2003: A Year in Review
MMOGHell

Hell of a year in gamingà or was it a year of gaming hell? Some of us here at MMO GamerÆs Hell have an opinion on the matter.

LetÆs see, we had the highly hyped releases of AsheronÆs Call 2, Eve Online, Everquest Online Adventures, Shadowbane, PlanetSide, The Sims Online, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, Horizons, and Final Fantasy XI, the not as hyped releases of A Tale In The Desert, Endless Ages, and many, many more, and the expansions for Everquest, Anarchy Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Ultima Online, and Shadowbane to hit the highlights. Surely, out of all these, we had some hits right? Um, well, depends on your point of view.

Being a huge Spaghetti Western and Clint Eastwood fan, IÆll give you The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:

The Good:

AsheronÆs Call 2 û Graphics and Character Development
Eve Online û In-depth Political and Economic Model
Everquest Online Adventures û Showing PS2 Players a MMOG
Shadowbane û Uncontrolled PvP (For those PvP fans like me!)
PlanetSide û Player development?... Nah, just action!
The Sims Online û Big, Fat Graphical Chat Room
Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided û It is Star Wars!
Horizons û Highly Sophisticated Crafting System
Final Fantasy XI û Graphics, Class/Sub Class System, Game Stability/Performance
A Tale In The Desert û Unique Non Combat Model (i.e. A MMO Civilization)
Endless Ages û MMO Real-time First Person Shooter
Everquest Expansion û More of what keeps many of us up way too late!
Anarchy Online Expansion Shadowlands û Incredible Expansion, Everything AO Is Now Better
Dark Age of Camelot Expansion Trials of Atlantis û Impressive Group Play Model
Ultima Online Expansion û Housing and Sophisticated Character Development System
Shadowbane Expansion Rise of Chaos û TBD

The Bad:

AsheronÆs Call 2 û Sparse Player Population, Weak High Level Content
Eve Online û Unappealing Combat System, Steep Learning Curve
Everquest Online Adventures û Watered Down MMOG in Every Way
Shadowbane û Uncontrolled PvP, Graphics, Storyline
PlanetSide û Technical Issues, Learning Curve, Dependence on Other Players
The Sims Online û Everything
Star Wars Galaxies û Lag, Content, Skill and Resource Grind, Horrific Launch
Horizons: Empire of Istaria û Lag, Remedial Combat System and AI, Graphics, Horrific Launch
Final Fantasy XI û Cookie Cutter Character Development, Level Grind, Guild System
A Tale In The Desert û Dated Graphics, Sound, Difficult Immersion
Endless Ages û Dated Graphics, Learning Curve, Difficult Immersion
Everquest Expansion û Only More of the Same
Anarchy Online Expansion Shadowlands û Overall Complexity Can Be Overwhelming To Newbies
Dark Age of Camelot Expansion Trials of Atlantis û Power-Gamer Focus
Ultima Online Expansion û Graphics, AI, Limited Storyline
Shadowbane Expansion Rise of Chaos û TBD

The Ugly:

Star Wars Galaxies and Horizons û Absolutely Pitiful Launch
Shadowbane, Star Wars Galaxies, PlanetSide, and Horizons û LAG!!!
Star Wars Galaxies û IsnÆt there supposed to be content when a game launches?
The Sims Online û The Sims Online

I know, I knowà yes, many of these have improved, added content, been nicer to you on message boards, yada yada yada. The question is though, how has 2003 been for MMOGs overall? My feeling is we have very little in the way of innovation and a long way to go. Shadowbane enticed us with PvP and great sieges which ended up a train wreck, Star Wars Galaxies gave us the hope of ôunlockingö a Jedi slot and interacting with legendary screen characters only to suck up hours of our time grinding away and never becoming ôchosenö for either, and AsheronÆs Call touted itself as the ônext generation MMOGö only because it had better graphics and a player driven economy. News Flash, this is NOT good enough. Give us a beta phase where feedback is implemented before launch, a launch not plagued by account and technical issues, server performance and play-style choice, a compelling and truly interactive story, solid graphics and the ability to crank it up if our system allows, expansive character development from avatar creation to long-term skill and career choice, meaningful guild and friend systems, the sense of territory and possession ownership, pride in character development and customization, moral and achievement acknowledgement, and most importantly, FUN! A lot to ask given the current state of MMOGs, but I remain hopeful. We have to believe a number of lessons again this year were learned and will be applied to the next generation. Dragon Empires, Lineage 2, Everquest 2, City of Heros, World of Warcraft, Middle Earth Online, and The Matrix Online perhaps may win our hard earned money for the initial purchase and even a monthly fee or two, but I sincerely hope at least one MMOG will be able to keep our business long term from substance, not default.

So welcome to a year of gaming hell, maybe 2004 will give us a reprieve. Either way, MMO GamerÆs Hell will turn the heat up and see which games burn.

- Thomas Murray, MMO GamerÆs Hell Contributing Writer