5 Forgotten MMOs That Deserved More Love

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The massively multiplayer online game (MMO) world has been ruled by a handful of titles for years. Games like EverQuest, Final Fantasy XIV, and especially World of Warcraft have consistently been the most popular. Many other developers have attempted to compete for players, hoping to capture a share of the large and profitable MMO market. However, most of these attempts haven’t been successful. Despite their eventual closure, these less popular MMOs still offered enjoyable experiences for those who played them.

Here are five MMOs that deserved more love.

5) Tabula Rasa

Back in 2007, the team at Destination Games attempted something different with their online game, Tabula Rasa. Most popular games at the time, like World of Warcraft, followed a similar style of play, and it had been very successful. But Tabula Rasa aimed to be unique, so they incorporated action-based, real-time shooting into the gameplay.

Let’s be clear: Tabula Rasa wasn’t a fast-paced shooting game like Halo or Call of Duty. It still used dice rolls to determine character stats, giving it a role-playing game element. However, Tabula Rasa showed that massively multiplayer online games could offer a lot more variety than what Blizzard was doing with World of Warcraft at the time. Sadly, the game didn’t last very long, partly because its creator, Richard Garriott, left the development studio and filed a lawsuit against the company.

4) Asheron’s Call

Released around five years before World of Warcraft, Asheron’s Call was actually the third big massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMO) to become popular, after Ultima Online and EverQuest. While it might seem a bit outdated now, the game ran until 2016 when its servers were shut down.

Man, when Asheron’s Call was still running, it was seriously awesome if you loved getting lost in a huge world and really digging into a long, rewarding story. I mean, the world was massive – 500 square miles! – and you could walk everywhere without a single loading screen. It was incredible, especially considering it came out way back in the last century.

3) Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Launched in 2008, WAR quickly became popular, attracting over 800,000 players at its height and selling more than a million copies. It used a unique system, originally created for Dark Age of Camelot, where players fought in large-scale battles between opposing realms. This made Warhammer Online the preferred choice for players who enjoyed player-versus-player combat.

While players hoping for a deep storyline and expansive world were a little disappointed, WAR still offered something unique in the massively multiplayer online game landscape. The official servers ran until 2013, but a dedicated fan community quickly launched a private server that’s still running today, allowing players to revisit the game’s excellent player-versus-player battles.

2) WildStar

WildStar is an MMO published by NCSoft, and it’s not the only one of their games on this list. Developed by Carbine Studios, WildStar stood out from other MMOs because of its emphasis on dynamic movement. Players could jump, sprint, and dash around a large, open world, and the developers provided a lot of interesting ways to use these abilities.

While fighting was central to the game, WildStar also included different races and challenging platforming sections, offering players a lot to do. A key feature was the way attacks worked – players had to carefully aim their abilities, because attacks that weren’t precisely timed and directed didn’t do much damage.

Carbine Studios added features players wanted that were missing in popular games like World of Warcraft, such as the ability to own and customize personal housing. These homes offered benefits like faster access to challenging raids and dedicated resource gathering areas. While the game was full of innovative ideas, it ultimately closed in 2018. The developers had hoped switching to a free-to-play system would attract more players, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep it going.

1) City of Heroes

As I mentioned earlier, WildStar isn’t the only NCSoft game on this list. City of Heroes was another successful MMO developed by the studio in partnership with Cryptic Studios. It was a standout title that uniquely combined the superhero theme with a remarkably detailed character customization system, allowing players to create truly unique heroes.

For years, the game received consistent updates and new content, including a major expansion focused on the villain. Beyond the game itself, the world expanded into other media like novels, comic books, and a collectible card game. There were even discussions about making a movie, with the producer of the original Transformers film involved.

Even though City of Heroes was popular, NCSoft closed it down in 2012. At that time, another team called Paragon Studios was maintaining the game, and the shutdown included both the studio and the game servers. Luckily, fans weren’t ready to give up! They managed to keep the game alive, and in 2024, NCSoft officially supported their efforts by recognizing Homecoming as an official server. You can still play City of Heroes on Homecoming today.

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2025-12-26 01:12