In a world with so many MMORPGs on the market, it can be tough to decide which games have actual content, and which are just meant to be profit machines for companies. The latter seems to be happening more often recently as companies fear to break the ‘be like World of Warcraft’ mold for fear of making no profit. This causes the market to turn into one bland, singular blob of mediocrity in our games. It’s for this very reason that this gamer in particular cannot recommend any new MMO releases this year. So what are we left to? Well not much.

Despite all that I’m about to say, I want to make it clear that I’ve played my share of MMORPGs (and still do.) I do not dislike them, I do however see many, many flaws in them. I would like to outline a few popular MMORPGs with established (or not so established in a few cases) playerbases so that you– the gamer- can decide what is worthwhile and what isn’t. The first thing this gamer can advise however, is to avoid any free or web bases MMO like the plague (you’re going to get exactly what you pay for.) So what’s good? What’s bad? What’s just plain laughable? Well it all depends on what you’re looking for. Let’s start out with the most popular and work our way around from there…

World of Warcraft – “You want a cookie? Here, have one.”
Release Date: 2004
Expansions: 2

The Good:
-Large playerbase
-Very casual ‘pick up and play’ gameplay
-Established communities

The Bad:
-Until late in the game, it’s not very multiplayer oriented (kind of the idea behind the genre…)
-A bit too easy
-The average player usually isn’t helpful, intelligent or nice

The Ugly:
-*Gank*
-Endgame

Alright, so here we have it, the big cheese of MMORPGs out there. So why so big and addictive? Anybody from your mom to that basement dweller next door can play it and get into it. The casual factor is a major selling point in any market, and WoW nails it right on the head. By all means it’s a wonderful waste of time if you want one, however it does come off as awfully easy. With the average quest being ‘kill 10 of X monster’ and money being easier to earn than the affection of a dying kitten, the game turns more into a reward simulator than anything of a challenge. PVP can vary wildly depending on what class you are (read: unbalanced.) For all it’s worth however, the world is beautiful and it’ll keep you entertained for as long as you want it to. While the art direction does feel oh-so-right most of the time, every now and then the comically oversized weapons, large variety of funny looking mounts and armor that trails pixie dust give an ‘over the top’ feel.

Moving into our next most popular RPG, I’d like to note that while you might not consider it to be a big player in the market, it’s Japan’s number one most played MMO and it has a very large following in the United States. It doesn’t get mentioned often enough for how large of a playerbase it -still- carries, so let’s move on to…

Final Fantasy XI Online – “You’re going to work for this cookie.”
Release Date: 2002 (JP)/2003 (US)/2004 (EU)
Expansions: 4

The Good:
-Established servers
-Party based leveling and gameplay
-Friendly–but Wapanese-players
-Large class selection with defined roles
-Story
-Global and cross platform servers

The Bad:
-Large learning curve
-More restricted gameplay elements (read: no jumping)
-Forced group interaction in most aspects of play
-Extremely restricted PvP

The Ugly:
-Archaic game interface
-Unnecessary waits on everything from fighting to healing that make the game even more of a time sink than it should be

Enter FFXI. Ready to feel even more stupid for being an American? They say patience is a virtue– so get ready to be more virtuous than a saint. Viewed from a typical WoW player’s eyes, this game is going to seem challenging, slow and painful (and they’ll be mostly right.) So here we have a game where the primary mode of leveling isn’t quests (in fact there are only a small handful that even give an EXP reward,) but rather forming 6 person parties and grinding on monsters 10 levels above you. This has both positive and negative effects, one being that leveling is PAINFUL. On the bright side however, you will actually interact with players (albiet forced) and you will either learn to play your role correctly or be crushed under the weight of your own dimwittedness. This doesn’t mean everyone is a pro at their class however, since you can change your class at will in towns. So if you don’t lose your mind from leveling or not being invited to parties by Japanese players, you’ll feel a pretty good sense of accomplishment– you’ll need it, because it’s all you’ll have left.

Our last little stop on our journey brings us to a recent release. One that’s had more hype than Duke Nukem Forever and has burned out just as quickly…

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning – “COOKIE! WAAAGH!”
Release Date: 2008
Expansions: 0

The Good:
-Warhammer art and story
-PvP based gameplay

The Bad:
-Much work to be done in balance and game issues
-Quests carry much less weight midgame, turning leveling into a PvP based chore

The Ugly:
-A completely unoriginal UI, interface, and quest system that looks oddly like a game we’ve all seen before…

Welcome to World of Warh– err, Warhammer Online! A game we all waited for with more anticipation than a crack fiend with a roll of money, ready for his next fix. This game is a shining example of how an awesome game idea can go astray when developers fear to stray from the WoW design. WAR brings up fun and interesting concepts like Public Quests (where whomever can just run up, join and get some quick rewards,) detailed PvP scenarios and a nifty little tome that puts the Bible to shame. The art is a tabletop gamer’s wet dream of a dark and war filled world. So where did this all go wrong? Unoriginallity. Now before you say anything, I’m not speaking of the art, monsters, classes or story; I speak only of the interface design. From the minute you start playing, you’ve never felt like you left WoW– and this really takes away from the immersion. Many people also complain about the many fixes, bugs and updates, stating that the game was released unfinished, but you have to understand that this is typical of any MMO on launch. Despite what has been said, a major fan of the Warhammer series is not likely to be turned off by all this games flaws.

So there you have it. A simple analysis of a few established MMORPGs. I leave it up to you, the reader to decide which games are worthy of your money and time. Today’s MMORPG market will never get better until you, the consumer, put a little time into what you’ll pay for.