It’s funny to think that World of Warcraft is over a decade old, because it doesn’t feel like an older MMO, due in no small part to the fact that it keeps reinventing itself from the ground up. You can argue that’s to the game’s detriment (which is definitely true in some aspects), but it does mean that the game feels more recent than its age. No, if you really want to feel like you’re playing an older MMO, you have to go back to titles like Final Fantasy XI, EverQuest, or the venerable Ultima Online.
Of course, all of these titles have a certain amount of baked-in interface oddity, strange game mechanics, slower and more sprawling systems, and so forth. They’ve all got a steep learning curve. But the best of the batch are games that show off why MMOs have changed over the years while still being lots of fun to play as they are now. So let’s have a thought exercise. What’s the best older MMO for players to try out for the first time? If you had a friend asking to try something older, which still-running game would you recommend?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
