MMOs: Things to Play Besides World of Warcraft

When it comes to the MMO genre, gamers find themselves in a very love hate relationship with it. Some treat it as a genuine game genre while others will totally shun it away from any form of gaming. Though I think there is a good reason behind this. To quote a friend of mine “People don’t like MMOs because of the monthly fees.” And you know what, that is probably I’d say 70% the reason why people don’t like them, the other 30% being that they don’t want to waste their lives away playing them. To that I say COME ON I know people who put in a good 3 hours a day on regular console games on just casual gaming alone.

Now I am not going to sit here and start preaching to you how great MMOs are, but really they are a great alternative to when you don’t want to play a console game or any type of mainstream game that is out there. And just like other games, you can meet up with friends and play online with them. And unlike before, there are more than your typical fantasy genre types out there. There are sci-fi, shooters, strategy and even sports. So here is couple of my favourite picks when it comes to the MMO genre, and maybe get you interested in the world that is MMOs.

Maple Story

Don't be fooled by the cute characters, boss fights get very epic.

This game is probably one of my favourites. It’s a side scrolling fantasy MMO game that plays like any old school side scrolling game. You start out as a typical novice class and you go around from place to place beating up technicolor creatures to level up and gain items. As you level up you have the option of several character classes. Each of these classes have their own special abilities and powers that are unique to them. And if you stick it out you can unlock the hero classes and really kick some tail. Also don’t be fooled by the cuteness of the enemy designs, the regular monster mobs and boss characters get REALLY nasty as you progress. When it comes to fee, there is no fee, in lieu of this the game has an item shop where you can spend real world money to buy items and make character alterations.

Rumble Fighter

Its like Smash Brothers meets Power Stone but with online play!

I really like this game, it’s a casual MMO fighting game where you can either play in an every man for himself rumble or team style. The rumble mode itself offers various modes to make the fights more interesting like Last Man Standing or King of the Hill. There is even a mission mode where you go all Streets of Rage style and fight enemies and bug bosses. When it comes to character creation you have premade character types that are based on the ability to use different scrolls that determine their fighting styles. The styles themselves include Karate, Ninjutsu and Tae Kwon Do. The unique thing to this game is the “ExoCore” system that allows your character to transform physically and allows them to become stronger and use unique special attacks. The ability to customize your characters is available through the items you purchase that can boost up your stats to give you the edge over your opponents, and like Maple Story it’s free and has an item shop system. Like I said, it’s a pretty casual fighting genre game, don’t expect anything HUGE from playing it for long amounts of time, but it’s a good game to play when you just wanna kick back and play something casual and light.

Dungeons and Dragons Online

Ok seriously, if you don't get the joke here you are not a sci-fi nerd.

This is a game that Bacondog has been playing so I figured I’d give it a chance also. I must admit, it is pretty fun. It is a free to play MMORPG based on the famous tabletop RPG game. The character customization is amazing and vast with tons of races and job classes to pick from. You can either run the game solo or you can work in groups to explore dungeons and fight the many iconic monsters from the D&D series. The thing that really separates this game from other fantasy MMOs is that it incorporates a lot of puzzle solving elements which you encounter in the dungeons you explore. The game has just recently released an expansion pack that is also free to download. Out of the many fantasy MMOs, I can say this game is the best WoW alternative. And the best thing about besides being free, are its low end graphics which allow almost any computer and run it.

As I said before, I am not preaching to you guys and pushing up my thick rimmed black glasses and saying you should stop flaming and trolling people who play MMOs and shunning them away from the gaming society, but really give MMOs a chance. Don’t frickin’ knock them if you haven’t really sat down and tried them. MMOs are just as much a part of gaming culture as any other games that are out there. Sure PC gaming is a completely different animal than console gaming, but guess what it is still gaming. Give it a chance, and if you don’t like it move on to something else.