Massively OP’s Best of 2016 Awards: Best MMORPG Expansion or Update of 2016

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Bree Royce
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Massively Overpowered’s end-of-the-year 2016 awards continue today with our award for Best MMORPG Expansion or Update of 2016, which was awarded to Guild Wars 2’s Heart of Thorns last year. Like last year, 2016 had many to choose from! Every update and expansion to an MMORPG was eligible, as long as it launched in this calendar year.

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 Best MMORPG Expansion or Update of 2016 is…

WORLD OF WARCRAFT’S LEGION

expansion

Brendan Drain (@nyphur): World of Warcraft: Legion. I’m going to surprise a few people and say World of Warcraft: Legion, if for no other reason than the sheer number of veteran players it managed to pull back in. The overwhelming sentiment following Legion’s release was that it had made the game fun again for a lot of people for the first time in years, and that certainly showed in the sales figures.

Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog): Elder Scrolls Online’s One Tamriel literally makes the game what I wished it was when it launched: more like an Elder Scrolls game, and more like my favorite MMORPGs thanks to content scaling. It’s getting closer to a sandbox patch by patch. My runner-up would be S3E1 of Guild Wars 2’s living story season, which was a blast to play through.

Eliot Lefebvre (@Eliot_Lefebvre, blog): I went back and forth between WoW Legion and One Tamriel, but I ultimately figured that The Elder Scrolls Online got my nod for its improvement. While Legion is far from perfect, it’s much closer to a return to form for Blizzard, and it’s a pack that easily stands up with the better expansions in World of Warcraft’s history. It’s not a massive game-changer, but it’s filled with little changes that do, ultimately, make for a much more pleasant experience than has come before.

Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): World of Warcraft: Legion. With gorgeous zones, a pretty enjoyable (and rewarding) world quest system, artifact weapons, and plenty to see and do, Legion proved worth the wait. Even better, it seems to have kicked off a string of World of Warcraft updates that are coming at a faster pace than we’ve seen in a long time. It’s a good time to be a WoW player.

Larry Everett (@Shaddoe, blog): Legion. I never wanted to play World of Warcraft. I have played it. Sporadically for about a month or so, but with Legion I actually played. And I’m almost ashamed to say that I enjoyed it. Ultimately, WoW isn’t for me, but I really did enjoy my time in Legion. I’m not ashamed to admit it, even if I do have to turn in my hipster beanie because of it.

MJ Guthrie (@MJ_Guthrie, blog): I know that One Tamriel brought much more to Elder Scrolls Online than just the ability to group better and play with friends, but that is precisely why I would give this award to ESO. This one factor is the reason I always left ESO each time I tried to get into it even though things like the world and graphics were worth staying in for.

Tina Lauro Pollock (@purpletinabeans): I’m going for Legion again here: Despite my initial thoughts upon expansion announcement being that Legion would make more of a squeaky pop than a big bang, I still have no evidence that player numbers are dropping off quickly or the expansion is dead in the water. On the contrary, I applaud Blizzard for creating a stellar piece of content that has done much to engage both veteran and new World of Warcraft players. Anecdotally, a surprisingly high number of my MMO-playing friends resubbed and bought the expansion to check out what’s new, and the general levels of investment in my friendship group are the highest they’ve been in years.

WoW Legion won our award for Best MMORPG Expansion or Update of 2016. What’s your pick?

Reader poll: Which MMORPG had the best update or expansion of 2016?

  • World of Warcraft - Legion or patch (36%, 278 Votes)
  • Elder Scrolls Online - One Tamriel or DLC (30%, 230 Votes)
  • Star Wars The Old Republic - KOTET (6%, 43 Votes)
  • Guild Wars 2 - Living Story Season 3 (5%, 37 Votes)
  • EVE Online - Citadel or Ascension (4%, 34 Votes)
  • ArcheAge - Revelation (1%, 9 Votes)
  • RIFT - Starfall Prophecy (2%, 16 Votes)
  • EverQuest II - Kunark Ascending (1%, 8 Votes)
  • Black Desert - Mediah, Valencia (2%, 12 Votes)
  • Path of Exile - Ascendancy or Atlas of Worlds (2%, 19 Votes)
  • Star Trek Online - Agents of Yesterday (3%, 22 Votes)
  • Neverwinter - Storm King's Thunder (0%, 1 Votes)
  • EverQuest - Empires of Kunark (0%, 3 Votes)
  • Trove - Mantle of Power (0%, 1 Votes)
  • Lineage II - Helios (0%, 1 Votes)
  • Destiny - Rise of Iron (1%, 7 Votes)
  • The Crew - Calling All Units (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Aion - Echoes of Eternity (1%, 4 Votes)
  • Nothing (4%, 34 Votes)
  • Something else (let us know in the comments!) (2%, 17 Votes)

Total Voters: 776

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Poll options include all updates and expansions nominated plus several other major entries from 2016.

MOP’s 2016 AWARDS (SO FAR)
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