A fan vote on the largest US MMORPG site causes amazement: An outsider wins with a landslide victory.
Mmorpg.com is the largest English-speaking MMORPG site in the world, at least as far as we know. They held a vote for the “Most Wanted MMO 2017” from January 4 to January 10, that is, for the hottest title of the upcoming year.
The list of titles up for vote included games like Albion Online, Bless Online, Camelot Unchained, Chronicles of Elyria, Conan Exiles, Crowfall, Lineage Eternal, Revelation Online, or Shroud of the Avatar.
All titles that MMORPG fans have certainly heard quite a bit about. They are followed on MMO sites worldwide, some like Conan Exiles or Crowfall even get space in mainstream gaming media.
However, the race was actually between two very different titles that barely play a role on most gaming sites: The Korean Hack’n Slash Mu Legend and the old-school PvE MMORPG “Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen” had a neck-and-neck race that Mu Legend won.
Until the administrator discovered that there had been cheating. Mu Legend had received illegitimate votes. The title was disqualified. After cleaning up all “fake votes” in the election, “Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen” was declared the winner.
With 31.8%, that’s a damn strong result. Favorites like Crowfall (9.2%) or Camelot Unchained (8.7%) trailed far behind in 2nd and 3rd place. All three are titles that are still far from being “playable.” Revelation Online, which will soon enter its third closed beta, finished in fourth place.
How many votes were ultimately cast and counted in the election was not disclosed.
My MMO thinks: Such votes are difficult
Shoe-man thinks: That’s great for Pantheon. Congratulations first.
Now I have to play the Grinch: I view such votes critically. It matters that studios motivate their “fan base” and drive them to vote with forum posts, community actions, or other means. Because indie titles, in particular, have no budget for advertising, and for them, such a PR boost, such an award, is priceless.
Established studios are also keen to engage in this and encourage their fans to vote in similar elections.
The more “engaged” a community participates in such competitions, the higher the chance to win and to attract attention.
With all due respect: currently, certainly not 6 times more people are interested in “Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen” than in “Conan Exiles” or “Chronicles of Elyria.” Fans are not waiting with 3 times less dedication for their favorites like with Camelot Unchained or Crowfall. The studio behind Pantheon and its fans simply take this vote much more seriously.
The communities may be better connected, or the developers reach their fans more effectively and motivate them more passionately to vote.
You can see this, for example, on the Facebook pages of the games. Pantheon linked the vote three times, posted nothing else on FB during that time. Camelot Unchained or Chronicles of Elyria didn’t mention the vote on Facebook at all. Crowfall only once.
That said, one must be fair: Pantheon caters to an audience with its idea of an “old school PvE MMORPG” that currently feels neglected because left and right only Asia MMORPGs or PvP-focused games are being released. Nonetheless, such public elections should be approached with caution. Individual “campaigns” of an engaged community can sway the result in favor of their MMORPG looking for such success.
Perhaps the fanbases of other games were still on Christmas break and didn’t notice the vote so much.
Congratulations Pantheon:
Pantheon: The last hope for ‘Oldschool PvE’ and EverQuest fans
