MMORPG Tier List 2025 - The Best MMOs and the Ones To AVOID

[@LuckyGhost]

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[@genehenson8851]

Ratings aside, this was just a nice reminder of what MMOs are still alive today and where they started. I don't really play MMOs anymore, but this was nice to watch.

[@powder8414]

Warhammer online has a ton of people playing it now on the private server it’s a lot of fun still

[@wretchedknave5740]

One of the best MMO's of all time.

[@Lupinemancer87]

ESO is currently my main and only MMO. It is absolute peak. I used to play WoW, and did so for about 20 years, but I recently grew tired and havn't played since before the current expansion came out. ESO, however, I have played for over 10 years now and I still love it, and I don't see myself stopping anything soon. I'm eagerly awaiting the announcement of the next chapter. I'm so excited.

[@ATM-js1zs]

I absolutely love the graphics and combat in ESO. The pvp is really great and you have to work to get great gear, so no pay to win. There are several things however that led me switch to Guild Wars 2 despite it having weaker graphics. I absolutely hated the pve quests and zone stories in ESO. They were mostly way, way too easy for an advanced player and had ridiculously stupid stories. Summerset was bad but I think the Telvanni Peninsula was worse so then I quit. The entire pve experience was therefore weak, although in a large, beautiful, and fascinating world. The pvp side of things was truly great but I actually enjoyed Dark Age of Camelot more in it's prime. It also was a three faction mega war but I liked it better because there is not pve interaction between the realms. When you pve you do so with your teammates. You can't hobnob with the enemy players in the pve zones and then go fight them in pvp. I like that better. It's more immersive to me. So I like ESO but it also goes in the A tier for me in his system along with GW2 which I'm playing now. It also has some defects so I am waiting for something better which doesn't exist yet.

[@Delbzy]

After playing Destiny 2 for around 6- 7k hours and ESO and WoW for around 4-500 hours each, I landed at FFXIV's doorstep this year, and, honestly, it is peak. The community is so welcoming to new players that it restored my faith in gaming. The free trial version gives you hundreds of hours of gameplay with no time limit. I HIGHLY recommend FFXIV to anyone looking for a game to play as a main game or even super casual (which is what I originally planned to do). Now I am hooked, lol.

[@xxhijirixx6525]

Doesn't the free trial only last 30 days? Then you have to pay a per month subscription to play the game?

[@Delbzy]

@@xxhijirixx6525 Where are you getting that information from? It has no time limit

[@TheGam3rproductions]

@@xxhijirixx6525 the trial is unlimited time, it gives you access to the base game and first two expansions. however if you buy the starter edition not including the newer expansions (essentially having access to the same content as trial players) you would have to then pay monthly for a sub

[@Slothfosho]

the game is lacking new content terrible communication outside of jp community. if you want get into harder content if your new they will try look you up on fflogs and not invite you. the pvp community dying even more which was the last thing keeping me into the game. also the lack of content and road maps with ffxiv is horrible. if you've been around since 2.0 we use to get more content up till stormblood and started getting less and each expansion has some kind of gimmick that they move away from and let die. look at eureka for that. if your new then yeah ffxiv has a lot of content if you've been around and had time with the 6.x content drought then your just like me moving away from ffxiv.

[@Ryotsu2112]

@@xxhijirixx6525 No time limit and you can play everything existing in the game up to the end of the Stormblood expansion. You can keep playing all the content in the game released up to that point for as long as you like (which includes all the PVP and the Gold Saucer). If you want to play Shadowbringers on, you start paying.

[@redgoesface1671]

ESO is my only and main MMO I've played and got me into it. I've tried a few like Throne and Liverty but the lack of PvE is exactly what turned me off.

[@MoJoWipHD]

They added a whole new group of unlimited run dungeons. Similar to the M+ system in WOW. Higher tiers with harder mechanics, gave the PVE side a huge boost.

[@Lupinemancer87]

Same. Been playing for over 10 years, and I freaking love that game. I don't see myself stopping anything soon. Next chapter announcement is gonna be exciting.

[@Jimmyzation]

Boy, Tera Online was probably the best MMO I ever played. I never got too far, but enjoyed every second of it. I do wish to replay it, but I'll keep it on my mind as a nice memory.

[@echoradius2299]

I'm kinda surprised you rated SWTOR in such a low spot. The game has a metric ton of content that's well written, an immersive story engagement you don't get with any other MMO, it's NOT pay to win in any way, and it's FtP up until the current expansion (i think that's how it works?) but has a lot of expansions overall. A player can sub to the game if they like, but they're only going to get quality of life improvements. The overall bang for your buck (zero dollars) is easily the best on the list. I would easily rank that with FFIV and WoW, with the exception of the news that the game is being handed off... so we're not sure what's going to happen there. For further contrast though, you're ranking SWToR along side a pile of lesser quality PtW games. I dunno man. Surely that's an A tier game, at minimum.

[@PWReviews]

SWTOR is still one of my main MMOs and I think the rating is fair. The content is now very slow but we are getting better updates even if it is slow... Such as the graphics update and dynamic encounters. Hopefully it will get better and isn't just "maintenance".

[@jordandelvo2567]

Swtor is rapidly declining due solely to the devs not wanting to listen to the players on what they want. Went from swtor to ff14 and haven’t looked back. It’s wild when you play something like ff14 and see all the abyssal deficiencies swtor brings to the table. The only thing swtor does better than ff14 is having fully voice acted cut scenes. That’s it. So glad I pulled my sub from swtor since it’s just a single player game. Why pay 15/month for single player content? No thanks.

[@PWReviews]

@@jordandelvo2567 it's not just single player content. There are so many multiplayer options. Final fantasy online is a good game and I think the group content is the best I've played. I found the open world a little boring if I'm honest, it's the instanced content (dungeons/raids) where FF online excels, plus I've heard the story does get better. I just couldn't handle the long long long text story, plus it was difficult to attach myself to the world. Final fantasy online is what SWTOR could have been. I still however like playing SWTOR more than final fantasy due to liking the Star Wars lore more. Plus I like the combat and find the content engaging. It's all based on personal preference it's good you found a game for you.

[@goyf9095]

I'm glad Wizard101 was on there, that game means a lot to me! Very biased because it's my nostalgia MMO and I've played it forever, and it definitely has it's fair share of problems, I think B tier is a respectable fair rating for it at the moment (for a new player that is).

[@DreamSleepRelaxx]

Am I the only one who played Forsaken World? Loved that game

[@Vizual_Racing]

Having Ultima Online in C tier is criminal. The game holds up very well today and it's still very fun.

[@Afire85]

As long as you find a good private server like Outlands, yeah, it's great. OSI is run by incompetent, negligent devs. The upside to that being that they don't even know how to monetize it so it's light on the p2w.

[@synitarthrax5618]

I like you list. It's pretty expansive and with the exception of ESO not being S tier I agree. ESO is highly polished, completely voice acted and accommodates all play styles and I love the system where you can put gear sets together to make a char that reflects your play style. Also, the cash shop is not even close to PTW so all in all, it's an S tier game. Other than that, you're spot on. I esp like how you put In Asheron's call my favorite game from the start of the genre.

[@GoAvs34_ESO]

Woo Brighter Shores made B Tier! I have been playing way too much of it lately and hope it continues to add fun content. I agree with your tier list overall except I would have put all the tab targetting mmos in F tier 👍. Here is hoping for more mmos and games in general to have some chill monitization!

[@Richardx75]

Bring back the ESO streams 😎

[@wizzle-]

Very nice list, Lucky. Always good information. Going to give NewWorld another shot. Cheers!

[@viamdolor9226]

Guild Wars 1 is still amazing and definitely worth playing. It has enough of a population too.

[@jcv217]

its without a doubt my favorite game over all

[@scottlemiere2024]

"I don't think they release enough content in EQ to keep it as your main MMO," while ignoring that they release a full expansion every year while all the other release every other year. It's very clear he didn't look further than his assumptions about it. Meanwhile he puts a game that hasn't put out anything new in years in the S tier. SWTOR isn't going into maintainence mode either: it's getting a full graphics engine overhaul this year.

[@t5kcannon1]

A decent list and very good video. WoW classic era is numbered one for me. The race is for second place!

[@scottharrop6720]

Brighter Shores is a niche game. It's a skill-based game (what most people would call grind). There's a quest line, but it's not the main focus. Unlike Runescape, the skill levels peak at 500, as opposed to 99-120. It looks better than OSRS and has none of the whacky monetization of RS3. It's also the newest on the list. Andrew has been regularly updating every few days. So, there's active development.

[@prajnaseek]

FF, WoW, ESO, GW2... ya, makes sense for top tier. I've only played WoW, and have played it ultra casually, and loved it, for 20 years, but I'm excited to try ESO and especially GW2.

[@alphadragongamingFTW]

I am now currently trying out FF 14 online. I have Held my self away from it for years because I just am not a Asian MMO kind of person, but over the last year or so I have been warming up to a lot of Asian studios simply because they really seem to know how to make games and keep them fun with out agendas. EQ has always been my baby though and I still go back and play it for several weeks at a time. After doing some research on FF14 I feel like this is an MMO I could enjoy so I am giving it a chance and so far it really seems fun. I am not very far in to it and sure I am not a fan of some of the more bubbly creatures, but eh, that is ok. :) Over all I agreed with a lot of your MMOs on the tier list and quite a few I have never heard of. My first MMO was EQ1 and I am 50 now and like I said, I still go back to it several times a year and I do not think I could ever put it down for good. Unless it sunsets haha. EQ 2 was a very good one for me. The first few expansions were amazing and then they decided to go to a basic stat system and Try to be more like WOW instead of being unique like it was. I continued to play through the mess till I was in my 90s and then I left and I have not touched it for years. It became just a huge mess, which is sad because it became a big favorite among many people, even though it was not the big MMO like it had hoped it would become, but it was Niche for a while.

[@oleslavv]

Tera is still up and running on consoles - not sure if it’s good as it was back in the days, but I’ve played it for a week on Xbox and it was fun Lineage 2 has a few good private servers running 2004-2010 versions of the game with some twist, so it’s enough to soak in for months :D Throne and Liberty - I’m playing for last 2 month and still can’t decide if it’s for me or no. Combat is snappy, classes are interesting and open world dungeons are fun. But instances with bosses is way to buggy and complex which make it really toxic with random groups, and main tier pvp is seems to be for 24/7 players only. Yeah, and this situation with premium currency :D might put it a tier higher then u for now, but I get your point, sadly

[@pipz420]

Still playing final fantasy 11 right now.

[@MaximusProxi]

Metin 2 not being on the list with all these other old mmos is kinda criminal.

[@boingthegoat7764]

Elite: Dangerous has been making a comeback this year

[@DESHPLEASE]

Great tier list! Seems fair!

[@chris2236]

No Maplestory dang lmao

[@Wulfgeir]

Every time.

[@supersaiyanjohn]

Maple story is pretty boring

[@chris2236]

@@supersaiyanjohn k

[@nickverschoore4351]

GW2 lacking on group content????? Are we talking about the same GW2 here?? The game is literally made around grouping up during events, there's dozens of meta events going on with full squads of 50 ppl everywhere, you have fractals, raids, WvW.... honestly bro, that's a rlly bad take

[@joeyr184]

Think he means the holy trinity type of group.

[@zaan364]

thats not group content per say.. thats more like a zerg.. when people say group content it usually refers to raids and dungeons high endgame lvl pve.. events and world bosses have close to no difficulty if the grps large enough

[@guihermeborracha7412]

Raids and Fractals alone cover group content

[@grymshaderpg]

This ridiculous tier list is just his personal opinion. I greed with you GW2 is not lacking group content. I played GW2 for 400hr which is i'm new and it's still a lot of things to do in the game.

[@davidjasper6962]

also not being able to earn mount and weapon skins without a cash shop? you can literally play all the content to earn gold and buy the ones you want that way. lol

[@ct5489]

What a great list of nostalgia. There are a couple of great games that are missing from this list. Maybe you can add them on to your next one? Star Wars Galaxies and Anarchy Online. Everquest will forever be the GOAT of mmorpg's with World of Warcraft second. But i do think that Star Wars Galaxies is right up there with those 2.

[@tyisamess]

It’s sad that the only 5 options that people can recommend for MMOs are all 10+ year old games. It would be nice if we had some newer options that were good.

[@JeffKryger]

The amount of MMOs that came out in the early 2010's is wild. And then basically nothing for a decade.

[@Doodelz02]

Yup. They'd make more if there was $$$ in it for them. Unfortunately the huge multi-year up-front costs ... with a player base expecting good quality experiences for free-to-play is not a business model. We may be looking at similar ranks 10 years from now. UNLEASH THE AI's I say!

[@Boony7]

They can take time to mature, I've only really played ESO, since BETA (more an RPG player), but it has improved over time in terms of game play etc. It seems to have become a little buggy recently :( I don't play PvP much, but it can be fun

[@youngcracker9517]

I think it’s more or less a commitment people have to say wow a 20 yr old game that most people have sunk hours and hours into it’s gonna be hard to get them to play another mmo

[@JeffKryger]

@@youngcracker9517 I think this is the biggest thing with any live service game. The switching cost. All my stuff, friends, experience, etc. is over here. Why would I ever leave and start over?

[@zubay22]

I'm a little confused, you grade wow classic (and actual wow), but you grade both the "live" versions of EQ1 and EQ2 and not the TLE/TLP's which are both much more populated than the regular game... take Teek server on EQ1 most populated EQ1 server of all time 25 years after the game came out

[@DylanFecher]

I wonder why in all these tier lists no one ever mentions Dekaron/2moons. its what got me into mmorpgs when i was like 12 lol

[@EB-bl6cc]

too obscure I guess. Can't include every single MMO that's ever existed or there'd be like 300+ things to list

[@Baalicho]

thinking the same about tibia, like c'mon was pretty popular 20 years ago and still dropping content

[@questfinder9762]

Cool Video ! Thanks for the suggestions , personally i can't wait for pantheon rise of the fallen..my last hope. Old school gameplay with hopefully even more good graphic in the future,i have to be carefull with moobs (not just one shot them),the need to interact with the other players for the content,real value and actually apperication of the items you have (not just to change them every level,especially if you have good one). That's what i need rn , the irony is that im pvp player.😅

[@thatguyyouknow7804]

My only real change would be putting eso and gw2 in s

[@supersaiyanjohn]

ESO is dead, PVP barely has any population, and if I’m going to play a game strictly for its PVE content I might as well play a pure PVE game with a better story, GW2 is on a similar boat and people who claim the population is still good is in denial

[@thatguyyouknow7804]

@ bro, they both have insane player counts, both games pvp aren’t the main drivier for the game

[@thatguyyouknow7804]

2 million monthly player count for eso, 100k daily for gw2

[@DeadLink404_]

A small sleeper MMO is AQ3D. 100% free, one time payment optional for “Guardian” status ($20). Never ending updates and all payed items are strictly cosmetic, but you can earn enough premium currency for free with daily login chests. (I have about 200$ worth for free)

[@dennisnelson8208]

I think you missed the monetization in Star Trek Online. Ships that cost hundreds of dollars, loot (gamble) boxes with well under a 1% chance to win.

[@LuckyGhost]

You are right, I'll have to add that to the next update

[@noandroid5329]

​​​​​​​@@LuckyGhostin sto it is not paywalled. You can grind smartly ingame currency to convert to cash shop currency and also you have yearly campaign which rewards you with a choice of those.expensive ships from promo packs and lockboxes. You also Are rewarded lockbox premium currency for.playing the campaign. And also get coupons also 100% free for the slightly cheaper cash shop ships. F2p with enough grind can be lagging only year behind meta in a year. And you can play events 4 times a year for endgame free ship. Three is 460 ships endgame yet you fly just 1 and 7 other for trait in a build. Few 0-12 avg 4 more for consoles depending on build. F2p can be all set in just 3years of participation without grind optimized year behind meta build.

[@PlantsAndInsects]

OSRS is definitely S tier. The fact you can use Runelite for plug-ins, puts the game on a whole other level... it is easily one of the best games I've ever played. Way better than runescape 3. The only reason I stopped playing is because it is a serious grind to level up etc and it's not actually engaging . But pvp is much more fun, and is definitely where it's at, especially if you are in a clan :) . Ah, those were the days....

[@joecarlson699]

I appreciate the honestly regarding my MMO of choice, Albion. The game is doing great from a player retention/growth perspective and is far from dead (even though the reddit will say the exact opposite lmao), but the P2W or pay for convenience is slowly becoming more egregious. I will keep playing since I enjoy it so much and the updates over the last year have been stellar overall, but I have to admit that it is HARD being a solely F2P player! Great vid, I liked hearing about the state of some MMOs i dont keep up with too much

[@Outlawproductions582]

If Albion is hard for you as a Free to play player you need to start watching Swolebenji i can easily make 10 million in a day

[@Outlawproductions582]

I have T8 Gathering and all i do is gather for 8 hours refine then sell its like 10 to 12 mil also i do have max spec in T4 animals so i get the most amount of yield

[@Briedys101]

Thank you for the great MMO's review sir. I love that you reviewed old and new ones. Simply, I had time to review and choose a game for myself about 10-15 years ago, now i'm not :) And sometimes you just want to grab some game and play for a couple of weeks or month :)

[@pragmaticeagle4832]

Played most of these on this list & actually agree on the ranking of all of them. The only thing I slightly disagree on is that Skyforge actually had fun combat once you go past the overly long tutorial. That's it, everything else was spot on. Nothing against someone using their money how they want on games but it's incredibly sad that there are enough willing to throw money at bad games that it's becoming par for the course. Until there is an incentive to create a great MMO with a quality monetization model, I fear the genre will continue to look exactly the same as it does today. That's such a shame.

[@michaelp4396]

Casual PvE soloer here. I purchased lifetime LotRO and DCUO memberships back in the day--unfortunately, I hate playing on PC/Windows and play on console now. I visit my LotRO character on occasion just to see how my rewards are still stacking up. FFXIV (transferred my PC character w/ my Goobbue to PS5) is best with ESO coming in not-a-close second because it's not as friendly to my playstyle. I still wish WoW would come to console--had many an evening playing that back in the day.

[@DarkMewtwo1994]

Tier list was definitely interesting to watch but seemed... Inconsistent Like you said nothing bad about wizard101 but put it in B? The same tier you put other games that you had some negative opinions on. Also no maplestory?? Still gave me some good ideas for games to try. Liked and subbed 😊

[@djewynne9638]

Great voice Bro'! Keep going with the awesome content.

[@Elthenar]

No Earth and Beyond? The hell you say!

[@flosipalay2948]

Knocking down GW2 a tier for lacking the holy trinity is weird and the reason why the MMO climate lacks innovation.

[@iridradiant]

I thought the same thing!

[@SteeleKnight27]

That wasn’t his only reason, though. It had to do with a lack of content involving the holy trinity and also the cool stuff usually being locked behind the cash shop. If it was only one of those things, I’m sure it would be S tier, but it was compiled for him. I love me some GW2, but these are both pretty big problems for why it can’t pull more numbers or why it tends to fall behind the mmo juggernauts. While I understand that GW2 does indeed have these things in the game to some extent, they’re not intuitive at all and new players can burn out trying to figure it out. I know the wizards vault has been really cool, but that’s still just a “shop” and not a reward for doing something cool. Likewise, dungeons/trials are a pain to get into and not explained at all unless you go well out of your way to figure it out.

[@iridradiant]

@@SteeleKnight27 "lack of content involving the holy trinity"... The game was literally designed to avoid the holy trinity, which is why pulling it down to A tier because of that I agree is weird. Although, I do agree with you that the tutorial for some of the systems could either use improvement or just having one at all. The Wizard's Vault lets players do a variety of things to build up the points to get the thing they want; better that than putting the loot behind a low drop rate, a hard boss, or both which would require grinding. You are compensated for your time and effort and will eventually get the thing that you are after. I'm glad that the most challenging content (raids and the Queen's Gauntlet held during the Festival of the Four Winds) reward titles so the more casual players don't complain about missing out on that part of "fashion wars".

[@SteeleKnight27]

@@iridradiant maybe we misinterpreted what he was saying, but I took it more as lack of things like dungeons, etc. as opposed to legit holy trinity. Lucky ghost understands there is great group content in the open world, but a serious lack of dungeon support. And those dungeons that do exist could be completely missed. I’ve beaten 2 expansions and never touched a dungeon. Also, I know the reward structure is a matter of perspective, so I don’t fully disagree with you. I think the wizards vault is cool, but I also wish we had more good, grindable things to earn outside of the hero points and the wizards vault. It should be both, not just one or the other. Wizards vault is a massive step up from what they previously had, but still well below the S tier game’s methods.

[@iridradiant]

@@SteeleKnight27 You may be right. However, GW2 does still put in new fractals but a lot less often than other MMOs. There's no "dungeon" support because of how Anet defined GW2 dungeons in vanilla and then abandoned that definition (story path + 3 explorable paths set somewhere in the open world map) when they decided it was not tenable for them to keep at it - which is how fractals got added. Kinda speculating here, but I think that Anet are trying to push the mastery system and earning the expansion's relics as the "grindable things" by tying them behind the achievement system - which is why they nerfed the legendary relic the way they did. The true grind they added was the achievement thing with doing the heart quest hubs over and over, which I think was a little lame but added at least some reason to not just make the map "flyover country". At least with it, doing the area's events still counts for something besides accumulating karma.

[@brianlove3369]

Patheon Rise of the fallen is Supposed to be coming out on Steam the 13 of Dec. (Early Access) the last beta run had many good reviews. They are adding 6 new zones and may not require a subscription that was up in the air once they shut down the servers for EA.

[@zimnelredoran9985]

Big list you had there! The one I don't agree with is Skyforge, it was good when it launched and for the next two years. The combat was fluid and the classes I tried I liked them. As a plus the BSO was good. As a side note, I feel like The Lord of the Rings Online is underrated here, still a good game after all these years where you can play at your own very slow pace if you wish-

[@creatorsremose]

Other than putting WoW in the A tier at best (mainly because of the outdated mechanics and graphics - also for me it doesn't have any nostalgic value), I actually agree with you on all of them. Good job!

[@Sam-Collins]

Great list but why you didn't mention Secret World Legends (The Secret World)?

[@blakespicer9234]

Lost Ark would be a smash success if they’d make it way better as a single toon and fix the pay to win. These game devs don’t understand they will make more money with more players and less over the top P2W

[@LuckyGhost]

Thanks for watching 🙏 Do you think any MMOs should have been rated higher or lower? Let me know why and I'll keep it in mind next time!

[@comradestannis]

RuneScape 3 is great. I think it should've been much, much higher.

[@PlantsAndInsects]

​@@comradestannisit has an insane monetization structure and it literally pushes gambling onto people. It has so many tricks to try and get people to sign in daily, which means more chances for it to sell MTX to people. It needs to fix that, fix the FOMO structure, make the combat actually fun, and bring back the wilderness. They can either restructure the wilderness so people don't lose their items, or create PVP worlds where the whole world is dangerous except banks, etc.

[@grymshaderpg]

You should consider their player count tho. What's the point if the game is A, B or S tier if the population is low. For example Eve Online, why you put it in C tier? Eve online have quite large player count about 3k avg, compared to Lord of The Rings with avg 900ish and Star Trek Online 1k avg player count. I think tier list should consider this matter.

[@cyberpunkzombie9461]

Great video over all, but i'm a little sad you didn't cover Anarchy Online. It's one of the originals. Maridian 59, Everquest, World of Warcraft and Anarchy Online.

[@Wulfgeir]

You forgot Maplestory again. Elyon servers have been shut down in the US for 2 years, why even mention a game you can't play?

[@kuposceptre]

ffxi most definatly is still getting content added.

[@Roghan777]

Shitty game overrated

[@TheBlindphleb]

@@Roghan777 Much better than FF14 though.

[@mistervertigogaming]

Have you considered putting Star Wars: Galaxies on your list? I know the official live servers were shut down many years ago, but the private server community is pretty strong. There were a couple others you listed that have shut down. This MMO in it's original form is literally the game I compare all other MMOs to this day. The crafting and resource system were like nothing else at the time, and I'm not sure any other game has done it the same since. The housing was top-notch. The player driven economy worked. Just curious if you ever played!

[@brosephscags5745]

EVE being C-Tier is wild. Yes it is a niche game with a niche player base. But for a game that’s 21 years old. It’s got a very healthy player base. And its “cash shop” doesn’t change the fact that skill is required. Like sure you can spend money and buy a “big strong” ship with it. But i bet my free account with no subscription can blow you up and you spent money for nothing

[@Anima0x1]

Great tier list, I would only make two changes: FFXIV should be A, it is a fantastic game, yes, but honestly it has gotten worse over time and the game is far too formulaic and homogenized nowadays. The game is good for a casual PVE experience and/or a social game, but almost the entire game feels artificial and on-rails, unlike the other two entries in S. DT doubled down on simplifying many aspects of the gameplay and it is clear that Square Enix values accessibility and appealing to the widest possible audience over almost anything else currently. WoW Classic should be A, and only because classic encompasses more than just SoD. I agree that the new SoD phases are about B tier and feel private-servery, but consider that classic also includes classic era, cataclysm, and hardcore, all of which are genuinely great and unique experiences in and of themselves. Old versions of WoW as a whole still hold up to this day and deserve A tier. On a side note, it's nice to see someone recognize that retail WoW is still great, many people write it off, and while there is a lot of dead content and system bloat, this game still has a great deal of complexity in all forms of content and the devs continue to take risks and put in unique and innovative systems to this day. For context I have played many of the games on this list on and off for many years.

[@Outlawproductions582]

Albion Is GREAT now is it S tier or A tier ? NO Its not But Play it and give it a try its A ton of fun and its extremely unique with its player controlled economy its truly something to witness

[@Lodosswar100]

Top notch list, hitting up the golden oldies.... Asherons Call was so good in its heyday its hard to even describe how good DakTide server was.

[@LaSangreNegra]

Play Project Gorgon instead. Developed by former AC developers. It is everything you have been looking for when it comes to a more modern AC successor.

[@Tomahawk6515]

yet another solid tier list by luck ghost. I'm just sad that we don't get good MMOs anymore..rinse and repeat....

[@joffa99m44]

Urf theme in intro. My mind blanks out. Hey, where is that League of Legends MMO?

[@merrilllee4878]

It's not even out.. why would he even mention it?

[@joffa99m44]

@merrilllee4878 lol I'm just messing around haha

[@iamlostinhell]

Solid tier list ! Looking forward to some new no p2w games hopefully soon

[@paukloanas]

I played Rift and loved it. Probably the saddest story for an MMO. It deserved to be better than WoW.

[@jacobmoore4593]

Good list, I always watch these videos then hop back on WoW retail.. I've heard the rumor mills about the horizon mmo. excited for it.. and maybe i need to just bite the bullet and try FF14, SWTOR, GW2, or ESO.

[@HitPointPersonal]

FF14 is an amazing game. Also, classic is doing better than ever, it is strange they didn't even mention fresh in their analysis.... take tier lists with a grain of salt

[@rellianthebonemeowster3450]

Gonna have a weird take here, but while I don't disagree with GW2 being an "A tier" MMO, I'm going to hard disagree with putting GW2 under Retail WoW, because part of the reasoning was that you want more "Holy Trinity based content" in a game that, from its inception, was open about it's intention to specifically break away from the Holy Trinity. but, also I don't think an MMO that's "S tier" would be so obviously yoinking the "lower tier" MMOs core mechanics, per the inclusion of the Action Combat system and, more notably, the new Dragonflight mechanics and, I say that not because I'm a huge fan of ESO/GW2 or a WoW hater, but because it's kinda clear that WoW only started to incorporate these mechanical things because of the competition's rising popularity. Action combat existed in Addons as far back as 2017. Blizzard couldn't have missed it, either, because it was all over their forums for a hot minute, and yet it wasn't until Dragonflight's 2022 release that they did anything with it, at the same time as they poorly Copy-pasted GW2's Gryphon flight mechanics. I'll personally disagree about the cosmetic progression cash shop being an issue, primarily because you can, with effort, convert in-game gold to premium gems that have no purchasing restrictions and while that does take a chunk of game knowledge and dedication, it still very much bears mentioning. .... But also, most of the premium cosmetics are exceptionally gaudy and, from experience, most players really don't use more than a few pieces at any given time, save for those people who make it their mission to turn in to walking pixel-murderers by running around with as many glowing gear slots colored with prismatic dye as is possible.

[@ZenoTasedro]

I feel like Ragnarok Online could get a C tier spot, hard to get new players but sometimes good for nostalgia

[@natebooher7953]

No Star Wars Galaxies :(

[@Sylpharia]

FFXIV isn't pay to win, untill they finally release something akin to eureka/bozja and the Fenrir mount, which can't be bought ingame makes everyone reach fates faster and people without it miss them entirely.

[@GracelessExit]

6:43 Bless Unleashed has not in fact shut down entirely, and is still going on Steam.

[@TheKarishi]

If you have a problem with Pay-to-Win, might I recommend City of Heroes, the fan servers of which now have OFFICIAL LICENSE to continue running and releasing new content. It's showing its age, but it's second only to FFXIV when it comes to "level of improvement since the death of the game." I'd probably put it in B despite its age. Also, Warframe is not the same kind of MMO as...basically anything else. But it is an MMO and worthy of being here. Probably an A, tbh.

[@Tialian]

The best MMO and game in general (before the devs killed it) that has never had a proper successor: PlanetSide 1 (2003)

[@sohjuwu]

Throne and Liberty having to use cash as a currency for the auction house makes it kinda not P2W, don’t you think? Because F2P players can farm and sell their loots to auction house, gain cash currency and use that to make themselves stronger. It can be pay to win if you want to advance fast. But you can also still be F2P and have the same gear as P2W players. It just takes a lot of grinding.

[@TheBlindphleb]

I would pump the brakes on FFXI heading to maintenance mode. They released new content not long ago and the amount of content already in the game will keep you busy for a very very long time.

[@quorra2797]

Missing lots of mmos like destiny 2, warframe, warhammer, the division, tarisland. Sorry if I mistyped any. Happy to see a full list if you do it again

[@Ryotsu2112]

Those are more lobby based games, and he did mention Warhammer online.

[@merrilllee4878]

Those aren't your traditional MMO and theyre lobby based.. Here let me help u. Destiny 2 sucks Warframe is ok. Could be better The division 2 sucks Delete Tarisland

[@rellianthebonemeowster3450]

Destiny is not and has never been a MMO. Same with Warframe. They both lack the "Massively" portion of Massively Multiplayer Online, with both game's highest per-map player count being specifically in social zones. I know that BUNgIE spent a while flopping between "MMO" and "Shared World Shooter", but if we're going to call either of them MMOs then we're going to have to start including every MOBA, every server-based game like ARK or Rust, or, really, any online game that has more than 3 people in an activity/match at any given time under what would become a useless descriptor.

[@ianwilson4286]

So Star Citizen? What is it missing to get on the list most if not all games are not finished fully but still get rewards?

[@ThiagoIndioAraujo]

Scam Citizen you mean

[@wiseflower1842]

Love all your content! ❤❤

[@LuckyGhost]

Appreciate it!

[@Valandar2]

We used to refer to the addictiveness of an MMO by including the word "Crack" replacing one of the syllables. :D Evercrack, Dark Age of Crackalot, World of Warcrack, Crack Wars Galaxies, and so on. :D A lot of this video gave me a rush of nostalgia. Or, perhaps, Crackstalgia. :D

[@Valandar2]

Oh, and you missed one of the greatest free to play games of all time - Flyff. Incredibly grindy, but I managed to get into triple digit levels without ever even seeing if there was a cash shop.

[@JKLauderdale]

I just started Ascension WOW, reminds me of the freedom of character creation found in Rift and Secret World(fav MMO, reboot SUCKED) but with an actual helpful community. It's not QUITE WOW but close enough and the ability to mix up your abilities and swap between builds allows for alot of versatility

[@Jeagan2002]

Why is City of Heroes not on here? It's got a legit, licensed server again as of January this year (City of Heroes: Homecoming), and very much still an amazing game!

[@carlocastelli8381]

Lotro and GW2 S tier, hands down

[@joeyr184]

I wanted to go back to Lotro for the 64bit server, but the Ui still does not support 4k monitors. Either too small to see or to blurry when you increase the UI size.

[@Tyranno-Bore-Us]

I wish Modern MMORPGs used Dark Age Of Camelot's RvR/PVP system

[@Magus0412]

Saying that you can buy items with cash in Albion is not quite true. You can buy gold that can be converted to silver (in game currency) and then you can buy gear from markets but the fact that the game is full loot means that you would most likely just end up donating that gear to someone else rather than "winning". The game is FAR better than the credit it is given. Regarding Warhammer Online, it was quite decent when it launched but the problem was that WoW was already in full swing back then and it just felt as if you had to choose between the two. That was always going to be a battle that Warhammer could just not win. Cheers for including Ultima Online as it was probably the game that WoW "robbed" the most of its original good core mechanic from that made it what it is. Lost Arc is just a terrible gotcha game that is overpopulated with bots. Imo, it should not be in the same category with the likes of WoW classic and Albion. Most of the list, I pretty much agree with.

[@Cordron]

You literally just described pay to win, no matter how many hoops you put through it

[@joecarlson699]

@@Cordron P2W is a spectrum, and practically every MMO falls somewhere on this spectrum. Albion is getting more egregious in terms of its P2W, yes, but OP is right. Even if you swipe to buy the best gear, you can still be outclassed 1v1 by someone with significantly worse gear who has high spec, or instantly ganked by a group and lose all that gear you bought. Its not coping to say this, i have real significant critiques of the game, but there are things you absolutely cannot get via swiping and time put into the game is still the primary deciding factor.

[@Cordron]

@joecarlson699 you can only lose the gear if you participate in OPTIONAL content to lose it. Not only that for the economy side, if you invest some real money into large amounts of silver then you have a huge advantage and can start re-investing it instantly to make more silver. Not only that premium makes farming impossible without it even though it's a bit part of the game. Not every game has p2w elements and it's a lazy excuse to dismiss it because of that. Albion would definitely be a more active game if it wasn't so p2w

[@joecarlson699]

@@CordronYeah, I know the game would have more players if the P2W was decreased, that’s just stating something obvious that’s true for all MMOs. And I don’t know what point you’re trying to make by referring to “optional content”?? In sandbox MMOs, literally everything other than the tutorial is optional content, not just Albion’s BZ PVP like you’re alluding to.

[@zackarywest8096]

old school takes hundreds and hundreds of hours to get to end game content. skilling you can do any time and if thats your goal then yes its s tier. but im not going to sit here and pretend that it doesnt take 400-700 hours to start any form of endgame bossing.

[@Habanero212]

Also some of these games have been ported to consoles and offer crossplay. IMO that's should be worth a few points. Being on Geforce Now should also be worth a couple of points. Thanks for this, I've been thinking about going back to something...not 100% sure yet.

[@venomace415]

The best PvP game and still the king that has not been recreated is Dark Age of Camelot . They have the live servers but the best server is the free shard Eden. Sure is old but the RvR and PvP mechanics are superior to anything that has been released .

[@einer1314]

EQ puts out an xpac every year. It probably has the most content of any mmo.

[@MoJoWipHD]

Why do people think throne is pay to win.. all of the stuff you loot, you sell on the auction house for that cash currency. I have not spent a cent in the game and I am rank 44 on immortality server for PVP. I promise you, money is not preventing you from doing well in PVP in throne and liberty.

[@LuckyGhost]

Tell me you're not in the top guild without telling me you're not in the top guild

[@MoJoWipHD]

@@LuckyGhost Lmao, bro, I am in #1 guild in immortality server. Smoke pirates. MoJoWip is in game name. I literally AM in the top guild.

[@MoJoWipHD]

@@LuckyGhost I just think people saw the auction house as real money currency and didn't realize how much of that currency you can make from just playing the game. I am at 40K total lucent made, F2P. 4K gearscore.

[@Arkael1110]

Another year, another snub for anarchy online, The first sci-fi MMO ever, still active and my favorite MMO of all time not even being mentioned

[@LuckyGhost]

Next year!

[@SoLusty]

I was dissapointed not to see shadowbane on the list. Play to crush

[@Gvceltak]

You left appart Wakfu/Dofus as one of the few turn based RPG MMO

[@noandroid5329]

Star trek has rather expensive cash shop but you do not need it with few grindable ingame currency exceptions to convert for cash shop currency. And when playing reguralry you can take advantage of cash shop rewards from event campaign participation. I would rate it Atier like ESO. Because it does not have itemlevel mechanics

[@Hirsch_Marco78]

You forgott age of conan. A big and really special mmo

[@SomeGuyFromUtah]

Wow classic kinda blowin up right now with the 2nd launch of the vanilla standard game. They said they got enough players to justify 55 servers based on 2004 server population. Also - Onlyfangs is dominating twitch. I do wish I knew what the future held for this 2nd iteration of non-seasonal classic.

[@romanista77]

No City of Heroes!? Great game in it's day, and now completely free to play

[@chrismacqueen4891]

How about Pantheon online? Its been in alpha/beta for awhile and now just entering Early Access Dec 13th. Its fun and old school style although a long ways to go I still feel its in far better shape then 3/4 of this list.

[@Siegebreaker5811]

Have you looked into Ashes of Creation its currently in its Alpha 2 Phase and its been an amazing experience so far!

[@buckrogers-lk3yr]

how the heck DC universe online still around. I'm amazed

[@TheMadMoose]

Supposedly TERA is still playable on Xbox. I know it is still on my list of owned games. I have not tried to log into it in a long time.

[@rept7]

Another video, another reminder that the MMO genre isn't doing hot unless you already love one of the big MMOs. :(

[@Msaber2012]

You were far too generous in T&L

[@cyricmoonblade]

I'd love to find a private Tera server, also Allods online. Broken ranks is a different MMO, but not one I enjoyed much sadly.

[@Skott62]

I used to love MMO games. I finally burned out on them all. I just don't have any interest in them any more. Personally I would love it if Blizzard went back to making their single play Warcraft games like they did in the early days.