Wildstar Shuts Down

Arguably the worst MMORPG moment of the year goes to Wildstar. Fans and players of Carbine’s sci-fi fantasy MMORPG could not hold back the tears when in September, the studio announced its closure. That meant Wildstar, its MMORPG released in 2014 was going to shut down later in the year as well. Since the announcements, many sources have revealed the mismanagement and issues surrounding both the studio and the game. From its hardcore beginnings that made a wider audience stay clear, to the lack of any content pipeline after launch, there are many reasons why the game didn’t meet NCSOFT’s expectations. Bottom line, the game made little to no revenue for its publishers, and became a liability. The game officially went out with a bang and farewell party on November 28th 2018.

“You Guys Don’t Have Phones?” Diablo Immortal Fiasco

Blizzard has a few forgettable moments in 2018 for sure, but earning the most fan backlash from BlizzCon this year is the Diablo Immortal reveal. Prior to the announcement, fans were hyped in anticipation for a next generation Diablo title that could successfully succeed where Diablo III can’t due to its age. Unfortunately, fans were stunned into silence when Blizzard announced that Diablo Immortal would be a mobile phone game, prompting one fan to inquire if this was an “out of season joke”. Blizzard in return, jest that fans do have phones don’t they? It was a PR disaster. Most could swallow that they weren’t getting a new Diablo game for PC, but compounding matters further, players discovered that the Immortal was just a mobile game reskin of another one of Netease’s games – the studio working with Blizzard to create the game.

Bless Online’s Curse

May 2018 will remain a very dark period for Neowiz. Bless Online has been garnering plenty of traction over the past 24 months, since it announced that it would be bringing its Korean MMORPG to Steam for the world to play, using a buy to play model that promises a non pay to win experiences. Many who’ve played the Korean version of the game didn’t believe that the game will change or improve its existing issues, mainly the lack of content, optimization and the game’s sub-par combat system. They were right. The game launched with massive hype only to fall on its face within hours, as players discovered issue after issue and began asking for refunds. Big YouTube and Twitch stars also made PSA videos warning players to stay away from it, which definitely hit the game hard. Ultimately, Bless Online went free to play months later, which only confirms what many believed in May that the Steam Early Access launch was nothing more than a cash grab.

Atlas Exposed

For something more recent, look no further than Studio Wildcard’s pirate sandbox MMO, Atlas. Revealed during the 2018 Game Awards show, the developers promised a bigger, better world than what players have seen in ARK: Survival Evolved. However, issues began unraveling the anticipation among players and streamers, as the game missed two consecutive launch deadlines, delaying the release further into December. When the game finally launched, more issues appeared. Folks were stuck at the main-menu for hours, missing any chance for a refund due to Steam’s policies. Additionally, players also uncovered through an exploit that Atlas was really, just a canned Mod for ARK titled Ocean. Some speculate that due to the popularity of the Season Pass for ARK, Studio Wildcard decided to cash in on potential revenue loss by making the mod a standalone game. True? Who knows, but this launch will go down as one of the worst in 2018, and the overwhelmingly negative reviews on Steam says it all.

The post The Lowest And Worst MMORPG Moments Of 2018 appeared first on Mmos World.

#5 World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft released its latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth this year and the behemoth of an MMORPG continues to grow. WoW’s multi-year story telling is it’s biggest draw at the moment, playing up the heat between the Alliance and Horde factions. The game does some clever things with its content in recent years to keep it fresh – better landscape quests, World Quests and BFA even introduced new ideas like Island Expeditions and Warfronts.The latter two did let the player-base down in addition to progression systems that felt “meh”, but patch 8.1 Tides of Vengeance did repair some of that damage. Ultimately though, WoW offers something for everyone, whatever your play style is. The end-game scene is still attractive with the new raids and Mythic+ content coming out regularly.

#4 Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

Since its relaunch, FFXIV have only gone from strength to strength with each update. For new players, FFXIV offers a unique JARP fantasy experience with its huge world, tons of content from quests to story, and group content. The sub you pay ensures that content rolls out frequently, with patches usually bringing in a boat load of content to keep you busy with. The graphics hits the spot for FF fans, and the general quality of the story cinematics are top notch. Don’t rule its group content either. The game offers quite a fair few things for players to tackle, like raids, dungeon and open world content that offers tangible rewards as well.

#3 Black Desert Online

At number three is the very popular Korean MMORPG, Black Desert Online. BDO has been around for a few years now in the West thanks to Kakao Games and Pearl Abyss. Why is BDO considered to be extremely popular?

For starters, the graphics, are excellent. From the first moment you lay your hands on the character creator, you know this game is going to look good on all types of systems. BDO also boasts a very large world with some freedom to build your character through interesting Life Skills besides just combat. The PvE story content is poor, but the combat system is addictive and one of the best action combat systems around today. Furthermore, Black Desert Online is coming to consoles, the Xbox One specifically next year. Players can pre-order the game in January.

#2 Guild Wars 2

For number two, we have Guild Wars 2. Now I know that the base game is currently free, but there are restrictions and you can purchase either the Heart of Thorns or Path of Fire expansion once and unlock everything right away. And why wouldn’t you, this game is awesome, even 6 years after release.

Guild Wars 2 is one of the highest rated MMORPGs of our time and it deserves that accolade, because it introduced so many industry defining mechanics that makes MMOs fun to play. For example, the incredible world that reacts to player input, popping up huge world events and bosses that are actually a lot of fun to play and participate in. The game has a very long main story that is decent and offers decent immersion for players looking for a great theme park casual MMORPG. But don’t let that casual tag fool you – GW2’s raids and higher tier Fractals offer quite the challenge for end-gamers.

If PVP is your thing, then jump into the world renowned World vs World PVP mode. It’s servers battling each other in large battles for pride. There’s also structured PVP for small groups that are really fun and surprisingly balanced. Ultimately, Guild Wars 2 offers an amazing amount of content that you can already play for free right now. And buying to play just adds the expansion and everything else. It’s a bargain since it goes on sale often, and new content rolls out consistently.

#1 The Elder Scrolls Online

And taking the top spot on our list of the best B2P MMORPGS is The Elder Scrolls Online, as it has done the previous year. ESO has been gradually improving with each DLC and Chapter – from Morrowind to Summerset, and we’re expecting more content to drop this year like Murkmire in November.

The DLCs that has been added over the last year or so has also been of good quality. Morrowind and Summerset have added many great features to the game – PvP Battlegrounds for all, the Outfit system, player housing and much more. There’s a lot of value right now, and you don’t even need the optional subscription to start having fun. But for sheer amount of content and quality alone, The Elder Scrolls Online is absolutely good value for money when it comes to MMORPGS and a regular winner of any top buy to play MMORPGS discussion. Considering it goes on sale so much on sale especially on Steam.

The post Top 5 Best B2P MMORPGS Of The Year appeared first on Mmos World.

#5 World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft released its latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth last month and the behemoth of an MMORPG continues to grow. WoW’s multi-year story telling is it’s biggest draw at the moment, playing up the heat between the Alliance and Horde factions. The game does some clever things with its content in recent years to keep it fresh – better landscape quests, World Quests and BFA even introduced new ideas like Island Expeditions and Warfronts.

Ultimately though, WoW offers something for everyone, whatever your play style is. The end-game scene is still attractive with the new raids and Mythic+ content coming out regularly.

#4 Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

Since its relaunch, FFXIV have only gone from strength to strength with each update. For new players, FFXIV offers a unique JARP fantasy experience with its huge world, tons of content from quests to story, and group content. The sub you pay ensures that content rolls out frequently, with patches usually bringing in a boat load of content to keep you busy with. The graphics hits the spot for FF fans, and the general quality of the story cinematics are top notch.

Don’t rule its group content either. The game offers quite a fair few things for players to tackle, like raids, dungeon and open world content that offers tangible rewards as well.

#3 Black Desert Online

At number three is the very popular Korean MMORPG, Black Desert Online. BDO has been around for a few years now in the West thanks to Kakao Games and Pearl Abyss. Why is BDO considered to be extremely popular?

For starters, the graphics, are excellent. From the first moment you lay your hands on the character creator, you know this game is going to look good on all types of systems. BDO also boasts a very large world with some freedom to build your character through interesting Life Skills besides just combat. The PvE story content is poor, but the combat system is addictive and one of the best action combat systems around today.

#2 Guild Wars 2

For number two, we have Guild Wars 2. Now I know that the base game is currently free, but there are restrictions and you can purchase either the Heart of Thorns or Path of Fire expansion once and unlock everything right away. And why wouldn’t you, this game is awesome, even 6 years after release.

Guild Wars 2 is one of the highest rated MMORPGs of our time and it deserves that accolade, because it introduced so many industry defining mechanics that makes MMOs fun to play. For example, the incredible world that reacts to player input, popping up huge world events and bosses that are actually a lot of fun to play and participate in. The game has a very long main story that is decent and offers decent immersion for players looking for a great theme park casual MMORPG. But don’t let that casual tag fool you – GW2’s raids and higher tier Fractals offer quite the challenge for end-gamers.

If PVP is your thing, then jump into the world renowned World vs World PVP mode. It’s servers battling each other in large battles for pride. There’s also structured PVP for small groups that are really fun and surprisingly balanced. Ultimately, Guild Wars 2 offers an amazing amount of content that you can already play for free right now. And buying to play just adds the expansion and everything else. It’s a bargain since it goes on sale often, and new content rolls out consistently.

#1 The Elder Scrolls Online

And taking the top spot on our list is The Elder Scrolls Online, as it has done the previous year. ESO has been gradually improving with each DLC and Chapter – from Morrowind to Summerset, and we’re expecting more content to drop this year like Murkmire in November.

The DLCs that has been added over the last year or so has also been of good quality. Morrowind and Summerset have added many great features to the game – PvP Battlegrounds for all, the Outfit system, player housing and much more. There’s a lot of value right now, and you don’t even need the optional subscription to start having fun. But for sheer amount of content and quality alone, The Elder Scrolls Online is absolutely good value for money and a regular winner of any top buy to play MMORPG discussion. Considering it goes on sale so much on sale especially on Steam.

The post Top 5 Best Buy To Play MMORPGS Of 2018 appeared first on Mmos World.

#5 ARK: Survival Evolved

A new entry in this year’s list is the one sandbox survival game that’s done it all. ARK: Survival Evolved has come a long way since entering Steam’s Early Access three years ago. The game puts you (naked) on a dinosaur inhabitied island either alone or with friends. Your job is then to survive. Sounds simple eh? Not quite, and what you’ll be doing on this island on the long run either with friends, tribemates or solo is the fun part. By just playing, you earn XP which is then used to craft gear and weapons. You also have the freedom to build bases and of course, tame the dinosaurs! Studio Wildcard – the developers – have added so much content over the last couple of years. There’s two expansions now, and the game just keeps growing. It is buy to play on Steam, and we do recommend this as a good alternative sandbox survival MMO.

#4 Overwatch

For our FPS entry of 2018, we debated long and hard between Overwatch and PUBG as the top buy to play FPS experience. One is an extremely polished arena shooter with unique classes and abilities that still offers hours of competitive fun today. The other is a stalwart in the Battle Royale genre that have gotten millions across the globe to crave a chicken dinner. Considering the two, we’re going with Blizzard’s Overwatch if you need a good-paced, strategic team-based arena shooter. For the buy in price (which can be hefty for a 4 year old game without a sale), you do get a lot of quality. Overwatch has plenty of maps and well designed character classes that feel good. It’s also incredibly fun to play, especially considering the team dynamics, the play of the match and other aspects that makes it addictive. There’s always that “one more match before bed” feeling that you get with Overwatch.

#3 Black Desert Online

At number three is the very popular westernized Korean MMORPG, Black Desert Online. BDO has been around for a couple of years now in the West thanks to Kakao Games and Pearl Abyss. What more do I need to say other than it’s one of the most successful eastern mmorpg imports? If you’ve never heard of Black Desert Online, here’s a quick run down of why it’s one of the top buy to play mmorgps today.

For starters, the graphics, are excellent. From the first moment you lay your hands on the character creator, you know this game is going to look good on all types of systems. BDO also boasts a very robust PVE system that’s made all the more fun thanks to its modern take on the action combat system that relies on skill and timing to excel. The level of realism is unreal too. There’s a parkour system that lets players run up walls, jump over balconies and more. On top of that, the game incorporates a day and night cycle that actually affects gameplay, for example, some NPCs only come out during the day and are gone for the night.

#2 Guild Wars 2

For number two, we have Guild Wars 2. The base game is currently free with restrictions, but the two expansions are buy to play and will be required to access later maps and content. This includes mounts for the first time ever, with last September’s Path of Fire expansion.

Guild Wars 2 is one of the highest rated MMORPGs of our time and it deserves that accolade, because it introduced so many industry defining mechanics that makes MMOs fun to play. For example, the incredible world that reacts to player input, popping up huge world events and bosses that are actually a lot of fun to play and participate in. The game has a very long main story that is decent and offers decent immersion for players looking for a great theme park casual mmorpg.

If PVP is your thing, then jump into the world renowned World vs World PVP mode. It’s servers battling each other in large battles for pride. There’s also structured PVP for small groups that are really fun and surprisingly balanced. Ultimately, Guild Wars 2 offers an amazing amount of content that you can already play for free right now. And buying to play just adds the expansion and everything else. It’s a bargain since it goes on sale often, and new content rolls out consistently.

#1 Buy To Play MMORPG: The Elder Scrolls Online

As for the ultimate MMORPG, The Elder Scrolls Online takes the cake. ESO has come a long way since its disastrous launch 4 years ago, to becoming MMORPG of the year twice in a row. With over 11 million players currently in 2018, what’s made the game grow with each new content release? Well, tt has dropped PVE progression restriction, and added level scaling, which now means you can just about quest anywhere you want. It now embodies that classic Elder Scrolls feeling, on top of fixing a lot of issues that were plaguing gamers at launch.

In addition, the last two major Chapters (expansions) has been top notch. Last year’s Morrowind set the bar for ESO story telling and introduced the new Warden class. This year’s Summerset match that bar with more awesome quests and core improvements to the game. But for sheer amount of content and quality alone, The Elder Scrolls Online is absolutely good value for money. Considering it goes on sale so much on sale especially on Steam for the PC and Mac. And oh, it’s on consoles too, so that’s a plus.

.

The post Top 5 Best Buy To Play MMOS Of 2018 appeared first on Mmos World.

#5 Gloria Victis

Alright lets begin our countdown and the number 5 spot goes to Gloria Victis. Gloria what? Many folks have not heard about this buy to play mmorpg but you really should. Gloria Victis has been around since 2016 and is brought to you by developers Black Eye Games. Gloria Victis is a low fantasy open MMORPG featuring non target combat, PVP with territory control, player driven economy on top of some pretty realistic graphics.

The game is currently on Steam’s early access program, so development is underway as you play but majority of the game has been polished over the last few months. So what’s great about it? For starters if you’re a PVP centric MMO player, you’re going to like Gloria Victis a lot. There’s two nations you can represent, the Midlanders or the North, and of course there’s going to be conflict for territory. Imagine For Honor or Chivalry Medieval Warfare in an MMO, but with a deep crafting and economy system. When it comes to PVE, there’s also a sandbox element thrown in where you can help shape towns and communities, to help your nation excel while increasing your character’s reputation. You can either rally with your guild mates or become an outlaw!

#4 Albion Online

At Number four is Albion Online! Albion Online is an upcoming buy to play sandbox mmorpg. If you’ve ever played games like RuneScape and Ultima Online, then you’ll sure feel compelled to check this game out, or your nostalgia strings will keep tugging at you. The game is currently in its final closed beta stage before launch on July 17^th.

It is a true sandbox experience – you start as a nobody and must manually put in the time and effort to get better at everything, from crafting to combat. Progression is determined by the insanely huge Destiny Board, which acts as tour guide to the various different crafting progressions, weapons and gear.

The game uses a classless system so you can be pretty much whatever you prefer. You can wear light armor and still wield two swords, since the gear and weapons you equip determines your skills. The more you fight with those equipped items, and the more you gather resources and craft, the better you become at it gradually. That’s the basic premise of Albion Online, and like Gloria Vicits, PVP is the star of the show – there’s pvp zones where large guilds fight for territories and if you die in the red and black zones, say goodbye to your stuff.

Albion Online uses a full loot system upon death in the red and black pvp zones so a lot is at stake, but if you do venture out there, you’ll find the best resources. So the more risks you take in this sandbox game, the better the rewards. There’s a lot this game has to offer for different types of players, considering the entire game’s economy is localized to towns and crafting and farming are important parts of the game. So if you’re an old school sandbox junkie, this might be the game for you.

#3 Black Desert Online

At number three is the very popular westernized Korean MMORPG, Black Desert Online. BDO has been around for a couple of years now in the West thanks to Kakao Games and Pearl Abyss. What more do I need to say other than it’s one of the most successful eastern mmorpg imports? If you’ve never heard of Black Desert Online, here’s a quick run down of why it’s one of the top buy to play mmorgps today.

For starters, the graphics, are excellent. From the first moment you lay your hands on the character creator, you know this game is going to look good on all types of systems. BDO also boasts a very robust PVE system that’s made all the more fun thanks to its modern take on the action combat system that relies on skill and timing to excel. The level of realism is unreal too. There’s a parkour system that lets players run up walls, jump over balconies and more. On top of that, the game incorporates a day and night cycle that actually affects gameplay, for example, some NPCs only come out during the day and are gone for the night.

#2 Guild Wars 2

For number two, we have Guild Wars 2! Now I know that the base game is currently free, but there are restrictions and you can purchase the Heart of Thorns expansion once and unlock everything right away. And why wouldn’t you, this game is awesome, even 5 years after release!

Guild Wars 2 is one of the highest rated MMORPGs of our time and it deserves that accolade, because it introduced so many industry defining mechanics that makes MMOs fun to play. For example, the incredible world that reacts to player input, popping up huge world events and bosses that are actually a lot of fun to play and participate in. The game has a very long main story that is decent and offers decent immersion for players looking for a great theme park casual mmorpg.

If PVP is your thing, then jump into the world renowned World vs World PVP mode. It’s servers battling each other in large battles for pride. There’s also structured PVP for small groups that are really fun and surprisingly balanced. Ultimately, Guild Wars 2 offers an amazing amount of content that you can already play for free right now. And buying to play just adds the expansion and everything else. It’s a bargain since it goes on sale often, and new content rolls out consistently.

#1 The Elder Scrolls Online

And taking the top spot on our list is The Elder Scrolls Online! Remember back in 2014 when the game was huge pile of stinking garbage according to critics? Well, it’s much improved in 2017. Ever since dropping it’s subscription only model to buy to play, the game has been evolving. Step by step, it’s transforming itself into a really good MMORPG finally worth playing.

It has dropped PVE progression restriction, and added level scaling, which now means you can just about quest anywhere you want. It now embodies that classic Elder Scrolls feeling, on top of fixing a lot of issues that were plaguing gamers at launch.

The DLCs that has been added over the last year or so has also been of good quality. The Thieves and Dark Brotherhood Guilds, Orsinium and more have added huge amounts of content that can be enjoyed whenever you want. If you don’t want to buy the DLCs ala carte, the base game still has hours of content. PVP is still active and while it’s laggy, better days are coming. The Morrowind DLC is on the horizon bringing a new Warden class, on top of brand new PVP battlegrounds for small groups to battle it out.

But for sheer amount of content and quality alone, The Elder Scrolls Online is absolutely good value for money. Considering it goes on sale so much on sale especially on Steam for the PC and Mac. And oh, it’s on consoles too, so that’s a plus.

There you have it those are our top 5 buy to play mmorpgs for 2017. Which MMOS do you think should also make the list? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

The post Top 5 Best Buy To Play MMORPGS Of 2017 appeared first on Mmos World.