It can be hard to judge what quite constitutes an underappreciated MMORPG in any given context. It’s easy to say that you feel like your favorite game is underappreciated, but if that game is one of the Big Five, I think it’s probably plenty appreciated. EverQuest is not underappreciated. But there are a lot of MMORPGs that are big enough to have made an impact, to have a footprint, to even be beloved… but not to ever quite break into the A-tier. And I don’t mean cult classics like The Secret World or Star Wars Galaxies, either.
Maybe it’s an obscure imported grinding game that had fun aesthetics or mechanics that you liked. Maybe it’s a reasonably well-known title that wasn’t sandbox enough to get that crowd but still a lot of fun to play that way. Maybe you want to tell everyone about this game called Ryzom. Whatever title it might be, what’s your favorite underappreciated MMORPG?