Massivelys Better Of 2022 Awards

It's almost the end of the year, a time for merriment, camaraderie, and cynical evaluation of all the MMO triumphs and tragedies that 2013 provided us.

As we speak, Massively's workers honors the better of one of the best (and the worst of the worst) for the yr 2013. Every writer was permitted a vote in each class with an anything-goes nomination process. No MMO, firm, or headline was off the table, as long because it met the standards. Can WildStar make it to three years in a row at the top of our "most anticipated" pile, or did its delay dampen our enthusiasm? Can SOE repeat its win for finest studio? Which MMO is most likely to flop subsequent year? And simply what constituted the biggest MMO screw-up of the last 12 months?

Get pleasure from our picks for the most effective MMOs, expansions, studios, stories, and improvements of 2013... and our most-anticipated for 2014 and past.

Finest New MMO of 2013: Ultimate Fantasy XIV: A Realm RebornRunners-up: Tie between Neverwinter and Defiance

Jasmine: Last Fantasy XIV, arms down. This sport managed to realize one thing I believed was unimaginable: Square-Enix took a recreation that I considered the worst MMO I've ever played and turned it into something that keeps me logging in every likelihood I get.

Eliot: If you happen to had requested me two weeks ago, I would have said Remaining Fantasy XIV without reservation. Now do not get me wrong; all the pieces good about the original model is dropped at the forefront, and every part unfavourable has either been removed or minimized. However the 2.1 replace and the housing fiasco have driven dwelling the concept that we're not out of the woods and that we're just looking at an period of bold new mistakes. If these issues get fastened, then I've high hopes for the future; if not, it'll be a shocking example of a stunning turnaround followed by a shameful crash.

Best Growth or Update of 2013: Guild Wars 2's Super Adventure BoxRunners-up: Tie between EVE Online's Odyssey, EVE On-line's Rubicon, and Star Trek Online'sLegacy of Romulus

Richie: Guild Wars 2's Tremendous Adventure Box patch stands out in such a profound approach as a result of many gamers thought it was nothing more than an April Fools' Joke. The official website was up to date with amazing photographs from an 8-bit world accompanied by a hilarious, cheesy, '80s-type industrial. After i logged into the game and realized that SAB was really in the game, my jaw hit my desk. There were three full ranges of this 8-bit world full with secrets, puzzles, boss battles, unique music score, and customized sound effects -- a full platforming journey game neatly tucked inside of my MMO.

Brendan: I've written a good bit on why I like this 12 months's Odyssey and Rubicon expansions, but Rubicon's personal deployable constructions push it just over the sting. The Mobile Depot has made lengthy-time period exploration a really possible career by permitting tech three ships to refit wherever in deep house, and Ghost Sites have added some extra reward for these scouring deep space. The change to warp acceleration has additionally fixed the disparity between small and huge ships and enabled real hit-and-run model warfare again.

Best Non-Conventional MMO or Pseudo-MMO of 2013: Path of ExileOther nominees: Hearthstone, Dota 2, Cube World, Defiance, MUSH

Matt: Path of Exile gets my vote for this one. The oldsters at Grinding Gear Video games have taken the time-honored action-RPG components popularized by Diablo and twisted it up into an expertise that feels each recent and familiar. Eschewing conventional courses and progression in favor of an nearly inconceivably huge skill tree and allowing players to customize their capability loadouts via interchangeable gems are simply two of the unique spins Path of Exile brings to the desk, and with its variety of leagues and competitions, there's something right here for your entire casual-hardcore spectrum.

Justin: Hearthstone. If nearly everyone's in beta, does it depend? I say it counts. Blizzard's received a money cow hit on its arms, and the combination of World of Warcraft and Magic-lite is solely impressed. Plus, it's pretty fun.

Most Underrated MMO of 2013: NeverwinterRunner-up: Defiance

Larry: Neverwinter launched with a wide audience and the hopes of being a full-fledged Dungeons and Dragons MMO. But alas, that is not what Cryptic had in thoughts for the sport, and gamers didn't admire Neverwinter for what it was: a fun sport that you simply spend a few minutes to a couple of hours taking part in to unwind from the daily stress. Once i revisited the game, I was truly surprised at how much enjoyable I had. Chit Chat Chit Chat I do not must stress about rotations or builds or the standard MMO worries. irc101 I simply log in, pound via a couple of dungeons, then carry on with my day.

Tina: I feel a lot of people boxed Neverwinter below the "more of the same" category with out giving it a chance. The normal charm is up to date nicely by means of the 4th Version Dungeons and Dragons freshness.

Jef: Defiance isn't setting the world on fireplace or anything, however I loved my time in it, and that i keep it installed in case I want some sci-fi shooter action with questing and a purpose.

Most Anticipated for 2014 and Past: EverQuest NextRunner-up: WildStarDifferent nominees: EverQuest Subsequent Landmark, ArcheAge, Future, Pathfinder On-line, TUG, The Elder Scrolls Online

Brendan: There are some nice MMOs on the horizon, however the one I'm trying forward to probably the most is EverQuest Next. I am an absolute sucker for sandboxes, and the thought of a fantasy sandbox with a voxel-based mostly and utterly destructible world has me absolutely excited! The massive financial success of Minecraft has impressed a deluge of voxel-based mostly video games lately, but no sport has but carried out the function justice. EQ Next promises to be as far from those blocky worlds as attainable whereas retaining much of the identical sandbox gameplay.

Bree: The day I learned Star Wars Galaxies was closing, Smed reassured a teary-eyed me that SOE was engaged on a good greater and better sandbox. That sandbox turned out to be EverQuest Subsequent. I am banking on SOE's skill to parlay all the pieces it discovered from SWG -- especially the errors -- into EQN. There are different good sandboxes on the horizon, completely, but nothing as likely to thrive as Subsequent.

Justin: Innovative sandboxes or large fanbase followings aside, I'm rooting for Carbine to tug off a wacky sci-fi themepark in WildStar. I nearly hope it does not launch tremendous-massive so that it can develop from phrase-of-mouth as a substitute of developer hype.

Richie: I'm looking forward to WildStar. Ever since I quit World of Warcraft, part of me has missed having a few nights every week as scheduled hangouts with my mates. I am itching to raid again, and it seems to be as if WildStar may have the perfect endgame features of the 2014 MMO crop.

Most Prone to "Flop" in 2014: The Elder Scrolls On-lineRunner-up: Dust 514

Anatoli: "Flop" is a extremely loaded term in the case of MMO. I don't think ESO will make a lot of a splash. I doubt it's going to fail as a recreation or as a enterprise, however I predict that lots of people will decide that it did when it would not set the entire world on fireplace.

Bree: I feel ESO will launch simply positive and collect loads of field and sub fees initially, but lengthy-time period, it is in hassle. MMORPG followers are sick of story-driven single-player themepark MMOs, console followers can be mystified by subs and a 3-approach PvP endgame, and Elder Scrolls fans will wander again to the lore and mods of their solo sandboxes. I am actually unsure for whom the sport is meant, and that i say that as a TES fanatic.

Matthew: I am probably not a fan of The Elder Scrolls sequence, so perhaps I'm biased, but I can't see the net version having the success of the one-player installments.

MJ: If I have been pressured to hazard a guess, I would say ESO. It feels as if there's a darkish shadow of "can't meet expectations" hanging over it. Chit Chat Chit Chat

Finest Studio in 2013: Sony On-line EntertainmentRunner-up: Trion WorldsHonorable Point out: Tiny Speck

Beau: SOE continues to churn out video games, but the studio does so on its own phrases. Adore it or hate it, you can't deny that SOE has carried out many, many issues which have changed the course of MMOs.

Mike: SOE appears just like the studio that has the best hold on what the market needs. It retains releasing engaging new content for its existing properties, and EverQuest Next seems like the primary fantasy MMO to really attempt something new since Ultima Online. SOE also has a strong popularity for making large guarantees and failing to deliver, however I'd say it had a very good 12 months. No query all eyes are on EQN in the approaching years.

Toli: Glitch's shutdown final yr was downright tragic, but Tiny Speck has made every effort to maintain the spirit and community alive, going as far as to release the game's belongings into the public domain only in the near past. That is preposterous, and that i imply that in the best possible method.

Largest Story of 2013: The reveal of EverQuest Next and LandmarkRunners-up: Tie between Star Citizen's Kickstarter success and Ultimate Fantasy XIV's relaunch

MJ: EverQuest Next Landmark grabs this one as a result of the game came actually out of nowhere! There was not a single whisper, trace, leak or anything to recommend there was a second recreation on SOE's horizon. In this business, that is merely unheard of.

Tina: EverQuest Subsequent. Everyone simply went nuts, and for good cause!

Matthew: EverQuest Next. For the reason that announcement, it seems as if the entire future of the trade is colored by comparisons to our new savior. I am not going to disagree. I am going to exit on a limb as far as to say I believe Blizzard went back to the drawing board on Titan due to EQN.

Jef: Star Citizen. It's possible you'll not wish to play it, and you may be tired of the Chris Roberts hero-worship, but you can't deny the influence that it is had and continues to have on the way games are made.

Largest Disappointment of 2013: Mud 514Different nominees: Defiance, Warhammer's sunset, the Kickstarter craze, Age of Wushu, Neverwinter, uninspired MMO design, conventional subscription models, no EverQuest Subsequent at SOE Stay, the gloom and doom surrounding World of Darkness, and Guild Wars 2's dwelling story.

Jef: Dust 514. I may be beating a useless horse right here, but console-only plus identical-previous-shooter-gameplay equals meh. And CCP hyping the crap out of the EVE On-line connection wasn't significantly clever since there really is not one.

Mike: This could also be a cop-out, but I am pinning this on your complete MMO genre. The yr was ruled by numerous re-treads of acquainted fantasy worlds and a lot of uninspired work from developers that should really know higher (Trion, I am looking at you). With the line between MMO and non-MMO getting blurrier by the minute, MMO builders must get their acts collectively if they're hoping to stay aggressive. They usually want stop asking for handouts by way of Kickstarter.

Eliot: Kickstarter. We have had quite a lot of funding drives for games, some profitable, some not, with nearly every single one of them promising the identical basic gameplay philosophies, none of which has been backed up by actual completed MMOs. At the least a type of studios has gone again to the nicely and requested for more money from Kickstarter backers, and I do not imagine it will likely be the first. It's not a development I'm joyful to see, and one which I've already written about at size. There's some great stuff on Kickstarter, however this year's glut was unpleasant.

Greatest Blunder of 2013: Subscription models for Elder Scrolls On-line and WildStarDifferent nominees: Console MMOs, Every part ESO does, LucasArts' closure, Blizzard's lore sexism, Star Wars: The Outdated Republic's space combat, FFXIV's launch woes, CCP's World of Darkness layoffs, Guild Wars 2's horrifying PR campaigns, and Diablo III's auction house fiasco.

[Replace: We talk extra about this award and the rationale behind it in December 26th's Ask Massively.]

Eliot: WildStar's enterprise model not less than seems to be taken from a guide written by someone with the vaguest knowledge of industry tendencies, however ESO's seems to have been designed with the assumption that every other sport that went free-to-play after launch (often known as "just about every game that has launched inside the previous 4 years") was a worse game than ESO will be. Can we please cease pretending you can launch with a subscription now?

Mike: I think, in the long run, placing a subscription price on The Elder Scrolls Online will grow to be a pretty unhealthy thought. Bethesda will make piles of money earlier than it's compelled to shift to free-to-play, however I am not sure what the worth will be when it comes to loyalty to the model. If fans really feel burned or taken advantage of, the Elder Scrolls franchise will undergo. A subscription charge basically says, "You'll give up World of Warcraft/EVE On-line/Remaining Fantasy XIV for this," and that is exceptionally daring from a studio that's never made an MMO.

Tina: I honestly don't see how CCP can keep its commitment to complete World of Darkness while regularly cutting the staff. We have to see some solid leads to 2014 to prove in any other case.

Biggest Innovation or Development of 2013: The return of sandbox gameplayRunner-up: Defiance's transmedia synergyOther nominees: Oculus Rift, Guild Wars 2's cadence, streaming video games, blurring genre lines, actiony MMOs, voxels, and Warhammer's sunset.

Toli: I like that trends are swinging again towards a variety of gameplay features this 12 months. Voxels! Sandboxy things! I turn around and instantly MMOs are launching with housing once more! Holy smokes!

Matt: I'm glad to see extra studios tapping into the sandbox market. From heavy-hitters like EverQuest Subsequent and Star Citizen to much less-hyped titles like Pathfinder Online, the sandbox genre is gaining loads of traction.

Larry: Defiance was a disappointment as a recreation, but as a product it broke the mold. I really enjoyed the tie-in launch of a television sequence with an MMO. I do not think other video games need to repeat this mannequin precisely, but I do suppose that tie-ins, crossovers, and multi-media launches add worth to a product. And that i also consider that exterior-the-box thinking needs to be encouraged in MMOs, even if it does in the end flop.

Justin: Oculus Rift: May VR come back to be an actual future for MMOs? It's a possibility, and what teases we're seeing this 12 months have whet my want to attempt it out for real.

Shawn: Closing Warhammer Online. I mean, the game was kinda enjoyable at first, but can we cease with that actual system now? Thanks. (I'm already putting my vote in for 2015's Largest Trend to be "the end of voxel-based mostly online games.")

Most Improved in 2013: Last Fantasy XIVRunners-up: Tie between Star Wars: The Previous Republic and RuneScape three

Jasmine: Last Fantasy XIV. It improved a lot from 1.0 to 2.Zero that it plays like an almost entirely completely different sport. I do not suppose you can get way more improved than that.

Beau: RuneScape 3 brought a lot to the older game that it actually is a unique game. It is always been dynamic and felt like a dwelling world, but this relaunch made it that much better.

Those are our picks. Howsabout yours?