Welcome one and all to Massively Overpowered’s formal end-of-the-year awards for 2024, our multi-week celebration of the highs and lows of our favorite genre over the last dozen months. Every year, we poll our writers on the best and worst MMOs, stories, studios, and trends and assign awards to the winners. For the last 10 years now, we’ve been splitting our awards into individual posts, the better to explain our nominations and consensus process. We also include unofficial reader’s polls at the end so we can compare our picks with yours. Expect another award every day through (almost) the end of the month, all leading up to our MMORPG of the year.
Our very first award of the season is for the Most Underrated MMO of 2024, which was awarded to New World last year. As is our tradition, all launched and live MMORPGs are eligible for many of these awards, including this one, as long as they accomplished something truly notable in this calendar year. Don’t forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end!
And the MassivelyOP staff pick for the Most Underrated MMO of 2024Â is…
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE
​​Andrew Ross: Orna
Andy McAdams:Â Sky Children of the Light
Brianna Royce: DDO, Black Desert, Albion Online, SWTOR. I am secretly pleased that our genre still has so many incredible hidden gems and underrated titles. And while Dungeons & Dragons Online isn’t an MMO that’s ever been on my personal play list, I know it’s still doing well for itself, and SSG even bolstered it with a new expansion this year. I have no problem giving it the hat-tip in 2024!
Carlo Lacsina: Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis. I played a lot of this in early 2024 because I wanted to have a good foundation for a comparison between this game and Blue Protocol. That didn’t really pan out, did it? I ended up just really enjoying the game. If arcade games were an MMORPG, this would be it. When a PSE burst goes off, the music gets all hype, all these effects are firing all over the place and it’s just fun to kill enemies. It’s also a vibe just hanging out with other players. It’s got a really flexible character creation tool too. The game does have its moments of clunkiness, and it’s part of the reason not many folks will give this game a try. The folks that do stick with the game will find a rewarding game with fun gameplay and plenty of grinding.
Chris Neal:Â Black Desert, DDO. Look guys, there’s a reason MJ keeps playing DDO over and over again. And there’s a reason I come back to it now and again myself as a leisure title. But even beyond that, SSG has been trying to make this creaky old game updated and new, and it has put out an expansion for it. With pirates. Usually that kind of stuff makes waves, but the fact that it didn’t means it should be celebrated in some way. This award is a good way to do just that.
Eliot Lefebvre:Â Star Trek Online, DDO
Justin Olivetti: Star Wars The Old Republic, Dungeons and Dragons Online. The move to Broadsword for SWTOR seems to have invigorated this small team and its community, and we’re starting to see that pay off with more patches and developer enthusiasm. It’s such a huge MMO in scope and features that doesn’t get as much love from the wider community these days, however. And though it’s perpetually overlooked and underestimated, DDO had a solid year with a 64-bit server launch, a new expansion (Myth Drannor), and major monthly giveaways. It’s one of the most unique and interesting MMOs in our corner, that’s for sure!
MJ Guthrie:Â Dungeons and Dragons Online. Having played Dungeons & Dragons Online with my group weekly for a while now, I’ve had the chance to see more of the gem that DDO is. Although there is one dungeons that needs to be burned to the ground for its horrificness, there are so many more that deserve accolades for their design, ingenuity, and fun. They bring surprises and smiles. It’s not a virtual world (which sadly is what drove me away when it launched), but it is true to itself and therein lies its charm. DDO really encapsulates its heritage, giving parties a chance to dungeons dive together and collect loot in singular one shot story blurbs or longer campaign sagas. It doesn’t have to be a daily game to be worthwhile, and I think more would enjoy delving in.
Sam Kash:Â Harry Potter Magic Awakened
Tyler Edwards:Â Aion is usually the first name that comes to mind for me for this category, though I don’t think it’s done anything special to deserve the nod this year specifically.
DDO took our award for Most Underrated MMORPG. What’s your pick?
Loading ...MOP'S 2024 AWARDS (so far :D)
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Best MMO Rogue Server
MassivelyOP’s 2024 Awards: Most Underrated MMORPG
