Who all MMOG –’06 Edition-

Have you ever woken up in a strange place? Confused by unrecognizable surroundings the mind’s eye blinks rapidly permeating further synapses as the brain ignites.

Click… click… whir…

A few coherent thoughts ricochet in-between the bedlam engulfing the hippocampus. Time out of mind. What do you remember last? Searching for last bits of known memory; can’t recollect, wait… motor controls in check.

-the sound of keys briskly tapping-

/who all MMOG

Your results returned—This is what new places (virtual worlds) I remember from this last year.

Archlord
Launched: Oct. 6
Developer: NHN Games (Korean Developer)
Monthly Subscription Rate: Free-to-play

If you are a masochist who wants to relish in a vapid 100 level grind Archlord might fill your void for flagellation. The sane prefer meaningful substance and will heed the signs steering clear from this atrocity. If you want the anguish be prepared to stockpile more potions than your opponent in an obtuse pvp system and also hone your trigger-finger for point and click maneuvering so you can at least say with pride, “Fucking Gankers!”. Archlord’s demise started as soon as it launched, the culprit being the original subscription plan:

Squire: $9.99
Knight: $19.99
Lord: $39.99

What a crock of shit, the floundering didn’t stop there, after a failed attempt to conform to a flat rate monthly payment this January Archlord will be free-to-play with the box being the only entry cost. Give it a few more months and you might be able to find a copy in a trash bin.

Auto Assault
Launched: April 13
Developer: Netdevil
Monthly Subscription Rate: 15.00

Vroooooooooooooooooom. Fifty developers and four and half years in development and you have a shiny turd with a fancy weather system. The most fun I had in this game came in the for of doing donuts and more donuts, and yes, even more donuts. After about five minutes I got tired of donuts so I delved into the customization. But you don’t really customize your ride either because it’s missing a little something I call content. What’s worse is combat requires no skill leaving you with an awe-inspiring moment of what the fuck were the developers smoking. You will have more fun playing this blind folded and controlling your vehicle with your toes. On the bright side there is no elves and orcs, but for anyone familiar with diku based mmogs, it’s disappointing this mmog borrows some of the same concepts.

Auto Assault wanes on the nerves quickly and offers little to no replay value. In the public limelight NCsoft euthanized Auto Assault, writing it off their portfolio as the worst performing mmog to date. The servers were so under populated, a stratagem is in the works to merge the remaining servers into one. I think this type of mmog might do better on the 360 market’s place, make the client free and try out the evil rmt to keep the developers fed or have a low monthly subscription cost.

I’ve been told if you like Twisted Metal you will like Auto Assault. Not in my case, I love Twisted Metal and Auto Assault is one of the worst mmogs I played this year.

RF Online
Launched: Feb. 24
Developer: CCR, INC.
Monthly Subscription Rate: 15.00

A Korean import with a sci-fi element mingled with the fantasy. This is a realm versus realm based pvp mmog. And like every other import it is very grindy. Have fun picking out a 5×5 square and camping out, make sure you have a bucket handy for those bathroom breaks because a bot is always watching and waiting Of course the game lacks a ton of polish. If you do drop cash on this game, wait for the server merge (no eta) as it can be difficult to find a populated server. (Fire and Spirit are good candidates according to the forums)

Dungeons & Dragons Online
Launched: Feb. 28
Developer: Turbine, INC.
Monthly Subscription Rate: 15.00

D&D fanatics were frothing at the mouth in anticipation for how this would turn out. Many fans were turned off by the Eberron setting. It’s a good thing it wasn’t Forgotten Realm because what a cluster fuck this turned out to be. It makes me sad thinking about this mmog, I become overcome with guild because I recommended this title to several friends after playing the beta. I really wanted to be enraputed by tthis mmog

Early on DDO sparked rave reviews, but the game shipped way to early with little content and not much sense of a community. A shame, this is one of the few worlds that has some some noticeable innovation.

Dark & Light
Launched: June 5
Developer: Farlan Entertainment & NPCube
Monthly Subscription Rate: Deceptive

At the beginning of development, early tenets went viral resonating positive buzz-hype invading our ears and eyes, but an early release stampeded the optimism uncovering delusions of grandeur. A complete blunder, abysmal mechanics, and a lack of content, how this game received so much praise in the condition it launched is a testament to not be ensnared by demagogy hype and in a rare case where sometimes betas are better than the actual release.

Farlan Entertainment states the Dark & Light is free-to-play, but it is presented in a clandestine manner, it is only free up to level 10, but get this you can still explore the world and get your ass handed to you when you head move over to the next zone.

One of the worst launches in mmog history alongside shady marketing tactics make Dark and Light to deserving of all its failure and ridicule. Playing this game is the equivalent as taking a cheese grater to your naughty bits. Dark & Light ranks up there with Mourning, they compliment each other.

Silk Road Online
Launched: March 13
Developer: Joymax
Monthly Subscription Rate: Free-to-play (RMT: You can buy items with real money)

If you are looking for a free to play game this gets my recommendation as this years best free-to-play import. However, not all is rainbows and unicorns with this game,there is a huge downside, yep, the grind. You might as well douse any hopes for meaningful progression without becoming a schizoid wastrel locking yourself away from reality. If you can only afford a 20 hour a week investment, (which is too much for many) you may end up frustrated at how mind-mumbling slow your character advances. I’m not knocking long time investments, I’m knocking the lack of content to support such an obscene and insipid leveling curve.

Despite all the pitfalls Silk Road is one of the more thriving free-to-play worlds, the player base is a babel hodge-podge from all around the world. This can also be frustrating if you aren’t a linguaphile and I couldn’t help think how the community would be better off on separate servers. The community worsens once you approach the upper echelons where you will find an encroaching black market peddling their services and ruining the experience.

The plus side is there are no limitations in what character you wish to control, if you are in pets, pvp isn’t bad, but nothing new either, the back story is excellent, again, it’s free.

Hero Online
Launched: July 31
Developer: NetGame
Monthly Subscription Rate: Free-to-play (RMT: You can buy items with real money)

Qin Shi Huangdi needs heroes as demons have encroached the world once again! Hepl! With a not so thrilling back story Hero Online is another Korean import chock-full of insipid quests that are merely tasks. Gameplay is basic whack-a-mole.The translation is horrible making the dialogue butchered, a common theme amongst most imports. There are four classes and players can choose between two professions, one at level 10 and the other at level 50. Ouch.

Remembering…

I want to forget or develop psychosis, this year is about one banal import after another, dilapidated worlds failing to inspire players with warm and gripping dynamics. It’s an oceanic vat filled with forlorn worlds bobbing up and down and players drowning in dismay failing to be caught. There is a semblance of hope, several more appealing titles will launch in ‘07, but I remain skeptical on the innovation front.

I failed to mention some other mmogs (which didn’t appeal to me) released this year: Face of Mankind, Xiah, Roma Victor, etc. I also didn’t include expansions to existing games or smaller boutique mmogs.

Sources: I couldn’t have written my year-in-review without some information provided by the hard-working folks and players atmmorpg.com and Virgin Worlds.

FOCUS: What do you think about ’06’s (new) mmogs? Are you satisfied or disappointed? Don’t give two shits as long as WoW is still pulsating? Let me know.