The best MMO before its time

Key Takeaways

• Meridian 59 introduced 3D graphics to MMOs, pioneering the technology ahead of its time.
• Ultima Online popularizes the player-driven economy of MMOs, setting standards for MMORPGs of the past.
• EVE Online's unique player-driven world allows for organic combat and narrative progression.

MMOs are one of the oldest and most respected subgenres in gaming, with their greatest hits spanning decades, and each new entry requires incredible resources with no guarantee of reward. That's why it's important to celebrate the history of MMOs and some of the most important mechanics they popularized or introduced ahead of their time.

Whether it was the first popular use of the instanced world — or the 3D world itself — these MMOs (in chronological order) deserve their credit for being ahead of their time.

8 Meridian 59

A Little Known Pioneer in the Genre

Released in 1996 for PC, Meridian 59 It might not be an obvious game today, but when it was released, it was the first MMO to feature 3D graphics, which was a huge technical feat at the time, especially since the game allowed first-person and third.

To this day, a small but dedicated community is still committed to maintaining the open source version of the game. MMO fans may not have played it before, but the visual update is treated with the respect it deserves.

7 Ultima Online

Brave

First published in 1997, Ultima Online has become one of the greatest PVP MMO games of all time, earning itself a loyal group of fans who play the game to this day with a new and updated game engine with improved graphics launched in 2007. the truth is that it has received good notice. to be one of the oldest MMORPGs ever made.

Ultima Online can be considered one of the first MMOs to adopt a fully player-driven economy, meaning that player-to-player trading is at the heart of the game and reinforced by a strong crafting system. The player-driven economy would become a defining feature of many MMOs, and Ultima Online it was the game that made him famous in front of all of them.

6 EverQuest

The Old King

Released in 1999 on PC, Everquest It may have been abandoned these days after the sequels and the increased difficulty of playing, but many hold fond memories of the MMO that was folded into the Sony brand and remains dormant to this day, or is one of the best MMOs even before its bigger brothers. LIKE THAT World of Warcraft.

if Meridian 59 was the first MMO to introduce 3D graphics into an MMO, Everquest was the first MMO to run entirely on a 3D game engine, revolutionizing the MMO space as players know it – and directly inspiring the vision of industry titans such as World of Warcraft.

5 Dark Age of Camelot

Arthurian Legend

• Date of publication: October 9, 2001
• Platform: PC
• businessman: Mythic Entertainment, Broadsword Online Games​​​​​​
• PREACHER: Vivendi Universal Games (US), Wanadoo Edition (Europe), Electronic Arts (2006-present)

Considering that the late 1990s and early 2000s were a heyday for new MMO releases, it's no surprise that some have been left in the cultural dust, and Dark Age of Camelot is undoubtedly one of the MMOs thrown away that deserves to be remembered more.

This is because Dark Age of Camelot pioneered the concept of kingdom wars in which an entire player's faction is placed, with richly detailed narratives of what will happen when the kingdoms of Hibernia, Albion, and Midgard. It was innovative for its time and allowed players to pledge their allegiance to different factions, long before the Alliance/Horde dynamic. World of Warcraft. The fact that they offered a three-party conflict designed for a dynamic system that few MMOs have ever taken.

4 EVE Online

Intergalactic monopoly

over 21 years old, EVE Online remains one of the most dangerous and massive games in the MMO market, known for its terrifying player economy and realistic, time-consuming galaxy domination mechanics , and is often derided for requiring spreadsheets to play nice.

Regardless of criticism, EVE Online is completely unique by introducing a whole galaxy for players to naturally try to conquer, pirate, trade and fight. This means that all battles are organic, with only the creators involved adding new content regularly. The players define the narrative of the game, and new stories are still broken when there is a big battle.

3 A second life

Metaverse First Plan

Today, players are fully aware of the concept of metaverses and experience an alternate reality in digital space, but even though it has been considered fiction for a long time, no game has embraced and represented it. It's an idea like A second lifepublished in 2003.

In Second lifeplayers create avatars and interact with user-generated content in an entire virtual space, with developers often reluctant to classify the game as a game at all. This hyper-social reality is a direct example of games like VR Chatand that's what really revealed the dream of the MMO to become a completely new world where players can build a new life.

2 Star Wars Galaxy

In a Galaxy Far Away

It was only a matter of time before an MMO based on Star Wars arrived in the MMO era of the early 2000s, and Star Wars Galaxy delivered in spades, allowing fans to explore the Star Wars galaxy in a whole new way.

It is not just a fictional story to liven up the world of popular science (Star Trek Online followed in 2010), but allowed players to build their own homes around the world, including houses, and eventually coalesce into cities with dynamic and organic virtual economies that allow the player creates the things that caused the debt. It is a great system that may not have existed before.

1 Guild Wars

The Road Less Traveled

if Guild Wars and sequels are often overlooked in comparison to their larger brothers in format World of Warcraft SY Final Fantasy 14it is worth highlighting the pioneering style of the original Guild War was, ahead of the competition for many years.

Guild Wars is loved for its world and its strict RPG mechanics, but it is also one of the first games to introduce scenarios, which means that the party can enter a version of the world that will not be affected by other players. It was a revolutionary idea that opened the door to what MMO quests could look like, and directly influenced some of the greatest MMO quests to come.