MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood returns this week with a new list, this time counting down the top ten games that he feels have the potential to be something great.

Potential is a funny word, and compiling a list of ten games that I feel currently have the most potential was a more difficult task than I first anticipated. First, I tried to come up with a list of games that simply have the most potential in a general sense. The problem is, you can't do that. Potential, and how much a game has, is a subjective thing so I chose to present the ten games that I personally feel have the most potential. That's why you'll undoubtedly notice that I've left something off that you feel should be on there certainly before at least one of the games that I chose. I mean, just off the top of my head, I know that there are arguments to be made for: Jumpgate Evolution, Mortal Online, Champions Online and others. If you feel passionately that one of these, or another game should have been on my list, feel free to take some time not just to tell me that I'm an idiot, but to tell me why.

Remember, potential isn't a measure of what a game is, it's a measure of what a game could be.

Read My Top Ten Games with Potential

The moment I saw the title of this article, my first thought was "duck and cover, fire in the hole".

Then I quickly read through the ranking and the explaination of why each game is ranked in you opinion, which I do agree with most of it, but once it hit the top 3, all I can say is, I hope you are wearing something that does not burn easy.

I understand people's view are all different and potential does not always reflect popularity or game's current quality, but some might not, and yeah, I am going to go hide somewhere now before I get burned to a crisp too.

Best of luck to you, and it was a nice article.

The potential thing depends a lot on what you enjoyed in your previous games and your approach in them. Maybe stating so beforehand would help this article to be flame-safe.

While I will quibble with some of the specific choices in a moment, my bigger comment is simply "how sad". None of that top 10 list are really all that exciting. It's like ranking the "best" value meal at McDonalds...even the number 1 is nothing but flash fried garbage.

Okay, so Aion is probably going to be "big"...but its generic asian fantasy MMO#24 and hardly worth major buzz to me, I don't see how a slightly new version of the same old same old has any potential at all..  The two "big names"; Stargate and Star Trek; both have serious issues. Stargate is going to require a miracle to actually launch and Star Trek is being ground out by Cryptic...who are more interested in flopping out another game fast than delivering any kind of quality.

Secret World and World of Darkness are both still so far out, that even I can't be bothered to start bashing FunCom over it yet. EVE? Ambulation, please...it's been "in the works" for what nearly 2 years now and still isn't even close? These three are still more talking points and good presentations than "potential" yet.

APB, Global Agenda and SW:TOR I suppose I can agree have potential; potential to take the genre in a directions I don't really like. I don't agree that the FPS model is promising or desirable...nor am I a fan of single player storyline/solo centric play.

Which leaves Fallen Earth as the only one that really interest me...sadly.

The more MMOs I play, the more I feel that they're all the same. I really thing I should finally try EVE Online since I hear it's the only one that's different. E.g. you fight for something worthwhile rather than better gear to PvP better like in most other MMOs, there's a full player economy, etc. The only thing keeping me away from EVE is that it's sci-fi, and while I have nothing against that, I prefer fantasy. Magic just is my thing.

Now if they made a fantasy MMORPG similar to EVE - with fighting and capturing territories, player housing, PvP with full or partial loot, rich crafting and great economy where everything is made by players, I'd signup in an instant ;)

Aion... It looks great and I will try it out, but it feels like "cookie cutter" MMO with some nice addons. Nothing really innovative or anything.

The Secret World looks promising, BUT it's made by Funcom (not that there's anything wrong with that) and they're using the same engine that they use for AoC and Anarchy Online (Dreamworld was it?). I really dislike it and it automatically adds certain limitations (zoned world instead of seamless, pretty poor performance ,etc).

Bioware's MMORPG looks interesting. I have a lot of respect for Bioware and I think their games are amazing (NWN, Mass Effect, etc).  I wonder however how will their focus on the storyline will work out. Storyline might be important for some people (like me) but for MMORPGs you also need good gameplay mechanics, class balance, economy, worthwhile PvP, etc.

 No interest in Final Fantasy? the successful franchise probably wont climb to WoW levels, but don't count this game out

The Agency? Admist the fantasy laden MMO games, a different genre is a nice change. 

 I'm finding MMORPG too be doing alot  ' top ten ' ' why not ' or  ' under belly ' stuff and focusing on the top ten mmo's. What ever happen too the other mmo's like Roma Victor / DAoC / Ashrons Call/SWG or any other old mmo. I just found out that shadowbane got taken off line. I came here too  mmorpg to find some news about it and there was none.

Its disapponting that the focus is only given too main stream mmo's and not too the old mmos that are still going.

I'll be following WoD MMO for sure and that's a surprise when there have been no informations revealed about it all... basically, I'm interested in the IP itself and the fact that there probably isn't a better company to try something like this than CCP given their history with EvE Online.

I find that the use of the word potential is somewhat subjective.

Sci-Fi games generally will have more potential because you are not limited by any one setting, skill, technology, planet, etc.

For the list I cannot see putting W. of Darkness on there because it is so far out. Plus when it comes to an existing IP I believe that somewhat limits your potential. You're restricted by the rules, lore, and owners of the license on what you can and cannot do.

Global Agenda is going to be good for the arena style MMO's with player progression and SWTOR will be good for providing the voiceovers and a story based game. While they might have potential to be very good at what they do, I also feel that they are going further down the rabbit hole of SPRPG style of play. If SWTOR can capture UO elements, it will have potential. If every player is limited to following their story, despite different choices and outcomes within the story, then I think it lacks potential.

Really a more specfic definition of potential is needed.  Potential to be good? Potential to impat the MMO genre? Potential for later expansions and content? Potential for capturing people of multiple playstyles?

The qualities that originally pulled me into mmorpgs ~10 years ago are lost.  There will never be another series of games like EQ / UO /DAOC.

Some dismiss this as "first kiss" syndrome.  I suggest that modern mmos and their successors have lost the online worlds feel and feel more like games than ever before.  It has to do with a whole generation of students going to "video game design school" and learning about mass appeal.

This genre is dead to me.

No Earthrise? I think that is the game with the most potential, by far. I think TOR had potential, before the details actually came out.

Originally posted by ericbelser

I don't see how a slightly new version of the same old same old has any potential at all.. 

World of Warcraft?

Originally posted by Nicrox

 I'm finding MMORPG too be doing alot  ' top ten ' ' why not ' or  ' under belly ' stuff and focusing on the top ten mmo's. What ever happen too the other mmo's like Roma Victor / DAoC / Ashrons Call/SWG or any other old mmo. I just found out that shadowbane got taken off line. I came here too  mmorpg to find some news about it and there was none.

Its disapponting that the focus is only given too main stream mmo's and not too the old mmos that are still going.

 

www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/16/feature/2942/Game-Closing-Permanently.html

Eh, the problem with this list is something he already said, 'all MMO's have potential'. The ones that launched have a lot of wasted potential, and Eve Online has been baiting the carrot of 'avatar movement' for some time now. A lot of games have had wasted potential that never lived up to its name and fell by the wayside. This list really didn't accomplish much for me and really seems to be just a way to try and seem hip. The thing about potential is that the majority of people don't play a game for the potential that it can deliver, but for what it delivers right now. Vanguard is an excellent example as it has come a /very/ long way from what was launched to what it is now, yet the majority of people have already quit and moved on. A lot of games could be great, but they generally fail to live up to the hype surrounding them or what seemed really cool becomes monotonous.

Anyway, the reason I replied to this list in the first place was simply for correctional purposes. Eke is the word that should have been used, as it means 'to put effort into', ie. eke out a living from the barren job prospects. Eek is the sound Mr. Wood, or a little girl, would make when they get surprised. As it was done several times, it leads me to believe that it was an error vs. a misspelling.

"No one right now outside of Bioware actually knows what the answers to those questions are. It is possible that, now stay with me, a company that has the experience and reputation of Bioware might actually have thought of these questions as well and found ways to address them. There is so much potential in the idea that a company may have found a way to actually present an MMO where individual decisions matter and a story, not a constant desire to level drives players through the game that there really wasn’t much choice but to say that Star Wars: The Old Republic has the most potential right now of any game currently in development."
 

Amen.

I would like to play WoD but why OP did not put Guild Wars 2 in his list? yeah,yeah some will say that it hasn't been announced yet and so is WoD.And yet Guild Wars has like 5 millions players.

I was suprised to see starg gate worlds listed.  The game that had millions of dollars thrown at it, and still nothing and SOE is going to buy it and and either hsut it down or trash it.

The rest i could see with the exception of the secret word, there too antoher game that should have been that never will be.

Originally posted by Ephimero

The potential thing depends a lot on what you enjoyed in your previous games and your approach in them. Maybe stating so beforehand would help this article to be flame-safe.

OR, maybe it's intended to be Flame-worthy..................

Originally posted by Rekindle

The qualities that originally pulled me into mmorpgs ~10 years ago are lost.  There will never be another series of games like EQ / UO /DAOC.

 

Some dismiss this as "first kiss" syndrome.  I suggest that modern mmos and their successors have lost the online worlds feel and feel more like games than ever before.  It has to do with a whole generation of students going to "video game design school" and learning about mass appeal.

This genre is dead to me.

Agreed.  Nothing new (or even "old") is coming anytime soon.  Wow clones 4 life.

Originally posted by LynxJSA

Originally posted by ericbelser

I don't see how a slightly new version of the same old same old has any potential at all.. 

World of Warcraft?

Apologies in advance, since this is largely off topic:

First off, as much as I didn't really like WoW (only playing when dragged in by some friends and left after 6 months or so): It was more than a slightly new version of EQ. WoW took elements that were popular from every MMO in existance at the time, refined and polished them and combined them into a totally new package. They redefined the genre in many ways by making "the grind" faster, easier and simpler...they made a quantum leap in lowering death penalties. This was combined with an already existant IP that had a ready-made massive player base from their single player games plus a mega marketing blitz. They did all this while managing to stay low on the hardware side and released at almost the exact moment that the internet market had properly "matured".

The "Rise" of WoW was in many ways a "perfect storm" that developers simply need to get over, because it is unlikely to *ever* be duplicated.

Aion has effectively NONE of that going for it. It's the same as game out there now with some shiny graphics and a generic Asian fantasy retread world.