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Today’s “constantly online” gaming industry would be unrecognizable without the impact of MMORPGs.
Throwing pies at robots that only cared about boring business?
It doesn’t get much better than that.
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.
There were constant victories and upsets, and few games have managed to make trading feel so high-stakes.
The game is certainly heavy on grinding, but what MMORPG isn’t?
Of MMORPGs targeting a younger audience, Wizard101 had much more to it than a game like Toontown.
These MMORPGs feature vibrant and well-populated living worlds, but they’re still very solo-friendly!
Let’s focus on its heyday, before the game was majorly overhauled (twice).
You weren’t limited to being a Jedi or a soldier.
You could be a droid mechanic, politician, an entertainer, and so much more.
And what led to that popularity?
It was easy to get started, and just as fun to return to years later.
There’s always money to be made.
New Eden is a rich world full of mining, trading, piracy, and community.
you might take part in epic space battles, sure, but you might also be a space trucker.
All of this amounted to World of Warcraft feeling like a truly accessible MMORPG to mainstream audiences.
1EverQuest
Socialization isthedefining factor of an MMORPG, and it’s whatEverQuestexcelled at.
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.
From Elder Scrolls Online to Runescape, MMORPGs have loyal fanbases.
But not every opinion gets wide support.
