The List

It’s that time of the year again. Depending on where you live, snow is falling, wind is blowing, the air is chilly, and fireplaces are roaring. Or if you’re like me in Northern California, weather is slightly colder on most days, but generally sunny and not all that much different most of the time. Either way, it’s the Holiday Season.

We’ve all been there. We’re dying to play an MMO and get our fix and sometimes it doesn’t even have to be our go-to main game. Maybe your laptop can’t handle it, you’re out of town, or you don’t have the time to play a bigger game – whatever the reason, sometimes you just need a browser game to scratch that itch.

Starting when I was still a child, I've greatly enjoyed numerous incarnations of high fantasy. However, it has never been my only thematic area of interest. So, when it comes to MMOGs, I've always wanted more variety. Perhaps the ongoing growth of the category's audience signals that such a time is upon us or at least close at hand. Considering how the market is growing and evolving, here are some concepts that seem to hold unrealized potential.

My PlayStation 4 has been dominated by Dragon Age: Inquisition over the past week. In about 7 days, between working full-time, writing as a freelancer, balancing relationships, and several other things, I have somehow found nearly 20 hours of spare time to invest in Bioware’s latest epic – and I can tell I’m just now scratching the surface.

MMO launches are one of the trickiest things in the world for a developer and publisher to orchestrate. In the case of single player games, the experience can be perfectly balanced and simulated in a controlled environment. For standard multiplayer games, you can easily cap the number of players involved and know how it’s going to turn out in a live scenario. A Massively Multiplayer Game on the other hand, is something else entirely.

The term “WoW Clone” gets thrown around a lot these days. While it may not really be fair to claim that any game should be labeled a clone of another game, it is the reality that we live in. World of Warcraft is, by far, the biggest and most popular MMORPG in the world and as the old saying goes, “If you can’t beat ‘em, copy ‘em,” or something like that.

It’s that time of the year again. Pumpkins are carved on doorsteps, turkeys are cooking in ovens, and families are gathering around for the “happiest time of the year.” With global events like the holiday season being upon us, MMO developers have always taken this opportunity to connect their games to the real world as much as possible.

MMORPGs are perceived as being full of awful and terrible people. Whether it be an elitist that makes you feel terrible for being new to a game, or just a simple troll that makes everything insufferable, it’s seemingly impossible to play a single game for than a couple of hours without running into some of these players.

It’s no secret that most MMO quests are incredibly boring. If it weren’t for the engaging gameplay, multiplayer camaraderie, or epic scenarios that players find themselves, chances are this genre wouldn’t exist any longer. If you compare the questing found in most recent MMO releases to that of early pioneers, the types of quests are almost identical.

If there’s one game the MMO consumer really seems to enjoy, it’s playing “the next big thing” game. Hopeful fans project their best wishes forwards onto the next game, jaded players are certain that the next game is just “the next WoW clone,” and fervent players are certain the next game is the much-prophesied “WoW killer.” In each case, what brings us all together is looking at the next shiny toy. EQ:Next is most likely the next big thing.

Video games almost always fail to measure up to the hype they generate during development. It's pretty unusual to see one that under-promises and over-delivers. Indeed, relatively few even manage to meet the expectations they promote. To be fair, this isn't entirely one-sided since many of us tend to look at upcoming titles through our rose-colored glasses. Naturally, relative to how we think or hope they'll turn out, some disappoint more than others.

For this week’s List, we’ll be exploring the 5 worst types of MMO quests, what makes them so tedious, and maybe even how they could be improved. There will undoubtedly be plenty that I’ve failed to mention, or maybe you actually like some of the ones on this list, so either way we’d love to hear your thoughts down below after checking out the List!

Last week I wrote a list with 5 reasons to play Destiny. I stand by that list and if any of those reasons really leap out to you, then you should definitely give the game a shot. However, no game is perfect and Destiny is definitely not for everyone.

With the release of Destiny on consoles last week, this may very well be the first time in history that a very “PC-esque” game has ever came directly to consoles exclusively first. It may not be a fully-fledged MMO, but it has many of the hallmarks of the genre and is definitely part of that conversation. What makes it so bizarre, is that the PC release is still several months at least away.

Have you ever wondered just how hardcore you really are? If you could run with the big boys and look down your nose at the rest of the world for not being as cool as you are? How about just whether you’re casual or not? If so, this list is for you! This week, Chris hands the reigns over to Johnny P. Hardcore so he can dig deep into the top 7 signs you might be a filthy casual. You won’t want to miss it.