Ahh…. the sweet sweet smell of gold farmers and monthly subscriptions.  That can only mean one thing!  TOP 5 has gone to the MMOs this week.  I for one feel right at home in this level grinding, loot collecting, mount riding land of the under rested, because I used to play MMO’s exclusively.   So stick close together, and keep all hands and feet in the ride at all times.  I don’t want to lose one of you to a dreaded Pick Up Group. (That’s PUG in awesome MMO speak.  Common.. at least pretend you are keeping up!)

#5: Star Wars Galaxies (SWG)

When SWG first started, it was great.  Since then they have changed the way you play so much that its simply lost all of its charm.  Let’s pretend for a moment that the big change never occurred and we are back to the days when I was running all over Tatooine without a care in the world.  Your character was able to be anything you wanted it to be within the Star Wars lore, but most of it seemed boring, so I went with cantina dancer.  Oddly enough, it was one of my favorite MMO things to do.  Dance one dance, and you heal the room, dance another and you give them a cool power up.  Either way, my Twi’lek shook her ass for everyone, and she was good.

#4: Final Fantasy XI (FFXI)

If you are one of those people with a ton of time on their hands and love some chocobo riding, then perhaps FFXI is for you!  Set in a Final Fantasy setting, your character could be whatever class it wanted and change that class whenever you wanted, so no need for multiple characters.  So that’s what made this MMO so cool.  But what really dug its nails in and didn’t let go was the crafting.  For some reason fish bait was in high demand at the time so my TaruTaru (see picture above for what a TaruTaru looks like) made fishing bait day and night… mostly because that’s how long it too to do anything in that game.  But the settings were beautiful, and the battles took a lot more thought than most MMOs, but what I miss most about FFXI is the crafting.

#3: World of Warcraft (WoW)

I’ll be honest.  WoW was the reason for my departure from MMOs, but I have to give it credit where credit is due, as you can see from MOST MMOs out there WoW was a game changer.  Millions and millions of users will also agree.  I will also go as far as to say that I doubt very many MMOs that will come out in the near future won’t be somewhat of a clone of WoW.  WoW has great locations, quests that run from funny to seriously deep, and if you like to work for hours to get a piece of end game loot, then my friend, you have come to the right place.  I played the hell out of this game.  So much so that I think I overdosed on it!

#2: Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO)

Sure, you can run to the nearest WoW server and have a good time.  But it takes REAL class to go with LotRo instead.  I know what you are thinking.  “Dana, LotRo is a WoW clone.”  Yeah it sort of is, but in my opinion, don’t fix what isn’t broke.  Also, LotRO is WoW if WoW were pleasing to look at.  LotRO is beyond gorgeous.  I’ll go as far to say that it’s the most beautiful MMO going.  It was also unique because the main quest line is that of the actual books.  So you might be part of a group that helps Frodo escape from his foes even if you don’t come in direct contact with the hobbit yourself.  The environments will also change depending on your location of the quest line, which is very cool.  One ring and all that junk.

#1: Ultima Online (UO)

Pardon me for a moment while I wipe a nostalgic tear from my eye.  UO was amazing.  For no other reason than the amazing community.  UO was way ahead of its time in terms of in game content. It still amazes me to this day that you could have an actual house in UO.  WoW doesn’t even have a housing solution.  This house was also visible to others in the land, and you could build your house to look they way you wanted it to, and decorate it with all of your rare goodies.  I started playing UO in 1999, and if you take a look around you at the people on this very site, some names that you see are people I met through UO and who I still consider to be great friends.  That in my option that speaks volumes for the game itself.  It’s still around, but a little bare.  Every so often I’ll pop in to take a peek at what’s new in the lands of Britannia, but it’s just not the same.

(The UO screenshot above is of Redlow and I killing zombies and skeletons at Moonglow’s graveyard.  Oh the memories!)

THE END?  I’m not sure if I will ever get back into an online world like those I have listed above, but the time spent in each of them was unique and full of fun and friends.  Something major would have to come out to get me away from my consoles, but you never know what’s just around the bend.  So tell me, what MMOs did you play?  Any good stories to tell?

Forums – Game of the Weak – Squid Hunter

Question of the Week

Website Update

Past, Present & Future

Past

Rob might be catching a bit of Dana’s app fever

Dana hangs in Middle Earth

Trees remembers where he was 09/09/99

Present

Rob loves games again

Dana is unsure again

Trees does the unthinkable

Future

Rob builds towers to the sky

22,802?!

Trees needs games

Congrats goes out to Sha-Near for being this weeks Forza winner!  Don’t forget to post on the blog all week for a chance to win next week!

Also, be sure to get your entry in for the Halfbrick code giveaway as well.  Keep your eyes open for the post later in the week.

See you next Monday LIVE at 7:00pm EST (we are aware that we promised no more Mondays… but you know how good we are with promises! )