I don’t normally write about other news. I like to write my own stuff about my own thoughts and ideas. Any regulars here at MMOCrunch generally know that. That said, however, I just could not get over this recent article done by 1UP. Done in traditional list style, 1UP decided to create their own top 5 worst PC game launches. Nothing too special, a fun read but that’s really all, until you realize that 3 out of the 5 game launches are MMOs, or MMO-like.
MMORPGs aren’t known for their polish. In fact, it’s become common knowledge that the game you buy on day one probably won’t be the same game you are playing six months down the road. Theres a whole lot more programming, and a whole lot more testing that needs to go into an MMO as opposed to a single player game. So is it really fair to judge an MMORPG on the same standards as a normal game?
Let’s just get this out of the way before I continue writing anymore. The three games that made 1UP’s list are:
- Hellgate: London
- Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
- World War II Online
Before I begin, allow me to go back to the question I proposed earlier: is it fair to judge an MMO off the same standards as a normal PC game? No it’s not. MMORPGs are vastly different from any other type of game. They aren’t really a separate genre so much as a completely different avenue of gameplay. Everything changes when you decide to make an MMO, everything. Each of these games had serious problems when they launched, especially Vanguard, but do they really belong on the same list with single player PC games? Absolutely. Despite given certain laxes on standards there is no reason why each one of those games should have launched with the enormous amount of problems that they did. It’s hard making an MMO, but it’s not impossible.
Of course, those games were the occasional black marks on the MMO’s history. It’s sad to see a list like 1UP’s where the majority of the games are MMORPGs, but it’s even sadder to see an industry that continually does this kind of crap. I don’t really have much more to say on the matter. Feel free to take a gander at the original article. Like I said before, it’s a fun read.
Having not played two fo those MMO’s i cant comment directly on them. But I would not say that they are the “occasional black mark”.
Anarchy Online was completely unplayable. Even EverQuest was fine during the stress test beta period, but buckled when too many people bought the game. Granted, more servers were deployed speedily. There are more of course, but having no first hand experience I won’t point them out.
I’m surprised to see Hellgate on the list as well. I could play Hellgate fine, granted it was not that fun, but i could in fact play it. Maybe the overcharging was really that bad though, but hey, at least you could play. Anarchy Online was completely useless. You could not walk forward 5 feet without ‘rubber-banding’ back to where you stood. Even Ultime Online’s lag was so bad that a common rabbit killed me by repeatedly hitting me for one damage until i died, never once moving or attacking back. I did not think Hellgate was that fun, but at least you could play it. You may crash repeatedly at the same spot, but at least you could walk forward. Realistically, WoW was practiaccly the FIRST high profile MMO to NOT have major problems.
I do however heartily agree that they should not be compared due to their major differences.
Just my 2 cents. Either way love the articles, be it original or comments on another, still a good read.
Yeah, I’m not sure why Hellgate: London was on that list. I played it at launch and everything was fine. I can’t access the article at work, but what was the author’s reasoning?
The fact that Anarchy Online is not on that list is criminal. I was playing that one at launch too and it easily had the worst pc game launch of all time, and stayed horrible for the first month or so before they finally got everything worked out. Even vanguard can’t compete.
For Hellgate, he talked about a couple bugs/crashes, but focused on the over-billing, etc. Some people were triple and quadruple billed. Including some who paid the large amount up front for lifetime use.