Massively OP’s 2019 Awards: Most Anticipated MMO

December 26, 2019 10:00 AM

Massively Overpowered’s end-of-the-year 2019 awards continue today with our award for Most Anticipated MMO, which was awarded to Torchlight Frontiers last year. This year’s discussion on most anticipated once again generated a sense of frustration among our writers since a lot of the games we’re picking from here year after year are the same – because they still aren’t out. Of course, we do have one or two that are new…

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 Anticipated MMO for 2020 and beyond is…

BOOK OF TRAVELS and TORCHLIGHT FRONTIERS

Andy McAdams: Book of Travels and Torchlight Frontiers are both solid choices here. I had actually said A:IR in my nomination but we’ve not heard much from them. Book of Travels has definitely piqued my interest and I’m hoping they can deliver on such an original concept.

Brianna Royce: My most anticipated MMO is Raph’s game, but it’s a hard sell for anyone not really a long-time fan of his – we don’t even know what it’s called yet. So since I need to put a name on this, for me it’s now Book of Travels, the only game on Kickstarter I backed all year. I was dead serious when I said I wanted to play something weird and unique, something that pushes the boundaries of what MMOs are supposed to be, and it helps that it’s super pretty too. But I have a long list of other games I’m awaiting: AIR, Torchlight Frontiers, Ship of Heroes, Camelot Unchained, Star Citizen, Crowfall, Lost Ark, Pantheon, Zenith, New World, Fractured. And I am paying extra attention to what Elder Scrolls Online and Guild Wars 2 do in 2020. Let’s just get some new good stuff in here please!

Carlo Lacsina: Crimson Desert. My hot take is this game can be what sets the stage for the next decade This game can easily define what the MMORPG will look like for the next 10 years. The 2010s was a decade adjusting to the ramification of WoW’s meteoric rise. The latter half saw the rise of more prominent Korean studios leading the charge, Pearl Abyss being one of them. I can’t help but see this and any game coming of Korea in the next year to be what defines the genre and I especially have my eye on Crimson Desert. To me it represents a new direction Korea’s taking in order to take over the western market and boy am I excited to get conquered! It’s too early to tell what this game’s going to look like, but I know it’ll make a huge splash.

Chris Neal: Book of Travels. The moment I was reading up on this one, I knew I had to help fund it. One of the games that stuck with me was Journey, and this one feels like it hits much of that same overall vibe in that it’s about story and ambience and world and roaming that world. I really really want this one to come together.

Colin Henry: Book of Travels, Torchlight Frontiers. I like the Diablo gameplay style, but I’ve never liked the grimdark atmosphere of Diablo and many of its clones. Torchlight, with its cartoony graphics and more colorful palette, was the game that really got me into the genre. As you might expect, I was a big fan of Marvel Heroes, but when that shut down, there was really nothing like it to turn to. Torchlight Frontiers seems like the first game that has come along that has really come close. From what I’ve played of beta, I don’t think it will be the perfect game or anything, but I’m excited to see how it pans out! Any game that lets me choose between playing as a robot and a railroad engineer is bound to be good.

Eliot Lefebvre: Look, I am still looking forward to Ascent: Infinite Realm. And Phantasy Star Online 2, actually. Why? Because I’m stupid, I guess.

Justin Olivetti: I cannot wait to get my hands on the clicky goodness of Torchlight Frontiers, especially after trying the alpha this past year. It promises to be a great “filler” MMO. But Book of Travels was the game that stole my heart in 2019 with its Kickstarter campaign and wildly different and creative premise. A serene MMO? Sure, I’m up for that!

Mia DeSanzo: I picked Pantheon because that’s what I am personally anticipating. I don’t expect to see it any time soon, though, and Torchlight Frontiers looks so good. Choo choo!

MJ Guthrie: Dual Universe, Star Citizen. I am not ashamed to say I am still watching Star Citizen. It’s not about buying the fanciest ships for me (not like I could), it’s that the game is getting dream elements into the package. But the game I am most anticipating is Dual Universe! This brings back the Landmark-like voxel building with a space sandbox and I am eager to dive into it. I cannot wait until I can finally show y’all what it is about on OPTV.

Samon Kashani: Ashes of Creation. Originally, this game might as well have been nonexistent to me. I more or less had thrown my lot in with Crowfall and I planned on riding that out until it launches. Then AoC Apocalypse drops and I am blown away. The combat was fluid and amazing. The graphics and animations where stunning. I really can’t wait for this one to launch.

Tyler Edwards: My vote went to Amazon’s mysterious Lord of the Rings MMO, but I can’t say I object to the two games that got picked. As with any crowdfunded title, I have severe doubts over whether Book of Travels can live up to its promises, but if it does, it could be something special. And Torchlight Frontiers looks like a solid ARPG. I’d also maybe give a nod to Ascent: Infinite Realm, even if it has been awfully quiet lately.

Book of Travels and Torchlight Frontiers tied to win our award for Most Anticipated MMO for 2020 and beyond. What’s your pick?

Reader poll: What's your most anticipated MMO of 2020 and beyond?

Book of Travels (2%, 40 Votes)
Torchlight Frontiers (3%, 50 Votes)
Ascent Infinite Realm (AIR) (1%, 17 Votes)
Star Citizen (8%, 132 Votes)
Crimson Desert (2%, 38 Votes)
Phantasy Star Online 2 (2%, 34 Votes)
Ship of Heroes (3%, 48 Votes)
Raph Koster's unnamed MMORPG (2%, 36 Votes)
Pantheon (37%, 609 Votes)
Crowfall (3%, 57 Votes)
Dual Universe (1%, 13 Votes)
Amazon's LOTR MMO (8%, 139 Votes)
Amazon's New World (7%, 118 Votes)
Lost Ark (2%, 32 Votes)
Camelot Unchained (5%, 83 Votes)
Zenith (0%, 0 Votes)
Ashes of Creation (4%, 62 Votes)
Blue Protocol (1%, 9 Votes)
Corepunk (1%, 14 Votes)
Fractured (0%, 5 Votes)
Chronicles of Elyria (1%, 15 Votes)
Life Beyond (0%, 1 Votes)
Temtem (1%, 15 Votes)
City of Titans (2%, 33 Votes)
Valiance Online (1%, 10 Votes)
Something else (tell us in the comments!) (2%, 26 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,258

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How does MassivelyOP choose the winner?

Our team gathers together over the course of a few weeks to nominate and discuss candidates and ideally settle on a consensus winner. We don’t have a hard vote, but we do include written commentary from every writer who submitted it on time so that you can see where some of us differed, what our secondary picks were, and why we personally nominated what we did (or didn’t). The site’s award goes to the staff selection, but we’ll include both it and the community’s top nomination in our debrief in January.

How does MassivelyOP populate this poll?

Poll options include all games nominated plus other games we thought should and would be in the running.