Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) became a major part of the gaming industry in the 2000s with the launch of games like World of Warcraft, Runescape, and the Final Fantasy series. Some gamers suggest that the golden age of MMO came in the 2010s, with a series of titles that helped define the genre by building different ways to play in a massive online setting. Let’s explore the MMOs that shaped the past decade.

Elder Scrolls Online

Elder Scrolls Online, known as ESO by its followers, set a unique standard for a massively multiplayer online game. Many players love that ESO has a genuine single-player mode that is actually worth playing. The levels and communities are also more immersive, with non-playable characters chatting with you constantly rather than just staring at you, and many of the interactions feel more real than reading through tons of texts to learn more about your current quest.

It doesn’t hurt that ESO offers a massive world where players can spend years playing and still discover something new. The game offers many things to do, from mini-games to creative quests that develop characters and their alliances.

One of the best parts of ESO that players like is how easy it is to just dive in. A gamer new to ESO could spend a few hours or many days playing without feeling like they have to pull themselves away from other games or their busy lives just to get the hang of it.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

For some gamers and science fiction fans, all you have to do is combine a video game with Star Wars names, graphics, and storylines, and the game becomes instantly playable. Star Wars: The Old Republic takes the saga to another level. One of the most interesting parts of The Old Republic is the ability to truly develop a character beyond just focusing on statistics and skills. A gamer who wants to do well at the game has to actually form and maintain relationships with non-playable characters in ways that will impact you in the future. Plus, having more choices about what to do with each NPC just makes the game more interactive.

Gamers also like how the game is voice-acted well, so much so that even learning about side quests becomes a more immersive experience. Players also rave about the ability to create collections of items that work across your characters instead of spending tons of time building a single character.

Let’s not forget about storylines. Coming from the Star Wars movies, an MMO player should have high expectations for the storytelling within The Old Republic, and the game certainly delivers.

Black Desert Online

Black Desert Online offers a bit of a different experience from other MMOs in the sense that one could play it as an action or strategy game. Players can take on a wide range of activities, from developing their city to fighting in a groundbreaking combat system that plays like a refined fighting game instead of offering the rehearsed actions that make some MMOs dull. The only thing that would make Black Desert Online’s battles more intense is the ability to make prop bets on how fights turn out through an online betting resource like BonusFinder, but for now, at least we have this great section on their site.

The character editor is truly one of a kind and worth taking more than a few minutes to decide what you’ll look like in the game. Gamers who like something to look at will also enjoy Black Desert’s stunning landscape visuals and character details.

Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 is at the edge of the decade, but some of its enhancements make it worthy of our list. This role-playing game is one of the most compelling presentations of a title that doesn’t require the time-crushing grind of killing enemies to level up. Instead, much of the game is spent exploring the world and joining dynamically generated events, encouraging players to work together without sitting there fighting through scripted battle after battle.

The fighting style within Guild Wars 2 also offers the unique ability to manually dodge attacks while having a role in aiming your own instead of passively waiting for a predetermined animation. Simple changes like this make games like Guild Wars 2 much more engaging!

Final Fantasy XIV

We can’t go without mentioning Final Fantasy in a list of MMOs. The highly successful series stems from when we were still playing PlayStation and the original Nintendo. Like Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy XIV steadily attracted casual and serious players by easily allowing them to do anything from crafting to raiding and other activities with little understanding of how the game and its controls worked.

Sony’s exceptional history of providing great storylines and outstanding background music is also at play here. Like many other FF games, we could listen to the soundtrack all day!

Conclusion

A handful of titles set the tone for massively multiplayer online games during the 2010s. The game developers behind these titles made them more complex while simultaneously making them more accessible and interactive. The 2010s were a great time to be a gamer!