MMO Gaming

The year is quickly coming to an end. Normally I wouldn’t write anything in particular, since I already had my personal first year wrap up months ago, but everyone else is doing it, and hey, I’m a follower. Also, I haven’t posted much at all this month and I feel if I don’t post today then I will not start posting again regularly tomorrow, which would cause all sorts of problems.

Though certainly not the best year for MMOs there were definitely more interesting happenings than in many years prior. To highlight some of these goings on I decided to create a best (and worst) of list for whatever categories happened to pop into my head. If you’ve got your own “Best…” or “Worst…” post it in the comments; I’d love to hear.

Best Game Update/Patch

EVE Online: Trinity - Though it could be argued that this is more an expansion than a patch I’ll consider it, for the sake of having two separate categories (and winners) a patch, rather than an expansion. I’d say an expansion would be something you buy extra.

Now then, what makes “Trinity” so great? In case you didn’t hear, this is the patch where they completely overhauled the graphics, showing off some incredibly shiny new ships. There was other stuff too, of course, but that takes a back seat to the graphics, it’s the real reason people were so eager for it.

Pics via CrazyKinux

Worst Game Update/Patch

EVE Online: Trinity - Oh yeah, this patch also sucked. For those that didn’t hear about the problems with this update well…let’s just say it could jack your computer up pretty good if you didn’t pay attention. Lack of testing is never a good thing but few times has a small but important error caused so many problems. Oh CCP, you never cease to a(muse/maze?) me.

Biggest Disappointment

Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising - So many choices on this one but I think this has to be the biggest let down of all. Not very many times does a game get so close to release before having the plug pulled. I mean, pre-orders were already available. And to think that Perpetual will be on this list again too, and probably on the list for 2008 as well.

Most Improved

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - Though a strong contender for the “Biggest Disappointment” category ultimately Vanguard could still become a good, if not great, game. From the looks of things, and with the latest game updates improving stability (and many other areas) significantly it may be worth exploring if you left after seeing the game at release.

Best New Game

Tabula Rasa - Not a lot of contenders in this category as not much was released this year but I think Tabula Rasa beats out the competition simply by setting itself apart from everything else. Beta problems aside the game is worth the investment of money and time (which can be very little and you can still feel as if you’ve accomplished something.) It may not be the next World of Warcraft but it is a solid MMOG that blends together several different elements well.

Best Game Expansion

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade - It’s hard to pick one expansion, when so many have come out this year, and EQ2 was a strong contender for this spot but with EQ2 the expansions just add on to an already huge game world (which is certainly not a bad thing) and with WoW, well, they’ve only had the one and it added enough content to keep people going for several months, if not longer. While they didn’t re-invent themselves with this release they did add some quality updates, some great new content, and they managed to give all of it the expected Blizzard polish.

Most Consistent

City of Heroes/City of Villains - Every patch/update/expansion whatever you want to call it, for City of Heroes and City of Villains is high quality. There is always something new and fun to do in the game, and with NCSoft taking over the game completely now I think it will only continue to improve in 2008. With great updates like the introduction of a very well done crafting system the game is placing itself in a good position to continue to grab positive press.

Most Unfortunately Timed

Lord of the Rings Online - Never has a game gotten such strong reviews followed so shortly by complete apathy. Unfortunately for LotRO it came out at a time when just redoing what everyone had already seen with games like World of Warcraft and Everquest 2 was not enough. People wanted the game to be more than it was, and though the game is pretty well done across the board it seems to lack that “X factor” to make people keep coming back day after day.

Worst Game Company

Perpetual Entertainment - I think we all know the reasons this company made the list, and it would be hard to pick just one reason above all of those that really sets it apart as having one of the absolute worst years in history. The Gods and Heroes debacle I mentioned already, but that doesn’t take into account all the other crap they managed to get themselves into this year. I’m not necessarily holding all this against the company itself so much as what has happened to them this year. Hopefully they manage to turn things around and shock everyone with a great game in Star Trek Online.

Biggest Industry News

Vivendi Games and Activision Merge - When you combine a huge console game publisher with Vivendi Games, or, more correctly Blizzard Entertainment, the only part of Vivendi Games anyone actually gives a crap about, you have the great position of setting yourself up too truly go head to head with the sequel loving powerhouse of EA. And at this point I have to believe that any big competition for EA is going to be great for games as a whole.

That about wraps it up for all the categories I can think of this year, if you have your own, leave a comment and let me know. Until next year.