I'll never forget the first time I zoomed out while using the 32:9, 1080p monitor I reviewed a few years back, and as I did so the rolling fields of Rohan fully engulfed my vision. I was playing The Lord of the Rings Online, and while the game world has always felt immersive on a standard 16:9 display, thanks in large part to the work Standing Stone Games has done in building it, nothing prepared me for how immersive it would feel as even more of that world was made visible.
This was something I was reminded of recently as I finished up my review of the Philips Evnia 49M2C8900 49" curved gaming monitor. The sheer amount of world that I could uncover by simply zooming out was insane, and even when I didn't, the game world seemed to feel like it enveloped me utterly. This was something I experienced in nearly every MMO I played on the monitor, from EVE Online's vast darkness as I mined Veldspar to Star Wars: The Old Republic's vast desert landscapes of Tatooine.
Fully Immersed
MMOs are often, first and foremost, about the game world, at least for me. The world itself, the setting in which I would spend countless hours running around, needs to be both interesting and beautiful to catch my attention. Without this base requirement, I very often fall off an MMO if nothing about the world I'm exploring isn't interesting. But even if it's interesting at first, I also need to feel immersed in that world. I don't often roleplay, so it comes down to how well it gives the appearance I'm living and breathing within the confines of its digital borders.
While 32:9 still has issues with native support across gaming in 2024, this wasn't the case for any of the MMOs I played while reviewing the panel last month. Every single MMO, from older titles like Lord of the Rings Online and World of Warcraft to newer games such as New World, worked flawlessly. But what really got me was just how much of the game world they allowed to open up.
Part of the feeling of immersion is due to the game world fully dominating my vision. The world of Black Desert Online wrapped around me as I mindlessly took down grinding spots while exploring Mordor in LotRO meant that everywhere I physically looked, I could see the scars and desolation that Sauron's dominion had forced upon the earth. Standing atop the Tower of Ecthelion in Minas Tirith, the ruin of Pelennor spread out below me, and Osgiliath in the distance was particularly impactful and truly made me feel, if for an instant, I was physically in the realm of Gondor.
It never felt like it had that stretched quality, especially around the edges of the screen, like some 32:9 presentations can have, either. This felt like the MMO had always been designed with this aspect ratio in mind, as if this was the optimal way to view the world, highlighting more than a standard 16:9 display ever could. Going back to one, even a high-quality 4K display now makes me feel like I'm missing out on a lot, even if it's just a wider view of the game world.
Fully Customizable
This feeling of immersion is helped by the fact that the vast majority of MMOs allow for full UI customization. You can drag your UI elements around and place them where you need them, such as moving hotbars, enemy vitals, the minimap and more. Being able to play fast and loose with the UI makes playing an MMO on a super ultrawide display so much easier, as there is no need to turn your head to look at something vital lurking in the corner of the screen.
This, of course, means that setting up to play an MMO this way might have some trial and error as you figure out what works best for you. In my case, I simply tried to replicate the placement of the UI as if it were a 16:9 display, putting everything within my vision up front. This was pretty easy, and once I had done so, I never really thought about the UI again. This hasn't been my experience in single-player, AAA games that don't natively support 32:9, as more often than not, those elements are static, forcing me to turn my head away from the action just to see much-needed info about my character and situation.
Not every MMO allowed for this fully, however. I was somewhat disappointed by New World, as it's one of the few MMOs that do not allow for any UI customization. This wasn't a massive deal during most of my encounters, but I would really have loved to have moved my UI closer to the middle of the screen just to keep from turning every few minutes to check on my arrow supply or quest log.
As a result, I'm finding it hard to go back to a regular 16:9 display for my MMOs. Ever since playing them on this massive, super ultrawide screen, the viewport now feels downright restrictive. It makes me wonder how, even with a 21:9 monitor, I was okay with the smaller aspect ratio. The extra real estate 32:9 provides really allows more of the world to open up, more chances for me to feel fully immersed and enveloped by the game world, and, in turn, feel more inclined to stay in them for longer game sessions.
While I'm hardly the first to discover just how immersive MMOs can feel on a 32:9 display, the form factor just feels absolutely perfect for this type of game. It's going to be a long while before I make a switch away from super ultrawide, if I ever do, and a very large part of why is down to my MMOs - I simply feel like this is the perfect way to play them.
