We asked you which MMOs have shaped your gaming taste the most and you responded. We present to you the most important MMOs and MMORPGs that influenced your gaming taste.
What was the survey about? Some games have such a great impact on us that they shape our gaming taste. We then begin to compare new titles with those we had a lot of fun with and sometimes wish that certain features could also be adopted by the other game.
Examples could be:
- Entering the wilderness in Ultima Online for the first time and realizing that you are not the great hero who can take on the wild boar.
- Noticing how suddenly the sun rises because you ran all night in Everquest from one side of the world to the other, only to realize how long it took.
- Being amazed by the good gunplay of Destiny and just having an incredible amount of fun fighting against enemies.
Therefore, we asked you which games had the most influence on you and have forever shaped your taste in games.
These 5 MMORPGs have influenced your taste the most
Here are the results: In the comments under our survey, you listed some games that shaped you. Surprisingly, almost all of them are MMORPGs.
These are your top 5 mentioned games:
- Dark Age of Camelot – The PvP MMORPG has shaped most of you. The battles between three factions were something special at release in 2001. In DAOC, it is not about completing quests, but rather engaging in massive battles and sieges.
- World of Warcraft – The classic par excellence. In 2004, Blizzard succeeded in opening the genre to the masses with the theme park MMORPG. WoW is still one of the most successful online role-playing games today.
- Ragnarok Online – The classic from 2002 still appeals today. The game mechanics involving fighting monsters, improving the hero, and many quests seem timeless. Furthermore, the anime graphics still appear cute today.
- Black Desert Online – The MMORPG from Pearl Abyss released in 2014 places you in a sandbox where you can engage in wars, simply be a craftsman, or explore the world as an adventurer. Black Desert impresses primarily with its stunning graphics.
- Everquest 1 – Everquest was released in 1999 and was one of the first 3D MMORPGs. The classic online role-playing game focuses on group content and presents a challenging player experience.
These are also the games you mentioned frequently:
- Meridian59
- Guild Wars
- Last Chaos
- Metin2
- Destiny
- Lineage 2
Nostalgia is important
Why did you choose these games? Nostalgia plays a big role. When you look at most titles, they are older MMORPGs, with few exceptions.
Many of you have been doing this hobby for a long time and have had your first experiences with MMORPGs, some over ten years old.
In Dark Age of Camelot, for example, you were convinced by the PvP approach with the three factions and the massive battles. This is something that PvP fans often miss today. Luriup7 mentions:
- “Of course my first MMORPG DAoC set the bar quite high, especially in the area of open-world PvP/RvR. It has actually been unmatched to this day.”
Furthermore, you enjoyed group play, such as in Everquest 1, Ragnarok Online, or Metin2. Today, many things are manageable alone in MMORPGs; that was different in the past and seems to have shaped you strongly.
As well as the fact that it was also possible to enjoy an open world without quests and clear level areas in the past. Klaphood7 echoes this sentiment:
- “Ragnarok Online is the only MMORPG I know that can offer an extremely exciting, truly open world even without quests and especially without EXP and drop penalties [..] with all the more desirable, unique items.”
Equally important is the combat system of an MMORPG. The one from Black Desert, for example, is well received by you and has influenced your taste concerning battles in online RPGs.
Interestingly, in your responses, almost exclusively MMORPGs were mentioned. Destiny is included as an outlier, but essentially it seems that mainly MMORPGs have influenced your gaming taste.
Here are more voices from the community:
- Christophe Barras7 writes: “Meridian59 was my gateway drug into the world of MMOs. Then came Everquest 1.”
- Tronic486 shares: “My first steps were with Everquest 1. My two brothers and I played it for a long time until DAOC came. One day WoW came, and the big brother was immediately involved, while the little one stayed with me for a while in DAOC. When he also went to WoW, I said no; just the graphics didn’t appeal to me, neither then nor now. So I continued to play DAOC for over 2 years.”
- Marc Pethros reports: “My first ‘real’ MMORPG was LotRO, the typical tab-target theme park MMORPG with all its fundamental mechanics. This was due to my lack of income as a student. It laid the foundation for my liking of this type of MMO and that I tend not to get into other MMORPGs with differing mechanics (e.g., Black Desert, PoE etc.).”
