It’s not quite over yet, but 2011 was not a banner year for the MMOG genre. There was no massive success, no breakaway hit. Players did receive their handful of expansions and new content patches, but with the exception of the just-released Star Wars: The Old Republic – a title which may become that massive success – most events were a blip on the radar.

Perhaps 2011 will be remembered not for its lack of breathtaking releases in the genre. No, no, the Year of the Rabbit may go down in history for a paradigm shift in the genre itself. Yeah, you guessed it, a continued aggressive shift to the free-to-play model.

What started with a last-ditch effort by Turbine Entertainment to save Dungeons & Dragons Online has continued to spread through the industry like wildfire. From dieing titles to titles that would have surely been paid-to-play years ago to upcoming AAA games, escapisms from every subgenre, every part of the world and catering to every type of game were released, entered beta or teased during the year. It’s getting to the point that drawing the line between what is an MMOG and what isn’t is becoming increasingly difficult.

Below you’ll find the titles that have us here at LoreHound.com the most excited. There’s a little bit of everything, AAA to F2P, MMORTS to MMORPG, casual to hardcore. An exhaustive list of expansions, content patches and releases? No, but the post is choke full of excitement, previews and information.

We’ll kick it off with the prediction for Star Wars: The Old Republic’s seemingly bright future. More after the cut.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: BioWare has definitely set themselves on the right track with this game, going full blown into production. They have stated that they have a years worth of content already in back log before launch, giving them a year’s head start worth of content as they still work on more to come. Add to the fire the fact they’ve watched every MMO that was released in 2011, and took notes, along with everything the head megabeast, World of Warcraft, has done for the last 5 years. The game is only just over a week old (officially), and besides the hiccups with a launch of any new game, the game is going pretty solid with 1 million subscriptions already created on December 22nd (before people who got it for Christmas could subscribe).

Is the game perfect right now? No. Give it a few months, and all the kinks will be found and ironed out, with some new content. Yes, yes, that statement could be recycled for almost every MMOG release in modern history. That doesn’t make it any less true. The fully voiced story gives a very cinematic feel. Check out the Lore Cast Episode 5 in the coming days to hear how Mordil, Beararms, and perhaps a few others are feeling about the game.

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This review of the World of Warcraft: Wolfheart novel by Richard A. Knaak is of the spoiler-free variety.

The latest novel for Warcraft’s Expanded Universe sits firmly in the current timeline of the game, as most recent novels have. Readers are placed in a small window after the Cataclysm and the events of Lord of His Pack, but before the official induction of the worgen to the Alliance. This is notable because the author, Richard A. Knaak, tends to write in his own timeline. Nearly all of his work has been set in the game’s past, including a handful of plots that few living beings would have intimate knowledge of. Knaak’s other common trait is the inclusion of “his” characters, Tyrande Whisperwing and Malfurion Stormrage. Both of these characters play an integral role to the dual plot.

Yes, a dual plot. Interested?

Knaak weaves two distinct threads throughout Wolfheart. Not so shockingly, one tale features the struggles of the Alliance, while the other showcases the audacity of the reinvigorated Horde. Making this novel fully capable of playing a fantastic Benedict Arnold (overall, more Alliance focused).

Hit the cut to find out how the novel comes together and if Knaak has finally won over one of the Lore Hounds. Continue Reading

BlizzCon 2011 was the sixth Blizzard-based convention ever. Despite the condensed celebration of all things WoW, StarCraft and Diablo being so young, tradition has already settled in. Opening monologues, tournaments, Jay Mohr, and fan contests are all expected staples. Three years ago, another tradition began, the Live Raid.

The introduction of the Live Raid panel came about like an indie project. It was small, cheaply produced and barely advertised. And it was a massive hit. The unexpected masses didn’t know what to make of Hogger decimating a professional guild, but we wanted more. A lot more.

Blizzard, and the chosen combatants, have delivered.

In a scant few years, the panel has gone from a hodgepodge of modified encounters to an all-out specially designed realm. BlizzCon 2011 is the first time that Blizzard has dedicated a significant amount of resources to the event. This year’s extravagance featured a custom Firelands raid, sans the trash. The goal: Defeat Ragnaros and all his minions as fast as humanly possible.

Yet, the goal was not designed for one group of pro-gamers, but two. And let’s not forget the defining factor of the foot race: Alliance versus. Horde. For the alliance was Vodka, with Blood Legion representing the horde.

The added dynamic forced leaders to think outside the box. To create new patterns of attack, ignore or sidestep encounter mechanics, to be on the bleeding edge of pass/fail.

Not all of the decisions were good ones.

Be sure to check the entire run by hitting the jump below. In total, it push four videos topping out at about 50 minutes of quality footage. I won’t spoil it for you, but there’s a nice surprise for whichever guild doesn’t down Ragnaros first.

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Holy crap, Metzen isn’t wearing sunglasses. Write this day down in history! Chris Metzen, Lionel Richie’s biggest fan, was caught without his token shades during his opening ceremony presentation. For those of you not into TMZ-style reporting, we’ll move to our regularly scheduled writing style.

Metzen, the vice president of Creative Development broke onto the stage for a short soliloquy compared to last year’s “Geek Is…” monolog. The voice of Thrall and so many others teased WoWers with a new expansion before shifting gears to the upcoming Diablo III, the newly revamped Blizzard DotA and StarCraft proper. Then, after calling the WoWers back, he unleashed pandas on the audience.

Check out the presentation, filled with cheap pops Mick Foley style, above.