By the time you’re reading this article, Black Desert’s Land of the Morning Light Seoul has officially launched on PC, and it marks an important moment: All five of the “big five” MMORPGs available in the west have dropped expansions this year – really, it’s just in the last four months. Elder Scrolls Online got Gold Road. Final Fantasy XIV got Dawntrail. Guild Wars 2 got Janthir Wilds. World of Warcraft got The War Within. And now, Black Desert ‘s LATMLS makes the quintet. And that’s without dipping into the second big five!
Granted, ESO and BDO often get annual expansions. But while it’s coincidence that Dawntrail happened to roll out this year, GW2 is new to the annual cadence, and WoW has stepped up its game considerably. No matter what, we’re going to start having a lot more competition in the “best expansion” category come awards time.
For this week’s Massively Overthinking, I want to take the temperature of our staff and commenters as of September. Which expansions do you think are in the running for expansion of the year? Do you prefer having a crowded field like this to a year when we kinda just get one big obvious winner? And what about the MMOs that aren’t the big five – which other expansions should we be considering for top honors?
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog): I always want a crowded field. The more, the merrier. We had some dead years; I want plenty to pick from because it means way more MMORPG players have been catered to.
But let’s be real, the obvious winner is Guild Wars 2’s Janthir Wilds. Even if it didn’t have my heart, the quality of the housing system alone would push it over the top. It didn’t just put in housing; it put in housing that blasts past all the top MMOs and competes with maybe three other housing games in our genre, all tiny (or dead). It’s the only major MMO expansion that came out this year that didn’t just do more of the comfortable same – it actually did something totally new and effectively reset the scale for expected features coming out of AAA MMORPGs. I just can’t say that for Dawntrail and War Within. They are good, but they aren’t gamechangers in 2024. Frankly, The War Within is just playing catch-up to stuff Guild Wars 2 had 12 years ago. I mean, I love that for people who play WoW, no sarcasm. Y’all deserve it. But the bar is way higher now.
Gold Road is stunning too, but it never gets the accolades it deserves. And being a Lord of the Rings Online fan, I’m hoping its fall expansion is a contender, though we haven’t seen enough about it to really know. Dungeons and Dragons’ Myth Drannor will probably be overlooked. No Man’s Sky has cranked out multiple big patches worth consideration. And then there’s New World’s Aeternum. I’m nervous about it: I think the actual update will be good, but how it’s been handled so far? I don’t have high hopes for its reception.
Finally, a hat tip to Pearl Abyss and ArenaNet; unlike most of these games, Black Desert and Guild Wars 2 release quarterly revenue numbers, so we don’t have to rely on nebulous hype feels to know the games are successful and popular..
Carlo Lacsina (@UltraMudkipEX, YouTube, Twitch): Without playing any of them, my instinct goes to War Within. Timing for it is absolutely impeccable; WoW is getting a new storyline just as FFXIV’s story is hitting a lull. Plus it’s on its 20th freaking anniversary and is the perfect time for folks to jump into WoW. Dawntrail ain’t a slouch either, but from an outsider-looking-in, it seems to be more of the same. Dude, we’re getting a delve in WoW. What does Yawntrail have? A job that holds two swords!? As if FFXIV needed more sword classes, amirite. And I’m honestly ready to just see Guild Wars 3 at this point. I’m happy for landspears, but no spear can hurt as much as WoW reminding us that a lot of us started playing MMOs 20 years ago. TLDR: WoW wins for me this year because of great timing and the reminder of time and our inevitable march to the grave.
Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes, blog):Â Of the three that I’ve been able to experience in some manner or another (Janthir, Gold Road, and Dawntrail), I’m going to lean towards Dawntrail. Unsurprisingly I guess.
Decisive or not, the expansion’s story had some great high points and a wonderful series of messages all through the experience, especially considering how the final act had affected me on a very personal level. Also I have to point out that, as of this writing, we’re yet to see what other steps the MSQ for the expansion’s life will take, and the 7.0 storyline has set up quite a bit on the table.
Outside of that, though, the battle content added in the expansion has once again proven that Creative Studio III is peerless in their execution. I will admit that some of the normal story instances were angled perhaps a bit too much toward the harder side of things, but there have been nothing but strong experiences. To say nothing of just how much fun Viper is.
Comparatively, Gold Road told a neat story that really did try and buck the lore trend regarding Daedric Princes a little, and Guild Wars 2’s storytelling has never been its strong suit for me. So it’s an easy call for me.
As for the loaded field? I’m definitely all for it. Ain’t a thing wrong with having lots of competition. I just worry about how our EOTY discussion stuff is going to shake down this year. Pray for Bree, y’all.
Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): It’s The War Within, and it’s not even close. We’ve certainly seen some very fine expansions this past summer, and without any disrespect to them, WoW’s latest offering is clearly the pack leader. It’s a truly well-designed expansion set with an alt- and solo-friendly design, great zones, clear progression, and a very interesting start to a storyline that’s only ramping up from here. It feels solid, well-thought out, and has the community very engaged. There’s more buzz around The War Within than I saw for Dawntrail and Janthir Wilds, especially outside of the immediate game community.
Sam Kash (@thesamkash): I’ve always been partial to Guild Wars 2; it’s the only game of the set I’ve spent time in. So my gut instinct is to lead towards it – so I will. While I haven’t played the expansion yet, it still has the best business model and is the most likely to get me to come back to play. But I am on the outskirts this time around, so what do I know. My favorite MMO of the last year is shutting down, so clearly, not much.
Tyler Edwards (blog):Â I think War Within is the clear winner here. I’ve been pretty critical of WoW’s direction post-Legion, and I was not at all impressed with Dragonflight, but War Within has been really genuinely fun so far. Getting to meaningfully progress my character at endgame with open world events and delves is such a breath of fresh air compared to the usual dungeon and raid grind, and the art, music, and lore are top notch.
General reception among the community seems pretty strongly positive so far as well. Admittedly most WoW expansions do have a bit of a honeymoon phase at the beginning, but I’m cautiously optimistic the momentum is going to continue. This feels like it may be a genuine second (third? fourth?) wind moment for the game.
I’m not playing the other games currently, but I can give my perspective as an outsider.
Janthir Wilds seems solid, and the buzz I’ve heard around it appears positive. The new spear abilities seem fun, and the setting looks pretty. I think it’s a little disappointing the housing is limited to a single zone, but hopefully they expand it later.
I don’t follow Black Desert enough to have any opinion on its expansion.
My perception about Dawntrail is that it has been a bit divisive, or at least not as lauded as the game’s last few expansions. Seems like a small stumble, but a stumble nonetheless.
ESO’s expansions all read like they were designed with Mad Libs to me. Visit [location from previous Elder Scrolls game], face [Daedric Prince], and stop them from [evil plan]. The spellcrafting thing sounded neat, but I heard it was very grindy.
Every week, join the Massively OP staff for Massively Overthinking column, a multi-writer roundtable in which we discuss the MMO industry topics du jour – and then invite you to join the fray in the comments. Overthinking it is literally the whole point. Your turn!
