MMORPGs are a massive genre in the world of gaming, quite literally in fact. The worlds you’ll explore in these games are absolutely enormous and filled with other real life people willing to quest with you and help you along your way, or maybe even fight against you and hinder your journey. MMOs offer depth and replayability like no other genre. You can easily spend 30+ hours on a game like this just by involving yourself and levelling up to around half the level tiers. When you take into consideration the ability to then raid, do dungeons, get the best gear possible, unlock mounts and pets, play the game with your friends, max out jobs and professions and then have the potential to that all over again with the countless number of classes and species, the potential number of hours you can put into a game like this is staggering. On average, men and women spend between 21-25 hours a week playing their favourite MMO, this is in contrast to around 6-7 hours watching TV.
But what are the best MMOs to get into right now? Which Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games are worth your hundreds of hours and will have you engrossed like few other genres and titles can. Well, we’ve decided to give you a list here of the top MMORPGs you can play right now.
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is the king. There’s no doubting that WoW is the number one MMO of all time. It has garnered a huge reputation as being the most addictive game of all time bringing in tens of millions of players over its 10-year reign. At it’s most popular, WoW had over 12 million monthly subscribers paying the $15 monthly free. With an enormous list of races with their own selection of classes, the biggest world in any MMO, a deep level of lore like no other game and countless things to do in game, there’s no doubting that WoW should likely be your first option if you’re willing to get lost in a game and pay the monthly fee.
WildStar
Wildstar was long touted to be the “WoW Killer” and when it came along it was one of the first games to introduce an MMO that felt like no other MMO before it. The combat was no longer restricted to tab-targetting and the animations and characters felt different to anything we’d seen before in an MMO. Along with some incredible player housing, unique mounts, surprisingly challenging quests and just a high level of fun, Wildstar was the first MMO in a long time to try something different and it be a success. Unfortunately, recently, Wildstar has lost a lot of followers but is going free-to-play soon and so is looking to bring in a lot more of their audience once again.
Tera
Tera was another game that was touted as a “WoW Willer”. The game featured graphics unparalleled by any other MMO and a free combat system like Wildstar. The game is also free-to-play. Unfortunately, due to some transmogs, some questions about whether it’s pay-to-win and more the game hasn’t quite taken off like they wish it had. However, it definitely still features some incredibly fun gameplay, decent questing, a fair amount to do and is still probably the best-looking MMO out there.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Final Fantasy isn’t a name that needs any introduction and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is a truly respected title in the MMO scene and considered by many to be second to only WoW. The original Final fantasy XIV Online was met with awful reviews and so, to not tarnish the Final Fantasy name, Square Enix went back to the drawing board and came back with not just a good MMO, but a GREAT MMO. With an insane amount of different ways of earning XP, gil (gold) and levelling, FFXIV:AA is definitely an MMO you can get yourself absolutely lost in.
Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2 is another game that introduces a more free combat style and offers it up in a beautiful way. Guild Wars 2 recently recieved an expansion that brings more classes, skills, a higher level tier and plenty more content to the world. Being a pay-to-play game with only a one-time purchase, Guild Wars 2 is a massive draw for players who don’t want to pay a monthly subscription. On top of this, the ability to easily be running around and suddenly fight with many other players at the same time makes Guild Wars 2 feel like one of the more community-driven MMOs on the market.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Star Wars is another name and title that needs no introduction and The Old Republic, despite getting off to a fairly poor start has slowly risen among the MMO ranks. The game already beckoned in Star Wars fans with probably the most engaging quests in any MMO and the ability to wield all the powers you see in the films. As mentioned, the game started off weak with little to do and no end-game content. However over the past couple of years they’ve introduced a free-to-play model that allows players to get a feel for the game and have introduced more and more content as quality-of-life improvements. Hopefully, we’ll see some more end-game content soon such as raids, dungeons and higher level gear.
Rift
Rift is one of those games that didn’t try to be too different but take all the best bits of an MMO and put them in a free-to-play package. A lot of people say that Rift feels like a less cartoonish version of WoW and even incorporates WoW’s old talent tree to customise your character’s abilities. The game doesn’t offer anything too groundbreaking other than the ability to jump into different realms which allow you to run around huge maps fighting with other characters. We’d recommend this MMO for those who want to play WoW but maybe don’t want to play the monthly subscription fee.
