Well, it is personal opinion, but I gotta go with EQ1. It was the only game to hold my attention for 5 years straight. I have played nearly every game released since and all them eventually bored me. The depth and challenge in EQ1 is what held me for so long and every game after it has failed to provide the same feeling. I know many think EQ1 was a huge grindfest and they were right, but that was what kept you in the game. Games like WoW can be blown through so fast it is rediculous. The double edge sword of grindfest is that if you are working on it as it comes out, it isn't bad at all, but if you come in late when it becomes catch-up it is a nightmare.

I would give my cousins' neighbor's dog's left nut for a modern day EQ1 that followed the same formula, but with updated controls and graphics.

This really is a great thread....it is good to hear so many different people's opinions.  All the positive comments I have read about Eve makes me want to try it.  Right now I'm hooked on Vanguard but will probably give Eve a shot sometime this year.  The pve in Vanguard reminds me a lot of EQ1 and is awesome....downside is that the game is a bit shaky technically.  Also, I wish I would have tried CoH at some point...so many people seem to think that was a really excellent game also. 

Keep them coming and cheers.

My best MMOs

Ultima Online

EVE

Planetside

Guild Wars

World of Warcraft

Each one of those are very unique to their style.

Wilt Chamberlain

DAoC during the SI era, because you fought for your Realm, you roleplayed without noticing it, it was an awesome community, the RvR was open ended and the PvE was fun with friends, it was a world and an adventure with alot of social interaction, it was a true mmorpg.

SWG pre CU-NGE, because it was a world, a society with people interdepending on eachother, people dancing, making music, medics healing, doctors buffing, building cities, fighting against the imperials ( if you were a rebel :p ), respected crafters that could make you something special, freedom, not instanced, also this was a world and an adventure with alot of social interaction, a true mmorpg.

Honestly, the game that continues to dominate my nostalgic memories and the game I tend to compare all others mmo's to is FFXI. So FFXI gets my vote for best mmorpg EVER. Hopefully that will change once FFXIV comes out.

I know, it has some issues due to being limited by it's console technology but the game truly took me to another world. A dangerous world with players who spoke different languages yet we all knew the language of gaming. A world with story, cutscenes and atmosphere that has yet to be matched.

Originally posted by Ryukan

Asheron's Call. My favorite MMO ever.

No game should be considered the "best mmo".

I would have to agree with this poster though. AC did so many things right.

Originally posted by CyberWiz

DAoC during the SI era, because you fought for your Realm, you roleplayed without noticing it, it was an awesome community, the RvR was open ended and the PvE was fun with friends, it was a world and an adventure with alot of social interaction, it was a true mmorpg.

....

 

I'm one of those who have resubbed my WoW account way too many times. When I play WoW I do have som fun from time to time and it's a polished game and all, but I feel something is missing and it's most likely the roleplaying part. I often feel like WoW is more of a virtual pub than a gameworld, yes even on RP servers. And when the chatting is game related it's mostly about loot anyway.

But if we somehow can trick the players to roleplay without them even noticing it... that would be one step towards creating that living gameworld again...

Im hoping i havnt played it yet.

Originally posted by grandpagamer

Im hoping i havnt played it yet.

Me too.

_LoTRO

_{Cus I'm a PvE girl. The graphics are gorgeous and the quests/crafts/deeds are never ending. I am never bored when I log in and that puts LoTRO at the top of my list of the games I have played over the last 7 yrs.}

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.

Originally posted by grandpagamer

Im hoping i havnt played it yet.

Wow, that was actually a pretty deep answer for a short sentence. Yeah, ill bite.

I agree. I hope I havent played it yet. Watching Mortal Online. And hoping.

OK I have to break this up a lot since I loved different aspect to a lot of games

Best PvP system:

DAOC RvR is still the best system in my mind. 

Open PvP:

Damn this one is hard.  I loved PvP in Eve, but old school AC and UO were awesome.

Instanced PvP:

toss up here: GW, WAR, and WOW all have good instanced PvP.  I would say GW has the edge though.

Open PvE:

EQ1 without contest

Instanced PvE:

WoW, no one else has come close

Crafting/Economy:

Eve hands down.  It was so complex you could spend months trying to master it.

Graphics:

Can't really say the best here.  I will give god mentions instead

WoW: Bang for the buck.  Proof you don't need to "future proof" you engine to make it look nice.

EvE: Still has awesome graphics to this day

Lineage 2: Beautiful graphics, just needed more options for character models

COH/COV: hands down the best Character creations system I have ever seen

LOTRO: OMG beautiful graphics. 

Vangaurd/EQ2: best slide shows I have ever played :P seriously though, both had great still graphics, but the animations were pretty bad and had massive system reqs

Best Launch:

COH was the best launch I was ever a part of.  Got boerd after a few weeks though :(

Little things done right:

LOTRO:  so many cool little features in LOTRO that help make the game fun

Best Community:

Anything old school kill today.  Don't get me wrong, I still meet cool people from time to time, but not like the old school days when there were actually Communities that seemed to give a damn about each other.

Hell I am sure I could go on for hours about this topic

PvE: EQ1

PvP: UO

There are no good MMO's out atm, I tried WOW for a while but it got old when I got all my characters to lvl 55-70. I tried Age of Conan but that turned out to be an epic failure, I tried Warhammer but didnt really enjoy it.

My only hope in MMO's right now is Star Wars the old Republic or Jumpgate Evolution.

Planetside. The cooperation, the teamwork, the feeling of satisfaction after taking that enemy base. Most of all, though, the feeling of awe you get when you first play the game. The hopeless lostness you feel when bullets whizz around you, you dive out from in front of tanks, and you rush into shelter to escape an enemy bomber. It's just, quite simply, epic.

Well, the MMORPG with the most players is the best game. 

Anything else is just your opinion on what you enjoy most.  If another mmo is "so much better" than the MMO I just said, why is it not at the top? Why are so few people playing it?  It has the best of what their is to offer combined, so it is doing the best.

Just because I may not like how the game looks, or you don't like the people who play it, does not mean it is not the best game.  It is the best mmorpg for mmorpgs.  Not for A sandbox game, not for a f2p game, but for MMOrpgs.

You can disagree all you like, but that is your opinion on fact :\.  I hate it too.

Overall = EQ1 no doubt.. And second DaoC or/ and UO..

The most players? nah not again.. You can not! compare todays player numbers with the playerbase back in 1999..

Back then... we where very few playing mmorpgs..

An thats why eq1 (and for that matter DaoC/ UO) is the best game, cause they made the standards, where the pioneers..

Originally posted by Swanea

Well, the MMORPG with the most players is the best game. 

 

Anything else is just your opinion on what you enjoy most.  If another mmo is "so much better" than the MMO I just said, why is it not at the top? Why are so few people playing it?  It has the best of what their is to offer combined, so it is doing the best.

 

Just because I may not like how the game looks, or you don't like the people who play it, does not mean it is not the best game.  It is the best mmorpg for mmorpgs.  Not for A sandbox game, not for a f2p game, but for MMOrpgs.

You can disagree all you like, but that is your opinion on fact :\.  I hate it too.

Your opinion on how MMORPGs is completely wrong and everyone will agree with me. Popularity is a cowardish traite. The Quallity is the factor because If I were to walk into the store and look for a game, and everyone was buying barby island 2, would that be the best game ever? Fuck no.