What was the best year for MMOs?

[Morreion]

Leaderboard: What was the best year for MMOs? (Massively)

Let's take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of the MMO genre's more notable years. Maybe you're partial to 1999, since it gave us Asheron's Call and EverQuest. How about 2001, which introduced Anarchy Online, World War II Online (now known as Battleground: Europe), and Dark Age of Camelot?

Don't forget 2003, which featured the launches of Star Wars: Galaxies, EVE Online, PlanetSide, Shadowbane, and A Tale in the Desert, just to name a few. Oh, OK, we probably shouldn't forget 2004 either, since it brought us World of Warcraft, EverQuest II, and City of Heroes.

My point is, there are plenty of choices when it comes to picking great MMO years. What about the best year in terms of MMO launches, though?

Vote Results:

1999 80 (18.1%)
2001 26 (5.9%)
2003 67 (15.2%)
2004 156 (35.3%)
2112 62 (14.0%)
Other 51 (11.5%)


I voted for 2001, which got the least votes

My reasoning for that year is that was the year I originally played UO, AO, and DAoC- that's the majority of my favorite MMOs right there. Too bad SWG wasn't in that year!

2001 was early in the MMO scene- the Big Three were getting competition, it was all fresh and new, and there were no 'ruts' that the industry was stuck in yet- each game was quite original.

[Laethaka]

2001.

WoW was so clean and fun that first year and everything seemed like it was coming to fruition, but there were lots of bugs and server issues into 2005. The start of Molten Core was too hard, the initial PVP was all Tarren Mill honor zerg or 3 hour Alterac Valley queues, and my Transcendence set helm and shoulders had ugly placeholder graphics for months.

The nostalgia on Asheron's Call lays so thick... but there were no real big events to confirm an MMO community, at least that I could access as a kid playing a couple hours a day. I only ever interacted with 3 other people at once, at most. And AC had horrific technical issues with video drivers and firewalls.

[Regolyth]

2000-2002

I can never narrow it down. Right around there, I was playing a lot of UO, EQ and DAoC.