Massively OP’s Best of 2016 Awards: Best MMORPG Holiday Event of 2016

Massively Overpowered’s end-of-the-year 2016 awards continue today with our award for the MMORPG with the Best Holiday Event of 2016, which is yet another new award for us this year, and we have readers Agemyth and Mylicia to thank for suggesting it. The award is self-explanatory: It’s meant for the MMORPG with the best holiday-themed event that took place during 2016 specifically, regardless of when the game itself was launched. Don’t forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end!

The Massively OP staff pick for MMORPG with the Best Holiday Event of 2016 is…

Andrew Ross (@dengarsw): World of Warcraft Brewfest. Every year. I don’t even drink, but man, ram racing.

Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog): I’m with Larry — not usually a fan of game holidays, though I usually enjoy the mood of Halloween no matter what. But I want to cast my vote for The Elder Scrolls Online this round — not only did it finally start to roll out holidays this year after a few years without but found solid in-lore reasons to do them. Runner-up to Guild Wars 2; Mad King Thorn will ever be my favorite.

Eliot Lefebvre (@Eliot_Lefebvre, blog): World of Warcraft’s legion invasion. Is a pre-launch event a holiday event? Well, I’m counting it anyway. The worldwide Legion invasion event was the most dynamic thing that Blizzard has done in years, and it succeeded at the enormous goal of giving players something repeatable to do while using the old world and also making it relevant for players of all levels. The only real shame is that the invasions aren’t still going on. It was great fun, and if it started up again I would be jumping right back in. Assuming there were new rewards, anyway. I mined it out the first time around.

Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): The Secret World’s Samhain. TSW is the undisputed king of the Halloween season (in my opinion), with so many great missions and group content coming out every year. This year’s event was so-so, but at least you could replay classics like The Broadcast.

Larry Everett (@Shaddoe, blog): I’ve been annoyed with holiday events since Star Wars Galaxies. Yes, I’m a Scrooge. Bah, humbug.

MJ Guthrie (@MJ_Guthrie, blog): The best, most anticipated holiday event for me is Samhain in The Secret World, every single year. The 2106 event may not have lived up to all my hopes and dreams, but it was still a good event. And quite unique. Add the fact you could participate in all the previous years’ events (which are the best in the industry) and it is the best festival ever. I would give EverQuest II’s Frostfell the runner up award; it adds new content and new goodies every year. And free daily gifts! Gotta love free gifts. I think that is the one holiday event that pulls back the most players.

Tina Lauro Pollock (@purpletinabeans): I’m returning to Guild Wars 2 for this answer: ArenaNet generally gets into the festive spirit with some fantastic seasonal content for every holiday going, but I particularly enjoy Wintersday! This will kick off this year on Dec 13 and I’m writing this before it commences, but I’m sure I’ll have as much fun as ever again this year. Toymaker Tixx makes the holiday feel super charming and I love seeing all those developer tags in my map each time a holiday event launches. All the seasonal shticks are met for Wintersday, so it ticks all the warm and fuzzy boxes for me.

The Secret World won our award for MMORPG with the Best Holiday Event of 2016. What’s your pick?

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