1) Planetside

2) Ultima Online

3) WoW

4) SWG

5) EQ

<deleted> why this post ended up in this thread I have no idea.

My best list is....

1. WOW

It is the most complete game and I spent the most time there.

2. AOC

I wish other companies would have great realistic graphics as opposed to cartoon looking ones.

3. RIFT

Solid game and company pays attention to what players want.

4. LOTRO

I like the player housing and most of all its middle earth.

5. EQ2

The abundance of classes and races make for a diverse game world.

1. Dark Age of Camelot

Overall atmosphere and feel of the game was just awesome (exempting ToA lol) and realm war was a rush

2. Everquest

Challenge, skill and cooperation....because of risk. Very little will ever match the pride of getting a late night call to rescue friends from Fear or my extended gang of friends helping/forcing me to finish my epic long after I had lost hope with it.

3. EVE

Best PvP ever....PvE side of the game sucked, but lots of great people and the warfare/economics

4. LotRO

Flat out the prettiest and most consistent world ever done in an MMO combined with some of the best people playing it. Shame Turbine completely dropped the ball outside of that ;)

5. SWG

Pre-NGE...a game with a lot of problems and poor choices but the most amazing potential ever squandered by a MMO company. The CU was on the right track...if the game had been incrementally fixed or some better decisions made early it could have been a market monster - growing over time like EVE...instead they took it out back and shot it in the head :)

Honorable mentions to RIft (for just being a very solid game, if a bit bland and boring) and Tabula Rasa (for inside jokes and best in game humor!) btw....

1. Ultima Online

2. TSW

3. Age of Conan

4. N/A

5. N/A

1. EQ - some of the best moments in my mmo gaming time, trains/mass KEI/getting keyed for raids/etc still no other game has come close to me for the many great moments I had there.

2. DaoC - Some of the best PvP moments of my gaming has come from here, castles/seiges/towers/8v8/etc, luckly GW2 will have a lot of these mechanics so we will see if the glory days of awesome pvp is relived, awesome housing system.

3. Rift - Near flawless release of the game, constant updates and content being added, souls/trees, really good raids so far, Trion listens to its players and adjusts/adds/deletes to the game as needed. Conquest is a step in the right direction to spice up the pvp in the game but could use improvements.

4. WoW - Graphics aside, reall good pve content/raids, pvp is lacking for me, the rise of Chuck Norris fame.

5. LotRO - Awsome Lore based quests/dungeons/raids, great graphics/sound, crappy housing system, where I met many of my mmo frieds and guild that I am still a part of.

1. SWGemu

Done by people who love it, best dev team ever since they do it for free and give their best

No profitmongers involved

Mature playerbase dedicated to the project

Everything else is not as good.

1. TSW

Aside from your character having no voice it's great. The mood is set in every zone and it just feels right when playing. I'm not saying this will be the MMO that lasts me the longest, but it's most definately the most fun I've had in times in one.

2. SWTOR

Not many people on these forums agree with me and that's fine, but I still find it hard to do any other way of questing after the full voice-overs and storytelling. I'm a huge fan of that.

3. RIFT

Out of all the released games I played, RIFT keeps going and I keep returning for the odd month to check out the updates. Without even noticing I am more subbed than unsubbed all the time.

I quit my list here because these are the only ones I've ever seriously played. I tried WoW, Aion and many a f2p game, but never found the one game I wanted. Right now I'm subbed to TSW and SWTOR, so I'll see where I end up.

Originally posted by Cantorage

I was interested in GW2 but next to TSW it's an absolute turd. Really feels like a F2P in comparison.

1.Meridian 59

The Big Bang of MMO's,the rest are all derivates.

I can't think of enough superlatives to toss at this game to really make it justice.

(This is if we're talking the best mmo's of all time, currently i would have to say TSW.)

All hail Qor=)

1.  SWG (pre-NGE) - immersive and creative with non-combat professions I still keep waiting to see show up in another game.  Player cities and player-driven economy.  Despite the bugs and annoying rubberbanding they never could seem to fix, they had something special here that lost its way.

2.  DAOC - Three very unique leveling experiences, very unique classes rather than the standard seen elsewhere, with a crafting economy somewhat similar to SWG but to a much smaller degree.  Loved the housing zone more than other mmo's.

3.  EverQuest II - Lots of things to do.  Could keep fully occupied with crafting alone.  Great dungeons early on.  Loved the game up until The Shadowed Odyssey expansion.  The game declined for me after that with each expansion and eventually I left after many years.

4.  LotRO - Very immersive and beautiful with a lot of attention given to zone details, more than I've seen anywhere.  Music, system, great community add to the overall experience.

5.  EverQuest - Loved the game until Gates of Discord.  Could be played casually up until then.  Classes had defining abilities with levels you anticipated to open up those abilities instead of just fireball 1, 2, and 3 each level.  Miss drive-by buffing.  Dungeons were huge and great fun for even small parties.

Unfortunately, of my five top mmo's, only LotRO is a top five in it's current form.  The other four either no longer exist (SWG) or don't exist  with the same type of game play, community, and structure that made it my favorite.

1--WOW

2--EVE

3--RIFT

4--TSW

5--SWTOR

Since we all have different games we like, I expect to see some different games on everyone list.  Whether you agree or not with anyone elses list, lets be respectful and if you must disagree please do so in a respectful way.  I know if I put my top 5 here many people probably wouldn't agree and that's ok with me.  Our different tastes is what fuels more diverse games and creativity.  Maybe one day that leads to a game what becomes one of your top five.

1-Swg(Pre NGE)

2-Tabula Rasa

3-Anarchy Online

4-TSW

5-E.V.E

I am shocked at the lack of planetside love, guess it required too much skill

To see Warhammer on a "Best of MMO" list, rather than something like Ultima Online, the original Everquest, or Asheron's Call, disturbs me. Naturally, everyone's entitled to their opinion, and obviously the individual who wrote this list enjoys most the modernization of the genre. There's nothing wrong with that necessarily, but I think it's a narrow scope to view massively games, especially considering that some of the oldest titles are still more detailed systematically and mechanically. I also don't disagree with everything on this list. EVE certainly deserves a spot somewhere in the top five, as do EQ, UO, AC, or Meridian 59. I always enjoyed AoC as well, but for a list of the very best MMO's? It was certainly pretty, but you know what they say about substance versus style, right?

All in all, this seems like an account that reflects recent happenings within the genre, rather than having range or appreciation for a greater comprehensiveness.

Originally posted by Auzy

I am shocked at the lack of planetside love, guess it required too much skill

If you mean PS1, i think it's because maybe not to many played it, like myself.

But i am indeed waiting for PS2. The only great pvp mmo in the forseable future (expect maybe AA and The Repop). I really hope SOE doesn't screw up.

On the topic, i don't have a top anything list.

1. Lineage

2. Guild Wars - close enough to an mmo to be on the list

3. EQ2

For newer games I think STO and RIFT deserve a mention.  Once they're out longer they could make the list.  I can't take seriously any game that hasn't been released yet or has been released less than a few months.  You have to give them time to get their legs before they get on the best of all time list.

Bored at work SooooOooooOooo... top 5 MMo's (released) according to this thread is...

1.Tied for first is Dark age of Camelot and World of Warcraft with 24 votes each

2.E.V.E came in second with 17 votes

3.Everquest came in third with 16 votes

4.Star Wars: Galaxies came in forth with 13 votes

5.The most shocking of them all ... coming in at number 5.. making the top 5 iiiiisssssssss ... The Secret World with 12 votes?!?!

So this means all the best "MMo experiences" were with games that came out between(1999 -2004) with the exception of TSW (2012)

1 - EVE

2 - EVE

3 - SWTOR

4 - EQ2

5 - VG

yes i wrote eve twice...though i dont really play anymore its hands and feet above all others.