Generally used to describe MMOs from before World of Warcraft’s launch in 2004, though sometimes shortened to describe just the first few MMOs launched prior to 2000.
classic mmo
RuneScape is planning three expansions in 2017
RuneScape was nominated for our Most Underrated award this year and made it into our top 10 list of healthiest MMOs, and for good...
New Sims Online emulator shifts from open to closed beta following excessive player demand
'Tis the season for emulators! Think back to 2002 MMORPG The Sims Online, what our own Justin Olivetti once called "an interesting failed experiment"...
The Game Archaeologist: Hero’s Journey
Fiction writers know well of Joseph Campbell's identification and outline of the monomyth, or "hero's journey," in many stories. The 12-step process starts with...
Massively OP’s Weirdest MMORPG Stories of 2016: Richard Garriott’s Blood Art
We're counting down Massively OP's weirdest MMORPG stories of 2016!
And the #1 weirdest MMORPG story of 2016 is...
... that time when Richard Garriott sold...
Why and how Warhammer Online failed
It might be hard to remember at this point, but back in 2008 there was a fever-pitch excitement for Mythic's Warhammer Online. The RvR...
Leaderboard: What’s the best classic MMORPG still running?
By design, end-of-the-year awards rollouts usually recognize the new shinies. Seldom do they honor the resilient MMORPGs, the games that solider on for years...
LOTRO Legendarium: A cautious hope for the future
One of the threads that weaves the Lord of the Rings narrative together is that of hope. Holding onto faith in friends, perseverance against...
Anarchy Online rolls out its new item store
After a short delay from its original rollout date of December 20th, the new and improved item store is now live in Anarchy Online....
Jukebox Heroes: MMO music for the holidays
I absolutely adore Christmas music -- in moderation and in season. I keep to strict personal rules not to listen to it before Black...
The Game Archaeologist: Wing Commander Online and Privateer Online
In late 2012, former Wing Commander developer-slash-movie director Chris Roberts emerged from a decade of obscurity to ask for help to fund his vision...
Anarchy Online manufactures the winter holidays
Anarchy Online might be a tad tardy to the holiday party, but it's making an effort. With the game's December 20th patch, the Winter...
Dark Age of Camelot gives players many presents for the Midwinter Festival
Don't worry, folks, Dark Age of Camelot is here with its Midwinter Festival, and it knows about the real spirit of the holidays: Getting...
Don’t miss The Game Archaeologist’s histories of Asheron’s Call
The impending loss of Asheron's Call -- and Asheron's Call 2 again -- hit the MMORPG community pretty hard when the sunsets were announced...
Exclusive: Indie sandbox El Somni Quas arena design dev diary
Last week, we covered new info about El Somni Quas, an indie sandbox from Czech studio that actually cut its teeth on Ultima Online...
Asheron’s Call and its sequel will sunset as part of the Turbine/Standing Stone split
I'm sorry to report that Turbine announced today that it will be sunsetting Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2 as part of the transition...
Why RuneScape embraces legacy servers
One of the big MMO stories in 2016 was the debate and drama over the demand for certain vanilla servers in popular games. Even...
Ultima Online has combat changes and pet upgrades in the works
Forget Dasher and Blitzen; Ultima Online has a beautiful unicorn called Lasher coming in January as the game's first vanity mount. Worried that it...
RuneScape plans Sliske’s Endgame and Christmas content for December
Remember back in 2013 when RuneScape launched the "Missing, Presumed Death" questline? When Death actually went missing? Yeah, we don't either. 2013 was adorable,...
El Somni Quas is still in development — and here’s the proof
Back in October, MOP posted a rundown of upcoming indie MMOs. Among those listed was El Somni Quas, an Ultima Online-like game that looked...
The Game Archaeologist: A talk with the man behind EQOA’s revival project
This past week we reported on an ongoing attempt by a small group of faithful EverQuest Online Adventure fans to bring back the MMO...
