Massivelys Best Of 2022 Awards

It's nearly the tip of the yr, a time for merriment, camaraderie, and cynical evaluation of all of the MMO triumphs and tragedies that 2013 provided us.

At this time, Massively's employees honors the best 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 something-goes nomination process. No MMO, firm, or headline was off the desk, as lengthy because it met the standards. Can WildStar make it to 3 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 best studio? Which MMO is most prone to flop next 12 months? And just what constituted the most important MMO screw-up of the last 12 months?

Enjoy our picks for the very best MMOs, expansions, studios, stories, and improvements of 2013... and our most-anticipated for 2014 and beyond.

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

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

Eliot: For those who had requested me two weeks in the past, I would have said Closing Fantasy XIV with out reservation. Now don't get me improper; all the pieces good about the original model is delivered to the forefront, and every thing detrimental has either been eliminated or minimized. But the 2.1 replace and the housing fiasco have driven residence 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 points get fastened, then I've excessive hopes for the long run; if not, it will be a shocking example of a gorgeous turnaround adopted by a shameful crash.

Finest Growth or Update of 2013: Guild Wars 2's Tremendous Journey FieldRunners-up: Tie between EVE Online's Odyssey, EVE Online's Rubicon, and Star Trek On-line'sLegacy of Romulus

Richie: Guild Wars 2's Super Adventure Box patch stands out in such a profound way as a result of many gamers thought it was nothing more than an April Fools' Joke. The official web site was updated with superb pictures from an 8-bit world accompanied by a hilarious, cheesy, '80s-type business. After i logged into the sport and realized that SAB was actually in the game, my jaw hit my desk. There were three full levels of this 8-bit world complete with secrets, puzzles, boss battles, original music score, and custom sound results -- a full platforming adventure sport neatly tucked inside of my MMO.

Brendan: I've written a fair bit on why I really like this yr's Odyssey and Rubicon expansions, but Rubicon's private deployable buildings push it just over the edge. The Cellular Depot has made long-term exploration a really possible profession by permitting tech 3 ships to refit anywhere in deep area, and Ghost Websites have added some additional reward for those scouring deep space. The change to warp acceleration has also fastened the disparity between small and large ships and enabled actual hit-and-run fashion warfare once more.

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

Matt: Path of Exile gets my vote for this one. The folks at Grinding Gear Video games have taken the time-honored motion-RPG components popularized by Diablo and twisted it up into an expertise that feels both fresh and acquainted. Eschewing conventional courses and progression in favor of an almost inconceivably huge skill tree and allowing gamers to customize their skill loadouts through interchangeable gems are just two of the distinctive spins Path of Exile brings to the table, and with its number of leagues and competitions, there's something right here for all the informal-hardcore spectrum.

Justin: Hearthstone. If nearly everybody's in beta, does it depend? I say it counts. Blizzard's got a cash cow hit on its fingers, and the mix of World of Warcraft and Magic-lite is simply inspired. Plus, it is pretty fun.

Most Underrated MMO of 2013: NeverwinterRunner-up: Defiance

Larry: Neverwinter launched with a large audience and the hopes of being a full-fledged Dungeons and Dragons MMO. But alas, that's not what Cryptic had in mind for the game, and avid gamers did not recognize Neverwinter for what it was: a enjoyable game that you spend a few minutes to a couple of hours taking part in to unwind from the each day stress. When i revisited the game, I used to be truly surprised at how a lot fun I had. I don't should stress about rotations or builds or the standard MMO worries. I merely log in, pound through a couple of dungeons, then carry on with my day.

Tina: I feel a lot of people boxed Neverwinter underneath the "more of the identical" category with out giving it an opportunity. The traditional charm is up to date properly via the 4th Version Dungeons and Dragons freshness.

Jef: Defiance isn't setting the world on hearth or anything, but I loved my time in it, and i keep it installed in case I would like some sci-fi shooter motion with questing and a objective.

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

Brendan: There are some nice MMOs on the horizon, however the one I am wanting ahead to essentially the most is EverQuest Next. I am an absolute sucker for sandboxes, and the thought of a fantasy sandbox with a voxel-based and utterly destructible world has me completely excited! The large financial success of Minecraft has inspired a deluge of voxel-based games in recent times, however no sport has yet finished the characteristic justice. EQ Next guarantees to be as far from these blocky worlds as potential whereas retaining much of the identical sandbox gameplay.

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

Justin: Progressive sandboxes or massive fanbase followings apart, I am rooting for Carbine to tug off a wacky sci-fi themepark in WildStar. I virtually hope it doesn't launch tremendous-massive in order that it may well grow from phrase-of-mouth instead of developer hype.

Richie: I am trying ahead to WildStar. Ever since I quit World of Warcraft, a part of me has missed having a few nights every week as scheduled hangouts with my mates. I'm itching to raid again, and it appears as if WildStar could have one of the best endgame options of the 2014 MMO crop.

Most More likely to "Flop" in 2014: The Elder Scrolls On-lineRunner-up: Mud 514

Anatoli: "Flop" is a very loaded term in the case of MMO. I don't think ESO will make much of a splash. I doubt it's going to fail as a recreation or as a venture, but I predict that lots of people will resolve that it did when it does not set the whole world on fire.

Bree: I feel ESO will launch simply high quality and gather lots of box and sub fees initially, but lengthy-term, it's in hassle. MMORPG fans are sick of story-pushed single-participant themepark MMOs, console fans can be mystified by subs and a 3-approach PvP endgame, and Elder Scrolls followers will wander back to the lore and mods of their solo sandboxes. I'm actually undecided for whom the game is intended, and that i say that as a TES fanatic.

Matthew: I am not really a fan of The Elder Scrolls sequence, so possibly I am biased, however I can't see the net model having the success of the one-player installments.

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

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

Beau: SOE continues to churn out video games, however the studio does so by itself phrases. Love it or hate it, you can't deny that SOE has completed many, many things that have modified the course of MMOs.

Mike: SOE appears just like the studio that has the best hold on what the market needs. It keeps releasing engaging new content for its current properties, and EverQuest Next seems like the first fantasy MMO to actually attempt anything new since Ultima Online. SOE additionally has a stable repute for making huge guarantees and failing to deliver, however I would say it had a very good yr. No question all eyes are on EQN in the approaching years.

Toli: Glitch's shutdown final year was downright tragic, but Tiny Speck has made each effort to keep the spirit and community alive, going as far as to release the game's property into the general public domain only in the near past. That's preposterous, and i imply that in the very best manner.

Greatest 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 sport got here actually out of nowhere! There was not a single whisper, hint, leak or anything to suggest there was a second recreation on SOE's horizon. On this industry, that's simply unheard of.

Tina: EverQuest Next. Everyone just went nuts, and for good motive!

Matthew: EverQuest Subsequent. Since the announcement, it seems as if the entire future of the industry is coloured by comparisons to our new savior. I am not going to disagree. I will exit on a limb as far as to say I suspect Blizzard went again to the drawing board on Titan due to EQN.

Jef: Star Citizen. It's possible you'll not wish to play it, and also you could also be tired of the Chris Roberts hero-worship, however you cannot deny the impression that it's had and continues to have on the way in which video games are made.

Biggest Disappointment of 2013: Dust 514Other nominees: Defiance, Warhammer's sunset, the Kickstarter craze, Age of Wushu, Neverwinter, uninspired MMO design, conventional subscription models, no EverQuest Next at SOE Dwell, the gloom and doom surrounding World of Darkness, and Guild Wars 2's residing story.

Jef: Mud 514. I is perhaps beating a lifeless horse right here, however console-solely plus same-previous-shooter-gameplay equals meh. And CCP hyping the crap out of the EVE On-line connection wasn't notably clever since there really is not one.

Mike: This may be a cop-out, however I am pinning this on your complete MMO genre. The 12 months was ruled by numerous re-treads of familiar fantasy worlds and plenty of uninspired work from builders that ought to actually know better (Trion, I'm looking at you). With the road between MMO and non-MMO getting blurrier by the minute, MMO developers must get their acts collectively in the event that they're hoping to stay competitive. They usually want cease asking for handouts through Kickstarter.

Eliot: Kickstarter. We've had lots of funding drives for video games, some successful, some not, with practically each single certainly one of them promising the identical primary gameplay philosophies, none of which has been backed up by actual completed MMOs. At the least one of those studios has gone again to the properly and asked for more money from Kickstarter backers, and I don't think about it is going to be the first. It's not a development I'm blissful to see, and one that I've already written about at size. There's some nice stuff on Kickstarter, however this yr's glut was unpleasant.

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

[Update: We speak more about this award and the rationale behind it in December twenty sixth's Ask Massively.]

Eliot: WildStar's enterprise model at the least seems to be taken from a guide written by someone with the vaguest knowledge of business trends, however ESO's seems to have been designed with the assumption that each other game that went free-to-play after launch (also known as "pretty much every recreation that has launched inside the past 4 years") was a worse recreation than ESO can be. Can we please cease pretending that you may launch with a subscription now?

Mike: I believe, in the long term, putting a subscription fee on The Elder Scrolls On-line will grow to be a fairly unhealthy thought. Bethesda will make piles of cash earlier than it's compelled to shift to free-to-play, but I am unsure what the price will probably be by way of loyalty to the model. If fans feel burned or taken advantage of, the Elder Scrolls franchise will undergo. A subscription price essentially says, "You will give up World of Warcraft/EVE Online/Ultimate Fantasy XIV for this," and that is exceptionally bold from a studio that is never made an MMO.

Tina: I actually don't see how CCP can keep its dedication to finish World of Darkness whereas regularly slicing the team. We need to see some solid results in 2014 to prove otherwise. MINECRAFT SERVER LIST

Biggest Innovation or Pattern 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 strains, actiony MMOs, voxels, and Warhammer's sunset.

Toli: I like that developments are swinging again towards a variety of gameplay features this year. Voxels! Sandboxy things! I flip around and abruptly MMOs are launching with housing again! Holy smokes!

Matt: I'm completely happy to see extra studios tapping into the sandbox market. From heavy-hitters like EverQuest Subsequent and Star Citizen to less-hyped titles like Pathfinder On-line, the sandbox genre is gaining lots of traction.

Larry: Defiance was a disappointment as a sport, however as a product it broke the mold. I actually loved the tie-in launch of a tv series with an MMO. I don't think different games want to copy this mannequin precisely, however I do assume that tie-ins, crossovers, and multi-media launches add value to a product. And that i also believe that exterior-the-box pondering needs to be inspired in MMOs, even if it does in the end flop.

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

Shawn: Closing Warhammer Online. I imply, the sport was kinda enjoyable at first, however can we cease with that precise formula now? Thanks. (I am already placing my vote in for 2015's Largest Pattern to be "the end of voxel-based online games.")

Most Improved in 2013: Closing Fantasy XIVRunners-up: Tie between Star Wars: The Outdated Republic and RuneScape 3

Jasmine: Remaining Fantasy XIV. It improved so much from 1.Zero to 2.Zero that it performs like an nearly completely totally different recreation. I do not assume you may get much more improved than that.

Beau: RuneScape three introduced so much to the older sport that it actually is a distinct recreation. It is at all times been dynamic and felt like a living world, however this relaunch made it that a lot better.

These are our picks. Howsabout yours?