The genre of online role-playing games looks back on many decades and countless achievements. In this article, we present to all fans of WoW, FFXIV, ESO and others 10 remarkable records from the world of MMORPGs.
The fantastic worlds of MMORPGs have captivated countless players for many years. They form the foundation of huge communities, drive their fans to peak performances, and create moments and memories that cannot be found in any other genre.
Some of these achievements are reflected in world records that have been set over the decades. Some “World Records” document the evolution that the genre has gone through, or the passion with which a studio has created its MMORPG. Below, MeinMMO presents some of these records from the world of online role-playing games.
The largest banning wave of all time
It is known that many publishers and developers prefer to act in large banning waves against accounts that have violated the terms of service of the respective game. According to guinnessworldrecords.com, the largest banning action to date is said to have affected 16,000 players in one fell swoop.
The banning hammer was swung by NCSoft, in the online role-playing game Aion, on November 23, 2009. The affected accounts were said to have engaged in real-money trading, exploited bugs, and used bots.
The first “18+” MMORPG
You might first think of Age of Conan, which was released by Funcom in May 2008 and received a USK age rating of 18 years due to its brutal combat and a certain amount of nudity.
However, there was another online role-playing game from Japan that received an “Adult Rating” even earlier. The name of the MMORPG: A3 (stands for “Art, Alive, and Attraction)” (via guinnessworldrecords.com). The English version of the game was buried with the closure of the global and Indian servers in 2009.
For mobile, there is now a successor, A3: Still Alive, which again has a hardcore approach, but has a USK rating of 12 years.
The most diligent MMORPG publisher
The Korean company NCSoft is said to have released 24 MMORPGs between its founding in March 1997 and October 2010 (via guinnessworldrecords.com). This phase includes titles such as Lineage, Lineage II, City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Tabula Rasa, and Aion.
In the following 14 years, of course, various other titles were added, such as Blade & Soul, WildStar, Guild Wars 2, Lineage M, or most recently Throne and Liberty. Moreover, Aion 2, Project LLL, and Project E are also on the release list for 2025 and beyond.
The MMORPG with the shortest lifespan
Do you remember APB (All Points Bulletin)? This MMORPG wanted to be what GTA Online later became. Unfortunately, upon launch, many issues such as boring missions, clunky controls, and outdated graphics arose.
Only 79 days after launch, the developers pulled the plug (via guinnessworldrecords.com). Refunds for the purchase price or subscription fees are said never to have been offered.
Even faster, the lights went out for the SciFi MMO Phylon. Only 20 days after its launch on June 20, 2007, the servers and the associated website suddenly went offline (via guinnessworldrecords.com).
