pve...PvP was a little unbalanced, but decent...Lack of development and attention had killed who remained for the most part...Top 5 for me though.

Long layoff, moving , etc....

8.  Rift 3 months (paid for 6 months, based on nice 9.99 price break and my history of playing stuff for usually atleast 6 months) - It was too railed/small, crafting seemed obsolete for the most part...Good solid company though, if they made something more to my liking, I would not hesitate to play it. 

9.  TOR - 1 month - Too railed, crafting for the most part was too easy/senseless....Daily grind was boring, and I didn't like the direction of the, what was coming to fix things and make things better...I bought it due to friends playing it...Would not of done it otherwise, but that still couldn't keep me playing.

I played a lot of other stuff, beta'd WoW, Fallen Earth trial, Earthrise beta, Perpetuum beta, Darkfall trial, etc...I just am basing it on what I bought though.

Dark and Light...nuff said

The hype and the scale of the failure is as they say in WoW.....Epic

I'd have to go with Alganon.  It's hard to top that in terms of trainwreck.

Biggest fail is tied at UO2 and UXO, both got cancelled by EA because EA is retarded.

Second biggest fail FFXIV, I actually wanted to fight the people who made it, it was that damn bad.

Originally posted by Thorbrand

I would say FFXIV was the biggest fail.

I would put SWTOR second but that is because I don't feel it wasn't a MMO, by definition it isn't.

I would say Rift was a bigger fail than AoC because I spent more time playing AoC and enjoying myself than I did in Rift. Beta tested and launched both games. Being bug free doesn't make you a success. Content and Gameplay are what matter most.

How can Rift even be in this discussion? Rift is one of the great SUCCESS stories of MMO's. Small unknown company releases a MMO that at one point topped 1 million subs. Sure its down to like half that number now, but I bet they are still making plenty of profit. I understand if it's a fail to you personally, but I think the topic is about MMO's in general.

great thread.

1. EQ 2 albeit, still alive, the dissapointment I felt choosing that over WoW was a mistake. I loved EQ, but this thing was just horrid.

2. LOTRO I know many love this game and still play, but if there was ever a game that shouted PvP, this was it. Monster play was a lol. 

3. Warhammer Man, it started great, the early scenarios were fun and people actually participated in the PQ's. The Pve killed this game for me, period.

4. AOC Great starting area, after that...sucksville.

5. SWTOR I was suckered in to the CE edition, I still play, but after the 1.2 patch and the barren worlds, I unsubbed.

FFXIV-SWTOR FOR ME THOS 2  .

im not going to say mmofps cause they are all fail because sadly  all fps is made in a way that you cna unlock aimbot its part of the system and sadly all fps  gonna have hacks they never cant change it NEVER ,its like saying to a older spider to not eat theyr yougest cause its the way of life  even if they dont want it its need to be done.

I cant for the life of me remember the name of it, but there was an MMO which was in the works and took plenty of preorders, and then the devs did a runner with the cash. It was pure vapor/scamware.... now THAT is a fail.

If anyone remembers the name enlighten me cos its bugging the hell out of me

Originally posted by gameguy369

Originally posted by Thorbrand

I would say FFXIV was the biggest fail.

I would put SWTOR second but that is because I don't feel it wasn't a MMO, by definition it isn't.

I would say Rift was a bigger fail than AoC because I spent more time playing AoC and enjoying myself than I did in Rift. Beta tested and launched both games. Being bug free doesn't make you a success. Content and Gameplay are what matter most.

How can Rift even be in this discussion? Rift is one of the great SUCCESS stories of MMO's. Small unknown company releases a MMO that at one point topped 1 million subs. Sure its down to like half that number now, but I bet they are still making plenty of profit. I understand if it's a fail to you personally, but I think the topic is about MMO's in general.

Sorry this is the biggest load of crap ever.

1) Yes Trion might not have been heard of etc.  But they wnot some small little company from a bloody small absemant or wharehouse, they had multi million dollar investfund funds backing them.  They in no wya shape or form were small, they had millions backing them.  Whoever the guy behind  is,  must have had some preety well connected friends.

2)  No where ever did trion release sub figures, where the hell are you getting 1 million subscribed?  

If anyhting Id say Rifts retention figures are probabaly preety low, and im pulling this out my arse but id put there subscriber base anywhere from 100k to 200k max.

Sad really, how easy it is for everyone to toss in so many candidates to the fail list. 

FFXIV, Vanguard, AOC all come to mind right off the bat, but so many other good candidates out here.

Biggest disappointment for me was WAR, for some reason i had hoped that it would be a good spiritual successor to DAOC and that wasn't how it turned out.

Nothing comes close to Final Fantasy XIV