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Princessdoll

I'm really happy that my previous con event went out well, but then again this has nothing to do with this article I am going to post.

Before I post this article I'm already expecting a lot of trolls, I mean what I'm about to discuss are the top 10 mmos that "i think" have left a mark through out the gaming industry. Either they have done something first, changed some way on how to play, implement things better than the previous games or a total evolution of a game. These top 10 falls to one of those categories that we cannot forget. But still it doesn't mean all are good because both peak of fandom up to downfall will be shown too. Well, on some games and not all.

Again, this is just based on the original article and if you think you disagree, feel free to make your own top 10. I mean, there are lots of blog sites out there and no one is stopping you to write, right?

10 The Sims Online


When The Sims Online was first announced, it caused a great deal of excitement throughout the video game industry. The game that had become a phenomenon both inside gaming circles and in the world beyond, was going to be available to play online. No longer would players be restricted to interacting with their own creations and NPCs. Instead, they would be doing what the game itself simulates: interacting with other people. The IP alone, a popular video game franchise that was at the height of its popularity, should have meant success for the game.

The reality of the situation, however, was quite different. The end result of The Sims Online was that players found it underwhelming. It somehow failed to capture the elements of the original IP that made the game a best-seller and Will Wright a household name.

While the game actually managed to nearly six year existence, going through a branding change (briefly known as EA-Land), to finally be canned for good on August 1st, 2008, The Sims Online is widely viewed as one of the industry's big failures, made even more impactful on the genre as a whole by showing the MMO world that a strong IP alone is not enough to carry a game to success.

9 ToonTown Online


From the folks at Disney Interactive, it's easy for the more hardcore among MMO gamers to scoff and simply stroll by a title like Toontown Online when walking down the Memory Lane of the genre's history. What can be more difficult to remember are the doors that were opened by this game that were eventually walked through by games like Wizard 101, Free Realms, Fusion Fall and others that followed behind it.

Toontown Online introduced us all to the idea of MMOs for kids. Replacing the often brutal combat of most MMOs with comic gags, restricting chat to make it kid friendly and kid safe and generally creating an atmosphere that allowed parents to feel comfortable letting their young children spend time in an online world.

By popularizing the idea of children's MMORPGs, Disney Interactive was able to expand the audience for MMOs and push away from the often ultra-violent, fantasy setting reputation that had built up since the first MMOs were introduced in 1996.

8 EVE Online


When EVE Online debuted back in 2003, it did so with somewhere around 50,000 subscribers. Today, the space-based sandbox MMORPG boasts over 300,000 total subscribers.

While there are some who would scoff at those numbers and point to games like World of Warcraft and its 11 million subscribers as a true measure of success, calling EVE Online's comparatively meager 300,000 a failure, the players and developers of the game would beg to differ.

Regardless of what the future might hold for this game and its franchise, it has solidified its place in the MMO history books by defying the trend in MMO subscribers, especially for an independent project. Generally speaking, the number of subscribers that any given MMORPG sports is at or near its peak soon after launch. From there, it's a question of retention, with the scale fluctuating slightly throughout the life of the game but generally trending in the downward direction.

With EVE Online, the opposite has been true. Each year, the game has grown in population (paid subscribers) from the year before so that six years after its launch, it is still a thriving MMO in a very difficult and competitive market.

7 City of Heroes


For years, the MMORPGs were looked at as an extension of the fantasy-based RPG genre. In other words, any MMO worth its salt would include swords, elves, dragons and a host of other familiar conventions.

Eventually, the preconceptions surrounding MMOs slackened, and science fiction found its way in. it was a logical leap, with sci-fi and fantasy often lumped together in genre classification anyway. Then, along came Cryptic Studios and NCsoft back in April of 2004 with a new and some would say risky proposition in the form of City of Heroes, the genre's first superhero MMO.

The idea must have caught on because not only has City of Heroes grown to support a companion game, City of Villains, but at least two new titles in the form of Champions Online and the upcoming DC Universe Online have come up to help round out this genre to allow superheroes to take their place as staples in the MMO world right up there with ships and swords.

6 Darkfall


One of the most controversial MMOs ever launched, Darkfall did something that many thought impossible: It rose from the dead. Like the proverbial phoenix, the game rose from what many thought was long dead ashes.

The 2009 launch of Aventurine's game surprised many MMO followers, developers, players and journalists alike who, after eight years of announced development and an extensive media blackout lasting years, had dismissed the game as vaporware.

Whether you like the game, or hate the game, it is difficult to argue its place in the history of MMOs as what might possibly be its biggest surprise.

5 Dungeons and Dragons Online


Dungeons and Dragons Online launched in 2006 to less than glowing reviews both professional and player made with criticisms focusing on the instanced nature of the game and the subscription fee that came along with it, combine that with the extraordinarily high and varied expectations of a group of people who grew up with the franchise and the result was a game in trouble.

Recently though, D&D Online solidified its place in MMO history by successfully moving from a subscription online revenue model to a free-to-play item shop model.

The move, made nearly seamlessly, came at a time when the subscription vs. item shop debate among players was at its height. Meeting with very little initial criticism, probably given primarily to the fact that the game had been dismissed by many as "failed," the revamp seems to be having a positive effect on the game and its players, giving the struggling MMO a second change at life.

Turbine's move with DDO is already being discussed by players and developers alike as a way to bolster flagging subscription-based MMOs. Whether this comes to fruition as a common practice or not remains to be seen.

4 Ultima Online


Ultima Online's place in history was solidified a long time ago. While it may not have been the first MMO ever released, it has developed a reputation over the last decade plus if it life as the grandfather of the modern MMO.

UO may be the single MMO with the most overall influence on every game that came after it in its genre. Many of today's development talent, for example, played and loved the game and often get together to tell stories of the "good old days" when they come together at conventions and trade shows.

3 EverQuest


While Ultima Online may be the game that get a generation of fantasy RPG gamers into the idea of MMOs, EverQuest was the game that popularized the genre with the general gaming public and beyond.

It could be said that EverQuest, launched in 1999, was the genre's World of Warcraft before Blizzard ever even thought about making its way into the MMO industry. Known affectionately by players as "EverCrack," the original game finally brought the 3D perspective RPG to the online world.

Historically, EverQuest was the first MMO to really shout beyond the walls of the genre and out into the world of the general public, convincing games who were used to paying nothing beyond the price of a box to shell out for a monthly subscription and really gave birth to the MMO phenomenon, paving the way for the next big game, World of Warcraft, to be the massive success that it was.

2 Star Wars Galaxies


Most of the games on this list earned their place by doing something positive for the genre, and SOE's Star Wars Galaxies is no exception. The difference though is that while SWG's impact was a positive learning experience for the genre as a whole, their contribution was, in the end, anything but positive for those involved.

I won't waste your time or mine on explaining the nitty gritty details of the Galaxies NGE other than to say that when Sony Online Entertainment radically changed the design and function of their already pre-existing game, the entire industry took notice. It's a classic case of learning from the mistakes of others as players who were negatively impacted by the sudden and radical change rose up to very vocally berate the decision and even today, mere mention of this debacle sparks strong and passionate responses.

So, in the end, the entire industry now knows enough not to mess with the major design of a game post-launch and at the very least the makers of the next Star Wars MMO know enough to make it "feel starwarsy enough" the first time around.

1 World of Warcraft


It's not like we could have a conversation about history making MMORPGs without giving the top spot to the single most influential MMO ever created in Blizzard's World of Warcraft. For better or worse, this game in particular has become synonymous with the name of the genre.

When Blizzard set their eyes of making an MMO, they did so by examining the games that came before it, by looking at the very history that has been partially laid out in this list, and taking what their developers felt were the best and most successful aspects of each. They were, and continue to be, informed by what came before them.

When World of Warcraft subscription numbers began to roll out, with numbers in the millions that were unheard of before, the whole world took notice.

The success of World of Warcraft has expanded the MMORPG genre by making the space more appealing for major financial investment and today, in the era of WoW's dominance, we are seeing more MMOs produced than ever before.

Now, whether this fact is a positive or a negative in your books is entirely up to you. The undeniable fact is though, that no matter what you opinion is, you can't deny the mark that WoW has left and continues to leave on the world of MMOs.

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Well, for me I think why WOW is starting to downfall because of "some" players who says "wow clone" to every released MMO even if it's not a similar game to WOW. Also others that uses this word freely that don't even bother to see if it's really worthy to be called a clone.

Because of this, some new players doesn't want to try WOW anymore because it's making a bad impression thus leaving a mark of "players of WOW are all big-headed".

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Lalafell

Crappy article but I'm not going to make my own list.

Only obvious/correct placement is World of Warcraft at #1. Maple Story deserves a spot on there somewhere for inspiring a shit ton of MMO sidescrollers.

ToonTown = lol?

Ragnarok?

distorion

no DAOC..no GUILD WARS ..no LINEAGE 2 = fail..

WerewolfX

Everquest should have been number 1.

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Gryz34

ya toon town left a mark???? LOL

that list is bad , you gotta have Diablo in thier

but very poor list .

Bryan

Everquest should have been number 1.
Toontown shouldn't be on that list.
Darkfall has been released too little for it to be considered important, imo.
DAOC isn't on that list, for what reason?

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Useless

I think starcraft would be a MMO.
Counterstrike?

This article is wiggity whack.

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chris183

yeah toon town, darkfall, and dungeons and dragons online dont deserve to be on that list

dark age of camelot and lineage II definitely do and probably FFXI too, im appalled that they put darkfall on the same list as UO but not dark age of camelot

i mean i know you have to only pick ten so some get cut out but atleast fill up the list with 10 good ones

and the dungeons and dragons mmo blows a virtual version of the tabletop would be far superior

SQEX

Everquest should have been 1, WoW number 2, Ragnarok Online and Maple Story should have made this list, just because they tend to be industry standards

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Chaosboy

Seriously, Toontown? Also DAoC should be in the list.