We've got the second installment in fun new series today. We've asked each of the MMORPG.com writers to submit their favorite three MMOs. We have Randy Lidens's and Scott Jeslis's choices. See if you agree!
Randy's thoughts
Lineage
Launched a few short months after Ultima Online, Lineage is one of the longest running most successful MMORPGs of all time. It has consistently held a player base of approximately one million players for nearly two decades. The core of its success is the solid foundation of competitive PvE, or PvPvE set in an open environment. Guilds and alliances are player driven and dynamic, changing as politics and relationships between groups shift. This simple game play loop has kept players engaged for twenty years and is one of the few global titles to successfully make the transition to mobile.
If NCSoft offered Lineage in the west again I would be there to play it. There still isn’t an MMORPG which does open world PvPvE better.
The Lord of the Rings Online
In my opinion LotRO is the pinnacle of traditional story-driven themepark MMORPGs. It is a huge world with vast maps and 11 years of content. The world is beautifully crafted and its appearance has held up well. Most importantly LotRO is a community driven game with social events running throughout the year. It is a rich immersive experience with unique classes and detailed narratives. Social systems include collaborative music and dance events, seasonal festivals, and a constant stream of developer and community events.
This is the old school MMORPG I recommend to people looking for a classic community oriented themepark experience.
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The Elder Scrolls Online
ESO delivers modern game play and combat in a traditionally immersive world. The characters and stories are interesting. The open nature and scalability of the world make it feel wide open and the adventure my own. It’s a game I can play as if it were single player or cooperative. I especially enjoy the ability to join random players in public dungeons or open world group content. For me, it is the immersive successor to LotRO. The world is huge, with a ton of content, and growing thanks to the consistent and meaty quarterly DLC updates.
This is the modern MMO experience I recommend to people looking for a high quality immersive action RPG.
Scott's choices
Dark Age Of Camelot
This was my first foray into the world of MMOs and there was no better choice at the time, the only other competitor being EverQuest or "EverCrack" as we referred to it in those early days. There's no denying that the grind in DAoC was real, but no other MMO since has captured the same magic as the Realm v Realm action in DAoC. I still have many joyful memories of doing zerg in New Frontiers and the feel of suspense doing PvE and farming in the shared dungeon area of Darkness Falls. Throw in the high fantasy lore of Arthurian times and back in the day there was no other PvP focused competitor. I talk about this PvP love and I'm a guy who usually shys away from PvP. DAoC is still up and running as we speak but in most cases the aged UI and graphics cause many people to turn their heads on it today.
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World of Warcraft
I still remember release day 14+ years ago. Back then online ordering and digital downloads were non-existent. We happened to have a lunch thing for work that myself and a guy I knew in support had to attend with several other colleagues. On the way back we made the colleague who was driving us stop at a local Best Buy so he and I could run in and purchase our boxed collector's edition. To this day it's still one of the MMOs I fall back on. Sure it's aged but I think Blizzard has done some remarkable things with the aged technology and the high fantasy lore can't be beat! You can jump in and do a lot of different activities whether it be solo or grouped.
Elder Scrolls Online
Zenimax has grown this game so much from the day it released. The action combat is fluid and the graphics are gorgeous. This game has some of the best looking outfits of any game on the market. The high fantasy lore in this one is top notch as well, not to mention fully voiced acted. The game is also rewarding for those gamers who like to explore. It also earns favor because you can be multi-guilded plus all your alts are auto-guild versus be character based invites. Their subscription service, ESO Plus, keeps getting better as well, the near infinite crafting bag is a wonderful subbed feature.
