Post by Morreion on Dec 24, 2022 9:20:23 GMT -5
MassivelyOP’s 2022 Awards: Best Classic MMO
And the MassivelyOP staff pick for the Best Classic MMO of 2022 is…
MassivelyOP’s 2022 Awards: Best MMO Trend
MassivelyOP’s 2022 Awards: MMO Story of the Year
And the MassivelyOP staff pick for the Best Classic MMO of 2022 is…
LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE
Andy McAdams: Anarchy Online, LOTRO.
Brianna Royce: LOTRO. This one’s a no-brainer nomination for me as it’s the oldest MMO I still actively played as of this year apart from rogue servers, and the reason for that is it’s still being developed like a top-tier MMO, and its 2022 content additions (not to mention its freebie handouts last spring) are genuinely as good as anything in the bigger games this year.
Carlo Lacsina: Guild Wars 1.
Chris Neal: Old School RuneScape, LOTRO. Even if the term “mini-expansion” still raises my eyebrow, I still have to admit that LOTRO feels just as solid and steadfast as it ever has (server lag notwithstanding). It deserves to be lauded as a now elder statesman of our genre.
Colin Henry: LOTRO. This game keeps on putting out great content. Between its business model revamp and the new mini-expansion that includes an alternate tutorial and lowbie experience, this has been a great year to be a LOTRO player.
Eliot Lefebvre: Still spoiling for the maintenance-moded Final Fantasy XI and its monthly updates including new story updates after the team said this is definitely not something they would be doing any longer. Big fan.
Justin Olivetti: Old School RuneScape. I’m still astounded that Old School RuneScape continues to be so popular despite mostly living in the past — but impressed as well. I’ll give an approving nod to LOTRO, Wizard101, and DDO as older games that are still active and pushing out good content.
MJ Guthrie: Star Trek Online not only continues to add content and do fan service by integrating known Star Trek characters in the stories, but the devs keep in touch with the community. STO deserves this one!
Tyler Edwards: Star Trek Online, Aion.
Andy McAdams: Anarchy Online, LOTRO.
Brianna Royce: LOTRO. This one’s a no-brainer nomination for me as it’s the oldest MMO I still actively played as of this year apart from rogue servers, and the reason for that is it’s still being developed like a top-tier MMO, and its 2022 content additions (not to mention its freebie handouts last spring) are genuinely as good as anything in the bigger games this year.
Carlo Lacsina: Guild Wars 1.
Chris Neal: Old School RuneScape, LOTRO. Even if the term “mini-expansion” still raises my eyebrow, I still have to admit that LOTRO feels just as solid and steadfast as it ever has (server lag notwithstanding). It deserves to be lauded as a now elder statesman of our genre.
Colin Henry: LOTRO. This game keeps on putting out great content. Between its business model revamp and the new mini-expansion that includes an alternate tutorial and lowbie experience, this has been a great year to be a LOTRO player.
Eliot Lefebvre: Still spoiling for the maintenance-moded Final Fantasy XI and its monthly updates including new story updates after the team said this is definitely not something they would be doing any longer. Big fan.
Justin Olivetti: Old School RuneScape. I’m still astounded that Old School RuneScape continues to be so popular despite mostly living in the past — but impressed as well. I’ll give an approving nod to LOTRO, Wizard101, and DDO as older games that are still active and pushing out good content.
MJ Guthrie: Star Trek Online not only continues to add content and do fan service by integrating known Star Trek characters in the stories, but the devs keep in touch with the community. STO deserves this one!
Tyler Edwards: Star Trek Online, Aion.
MassivelyOP’s 2022 Awards: Best MMO Trend
And the MassivelyOP staff pick for the Best MMO Trend of 2022 is…
INDUSTRY UNIONIZATION
Andrew Ross: Games industry unionization.
Andy McAdams: Games industry unionization.
Brianna Royce: Games industry unionization. This won last year too, as I recall, but it deserved it much more this year, with three major groups organizing – one just a few weeks ago. Last year, unionization was just simmering; now it’s a flashfire, and this industry desperately needs it to curb abuses. It won’t be perfect – it never is – but it’ll come much closer to a balance of power.
Chris Neal: Multiple Kickstarter games launching, games industry unionization. It’s a crying shame it took this much and this long for this movement to happen, but better late than never. I truly hope this continues to proliferate. The people who make the games we love deserve to be treated with respect, dignity, and fairness.
Eliot Lefebvre: If this year has reminded me of anything? It’s the fact that I need more cats. But the other thing is how intensely important unionization is in every field.
Justin Olivetti: Big launches for older MMOs. In my eyes, the best trend this year was seeing so many older MMOs and their studios crushing it by putting out great new releases. Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons, New World’s Brimstone Sands, Lord of the Rings Online: Before the Shadow, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, FFXIV’s player islands, Wizard101’s guilds, and so many more kept the year exciting and lively as we waited on in-development titles to come to fruition.
MJ Guthrie: Games industry unionization. I’ll follow behind the bandwagon and say the unionization. After the horrible treatment and crunch conditions we keep hearing about, devs need a way to make their jobs more humane. And this trend definitely exploded this past year.
Tyler Edwards: Games industry unionization.
INDUSTRY UNIONIZATION
Andrew Ross: Games industry unionization.
Andy McAdams: Games industry unionization.
Brianna Royce: Games industry unionization. This won last year too, as I recall, but it deserved it much more this year, with three major groups organizing – one just a few weeks ago. Last year, unionization was just simmering; now it’s a flashfire, and this industry desperately needs it to curb abuses. It won’t be perfect – it never is – but it’ll come much closer to a balance of power.
Chris Neal: Multiple Kickstarter games launching, games industry unionization. It’s a crying shame it took this much and this long for this movement to happen, but better late than never. I truly hope this continues to proliferate. The people who make the games we love deserve to be treated with respect, dignity, and fairness.
Eliot Lefebvre: If this year has reminded me of anything? It’s the fact that I need more cats. But the other thing is how intensely important unionization is in every field.
Justin Olivetti: Big launches for older MMOs. In my eyes, the best trend this year was seeing so many older MMOs and their studios crushing it by putting out great new releases. Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons, New World’s Brimstone Sands, Lord of the Rings Online: Before the Shadow, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, FFXIV’s player islands, Wizard101’s guilds, and so many more kept the year exciting and lively as we waited on in-development titles to come to fruition.
MJ Guthrie: Games industry unionization. I’ll follow behind the bandwagon and say the unionization. After the horrible treatment and crunch conditions we keep hearing about, devs need a way to make their jobs more humane. And this trend definitely exploded this past year.
Tyler Edwards: Games industry unionization.
MassivelyOP’s 2022 Awards: MMO Story of the Year
And the MassivelyOP staff pick for the MMO Story of 2022 is…
THE UNWELCOME RISE OF CRYPTO/BLOCKCHAIN/NFT/PAY-TO-EARN IN THE MMO GENRE
Andrew Ross: The NFT/blockchaining push, especially in relation to play-to-earn. It’s extremely concerning, and while I think they’ll flop (more than they have), I do fear one will be successful enough in the coming years that, like lockboxes, we’ll see clones and crackdowns.
Andy McAdams: Blizzard being held accountable.
Brianna Royce: The crypto clownshow. Call it crypto, the blockchain, the metaverse, NFTs, pay-to-earn, whatever: Legitimate gamers do not want any of this, and every time some crappy company buys another failed game to try to turn it into a crypto mill, gamers tell them so. I’m heartened by the response from gamers and devs, but there’s no question that the ongoing deluge of these scams has a huge impact on our genre – and is therefore the story of the year.
Carlo Lacsina: Blizzard pulling out of China.
Chris Neal: The crypto clownshow, Blizzard pulling out of China. These goofballs sure just keep on trying, huh? No matter the fact that they’re either openly evil, openly inept, or openly exploitative, this garbage keeps on surfacing and pulls the ears of execs in the industry. Out, out, damn spot!
Colin Henry: The crypto clownshow.
Eliot Lefebvre: Not functionally transpiring – no, financial tricksters. Not funding this!
Justin Olivetti: New World’s recovery. At the start of 2022, a lot of folks thought New World’s days were numbered. At the end, we’ve seen Amazon pull off an impressive comeback, largely thanks to improving word-of-mouth, the Brimstone Sands release, and the subsequent fresh start servers. Its future is not assured, but neither is its demise any longer.
MJ Guthrie: If you go by bust size, then obviously the winner for biggest story is how Elvira’s cleavage got AQ3D yoinked from all app stores! Completely removed so that no one could get the game for over a day. A thumbnail picture of her in-game avatar caused the ruckus. Yes, cartoon cleavage of the Mistress of the Dark temporarily crippled a game for new users. We knew it could cripple hearts, but this was unexpected. The power of boobs, my friends. Aside from that, the whole crypto clownshow debacle. Ugh, I don’t even want to revisit it for this vote!
Tyler Edwards: Amazon finally beginning to make real inroads in the gaming space with New World’s recovery and Lost Ark’s success. Whatever you think of Amazon becoming a player in the MMO space (and even as a fan of its games I have some mixed feelings), a company of this size establishing itself in our genre is something that we’re going to be feeling the repercussions of for years to come.
THE UNWELCOME RISE OF CRYPTO/BLOCKCHAIN/NFT/PAY-TO-EARN IN THE MMO GENRE
Andrew Ross: The NFT/blockchaining push, especially in relation to play-to-earn. It’s extremely concerning, and while I think they’ll flop (more than they have), I do fear one will be successful enough in the coming years that, like lockboxes, we’ll see clones and crackdowns.
Andy McAdams: Blizzard being held accountable.
Brianna Royce: The crypto clownshow. Call it crypto, the blockchain, the metaverse, NFTs, pay-to-earn, whatever: Legitimate gamers do not want any of this, and every time some crappy company buys another failed game to try to turn it into a crypto mill, gamers tell them so. I’m heartened by the response from gamers and devs, but there’s no question that the ongoing deluge of these scams has a huge impact on our genre – and is therefore the story of the year.
Carlo Lacsina: Blizzard pulling out of China.
Chris Neal: The crypto clownshow, Blizzard pulling out of China. These goofballs sure just keep on trying, huh? No matter the fact that they’re either openly evil, openly inept, or openly exploitative, this garbage keeps on surfacing and pulls the ears of execs in the industry. Out, out, damn spot!
Colin Henry: The crypto clownshow.
Eliot Lefebvre: Not functionally transpiring – no, financial tricksters. Not funding this!
Justin Olivetti: New World’s recovery. At the start of 2022, a lot of folks thought New World’s days were numbered. At the end, we’ve seen Amazon pull off an impressive comeback, largely thanks to improving word-of-mouth, the Brimstone Sands release, and the subsequent fresh start servers. Its future is not assured, but neither is its demise any longer.
MJ Guthrie: If you go by bust size, then obviously the winner for biggest story is how Elvira’s cleavage got AQ3D yoinked from all app stores! Completely removed so that no one could get the game for over a day. A thumbnail picture of her in-game avatar caused the ruckus. Yes, cartoon cleavage of the Mistress of the Dark temporarily crippled a game for new users. We knew it could cripple hearts, but this was unexpected. The power of boobs, my friends. Aside from that, the whole crypto clownshow debacle. Ugh, I don’t even want to revisit it for this vote!
Tyler Edwards: Amazon finally beginning to make real inroads in the gaming space with New World’s recovery and Lost Ark’s success. Whatever you think of Amazon becoming a player in the MMO space (and even as a fan of its games I have some mixed feelings), a company of this size establishing itself in our genre is something that we’re going to be feeling the repercussions of for years to come.
