1st place – World of Warcraft
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment | Platform: PC, Mac | Release date: November 23, 2004 | Model: Pay2Play
World of Warcraft is probably the most famous MMORPG of all. WoW has specific content for pretty much every type of player.
This makes World of Warcraft the land of milk and honey in the MMORPG world. No matter if you are PvP, PvE, solo, or group player. Regardless of whether you are looking for a story, fights, or tough raids, WoW can be your game.
However, some players write exactly that on the negative side of the MMORPG. Because sometimes you have the feeling that the game doesn’t know what exactly it wants to be. In addition, players are angry because there have only been 2 content patches in the last 2 years.
Especially with the last major expansion, WoW lost many players, including to games like Final Fantasy XIV. Nevertheless, World of Warcraft is a pioneer in terms of MMORPG and has shaped the genre for years.
In this title, you choose one of two sides in a great war. You take the side of the Horde or the Alliance and then fight for your values. The game gives you an enormous number of races at hand.
Some of the classes are tied to certain races, others only exist on the part of the Horde or the Alliance. An enormous variety is certain to be found in WoW, both in terms of gameplay and in terms of class selection and races.
You will explore an enormous world and experience an exciting story that revolves around the great war between the Horde and the Alliance and focuses on the various important people in this war.
2nd place – Final Fantasy XIV
Developer: Square Enix | Platform: PC, Mac, PS4, PS5 | Release date: August 3, 2013 | Model: Pay2Play
Final Fantasy XIV has grown in popularity extremely in the last few months. FFXIV has been a good game since the rebirth in A Realm Reborn and has steadily improved with each expansion. The MMORPG relies on a rousing and emotional story at the center of the game.
The story is one of the best the genre has to offer. In addition to the story, FFXIV can score with its staging, its exciting class system, and its world.
The game was originally released in 2010, but then had such massive problems that the decision was made to close the MMORPG again. Three years later, Sqaure Enix reopened the game under the name “A Realm Reborn” and was able to achieve great success.
3rd place – The Elder Scrolls Online
Developer: ZeniMax | Platform: PC, Mac, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, PS4, PS5, Google Stadia | Release date: April 4, 2014 | Model: Buy2Play
The Elder Scrolls Online tries to bring together the classic experience of the Elder Scrolls series and the virtues of an MMORPG and is very successful with it.
Accordingly, you will recognize many areas, races, and stories if you have been to Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. ESO relies on great playful freedom and an exciting story that is the focus of the action.
A subscription model was originally intended for the game. The developers made this optional on March 17, 2015, and chose a Buy2Play model for the MMORPG. The optional subscription now gives you easy gaming advantages in the game.
The Elder Scrolls also scores with a scalable world that makes it possible for complete beginners to stand next to seasoned veterans on the battlefield. This promotes playing together and does not separate the different types of players as much as one is used to from other MMORPGs.
4th place – New World
Developer: Amazon Game Studios | Platform: PC | Release date: September 28, 2021 | Model: Buy2Play
New World is the newest MMORPG on this list, but it started off with a big bang. Over 900,000 players wanted to play the game in the week of the release, which led to very long queues in some cases.
New World relies on a classless class system in which you are what you are wearing right now. There are 11 different weapons and three different armor classes that you can change and improve as you wish.
You roam the island of Aeternum as an open world in which there is a lot to do. In addition to the 11 weapons, you can improve your skills in 17 different professions and life skills.
If you’re not in the mood for it, you can always jump into the optional open-world PvP to support your faction. In the beginning, you choose one of three factions that fight over the different areas on the island.
You can then help to conquer these areas and then manage them and protect them from monster invasions. And if you’ve had enough of all of this, you just go and cut trees.
When it comes to fighting, New World relies on an action combat system with stamina management and few active skills. You alternate between light and heavy punches and have to block and dodge to survive.
5th place – RuneScape
RuneScape has seen many updates over the years. The game was originally developed in 2D, then got an update to 2.5D in 2003 and with RuneScape 3 it became a real 3D MMORPG in 2013.
Today two versions of RuneScape are running in parallel and are being provided with updates. RuneScape 3 from 2013 is commonly known as RuneScape, while an old version continues to run as Old School RuneScape.
At the moment, New World is often compared to the old MMORPG, as both put a lot of emphasis on crafting and collecting resources and osrs gold. RuneScape also has a particularly strong community that is still actively developing modifications for the game.
While both games are Free2Play, they also offer an optional subscription, which gives paying players significant advantages.
