It's been a long year, and when the world is looking bleak, confusing, or downright mean - it's nice to know that we have this hobby to fall back on, to escape into. And we're thrilled that we get to share that with you.
The MMO Genre keeps on languishing, waiting for some big new game to draw in the masses, and let's be honest... we could be waiting for a long time if we're expecting to see World of Warcraft like numbers anytime soon. But through this year, I've been contentedly playing a slew of older games because they're continually adding content I can rally behind.
While Battle for Azeroth has generally been a letdown after the initial thrill of launch and the content of leveling through the zones, I still rather enjoyed that trip from 110-120 and will hop back in when the next big patch lands in December.
ESO keeps proving to be (for my money) the best theme-park MMO on the market, and Summerset and Murkmire have been stunning story-based content. Meanwhile games like Destiny 2: Forsaken and Fallout 76 (recently) have been enthralling me with online persistent worlds on a smaller scale. Mini-MORPGs, and I'm OK with that.
Then I look to titles like Legends of Aria next week with its Head Start and December 4th launch for a good dose of Ultima Online revisited. Ashes of Creation's Alpha testing in 2019, Crowfall's launch, likely Camelot, and of course the one I'm drooling over - Torchlight Frontiers. Oh, and let's not forget about imports like Astellia and Lost Ark on the horizon.
But let's not forget just how far Warframe has come since its early days, and how massively successful it is with each new update these days. Next year also brings The Division 2, the original being another "Persistent Online World" that grew and got better with each new update. Here's hoping the sequel gets it all right out of the gate.
Heck, even as an MMO site, since we review single player RPGs, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention titles like Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Spider-Man, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, God of War, Far Cry 5, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Pillars of Eternity 2, and many more that I've lost track of.
Yeah, I'm thankful for just how good it is to be a gamer these days where there's no shortage of just about any genre, even the MMO... unless you're an RTS fan. But hey - you have Warcraft III coming, and Command & Conquer Remasters. That's something!
So as you sit around the table today, or not, and you're thinking up what to be thankful for - go through the big things: family, friends, health, jobs, and so forth. Whatever you have that many do not, be thankful.
But when it comes to games? Let's be thankful we have so damned many that it's impossible to keep up with them all, and look forward to 2019 when hopefully we see some new and exciting blood enter the MMO market.
