The online ecosystem is constantly evolving. I mean we came from an era where 8 kilobytes a gigantic amount of storage and now we can hold terabytes in between two fingers. Originally being able to play a game with someone, ANYONE at all on the internet was incredible. Now, games sell by advertising just how people you can have in one lobby at a time. Once we stepped into the world of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, or MMORPG’s, that was it. There’s no going back. Now a game is looked down on for not being a supermassive sandbox game where all your friends can join. That said, the gaming industry is full of intensely committed individuals who defy logic and will keep working on a game till they’re old and grey. This is where we get games that have more of an online community than their sequels. Or MMO’s that are massively outdated but have survived all these years thanks to constant updates from three-man teams. These are games whose quality stands the test of time.
But, hosting dedicated servers costs money, and if the game isn’t making a profit, there’s no reason to keep the lights on.
There are more business-centric developers who pulled the plug way too early and never gave their titles enough of a chance to really shine. Either way, here’s my list of 20 Online Video Games That Have Been Going For Too Long (And 10 They Cancelled Too Soon)
30 Too Long: World Of Warcraft - The Immortal King MMO
First and foremost we have the king of all MMO’s, World of Warcraft. The game was announced way back in 2001 and didn’t fully release until 2004.
Since it’s debut Blizzard’s calling card game has been constantly updated with new expansions, updates, DLC, and features.
The base game actually peaked at over 7 million subscribers alone! And that’s back when MMORPG’s were nowhere near a mainstream genre. Since then WoW grew to be the largest consistently played game in history and has remained consistent as one of the most profitable and popular MMO’s in existence. And it hasn’t stopped, WoW even had it’s newest expansion, Battle For Azeroth, see a stellar release in Augst of 2018!
29 Too Long: Team Fortress 2 - A Fortress Made Out Of Hats
Next, we have the overlord of the FPS genre, Team Fortress 2. If World of Warcraft influenced the next generation of MMORPG’s, TF2 did the same for Hero Shooters.
You can thank Valve for Overwatch essentially.
The original Team Fortress was actually a Mod for Quake 1 and the franchise grew at an astronomical rate from there. Valve even included the title in their “Orange Box” collection along with Portal and Half-Life 2. The ragtag cast of mercenaries still sees a good amount of players to this day. Though those same players might just be buried in all the cosmetics such as hats, crates, keys, skins, and weapons. From my understanding TF2 really evolved the “loot box” mechanic.
28 Too Soon: City Of Heroes - Baby’s First Comic Book Game
This one hits close to home, I grew up on City of Heroes. Namely, my best friends dad was an expert at the Create-A-Hero MMORPG and got me obsessed with the game. Honestly, it was a truly inventive video game, even to this day.
The entire game focused on your own individual “Hero”, you’d completely control their initial design, background, and powers.
As you leveled up and progressed, you’d unlock new traversal powers such as flight, or get to design your own cape! Overall it was an intensely original and deep MMO that unfortunately got its plug pulled in December of 2012. That hasn’t stopped fans though, as private servers are still in the works! Hurry up so I can become a hero again.
27 Too Long: Eve Online - A Stockbrokers Worst Nightmare
Eve Online is an enigma to me. It’s one of the only examples I can think of where someone can completely dedicate everything they have to one video game.
For those unaware, Eve Online is a sci-fi space-based game where players can do everything from build citadels, to fly around the galaxy.
It’s a very open-ended, incredibly gigantic game. But the kicker is due to the economics of the game, people invest thousands of dollars into ships. These become floating glowing targets for other players to destroy. I mean there are literally war’s in the game and tons of money is at stake! An ecosystem like that is why the game is still so popular to this day, gotta make a return on your investment.
26 Too Long: Quake’s 1 Through 3 - Intense Action Still Playable
This one is pretty simple, Quake is the pioneer of high octane, lightning fast first-person shooters. The games didn’t focus on a cover system, methodical movement, or intensely deep writing.
But rather, you want to beat your enemies? Keep moving as fast as possible. Never hesitate with a shot, and learn to traverse the maps like a pro.
Watching a professional Quake player is awe-inspiring, and luckily that’s a sight anyone could see. Quake’s 1-3 all have completely adequate servers and are able to be played even to this day. So if you’re jonesing for a skill based, lightning fast multiplayer experience, Quake’s got your back. Here’s hoping Quake Champions ends up anywhere near the same amount of quality.
25 Too Soon: Paragon - Fornite Just Got TOO Popular
Another Overwatch-esque game that was closed too soon is Paragon. Paragon was actually Epic Games big thing before Fortnite.
But, since Fortnite is all but a household name now it makes sense that most of the team was pulled out of Paragon towards the bigger venture.
Plus, Paragon never really saw a surge in players. So Epic Games made the hard call in April and shut down the game’s servers. Now Paragon did have some unique mechanics and characters, but nothing beats Fortnite at the end of the day. It’s odd to see Paragon canceled because of the popularity of Fornite when it’s owned by the same company. I don’t blame Epic Games for their decision, but I wonder what Paragon could have become.
24 Too Long: Diablo 2 - Reliable And Fun
I don’t think anyone would disagree that the release of Diablo III had it’s up’s and downs. The game went for a completely different artistic style, had tons of issues with its market, and was obviously made for consoles from the start.
This isn’t to say that Diablo III is a bad game, or even sub-par.
But with the number of changes, mishaps, and drama surrounding the title in the early days it’s no wonder fans still depend on Diablo II. Yes Diablo II is still completely playable online and has a very active modding community. It’s an example where the fanbase is larger in the earlier game than in the most recent release. Diablo III is new and exciting, but Diablo II is dependable.
23 Too Long: Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn - The Born Again MMORPG
Final Fantasy 14 on release was a bad game. It was an MMO released in 2010 that got such bad press Naoki Yoshida the game’s director essentially came in and remade it.
Now it’s well…reborn as Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn.
FF14 has become one of the biggest MMORPG’s worldwide! It’s obvious Yoshida and his team put an enormous amount of work in. The game is constantly getting new updates and expansions. What’s more is the design team canonically ended the timeline of the original FF14. Basically, to sum it up, Behemoth hatched from the moon and destroyed that old bad game, and now a nice old wizard teleported our player character into a whole new timeline to go crystal hunting! Makes sense.
22 Too Soon: Demon’s Souls - It Lasted Awhile, But Not Long Enough
Demon’s Souls isn’t just a weirdy redundant word to say, it’s the title of Fromsoft’s first step back into the spotlight. Of course, From has been making great games since the King’s Field games in the 90’s. Demon’s Soul’s to Dark Souls is what really got them into the public eye.
Demon’s Souls, like their later title Bloodborne, includes some absurdly obtuse mechanics (such as as..ugh, world tendency).
These mechanics rely on the online, and since February 2018, the servers are no more. Sony finally closed the curtains on a game that would have had a consistent player base for years to come. It’s time for a remaster, imagine Demon’s Souls with mechanics from all of From’s games up until now?
21 Too Long: Earths Special Forces - Half-Life Mod For Anime Fans?
Just this year we saw the release of one of the biggest fighting games of the last decade, Dragonball FighterZ. This game is focused around the massively popular Dragonball Z franchise and is a testament to a studio’s ability to translate anime scenes to a game format. But, what if I told you there was actually a long-running 3rd person Dragonball Z fanmade fighting game?
That’s right, it’s called Earths Special Forces and it’s actually a mod for the FPS game Half-Life! Crazy right?
They’ve been working on this mod for years now, and it’s been playable for just as long. The online community is incredibly welcoming and it’s cool to see Dragonball made by the fans rather than something like Xenoverse or Tenkaichi.
20 Too Long: Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer - The Best Sci-Fi Wave Defense
This entry surprises a lot of people. Mass Effect 3 has a multiplayer mode in which up to 4 players fight against waves of different enemies. There are different objectives, playable characters, maps, and even a cash shop!
It’s a fully realized multiplayer with dedicated servers. In fact, those servers still have a relatively active fanbase playing consistently.
The mode has even gotten positive reception as of the last couple years. It reminds me of the Assassins Creed Multiplayer, not in its gameplay, but rather that it’s a unique and fresh online experience that people really stick around for. Mass Effect faced some bad press in its 3rd game because of it’s shoehorned ending. But the core gameplay has always been stellar.
19 Too Soon: Radical Heights - Ended Before It Got Picked On
Radical Height’s was the most obvious example of a game trying to capitalize on a current trend.
Battle Royale games are all the rage right now. But, the ones that are still thriving are ones that put in the work to have a fresh style, mechanics, and design.
Games like Realm Reborn, Fornite, and Totally Accurate Battle Simulator have the massive following because of their dedication. Radical Heights is not like those games, it was rushed in its announcement, marketing, and development and it shows. My only complaint is that the servers shut down too soon before I could really see all the awful stuff the game had to offer. Boss Key Productions had high hopes, but this game literally put the company to rest.
18 Too Long: TERA - Combat Oriented MMO With Tiny Puppies
Tera is a lot of fun. Because of the astronomical success of World of Warcraft, there have been hundreds of MMO’s released in the last decade.
Yet Tera somehow survived in a world where there are as many MMO’s as there are stars in the sky.
Most of which seem to follow the same style of methodical, boring gameplay. You know, click to attack, fetch quest, grindy mechanics that people are tired of. Tera is similar but not in its gameplay. It features a fully active combat system, complete with dodges, combos, and parries. Its combat is more akin to Bayonetta at times than to WoW. This along with it’s relatively adorable and….risque races keep the game as one of the more popular surviving MMORPG’s.
17 Too Long: Flyff - 90s Kid’s First Anime MMO
If City of Heroes was my first superhero video game, then Flyff was my entrance into anime. Flyff was the first video game I played that had anything to do with anime. It’s a cookie cutter MMO that features a cartoony, anime art style with some unique mechanics.
Flyff stands for Fly-for-fun, and that was its main draw. At level 20 you would get your first hoverboard and could literally fly anywhere in the game.
The idea of such freedom was really unique at the time and drew in a big crowd. Nowadays that game is still up, but people mainly stick around because of their love for the mechanics and previous time investment. Any game where you use dual yoyo’s needs to stick around.
16 Too Soon: Club Penguin - The Game The Defined Overcautious Banning
Alright now here we have Club Penguin. This game is 100% made for kids between the ages of 5-10, but a lot of its audience was in an older crowd. Now while some of that older crown had awful intentions, most people played the game for laughs.
Namely, the game wanted to be as “PG” as possible and had an automatic ban for people who used what the development team considered “profanity”.
This led to years of amazing screenshots of people getting banned for saying just the most hilarious stuff. Club Penguin is a historic game that we could have laughed at for decades. But, all good things have to end and Club Penguin servers were put to rest just last year in 2017.
15 Too Long: Maplestory - The Most Popular 2D MMORPG
I wanted to use a screenshot of my playtime in Maplestory here, just to really drive home how obsessed I was with the game at one point. Maplestory is a rare 2D MMO that has probably the most creative character classes I’ve ever seen. The core mechanics of MapleStory are to use your skills to efficiently beat the mobs.
It boils down to how high you can get your damage numbers and the only difficulty is in boss fights.
Still, there’s no other game where a class can summon a bear to flip a table to damage enemies. Plus it’s had some of the best cross-promotional events in history. Maplestory X Neon Genesis Evangelion? What a world.
14 Too Long: Ragnarok Online - The MMORPG Right Behind Maplestory
The only other 2D MMO that is any sort of popular is Ragnarok Online. Ragnarok is based on a Korean comic of the same name.
It was released in 2002 and has had official animations and sequel games made since then.
The game has 3D environments but sprite character models. The camera angle is high up and is akin to Link to the Past. The main reason why this game is still around and actively maintained is the sheer amount of love for the game. It went from 15 to over 50 playable classes or “jobs” at this point and has maintained constant updates since it’s initial release! That sort of dedication brings in only the most loyal of fans to keep the game afloat.
13 Too Soon: ToonTown - The MMORPG 3 Miles Behind The Two Above
This game is Club Penguin’s more interesting sibling. ToonTown was Disney’s attempt at a family-friendly MMO. It features custom-made wacky characters and a gameplay style honestly amazing unique for its time.
It features turn-based combat, but all of the attacks are focused around Tom and Jerry style physical humor like a pie to the face or falling anvils.
This game sends most of any crowd down memory lane because it was a free MMO targeted towards children of the 90’s. Unfortunately, ToonTown couldn’t last forever and the server closed in 2013. Funnily enough, Disney’s Official statement was that the company “was shifting its focus to other online and mobile play experiences, such as Club Penguin and a growing selection of mobile apps.”
12 Too Long: Ultima Online - This Game Is Older Than Me
Ultima Online is by far the oldest game on this list. It was released in 1997 by Origin Systems and is somehow still alive and kicking 21 years later.
The game has had 8 expansions packs, tons of updates, and constant reworks throughout its lifespan.
The original goal of Ultima Online was essentially the ultimate online fantasy experience. A world brimming with players where people had complete freedom to be good, evil, and everything in between. In 2007 Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn was released and finally, the game jumped up a couple centuries in terms of its engine and overall visuals. Effort like that is why the game is still alive and kicking to this day, gamers can feel developers love for their game.
11 Too Long: Dungeons And Dragons Online - D&D Is Always In Style
Much like Ultima Online strives to be the ultimate fantasy experience, Dungeons and Dragons is a sandbox for people to make their own experiences.
For those who were “cool” in high school, D & D is a the end all be all of nerdy hobbies.
It’s an entirely imagination driven pen and paper role-playing game where players can do just about anything. Dungeons and Dragons Online strove to match the ingenuity of its tabletop predecessor and launched in 2006. The game has had a couple of different names but has always been based on the ruleset established in the 3.5 edition of D & D. It’s still up and running to this day, good thing too, I could always use another D & D outlet.
