I remember back in the day of 56k connections, the very first MMO I ever played was on a platform called MUD, which stood for Multi-User Dungeons. It was all utterly text-based with absolutely zero graphics and 100% your imagination of what you wanted it to be. It was awesome.
Then a few years later, I played my first MMO with actual graphics, called Tibia, and that was just mind-blowing. I mean sure, there was a server cap of 800 people, and you’d have to queue for ages, but when you get in, it was awesome. Funnily enough, Tibia is still going, which is pretty cool.
9 Best MMOs to Play in 2019
Finally, I found myself playing the mother of all MMOs; World of Warcraft. Back then, having a level 60 on your server was a big thing, and once you got to level 60 yourself, you were finally one of the big dogs in the world. Of course, looking back at it now it was . . . Actually, I don’t need to look back at it since Blizzard released WoW Classic, so if you want to know what it was like, grab that game. Also, make sure to check out our World of Warcraft Classic class ranks.
Anyway, the point of this little story is that I love MMOs and I can totally understand the want and need to play one. Ever since WoW came out, there’s been dozens of MMOs of varying levels of quality and fun. Of course, I don’t expect you to wade through the garbage to find the gems, which is why I’ve done it for you!
Before we begin though, you should know that some MMOs require somewhat beefy computers, for that, you’ll want to check out some of the best gaming PCs around.
#1 World of Warcraft
Release Date: November 23, 2004
Payment Model: Subscription with paid expansions
There’s really no way to make a list of the best MMOs without including WoW, one of the most popular MMOs out there (if not the actual most popular). WoW has been around for well over a decade now, and over seven different expansions, the game has gone from big to bigger to just insanely massive.
In that time, it managed to essentially define the genre over and over again and is the go-to when you’re talking about MMOs with a subscriber count the size of a small nation. The PvE in the game world is quite extensive, with dozens of races and classes from you to pick, from elf healers to panda monks (yes, you heard that right).
There’s a ton of variety for you to pick from, and since you can make quite a few accounts, it’s pretty normal to have more than one race/class combo going on at the same time. They even have specific classes that start out at high levels, or, if you’d rather just skip to the top, you can pay a sum of money to attain max level and reach the end-game content without a ton of grinding.
Besides that, there’s also a veritable treasure trove of dungeons, raids, 3-man missions and hundreds of miles to explore and enjoy. You also get to pick a set of professions which can help you along your way, although most people tend to choose the professions that help their class the most. You even get a form of player housing called The Garrison, where you can gain resources over time and send minions out to do your bidding.
PvP is similarly fun and as equally complex. Initially, there was a significant reliance on armor and weapons when it came to beating opponents, but more recently that has been removed to give a much more balanced PvP experience. Of course, there are also tons of different PvP modes, such as point defense arenas, RTS style wargames, and just straight-up PvP battles.
Now, the most recent expansion, Battle of Azeroth, hasn’t been very well received and is considered probably the worst expansion so far. Most of that revolves around the gear system and the grind needed to get to the end game, which can be a big pain. Thankfully, Blizzard is committed to fixing this issue with a couple of patches and regardless, the game is still loads of fun.
Subscribe to WoW nowadays though, especially if you haven’t played it before, opens up a ton of content for you to explore, and quite honestly, you’re unlikely to reach the end before they release another expansion.
So don’t worry if you’re going in fresh, you’re still going to get hundreds of hours of enjoyment out of it. It might sound a bit overwhelming, especially in terms of knowing the lore, but thankfully there are WoW expansion lists to give you a recap.
#2 Eve Online
Release Date: May, 2003
Payment Model: Free-to-play with a premium subscription
If you’ve ever played an MMO before (or heard of MMOs), you’re likely to have come across Eve Online, a game so infamous for its insanity, that it’s even shown up on BBC. Interestingly enough, Eve Online actually came out a whole year before WoW, possibly making it the first modern MMO. Of course, back then WoW outshone it quite easily, and it wasn’t until a few years later that Eve Online took off.
For the uninitiated, Eve Online is a space-faring sci-fi MMO, where you can own your own ship (or more likely ships), and go about the galaxy doing pretty much whatever you want. While mining seems to be the most popular, there’s a whole host of different things you can do, such as manufacturing, exploration, bounty hunting, warring, and surveying ancient relics for high-end goodies.
For each of those things, Eve Online has a variety of different ships for you to pick from, and not only that, but there are also four different main faction variations for each of those ships as well.
Factions actually play a pretty big part of your gameplay, as they not only dictate the affinity of your ships when you first start (you can choose others though), it also affects what space you can go into without becoming cannon fodder, although again, that’s something you can change over time.
Reputation plays another big part of the game, as certain side-factions won’t really be happy to see you if you annoy them, and worst of all, if you run foul of the authorities, you won’t be able to get into High-Security nodes without dying almost immediately.
Speaking of security, the game world is pretty much broken up into four portions; High Sec for mostly PvE gameplay, Mid-Sec where you get a bit of PvP, Low Sec for tons of PvP and some PvE and then Null Sec, where all the bad, bad, bad people are. Arguably, Null Sec is where the most valuable items and resources in the game reside, so a lot of people get enamored with the thought of going there to find riches.
Unfortunately, it is unregulated space, so you’re always at risk of running into enemy player ships who will shoot on sight just to get another kill. Now, I know I may be painting a bleak picture of a cut-throat world where you’re more likely to get screwed over than not, and the truth is . . . That’s pretty much how it is.
That being said, it’s still incredibly fun to play, and there’s actually lots to do that doesn’t put you in direct danger of losing your ships. While High-sec (PvE) gameplay might be a bit more of a grind and slightly dull sometimes, it still has tons to offer. For example, I certainly enjoy just sitting around and mining for hours, just me and the rocks out in the middle of space.
Probably the most exciting bit though, is that exp gain happens even when you aren’t offline, so you don’t have to feel as if you’re continually being outclassed by people who can play more than you can. As long as you have a valid subscription and a skill queued up, you can gain new skills even if you only play a few times a month.
There’s also PLEX, a sort of real-money transfer thing that actually doesn’t make the game a pay-to-win game (and I’m still amazed at how they managed that). Regardless of what you hear though, you should certainly check it out, and with the small free-to-play portion that you can do, you can get a good idea of whether this game is for you or not.
#3 Star Wars: The Old Republic
Release Date: December 20, 2011
Payment Model: Free-to-play with DLC
Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) is a game that had a bit of a mixed released. Before it came out, there was a lot of emphases put on how it’s going to be a fully-voiced campaign, with a $500 million dollar budget, the biggest at the time, and just generally going to blow the pants off every other MMO out there.
Unfortunately, when it was released, it ended up being a weird mish-mash of modern MMOs and trying to be a faithful recreation of the Knights of the Old Republic games. You also had to buy the base game as well as subscribe monthly, and it ended up putting a lot of people off.
Thankfully, the game has really taken off since then, finding its identity and going free to play, albeit with some content locked away behind DLC.
What really makes SWTOR stand out is just the massive amounts of narrative and storytelling that it has for an MMO. You can pick one of eight different classes, each with its own unique story for you to enjoy, rather than how it is with other MMOs where there’s just one overarching narrative. It also manages to remain faithful to the lore and to give you some really great glimpses into the world of Star Wars.
Similarly, the voice-acting is just absolutely fabulous, with even quest givers being fully voiced. I really can’t stress enough how awesome that part is, especially if you’ve spent most of your life playing MMOs like WoW where you have to read all the instructions like some peasant. I should also mention that the audio is similarly excellent and both together really immerse you in Star Wars and make you feel as if you’re really there.
As I mentioned above, while the game is free to play, there are a few DLC that you have to purchase, and I say have to because some of the best story content is locked away behind them. In particular, Fallen Empire is really great, so if you’re planning to put down some dosh on SWTOR, this is the DLC to go for.
Without going into too much detail, I will say that it feels a lot like an old school Knights of the Old Republic game, both of which I absolutely loved (and wished they had worked on instead).
Regardless of how you felt about SWTOR when it first came out, it’s certainly a great time to get back into it, since it’s no longer suffering from an existential crisis. Not to mention that the last few Star Wars games and films have been middling at best, it’s nice to have a decent Star Wars game to play, easily one of the best in the franchise. Just try not to fall too deep down the dark side rabbit hole.
#4 The Elder Scrolls Online
Release Date: April 4, 2014
Payment Model: Buy-to-play with DLC and optional subscription
There’s actually quite a bit of similarity between SWTOR and Elder Scrolls Online (ESO). For one, both of these games had a pretty rough start when they first launched, with ESO getting some mixed and even negative reviews when it first came out. Thankfully, ESO, just like SWTOR, actually managed to find its footing and really come out swinging in the past few years.
ESO is set 1,000 years before Skyrim and about 800 years before Morrowing and Oblivion, so you get a really great look at the history and lore of the world. One of the big strengths of ESO is its storytelling and narrative, but unlike SWTOR where the story revolves around the classes, in ES: O they take the form of several contained DLC that you can buy (or get access to with their subscription).
These packaged DLCs contain a bunch of great story and narrative, and since they’re not necessarily integrated into the world at large, you can purchase them and play them whenever. As you might expect for a game like this, there’s absolutely tons and tons of stuff to do, from a variety of dungeons, raiding and crafting, you can probably easily spend 50 hours alone on quests, and that’s if you do them as fast as you can.
For those who like to take their games slower and explore everything, you could quickly get hundreds of hours out of ESO without much worry. Luckily for you, there’s also a homestead you can get access to, so there’s always somewhere for you to go and get off your weary feet.
So the question becomes; is it a great time to get into ESO in 2019? Well, the answer is a big yes, mostly because Zenimax (the developer of ESO) has coined 2019 as ‘the year of the dragon’ where we’ll see three new DLC and a story chapter that are tied together, something which is unique for this year.
The most recent expansion pack to that end is Elsweyr, which if you’re a fan of Elder Scrolls, you’ll know that we haven’t had access to in ages, so it’s pretty cool to revisit it. As the name might suggest, this expansion pack focuses a lot of dragons, as will the upcoming two expansions, so it’s going to be a pretty exciting time to be playing ESO.
While all of that is great, I probably should mention that the PvP is somewhat lackluster, suffering from a bit of a balancing issue. Also, there’s a little bit of lag associated with PvP, especially if you get into populated servers where there can be a considerable lapse of time before hitting a button and an action being taken. That being said, Zenimax is dedicated to fixing these issues, so you shouldn’t worry too much.
Whichever way you cut it though, it’s a great time to check out ESO. Oh, and if you’d like to catch up on the lore, you should check out the in-depth Elder Scrolls timeline.
#5 Guild Wars 2
Release Date: August 28. 2012
Payment Model: Free to play with paid expansions
Guild Wars has always been the rebel child of the MMO family. Not interested in taking on WoW like SWTOR and ESO, or even being a massive expanse like Eve Online, instead, Guild Wars is only interested in doing things differently and in innovative ways. Guild Wars 2 continues this ethos, asking some pretty interesting questions about what MMOs should be, and maybe showing us what MMOs could be.
What really makes Guild Wars 2 stand out is its combat system, which isn’t your typical ‘stand around and spam attacks.’ Instead, you actually have to move around to avoid attacks from mobs and enemies, and you also have to aim your own attacks to an extent. This means you can actually have a fighting chance even when you aren’t running a tank build.
Similarly fresh and innovate is the questing system, which revolves around local play with other rather than at an individual level. This means that as long as you are within the area of the question, you can take part in its completion, without having to find a team or just solo it necessarily.
The same goes for mini-boss battles, significant NPCs that require a large group of people to defeat, but instead of needing to find a huge party of people to go and kill it, you can just join an on-going fight and reap the rewards (according to your contribution).
Also, a big part of what makes Guild Wars is the pretty great PvP that goes on. While there are deathmatch and skill modes, it all culminates in the world vs. world mode where it literally pits servers against servers. These are massive fights involving hundreds of people, locations to siege, and just overall remarkable fantasy fulfillment (at least if you’re into big battles of this kind).
The best part is that the game is actually pretty cheap to play, since the base version, which used to require a purchase, has now gone entirely free to play. There’s also no subscription model, but instead, you can purchase expansion packs that have been released in the last few years. The most current one is Path of Fire, where you have to kill a god of war (not Kratos thankfully) before he brings the whole world to ruin.
All in all, Guild Wars 2 is an incredibly fun game that’s pretty cheap and low maintenance, without requiring having to find massive guilds to enjoy the content. It’s also pretty fresh and innovative, so if you’ve been playing WoW, SWTOR or even Eve online and want something a little different, you should give Guild Wars 2 a shot.
#6 Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Payment Model: Subscription with paid expansions
In what seems to be a running theme, Final Fantasy XIV had a really rocky start when it came out, much more so than any other games on this list. It was so bad that Square Enix basically scrapped the whole thing, got a new team in and rebuilt the game from the ground up. That’s why it’s called ‘A Realm Reborn,’ it’s literally a game that was reborn from its former ashes.
Oh, and it did an excellent job on that rebirth part, with it being one of the best MMOs out there to play these days, especially as an alternative to WoW.
Of course, aside from the massively big boss fights that you might be familiar with from Final Fantasy games, there’s a ton of PvE content. 4-player missions, 8-player raids, and even 24-player alliance raids all with their own unique stories and bosses to play against. Bosses and dungeons are also broken up depending on what you want to go for: more experience or better gear.
Both of these are important, but interestingly enough, Final Fantasy XIV approaches the class system differently than other MMOs. While you have a ridiculous 12 different classes to choose from, you can actually switch out classes on the fly whenever you want.
There’s no need to make an alt if you’d like to try out a tank or go for a healer, instead you just basically switch the weapon set, and that’s it. That basically means that you don’t level your character as much as you level your class (known as jobs).
Unfortunately, while the PvE of the game is excellent, the PvP is a little lackluster, and inherently suffers from not having too many people playing, except in the main windows of play. So, if you’re looking for a game that has some great PvP to go along with the PvE, Final Fantasy XIV isn’t it. That being said, the PvP is still enjoyable when you get into it, so if your primary focus is PvE, then this shouldn’t be a dealbreaker for you.
Speaking of a great story and PvE content, the latest expansion, Shadowbringers, was pretty well received and had an absolute ton of content. While I don’t want to get into any spoilers, I will say that you are transported to another place that’s suffering from too much light, and you are tasked with bringing things back to order.
The expansion also raises the level cap to 80, adds a bunch of new quests and dungeons, new zones, two new jobs (for a total of 12) and is just all-around awesome.
The only other real downside is that the game is both subscription-based and with paid expansions, which quite honestly is a little bit egregious in my opinion. Still, if you’re a big Final Fantasy fan, you’ll probably find the price worth it, especially with all the nods to the other games in the franchise.
#7 Tera
Release Date: January 25, 2011
Payment Model: Free-to-play with optional subscriptions and microtransactions
Even though Tera has been around for a while, it provides an interesting experience as an alternative to the western RPGs you’re probably used to. Probably the main thing that makes Tera stand out is its combat system, which is somewhat similar to GW2.
Attacks need to be aimed, and you do actually have to dodge out of the way and move around the area to avoid getting hit. Abilities are used through a mana system, which applies to all classes, but what’s interesting is that there’s a combo system that’s easy to activate, and customizable, allowing you to string a set of abilities. So it’s quite a departure from traditional western RPGs.
Moving on to PvE, there is a grand story that pits you against good and evil, but the majority of the PvE content revolves around killing mobs and monsters, dungeons and daily quests called “Vanguards.” Tera does want you to rush you through the majority of PvE content to get you to the end-game content, and given some of the bland side-quests and the massive amounts of distance you need to cover, that certainly makes sense.
That being said, the overall PvE content is fun, and you can undoubtedly get a ton of pleasure out of it, even if you focus on the main quests and dungeon running. Speaking of end-game, that’s where the majority of the PvP is, which is weird because Tera actually doesn’t have any PvP until you hit the level cap of 65.
Not only that, but the two out of the three modes are actually a bit weird, making you play some mini-games which, even though not direct PvP, are still challenging skill-wise. The third mode, which is a battle arena, does have traditional PvP mode, and when you get to 65, you can take part in open-world PvP.
Finally, since it’s free to play, I do want to say that the majority of the community is pretty cool. Granted, there are the few who are not that nice, to put it lightly, but for the most part, people are pretty helpful.
I’ll also mention that the Microtransactions don’t spoil the game and aren’t pain to win, so it shouldn’t have any effect on that. You can get everything through grinding if you feel like it, so there’s always that, but I wouldn’t rely on it myself. That being said, the subscription is a massive help which offers a ton of convenience and helps with playing, although again, if you play without a subscription, it’s really not that bad.
All in all, Tera is an interesting game and certainly more suited to the western audience than your average eastern RPGs. Yes, there’s not much great content at the start, and you do have to get to the end game for the good stuff, but thankfully the game doesn’t throw up a paywall for you to reach that point.
#8 Neverwinter
Release Date: June 20, 2013
Payment Model: Free-to-play with microtransactions
If you’re a fan of Dungeons & Dragons, then you’re going to love Neverwinter, which is based on the 4th edition of D&D (and has some narrative that explains the gap between it and the 5th edition).
Much like SWTOR, Neverwinter is heavily story-driven, akin to an MMO version of Dragon Age. This means that you have tons of quests where killing something isn’t the main goal, or if it is, it’s explained narratively, and you can even complete some quests without killing anything. There’s even the option of player-created quests, with their own maps, stories, rewards and so forth, all of which is super-interesting.
Combat is similarly great with you being able to move around like you can in GW2 and Tera. There’s also no ability bar like you might see in WoW, but instead, you just use some of the buttons around the WASD keys, so thankfully no weird finger movements and angles. You can similarly move out of the way of specific mob attacks, which is an excellent addition.
All of this is tied together by Neverwinter’s race and class system, with ten different races to pick from, plus an additional 3 for founders, as well as eight different classes. Unlike other games that have complex class trees though, here you get an ability to unlock for your class every 15 levels, with a specialization choice at level 30. There’s also class-specific material gathering, and you do actually get to spend points here and there, but you can only equip so many abilities at a time, so no point in min-maxing.
There are also professions in the game, but rather than it being a skill you have specifically, instead you ‘hire’ different crafter AI to work for you. All you need to do is complete a quest at level 10, have the appropriate materials and an empty profession slot, of which there are 9, so you can craft quite a large variety of things.
Materials can be gained either through class skills or nodes in the world, and you do actually have some level requirements for some professions, as well as having to go and gain specific recipes before they can be used. Finally, while there is PvP, it’s not really the focus of the game, and most of it revolves around a five vs. five player-arena.
As you can see, Neverwinter is all about the PvE and between the dev created quests and the player-created ones, there are literally hundreds of hours of gameplay you can enjoy. Add to that the massive variety of races and classes, as well as a large amount of end-game content (which itself has an end-game), and you get a pretty awesome MMO. Oh, and the best part is that it’s free to play.
#9 Rift
Release Date: March 1, 2011
Payment Model: Free-to-play with optional subscription and paid DLC
I remember when Rift was first announced back in the day, and it sounded incredibly cool. There was this whole narrative that Rift would be the WoW killer (or at least, a super-strong contender) and at the time, there was quite a lot of hype. At its peak, Rift had 1.2 million subscribers, which is quite impressive whichever way you cut it, although it’s only at a small percentage of that nowadays.
Where the majority of the game lies in is its PvE content, and its class system, which was quite innovative at the time. In terms of PvE, the big thing was the eponymous rift; these big portals that opened up in the game world where baddies would come through, and you’d have to defeat.
This essentially worked like area bosses in the same vein as GW2s map bosses, where a bunch of players would get together to defeat a big monster. Some rifts also spawned smaller mobs that would go about the place and make life difficult, while trying to take over a Wardstone, which would allow them to spawn in a bunch more of their kind.
Since there’s so much emphasis on rifts, they gave a ton of great rewards and tokens for closing them up. The developers also patched in particular rift crafting items, which made the whole rift system even more fun and enticing for players. Boss spawns and invaders together made the world feel super dynamic and alive, which was pretty impressive at the time.
Similarly, the class system is pretty impressive, even though there are only four classes to pick from. Where the variety came in was the different ‘souls’ or trees you could specialize in for each one, with nine trees per class. You can pick up to three different souls to have active at a time, so there’s a lot of variety of builds you can go for to fit your playstyle.
Of course, Rift also has its fair share of dungeons and instances, as well as “Instant Adventures,” which were non-instanced missions that you can play. There’s also a PvP system in the form of PvP worlds and Warfronts, which are essentially battlegrounds with different modes, such as deathmatch and capture the flag. Finally, there’s also a home system, where you can buy an instanced area for you to go and kick your fit up if you so wish.
All that being said though, there is a small problem with Rift, which is that it’s not very active these days. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Why put a dead game on a list of best MMOs?”. Well, the answer is simple; for a game that costs absolutely no money, it’s a tremendous amount of fun to play through with minimal grind to complete the PvE content.
This is great if you have a group of friends and want to just have some mindless fun without worrying too much about putting tons of hours into. Also great if you’re getting tired of the massive amount of people on things like WoW or GW2 and would prefer a more peaceful and serene experience where the world has very few players.
Either way, Rift is still a fun game to play, even though it’s a bit empty and the PvP is non-existent. You essentially get seven years worth of content for free, and you don’t need to pay a dime. It’s also very reminiscent of WoW, so it’s an excellent alternative for that too, and much more empty than WoW Classic, so there’s that too.
Conclusion
Good lord, those were a lot of MMOs to cover, with quite a bit of variety and fun to be had. Granted, not all of them are likely to appeal to everybody, but I’m sure you’ll find something in that lot.
Before you do though, you should probably consider getting some gaming gear to go with those MMOs, such as some of the best MMO mice and some of the best gaming keyboards out there. Also, check out some outstanding multiplayer games right now!