Today’s “constantly online” gaming industry would be unrecognizable without the impact of MMORPGs. Yet, at the same time, the true definition of an MMORPG is becoming increasingly elusive in an age of shared-world shooters and battle royales.
Though debates rage on over whether MMORPGs are dead or not, it’s hard to deny that the genre’s peak will forever be tied to the 2000s. So let’s return to a time of cartoon graphics, freemium progenitors, and endless grinding to see which games did it best.
With some of the best graphics of its generation (especially in the landscape), Lord of the Rings Online understood what it meant to immerse players in the world of Middle Earth. This didn’t require an exact replication of the films' action-packed swordplay, but rather the rich and deep world-building of Tolkien’s books.
Lord of the Rings Online knows its catering to fans of the books, so there is admittedly a lot of text-reading in the game’s quests. But as the game nears its 20th anniversary, it’s clear Lord of the Rings Online is giving players who want to explore the Mines of Moria, the Shire, and Mordor exactly what they’re looking for.
9Toontown Online
If you were watching Disney Channel in the early 2000s, you probably remember those Toontown commercials. Throwing pies at robots that only cared about boring business? It doesn’t get much better than that.
True to its “toon” theme, combat revolved around slapstick gags such as water seltzer in the face or an anvil dropped on the head. But what really set Toontown apart (and made it so family-friendly) was an emphasis on non-combat activities as well, such as go-kart racing, golfing, and fishing.
If you think some of today’s platinum trophy requirements and achievements are ridiculous, you probably wouldn’t have liked Silkroad Online’s quests. The game was notorious for grinding, with quests asking players to kill 1,000+ plus enemies at a time. It also had a freemium structure that even defenders of the game would shake their heads at.
But all was forgiven once you got to experience Silkroad’s trading system. Players would choose to be traders, merchants or thieves. Then the merchants would protect traders from the thieves, which led to scores of allied trading caravans being ambushed by roaming thieves. There were constant victories and upsets, and few games have managed to make trading feel so high-stakes.
Aion (or Aion: The Tower of Eternity) boasted a robust character creator, impressive graphics, and a beautiful soundtrack. The game is certainly heavy on grinding, but what MMORPG isn’t? And Aion’s grind offers just enough challenge to make high levels feel possible, but still rewarding when you manage to reach them.
Created by South Korean publisher NCSoft, Aion’s Eastern art style was refreshing to many players who were more used to a Western aesthetic. But even if you have no intention of playing Aion, do yourself a favor and check out its soundtrack.
Another game with memorable commercials, Wizard101 has survived nearly 20 years and still sees consistent players. Of MMORPGs targeting a younger audience, Wizard101 had much more to it than a game like Toontown.
The combat system is relatively unique to MMORPGs, seeing players cast spells in a turn-based combat system similar to a TCG like Magic: The Gathering. The game also had interesting tie-ins with celebrities, such as a quest in which players could get a statue and portrait of Selena Gomez. Nick Jonas even lent his musical talents to the game, creating seven tracks for the game’s Wintertusk expansion.
Like many of the games on this list, there was a time when Star Wars Galaxies was amazing, and then a time when it was not. Let’s focus on its heyday, before the game was majorly overhauled (twice). With a beloved crafting system and the ability to be just about anything you wanted, this was a game that actually delivered on the promise of making you feel like you lived inside the world of Star Wars.
You weren’t limited to being a Jedi or a soldier. You could be a droid mechanic, politician, an entertainer, and so much more. After several updates that hurt the game rather than helped it, Star Wars Galaxies was eventually shuttered to make way for Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2011.
There are a lot of mixed feelings about the current state ofRuneScape, but that’s often because people remember the game when it was at its best. The original version of RuneScape was so popular that publisher Jagex even created Old School RuneScape to give players the game they remembered.
And what led to that popularity? Perhaps it was the fact that RuneScape was free-to-play or that it offered a wide variety of skills and quests for players to pursue. But the most likely answer is that RuneScape offered the perfect middle-ground between silly, lighthearted games like ToonTown and more intimidating MMORPGs such as EVE Online. It was easy to get started, and just as fun to return to years later.
Plenty of games have deep lore, but far fewer have entire histories dedicated to what the players have done rather than what the game’s creators have scripted. EVE Online was even exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art with a video detailing key historical events.
New Eden is a rich world full of mining, trading, piracy, and community. you’re able to take part in epic space battles, sure, but you can also be a space trucker. And if you can roleplay as Han Solo, an accountant, and a business tycoon in a single game, you’re probably playingEVE Online.
The ultimate name in MMORPGs,World of Warcraftentered the scene with several fresh takes on the genre that helped it spike in popularity. This included faster health recovery across classes, a relatively forgiving death sytem, and a “rest bonus” that allowed new players to more quickly level up and join their friends.
All of this amounted to World of Warcraft feeling like a truly accessible MMORPG to mainstream audiences. It didn’t punish you for wanting to play solo, its cartoonish art design was inviting, and quests were clear in their objectives.
Socialization isthedefining factor of an MMORPG, and it’s whatEverQuestexcelled at. While some MMORPGs make it easy toplay the game solo, having a fun time in EverQuest calls for teamwork. In fact, some people didn’t like EverQuest for this exact reason of “forced grouping.”
However, the socialization helped EverQuest feel like a true self-sustaining world a player could get lost in. The game didn’t hold your hand, and certainly punished you when you made a mistake. If MMORPGs peaked in the 2000s, they just might have peaked with EverQuest.
