Massively's best of - Favorite new MMO of 2008
Filed under: Warhammer Online, Mabinogi
The hype-o-meter was off the charts just prior to Warhammer Online's release this year, and when the game finally did come out, gamers found it to be a refreshing change of pace at the same time as being a heck of a lot of fun. Unlike so many other MMOs out there, WAR allows you to get into the meat of the game right from level one if you so choose.
And what is that meat? Player versus Player combat, or Realm versus Realm (RvR) in this case. With the option to join a queue for an instanced scenario battle from anywhere in the game, and open RvR battlefields located in every tier, bloodshed is always just a short step away. The distinction between PvP and RvR is made extremely clear in WAR.
Class balance is not based on 1v1 battles, but rather, group-versus-group combat. The underlying goal of all the factional warfare is to siege keeps and capture territories, which is intended to require the co-operation of larger groups of players, and is reminiscent of Mythic's older and much-loved MMO Dark Age of Camelot. The ultimate glory in WAR is to have the chance to pillage the opposing realm's capital city, loot their dungeons and kill their king – sounds exciting just reading about it, right?
Even if you look past the RvR aspect of the game, WAR still brings a lot to the table: Public Quests, which give players a new way of coming together to accomplish PvE goals; the production values and the way the world of Warhammer is brought to life; the Tome of Knowledge, which provides little incentives to achieve things in all areas of the game, and offers detailed lore.
Troubled, perhaps. Flawed, for sure. But with a team dedicated to improvements and a fantastic new spin on the fantasy standard, everything comes together amazingly well in Warhammer Online. It's no wonder at all that it is our favorite new game of 2008.
Runner-Up: Mabinogi (writeup by Tateru Nino)
For those of you that like just a little less darkness, noir, grime and greenskins in your MMOG fare, there's Nexon's Mabinogi. It's homey, cel-shaded graphics and manga artistic stylings have a lot to recommend it as a change on the eyes, without tearing down the rather overdone anime styles of (say) Lineage II.
Conversations with NPCs are more involved than your usual MMO fare (rather like our primary pick, Warhammer), with a keyword system that allows you to quiz various NPCs about various topics -- once you've become aware of it yourself. NPCs respond to your conversational sallies and may like or dislike you as a result, which has an effect on your dealings with them in other ways.
Crafting is rather more involved than the usual sort of "have all the stuff in inventory, then press the button", and crafting attempts may be less than successful, depending on your skills. The skill system is particularly rich and likely to be one of the most unusual features of the game.
Skills must be acquired at entry-levels and then improved by both successes and failures (each skill provides a list of the things that contribute to its advancement). Skills can be advanced without completing every single advancement requirement, but there's a healthy experience bonus if you do meet them all.
Nexon's Mabinogi combines a lot of traditional mechanics with some rather offbeat and novel systems, and wraps it up in an almost soothing and pleasant package. If it weren't for all the darn gold-farmers spamming and getting in the way, and some awkwardness with the interface, we'd recommend it wholeheartedly. As it is, it's well worth checking out as our runner-up for favorite new MMO of 2008.
For those of you that like just a little less darkness, noir, grime and greenskins in your MMOG fare, there's Nexon's Mabinogi. It's homey, cel-shaded graphics and manga artistic stylings have a lot to recommend it as a change on the eyes, without tearing down the rather overdone anime styles of (say) Lineage II.
Conversations with NPCs are more involved than your usual MMO fare (rather like our primary pick, Warhammer), with a keyword system that allows you to quiz various NPCs about various topics -- once you've become aware of it yourself. NPCs respond to your conversational sallies and may like or dislike you as a result, which has an effect on your dealings with them in other ways.
Crafting is rather more involved than the usual sort of "have all the stuff in inventory, then press the button", and crafting attempts may be less than successful, depending on your skills. The skill system is particularly rich and likely to be one of the most unusual features of the game.
Skills must be acquired at entry-levels and then improved by both successes and failures (each skill provides a list of the things that contribute to its advancement). Skills can be advanced without completing every single advancement requirement, but there's a healthy experience bonus if you do meet them all.
Nexon's Mabinogi combines a lot of traditional mechanics with some rather offbeat and novel systems, and wraps it up in an almost soothing and pleasant package. If it weren't for all the darn gold-farmers spamming and getting in the way, and some awkwardness with the interface, we'd recommend it wholeheartedly. As it is, it's well worth checking out as our runner-up for favorite new MMO of 2008.
_thumbnail.jpg "Aion Beta: Asmodian Ascension Quest")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mr Angry said on 4:13PM 12-16-2008
This promotional piece was bought to you in conjunction with Mythic Entertainment.
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riavan said on 6:04PM 12-16-2008
It's for the best new MMO this year.
I don't think anything even came close to Warhammer.
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Morgaroth said on 7:38PM 12-16-2008
I bought and played Warhammer for a month when it came out, I decided not to renew my subscription just to take a break off of MMO's in general. I just recently started back up again last week, buying WOTLK and renewing WAR. I'm having a blast with both really, and I don't think there's any doubt WAR was the best MMO of this year. It's a lot more polished now then at release, and finally my Magus can dish out some damage.
I haven't played AOC since it launched, so I'm not sure how much better it is now.
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MightyIdle said on 9:12PM 12-16-2008
AoC is much better now. The bugs are largely gone. The only thing lacking is population. I think it'd be a blast if more folks played. Hopefully, they'll continue to improve and people will come back. The game is still fun, especially without the bugs, and the combat system is the best out there in my opinion.
WAR continues to be a lot of fun. oRvR is wide open right now, public quests are active, and scenarios are still smoking. With the solid base they've built, they'll be around for a long time with some really great content.
I'm looking forward to Darkfall and I'd sure like to try LotRO at some point. Hell, I'd even like to give Eve another shot. There are so many good choices now, it's tough to decide where to spend my money. I'll probably cancel AoC when Darkfall releases and give it a shot. I can't justify more than two monthlies at a time. 8)
I'll probably stay away from WoW on a permanent basis. I don't really care for the community, the PvP is all about personal epeen, and the grind is boring to me. It's not my cup of tea, though it is for many people. It's a great game and I had a lot of fun with it, but seeing what others have to offer spoiled it for me.
Tom-AZ said on 12:34AM 12-17-2008
yeah. I would put the two worst launches at AoC and then Warhammer. What a bunch of retards. yeah, lets make a game where the whole point and only way to get ahead is to play the same sceanario ( Tor Anroc ) 1,000 times with the same players. WOOO
Jack said on 9:07PM 12-16-2008
I had a pretty bad year with MMO. I was suck in the hype of Age of Conan and like many of you got burned pretty bad look like I was one of the lucky ones that run in every single bug in this game.... I even did get a new video card for this crap!!
Later I try out the crap that was already on the market LOTR online was not really my bag I am a PVE player and really hate PVP but I was not able to stand the IP of this game... And there where better LOTR games already on the marketed with a more fast story telling.
Anyway later I try Warhammer online after it was hype up and still hot when I got it things started out like fun I really enjoy my first two weeks but things got worst from there the PQ where not what I think they will be and all the PVE content was kind of laging. Did try do some PVP but fall in the boringness that it look like this game got like a 100 AVs (World of Warcraft BG that is pretty bad and mostly use for grind honor) So I never played this game pass its second month.
Now I am playing World of Warcraft Wotlk after I was almost a year away! Anyway was not able to find a good guild and I think I will hit 80 sometime tonight? Anyway like I already read that I will need to go do PVP to get good gear and worst even arena!! This game will not last pass December for me! Sorry Blizzard but you can put your boring PVP crap in a place the light not hit it!
Anyway at the end of this year I will be without a MMO to play...... And there is noting coming in Jan so far I known.....
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MightyIdle said on 9:18PM 12-16-2008
Liking the IP is a big deal for these things. I'm kind of the opposite of you with LotRO. I love the lore behind it and it keeps me curious about trying it.
I have always enjoyed the IP behind the Conan universe. I think that, and the combat system, are what keeps me coming back to it on occasion. It's a gritty, dark world and, if you've read the original novels, Conan is a force of nature.
I've always enjoyed the WoW universe, as well. I've been disappointed with it during the MMO, though. The whole pitch about both sides being 'good guys' miffs me a bit.
Caledric said on 10:13PM 12-16-2008
I think it is quite funny that it is rated number one... BUT... you cant play any of the end game content because the servers crash.
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Ulgrid said on 7:36AM 12-17-2008
Funny I have no problems on my server which has a moderate population- Sylvania, maybe things are different on the 56 other servers running. I remember in WoW I ended up on the worst server- it happens, at least there are a lot of character transfers going on lately.
MightyIdle said on 8:38AM 12-17-2008
I've seen one server crash right after launch. Since then, there have been no issues.
Tom-AZ said on 12:31AM 12-17-2008
WHAT?
Dude. no one players warhammer anymore. It is *almost* as bad as AoC, except they kept what? a few thousand players left? My entire guild of 410+ quit in the matter of weeks. Sorry, one can only play Tor Anroc so many times before you just quit.
no point to the game aside from endless scenarios.
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MightyIdle said on 8:36AM 12-17-2008
I've asked this before, but are we playing the same game? I"m on Red Eye Mountain, constantly rated as a mid population realm and there are people everywhere and there are a ton of warbands running around doing all kinds of stuff.
fairyfay66 said on 9:21PM 12-18-2008
what awesome game do you play then?
fairyfay66 said on 9:24PM 12-18-2008
thats to tom az. i love war and play it all the time, not many problems at all after i fixed my router.
Adrian said on 4:00AM 12-17-2008
I agree with WAR being the best MMO this year, it's an awesome game and after 3 months the fun increases each day. The patches coming out from Mythic are weekly and include a shed load of updates, fixes and new content!
Well done Mythic.
A
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Harmen said on 5:49AM 12-17-2008
Massively, your coverage of Mabinogi is pretty light, and now you name it suddenly second-best-new-game-of-the-year?
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Tateru Nino said on 6:54AM 12-17-2008
That a vote for more Mabinogi coverage? :)
Harmen said on 7:31AM 12-17-2008
Yeah. More coverage of smaller titles is always nice.
Ulgrid said on 7:24AM 12-17-2008
War starts in T4, everything before is nothing and the war is only starting to brew. Wow have themselves painted into the corner- War will build momentum, mature and develope into the next big game no doubt. But this first year looks like it will be rockier then I expected ;P
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tminus said on 7:53AM 12-17-2008
1.1 patch changed a lot. I find Full oRvR lakes now, I can do PQs, it's not just quests that need a little work here and there, with a crap ton of Scenarios.
I've actually found myself needing to go back and do a little questing now due to my renoun getting(and staying so far ahead) there are always large warbands running around to join. The Past 3 nights I've been able to oRvR take keeps, and manage to do all the lairs in the tier I was in.
I feel bad for some of you guys who left prematurely. Despite an unpolished launch, the game only keeps getting better.
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