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It's almost the end of the 12 months, a time for merriment, camaraderie, and cynical analysis of all of the MMO triumphs and tragedies that 2013 offered us.At the moment, Massively's staff honors the best of one of the best (and the worst of the worst) for the year 2013. Each author was permitted a vote in every category with an something-goes nomination course of. No MMO, company, or headline was off the desk, as long because it met the standards. Can WildStar make it to 3 years in a row at the highest of our "most anticipated" pile, or did its delay dampen our enthusiasm? Can SOE repeat its win for finest studio? Which MMO is most likely to flop next 12 months? And just what constituted the biggest MMO screw-up of the last 12 months?Get pleasure from our picks for the best MMOs, expansions, studios, stories, and improvements of 2013... and our most-anticipated for 2014 and past.Finest New MMO of 2013: Last Fantasy XIV: A Realm RebornRunners-up: Tie between Neverwinter and DefianceJasmine: Remaining Fantasy XIV, arms down. This game managed to attain one thing I assumed was not possible: Sq.-Enix took a sport that I considered the worst MMO I've ever played and turned it into one thing that keeps me logging in each chance I get.Eliot: For those who had requested me two weeks in the past, I might have stated Final Fantasy XIV with out reservation. Now don't get me wrong; every thing good about the original model is delivered to the forefront, and every thing unfavourable has both been eliminated or minimized. However the 2.1 replace and the housing fiasco have driven home the concept that we're not out of the woods and that we're just looking at an period of daring new mistakes. If these issues get fastened, then I've excessive hopes for the long run; if not, it's going to be a shocking example of a gorgeous turnaround followed by a shameful crash.Greatest Growth or Replace of 2013: Guild Wars 2's Super Adventure FieldRunners-up: Tie between EVE Online's Odyssey, EVE On-line's Rubicon, and Star Trek On-line'sLegacy of RomulusRichie: Guild Wars 2's Super Adventure Field patch stands out in such a profound manner because many gamers thought it was nothing greater than an April Fools' Joke. The official web site was updated with amazing photographs from an 8-bit world accompanied by a hilarious, cheesy, '80s-model commercial. After i logged into the sport and realized that SAB was really in the game, my jaw hit my desk. There have been three full levels of this 8-bit world complete with secrets and techniques, puzzles, boss battles, original music rating, and custom sound results -- a full platforming journey recreation neatly tucked inside of my MMO.Brendan: I've written a good bit on why I love this 12 months's Odyssey and Rubicon expansions, however Rubicon's personal deployable buildings push it just over the sting. The Mobile Depot has made lengthy-time period exploration a extremely feasible profession by permitting tech three ships to refit anyplace in deep house, and Ghost Sites have added some additional reward for these scouring deep area. The change to warp acceleration has additionally fixed the disparity between small and huge ships and enabled actual hit-and-run model warfare again.Greatest Non-Traditional MMO or Pseudo-MMO of 2013: Path of ExileDifferent nominees: Hearthstone, Dota 2, Cube World, Defiance, MUSHMatt: Path of Exile gets my vote for this one. The parents at Grinding Gear Video games have taken the time-honored motion-RPG system popularized by Diablo and twisted it up into an experience that feels each fresh and familiar. Eschewing conventional classes and development in favor of an virtually inconceivably large ability tree and allowing players to customize their skill loadouts via interchangeable gems are simply two of the distinctive spins Path of Exile brings to the table, and with its variety of leagues and competitions, there's something here for your entire casual-hardcore spectrum.Justin: Hearthstone. If nearly everyone's in beta, does it count? I say it counts. Blizzard's acquired a cash cow hit on its hands, and the mix of World of Warcraft and Magic-lite is solely impressed. Plus, it is fairly fun.Most Underrated MMO of 2013: NeverwinterRunner-up: DefianceLarry: Neverwinter launched with a wide audience and the hopes of being a full-fledged Dungeons and Dragons MMO. However alas, that's not what Cryptic had in thoughts for the game, and gamers did not admire Neverwinter for what it was: a enjoyable sport that you just spend a couple of minutes to a few hours playing to unwind from the day by day stress. Once i revisited the game, I was really stunned at how much enjoyable I had. I do not have to stress about rotations or builds or the standard MMO worries. I simply log in, pound via a few dungeons, then carry on with my day.Tina: I feel a lot of people boxed Neverwinter underneath the "more of the identical" category with out giving it an opportunity. The traditional charm is updated properly by means of the 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons freshness.Jef: Defiance is not setting the world on hearth or something, however I enjoyed my time in it, and i keep it put in in case I want some sci-fi shooter motion with questing and a objective.Most Anticipated for 2014 and Past: EverQuest SubsequentRunner-up: WildStarDifferent nominees: EverQuest Subsequent Landmark, ArcheAge, Future, Pathfinder On-line, TUG, The Elder Scrolls OnlineBrendan: There are some nice MMOs on the horizon, however the one I'm trying forward to essentially the most is EverQuest Subsequent. I'm an absolute sucker for sandboxes, and the concept of a fantasy sandbox with a voxel-based mostly and utterly destructible world has me absolutely excited! The huge financial success of Minecraft has impressed a deluge of voxel-primarily based video games in recent times, but no sport has yet done the function justice. EQ Subsequent guarantees to be as far from those blocky worlds as potential while retaining much of the same sandbox gameplay.Bree: The day I realized Star Wars Galaxies was closing, Smed reassured a teary-eyed me that SOE was engaged on an even greater and higher sandbox. That sandbox turned out to be EverQuest Next. I'm banking on SOE's skill to parlay every part it learned from SWG -- especially the errors -- into EQN. There are other good sandboxes on the horizon, absolutely, but nothing as more likely to thrive as Subsequent.Justin: Revolutionary sandboxes or large fanbase followings aside, I'm rooting for Carbine to tug off a wacky sci-fi themepark in WildStar. I virtually hope it does not launch super-huge so that it will possibly grow from word-of-mouth as a substitute of developer hype.Richie: I'm looking forward to WildStar. Ever since I give up World of Warcraft, part of me has missed having just a few nights each week as scheduled hangouts with my associates. I'm itching to raid again, and it appears as if WildStar could have the very best endgame options of the 2014 MMO crop.Most Likely to "Flop" in 2014: The Elder Scrolls OnlineRunner-up: Dust 514Anatoli: "Flop" is a very loaded term in relation to MMO. I don't assume ESO will make much of a splash. I doubt it will fail as a sport or as a venture, however I predict that a lot of people will decide that it did when it does not set the entire world on fire.Bree: I think ESO will launch just fantastic and gather numerous field and sub fees initially, however lengthy-time period, it's in trouble. MMORPG fans are sick of story-driven single-player themepark MMOs, console fans shall be mystified by subs and a three-manner PvP endgame, and Elder Scrolls fans will wander back to the lore and mods of their solo sandboxes. I am really unsure for whom the game is meant, and i say that as a TES fanatic.Matthew: I am not likely a fan of The Elder Scrolls collection, so possibly I am biased, however I am unable to see the online model having the success of the only-participant installments.MJ: If I have been pressured to hazard a guess, I might say ESO. It feels as if there is a darkish shadow of "can't meet expectations" hanging over it.Greatest Studio in 2013: Sony Online LeisureRunner-up: Trion WorldsHonorable Point out: Tiny SpeckBeau: SOE continues to churn out video games, however the studio does so by itself terms. Love it or hate it, you cannot deny that SOE has accomplished many, many issues that have modified the course of MMOs.Mike: SOE seems like the studio that has the most effective hold on what the market desires. It keeps releasing engaging new content for its existing properties, and EverQuest Subsequent seems like the first fantasy MMO to truly attempt something new since Ultima Online. SOE also has a stable reputation for making massive guarantees and failing to deliver, but I would say it had a very good year. No question all eyes are on EQN in the approaching years.Toli: Glitch's shutdown last yr was downright tragic, however Tiny Speck has made every effort to keep the spirit and group alive, going so far as to release the sport's belongings into the general public area just recently. Minecraft Server Lists That is preposterous, and that i imply that in the best possible method.Largest Story of 2013: The reveal of EverQuest Subsequent and LandmarkRunners-up: Tie between Star Citizen's Kickstarter success and Closing Fantasy XIV's relaunchMJ: EverQuest Subsequent Landmark grabs this one as a result of the game got here literally out of nowhere! There was not a single whisper, hint, leak or anything to recommend there was a second sport on SOE's horizon. On this trade, that is merely unheard of.Tina: EverQuest Subsequent. Everybody simply went nuts, and for good reason!Matthew: EverQuest Next. For the reason that announcement, it appears as if the entire future of the trade is colored by comparisons to our new savior. I'm not going to disagree. I will go out on a limb so far as to say I suspect Blizzard went again to the drawing board on Titan because of EQN.Jef: Star Citizen. You could not want to play it, and also you could also be uninterested in the Chris Roberts hero-worship, but you cannot deny the affect that it's had and continues to have on the way in which games are made.Greatest Disappointment of 2013: Mud 514Other nominees: Defiance, Warhammer's sunset, the Kickstarter craze, Age of Wushu, Neverwinter, uninspired MMO design, conventional subscription models, no EverQuest Subsequent at SOE Reside, the gloom and doom surrounding World of Darkness, and Guild Wars 2's residing story.Jef: Dust 514. I could be beating a lifeless horse here, but console-only plus identical-old-shooter-gameplay equals meh. And CCP hyping the crap out of the EVE On-line connection wasn't particularly smart since there actually isn't one.Mike: This may be a cop-out, however I'm pinning this on the entire MMO genre. The yr was ruled by countless re-treads of acquainted fantasy worlds and lots of uninspired work from developers that ought to actually know better (Trion, I am looking at you). With the line between MMO and non-MMO getting blurrier by the minute, MMO builders have to get their acts collectively in the event that they're hoping to remain aggressive. And so they want cease asking for handouts via Kickstarter.Eliot: Kickstarter. We have had a whole lot of funding drives for games, some profitable, some not, with nearly every single considered one of them promising the same basic gameplay philosophies, none of which has been backed up by precise finished MMOs. No less than one of those studios has gone back to the nicely and asked for extra money from Kickstarter backers, and I do not think about it will be the primary. It's not a trend I am completely satisfied to see, and one which I've already written about at length. There's some nice stuff on Kickstarter, however this year's glut was unpleasant.Largest Blunder of 2013: Subscription models for Elder Scrolls On-line and WildStarOther nominees: Console MMOs, The whole lot ESO does, LucasArts' closure, Blizzard's lore sexism, Star Wars: The Outdated Republic's area fight, FFXIV's launch woes, CCP's World of Darkness layoffs, Guild Wars 2's horrifying PR campaigns, and Diablo III's auction home fiasco.[Replace: We speak more about this award and the rationale behind it in December 26th's Ask Massively.]Eliot: WildStar's enterprise mannequin at the very least appears to be taken from a guide written by somebody with the vaguest knowledge of business trends, but ESO's appears to have been designed with the assumption that each different sport that went free-to-play after launch (also referred to as "pretty much every game that has launched throughout the previous 4 years") was a worse recreation than ESO can be. Can we please cease pretending which you can launch with a subscription now?Mike: I feel, in the long run, placing a subscription payment on The Elder Scrolls Online will transform a pretty bad thought. Bethesda will make piles of money earlier than it is forced to shift to free-to-play, however I am not sure what the value shall be in terms of loyalty to the brand. If fans feel burned or taken benefit of, the Elder Scrolls franchise will suffer. A subscription price primarily says, "You may quit World of Warcraft/EVE Online/Final Fantasy XIV for this," and that is exceptionally bold from a studio that is by no means made an MMO.Tina: I honestly don't see how CCP can keep its commitment to complete World of Darkness while regularly cutting the group. We need to see some solid leads to 2014 to prove in any other case.Largest Innovation or Trend of 2013: The return of sandbox gameplayRunner-up: Defiance's transmedia synergyOther nominees: Oculus Rift, Guild Wars 2's cadence, streaming video games, blurring style strains, actiony MMOs, voxels, and Warhammer's sunset.Toli: I like that traits are swinging again towards a variety of gameplay features this yr. Voxels! Sandboxy things! MINECRAFT SERVERS I turn around and immediately MMOs are launching with housing once more! Holy smokes!Matt: I'm happy to see more studios tapping into the sandbox market. From heavy-hitters like EverQuest Subsequent and Star Citizen to much less-hyped titles like Pathfinder On-line, the sandbox genre is gaining a number of traction.Larry: Defiance was a disappointment as a sport, however as a product it broke the mold. I really enjoyed the tie-in launch of a tv collection with an MMO. I don't think other video games want to copy this model precisely, but I do suppose that tie-ins, crossovers, and multi-media launches add value to a product. And that i additionally consider that outside-the-box considering must be encouraged in MMOs, even when it does ultimately flop.Justin: Oculus Rift: Might VR come again to be an precise future for MMOs? It is a chance, and what teases we're seeing this year have whet my need to attempt it out for real.Shawn: Closing Warhammer On-line. I mean, the game was kinda enjoyable at first, however can we cease with that actual system now? Thanks. (I'm already placing my vote in for 2015's Largest Pattern to be "the end of voxel-based mostly on-line games.")Most Improved in 2013: Remaining Fantasy XIVRunners-up: Tie between Star Wars: The Previous Republic and RuneScape 3Jasmine: Last Fantasy XIV. It improved a lot from 1.0 to 2.0 that it plays like an almost solely completely different sport. I do not assume you may get much more improved than that.Beau: RuneScape 3 brought so much to the older recreation that it really is a special game. It's all the time been dynamic and felt like a dwelling world, but this relaunch made it that a lot better.These are our picks. Howsabout yours?