The Daily Grind: Which MMO are you sorry you missed?

Time is always against us, a wise man once said, and truer words were never spoken regarding the MMORPG genre. The glut of titles released over the last few years means that fans have some hard choices to make, and when those choices are coupled with the inevitable game closures, it's rare that even folks with huge amounts of free time have time enough to play everything.

And since we're speaking of time: If you spend enough of it reading and talking about our favorite genre, you'll inevitably come across a game that sounds right up your alley. If you're lucky, said game will still be available to you. If not, well, you might have the answer to this morning's Daily Grind question. Which MMO(s) are you sorry you missed?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Reader Comments (54)

I wish I had played Everquest back when it first started, when it was wide and open, and there were no auction houses, or fast travel.

@Methos
Sitting in the east common tunnels auctioning your stuff was not fun, trust me. As someone who played a druid, I used to charge 20-50 platinum to TP people around the world, but that also wasn't all that fun.

@(Unverified)

The EC Tunnels WERE fun! A lot of fun! :-)

There was haggling and bartering (you can't exactly do that with an Auction House) and people running around, dueling, and dragging skeletons, griffins and Sgt Slate over. It was where people hung out and interacted. It was a great dynamic, and one that is really missing from newer games.

@(Unverified)

I disagree as well. EQ, at launch, was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. When hardly anyone knew how to get from Freeport to Qeynos or someone in chain armor was hot stuff, that is when the game was good. Being able to teleport anywhere, at any time, is boring. Being able to give a level 1 an executioner's axe, palladium armor and a SBSS is boring.

Give me a relaunch of EQ and I'd be happy, at least for the month or two it'd take for the game to degenerate back to the farm-fest it eventually became.

@Krazed

"Give me a relaunch of EQ and I'd be happy"

Doesn't the progression server fit the bill there?

@(Unverified) Yes in Ultima Onine one of the great things was not having auction houses and having to know where people had vendors and or going to the banks to buy and sell. It was great for the game overall and the game economy. It also kept prices lower as auction houses artificially raise prices since people can bid them up whereas selling at the bank meant you could only get as much as someone was offering at the specific time of selling.

@Brian I mean "Yet in Ultima Online one of the great things..." not "Yet in "Yes in Ultima Onine one of the great things..."

@Nepentheia I agree, it was a huge social gathering, and really helped to forge the community on the server. The auction house system, and insta-teleport destroyed both the community, as well as the "huge world to explore" feeling.

Ultima Online in its hey-day, frankly. Feel like I missed out on an entire genre not having been around for the super-hardcore feel of MMOs.

@Kaahn Stewart

Mmmmmm. Ultima Online. I loved that game when it was in its prime. I know Tristal (I think that's what it was called) and Fellucia made some people hate it, but I loved it none-the-less. I was a youngster then playing with my dad, but it was still great.

Riiightttt up until they started to release all the random expansions like adding Elves into the game... Kinda made me upset.

If I had the time to go find a good shard to get onto, I would. For good ol' Ultima.

The article picture made me almost spit out my coffee at work, haha.

I would have liked to have played Matrix Online back when it was still running. I didn't necessarily liked the theme, but from all the little reports, from former players and the archaeologist news here at Massively, it seemed like a neat game and community I could have grooved to.

Also, wish I got into some of the even earlier graphic MMOs (but I didn't know of them, didn't know how to get into them, or didn't have the cash or feel they should be charging for a sub; this was when everything was free and wild on the internet). MMOs like Meridian 59.

@Space Cobra "when everything was free and wild on the internet"
I so miss those days in general. Hate the general "feel" of the net today, everything about (UN)holy-god-money.... You can almost hear the laissez-faire-cultist chanting and getting ready to sacrifice more small animals and new-born-babies.

I played Matix Online a bit but always felt a little disappointed that i was not able to give it more of my time - the same is true for SWG, so much fun could have been had but instead i let it sit there and now its gone (nearly)

Coming from IRE Muds, I sort of missed out on some of the earlier MMo's. I do wish I would have played a few, but at same time after reading forums on various games it seems like that golden age of adventure and enjoying a game as it is created has slimmed down a lot

I didn't miss it, but I was a little too late for Tabula Rasa, being a fairly low level when it folded. I bought it a month before the announcement but I should have bought it sooner.

SWG

Its sad but I didn't miss any MMO...been playing a long time.

The MMO I wish I had played more was Tabula Rasa. The only reason I didn't was because I was really into EQ and couldn't justify another $15. Oh and Auto Assault ticked me off so much I left NCSoft games. Not their fault...it was Gamestop refusing to cancel my pre-order after the game was delayed a year.

The launch version of SWG. The premise of a sandbox MMO, where you could spend the entire endgame as a professional artisan and be world renowed fascinates me. Everything is narrowing to the WoW model -- not because its bad, but because it works. I wish there would be more innovation in MMOs, but the costs involved suggest this won't happen.

Never: UO.
Not until the CU: The launch version of SWG.
Not Nearly Enough: Vanguard, and EverQuest 2
Not Long Enough To See The Expansions: Shadowbane

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The Daily Grind: Which MMO are you sorry you missed?

Reader Comments (54)

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 8:05AM Methos said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:15AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:19AM Nepentheia said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 10:48AM Krazed said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 12:40PM Dril said

Posted: Aug 11th 2011 1:40AM Brian said

Posted: Aug 11th 2011 1:43AM Brian said

Posted: Aug 11th 2011 4:23PM socialenemy2007 said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 8:06AM Kaahn Stewart said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 2:18PM Geiko said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 8:16AM Grumms said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 8:17AM Space Cobra said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 12:04PM Saker said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 8:19AM DrunkenGamer said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 8:24AM Drez31 said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 8:29AM TehKlute said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 8:32AM Bramen said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:07AM Yellowdancer said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:09AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 10th 2011 9:15AM Najwalaylah said

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