Place 12: Tera
Developer: Bluehole Studio | Platform: PC, PlayStation, Xbox | Release Date: January 25, 2011 | Shutdown: June 30, 2022
MeinMMO editor Karsten remembers: Tera fell right in the middle of my freelancing period, where I got to test almost every somewhat important MMORPG for various clients at launch. Of course, I was there for Tera from the beta and early pre-order phase.
What awaited me in The Exiled Realm of Arborea was a wild mix of light and shadow. Among the clear highlights for me was the “True Action Combat” system, which was more dynamic and powerful than that of the competition at the time.
It was precisely thanks to the fun combat system that I did not develop a jaw lock due to constant yawning from the so generic and numerous kill quests. I also found the backstory quite boring.
Otherwise, the launch version of Tera appeared mixed. There were no raids at first, politics was missing, and there wasn’t much for PvP fans to do either. Although this improved over time, and I had fun again with the console version of Tera years later, the MMORPG from Bluehole never belonged to the titles that were a must-play up to its shutdown in June 2022.
Place 11: Ultima Online
Developer: Broadsword | Platform: PC | Release Date: September 30, 1997 | Model: Free2Play
MeinMMO editor Karsten values: It has been 27 years since a certain Richard Garriott aimed to redefine the term MMORPG with his new installment in the venerable Ultima series.
The first public beta test went anything but smoothly. The 50,000 participants first forced the servers to their knees, then a tester even managed to murder Lord British, the character of Richard Garriott. He had forgotten to make himself invulnerable after a server reset.
These funny experiences occurred repeatedly in the sandbox of UO. Once there was a blockade in one of the larger cities. Carpenters had barricaded the entrances with furniture pieces, so no one could get in or out. The developers solved the problem by making the furniture destructible by players’ axes.
Also notable is the story of game designer Tim Cotten, who fought cheaters with a fire who would have duplicated items through an exploit. Dozens of houses were destroyed in the process.
Not only because of such stories is this iso-MMORPG clearly one of the most important milestones in the genre. Ultima Online was one of the first titles with player housing, for example. The freedoms came at the cost of potential frustration, for instance, when player killers were once again out to hunt newbies.
Since 2014, Ultima Online has been in the hands of Broadsword, who continue to provide regular updates to the MMORPG oldie. However, the last major expansion was released back in 2015. There is a new server for nostalgic relaunch called New Legacy coming in September 2024.
