Since the invention of the MMORPG genre, developers have repeatedly snatched the big licenses to create an online role-playing game. But which MMORPG has best realized the respective universe? Genre expert Karsten Scholz attempts a ranking.
When World of Warcraft took off like a rocket in 2004 or 2005, the high phase of MMORPGs began. For about a decade, online role-playing games were THE hype genre.
This is underscored not only by the large number of announcements and releases from 2005 to 2014 inclusive. Developers also invested a lot of money during this time to secure strong licenses that could compete with Warcraft.
Also included are the franchises from film and television or other areas like tabletop, which have become indispensable in pop culture. But which MMORPG has best depicted the respective universe? This is exactly what we want to discuss in this article.
We will focus on the major IPs that originated and grew outside of video games. So you won’t find World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls Online, or Final Fantasy XI and XIV here. Instead, you can expect Star Wars, Warhammer, The Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, The Matrix, Star Trek, and other pop culture brands.
What criteria shape the ranking? Our MMORPG expert Karsten Scholz evaluates primarily the way in which the respective universe has been implemented in the corresponding game. How well does the MMORPG reflect the lore and perhaps even expand on it? What well-known characters, peoples, and other elements do you encounter? How high is the quality of the dialogues and texts?
It is also important for the ranking that the respective MMORPG is fun or that gameplay, bugs, and other factors do not spoil the enjoyment in the universe. What good is it if a license has been realized in detail, but every fight is annoying?
As many of these factors cannot be clearly quantified, the ranking of course also reflects a lot of personal opinion from our genre expert. So please let us know in the comments if you share the assessments or see certain placements differently.
Through our table of contents, you can jump directly to the sections that interest you:
Rank 15: Drakensang Online
Developer: Bigpoint | Platform: PC | Release Date: August 2011 | Payment Model: Free2Play | Status: Still active
What do I need to know about the license? Behind Drakensang Online lies the license of “The Dark Eye,” perhaps the best-known pen-and-paper role-playing game from Germany. The adventures from Aventurien have excited fans for over 40 years. Today, numerous novels, board games, and video games accompany the various editions.
What do I need to know about the game? Drakensang Online was created in the 2010s under the leadership of Bernd Beyreuther, who had already proven twice with his team from Radon Labs that he could develop great games for the universe of “The Dark Eye” – namely with the role-playing games “The Dark Eye: Drakensang” and “Drakensang: Am Fluss der Zeit.”
The problem: When Radon Labs had to file for bankruptcy and was taken over by Bigpoint, they had the rights to the name Drakensang, but not for the license of “The Dark Eye.” The developers were allowed to use the name for their MMORPG, but they had to come up with a completely new world and their own set of rules.
Although the name promises a lot, Drakensang Online has very little to do with “The Dark Eye.” However, taking a look at the game can still be worthwhile. This month, the MMORPG celebrates its 14th birthday. Additionally, a round of looting and leveling can be quite fun if you like hunting monsters from an isometric perspective (like in Sacred or Diablo). And there are still regularly new content updates: German MMORPG plays like Diablo, has been going strong for 14 years, is now starting a new season
