the massive multiplayer online
role-playing game genre has been
dominated by a small minority of
powerhouse titles but for every success
story like World of Warcraft and
EverQuest there are dozens of MMOs that
failed to capture the imaginations of
online gamers
mMmmm welcome to watchmojo.com and today
we’ll be counting down our picks for the
top 10 failed mmo’s for this list we’ve
picked the top 10 MMOs that for whatever
reason be it shoddy gameplay technical
issues or the inability to live up to
their hype were forced to shut down
their servers guess there’s a few
glitches in the system yet number 10
gods and heroes roam rising bringing to
the table a unique setting filled with
mythical tropes and brutal gladiatorial
combat gods and heroes roam rising
crumbled before it could even get going
the classic case of too many eggs in one
basket developer perpetual entertainment
made the mistake of simultaneously
developing this game and Star Trek
Online the end result was not one but
two half-baked mmo’s with amazing source
material after selling thousands of
lifetime subscriptions and physical
copies gods and heroes servers went on
indefinite hold though they eventually
came back online it was far too late to
recoup the disgruntled user base
number nine auto assault another MMO
with a really cool concept Auto assault
promised a massive post-apocalyptic
wasteland sandbox filled with
large-scale destruction awesome weapons
and unparalleled vehicle customization
unfortunately Auto assault failed to
live up to its cool Mad Max inspired
Thieves
the world was extremely barren with very
little to do the gameplay didn’t
encourage teamwork so you ended up with
hundreds of players cruising around an
empty map soloing tedious objectives to
grind for better cars
spotty gameplay combined with a low user
base right out of the gate led to a
quick death for Auto assault number 8
the matrix online
save your knuckles you’ll need them for
other work considering that the
Wachowski brothers built this game as
the official sequel to the film trilogy
the matrix online seems like it could
have been totally badass the ability to
create your own neo and bullet time and
snow mow kungfu your way through Legion
the Beijing was a dream come true for
bands at the iconic science fiction
franchise unfortunately just like the
second and third films the matrix online
caved under the weight of its own
expectations despite bringing pretty
cool features to the table like awesome
hand hand fighting the matrix online was
totally mediocre lacking the Flair and
style of the movies frequent server
issues also contributed to the game’s
downfall the matrix online certainly was
not the one
number seven city of euros
an anomaly on this list City of Heroes
was actually a pretty awesome MMORPG
with a loyal fan base that stuck with
the game until the server’s were
tragically shut down in 2012 with
unanimously great reviews and feedback
from its users mostly due to its unique
superhero theme universe and awesome
character building City of Heroes seems
destined to find its permanent place
alongside MMORPG Titans like world of
warcraft
don’t worry Statesman I’m however sudden
budget cuts and studio shutdowns by
parent company and see soft led to the
ultimate closure of the game servers to
this day hardcore heroes players are
still pointing fingers and trying to
figure out exactly what happened to
their beloved MMORPG we have detected
their approach Milo number 6 Warhammer
Online age of reckoning
warhammer
despite its firm place in the pantheon
of tabletop gaming is a property that
his four years failed to translate into
a satisfying gaming experience with
maybe a few exceptions or hammer online
age reckoning actually came pretty close
though developed by mythic who had an
amazing MMORPG track record and
promising tons of innovative gameplay
mechanics like huge scale PvP battles
the hype surrounding Warhammer Online
was definitely palpable
unfortunately the end result was kind of
a cluttered mess the game was unbalanced
with many classes being totally useless
and having put so much emphasis on PvP
and large-scale questing the underlying
game felt kind of mediocre ultimately
Warhammer Online age of reckoning was
just too bloated and unconventional for
its own good
your flesh number 5 Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies though it never
really blew anyone away Star Wars
Galaxies eventually established itself
as a viable MMO for fans of the series
was it overly complicated definitely was
it riddled with bugs and wonky mechanics
that sometimes detracted from its
gameplay absolutely fans still flunk to
the game however partially due to the
fandom and partially because Star Wars
Galaxies managed to make you feel like
you were actually part of a giant
breathing universe Star Wars Galaxies
ultimately died due to meddling from its
developers Sony Online Entertainment in
a misguided attempt to revive the game
they changed and streamlined everything
turning this MMORPG into a weak
third-person shooter the changes
alienated hardcore fans and Star Wars
Galaxies never recovered
number four final fantasy xiv an amazing
example for the developers of other
struggling mmo’s final fantasy xiv went
from being one of the darkest moments in
this hallowed RPG series to being one of
the most successful and beloved MMORPGs
currently on the market
when Square Enix released the original
iteration of Final Fantasy 14 it was
universally panned filled with terrible
half-baked ideas boring lifeless
gameplay and a myriad of technical
issues Final Fantasy 14 was not only a
terrible Final Fantasy game but it was a
terrible MMORPG
luckily Square Enix took the high road
on this one we releasing the game
eventually as Final Fantasy 14 a realm
reborn almost completely rebuilding the
game systems from the ground up
number three APB all-points bulletin
as an attempt to be Grand Theft Auto
online before it even existed all points
bulletin crashed and burned right at the
starting line
sporting absolutely terrible controls
and gameplay an open-world crime and
gang life simulator definitely seems
cool but things become tricky when it’s
a chore to even get your car from point
A to point B basically the opposite of
Final Fantasy 14 APB was re-released
after the closure of its original
developers as APB Reloaded instead of
actually making the game better however
the new developers decided to fill what
was already a troubled universe with
microtransactions yay number two tabula
rasa
garnering a lot of pre-release height
based on its creator alone tabula rasa
failed to separate itself from the
hundreds of other MMORPGs releasing
around the same time the creative mind
of richard garriott the man behind the
granddaddy of all MMORPGs ultima online
was enough for many hardcore gamers to
put their dollars behind tabula rasa a
sci-fi space opus with intense combat
and interesting world building ideas
this title had so much potential before
long however vicious infighting between
Garriott and publisher and see soft led
to unstable support for the game and
eventually a huge lawsuit in suit
ultimately tabula rasa shut its doors
before it could really solidify itself
in the cutthroat MMORPG market
before we unveil our top pick
here are a few honorable mentions
ouch ouch ouch ouch
number one Vanguard saga of heroes
all of the legendary MMORPG minds and
heavy-hitting publishers in the world
couldn’t stop Vanguard
saga of heroes from releasing in a
completely broken state and quickly
earning the dubious honors of being the
biggest bust in MMO history developed by
the minds behind the original EverQuest
Vanguard went through pre-release hell
being dropped by Microsoft mid
development thus unlike a funding forced
digit to release Vanguard early the end
result was almost completely unplayable
plagued with a laundry list of crippling
bugs unfulfilled gameplay promises and a
boring and empty world Vanguard saga of
Heroes looked pretty and that’s about it
this game couldn’t even hold a candle to
EverQuest leaving thousands of hungry
MMORPG fans completely disappointed do
you agree with our list did we forget
any notably disappointing MMOs
I can’t wait to captain one Sunday for
more massively awesome top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
well you’ll be making harder decisions
than that
you
role-playing game genre has been
dominated by a small minority of
powerhouse titles but for every success
story like World of Warcraft and
EverQuest there are dozens of MMOs that
failed to capture the imaginations of
online gamers
mMmmm welcome to watchmojo.com and today
we’ll be counting down our picks for the
top 10 failed mmo’s for this list we’ve
picked the top 10 MMOs that for whatever
reason be it shoddy gameplay technical
issues or the inability to live up to
their hype were forced to shut down
their servers guess there’s a few
glitches in the system yet number 10
gods and heroes roam rising bringing to
the table a unique setting filled with
mythical tropes and brutal gladiatorial
combat gods and heroes roam rising
crumbled before it could even get going
the classic case of too many eggs in one
basket developer perpetual entertainment
made the mistake of simultaneously
developing this game and Star Trek
Online the end result was not one but
two half-baked mmo’s with amazing source
material after selling thousands of
lifetime subscriptions and physical
copies gods and heroes servers went on
indefinite hold though they eventually
came back online it was far too late to
recoup the disgruntled user base
number nine auto assault another MMO
with a really cool concept Auto assault
promised a massive post-apocalyptic
wasteland sandbox filled with
large-scale destruction awesome weapons
and unparalleled vehicle customization
unfortunately Auto assault failed to
live up to its cool Mad Max inspired
Thieves
the world was extremely barren with very
little to do the gameplay didn’t
encourage teamwork so you ended up with
hundreds of players cruising around an
empty map soloing tedious objectives to
grind for better cars
spotty gameplay combined with a low user
base right out of the gate led to a
quick death for Auto assault number 8
the matrix online
save your knuckles you’ll need them for
other work considering that the
Wachowski brothers built this game as
the official sequel to the film trilogy
the matrix online seems like it could
have been totally badass the ability to
create your own neo and bullet time and
snow mow kungfu your way through Legion
the Beijing was a dream come true for
bands at the iconic science fiction
franchise unfortunately just like the
second and third films the matrix online
caved under the weight of its own
expectations despite bringing pretty
cool features to the table like awesome
hand hand fighting the matrix online was
totally mediocre lacking the Flair and
style of the movies frequent server
issues also contributed to the game’s
downfall the matrix online certainly was
not the one
number seven city of euros
an anomaly on this list City of Heroes
was actually a pretty awesome MMORPG
with a loyal fan base that stuck with
the game until the server’s were
tragically shut down in 2012 with
unanimously great reviews and feedback
from its users mostly due to its unique
superhero theme universe and awesome
character building City of Heroes seems
destined to find its permanent place
alongside MMORPG Titans like world of
warcraft
don’t worry Statesman I’m however sudden
budget cuts and studio shutdowns by
parent company and see soft led to the
ultimate closure of the game servers to
this day hardcore heroes players are
still pointing fingers and trying to
figure out exactly what happened to
their beloved MMORPG we have detected
their approach Milo number 6 Warhammer
Online age of reckoning
warhammer
despite its firm place in the pantheon
of tabletop gaming is a property that
his four years failed to translate into
a satisfying gaming experience with
maybe a few exceptions or hammer online
age reckoning actually came pretty close
though developed by mythic who had an
amazing MMORPG track record and
promising tons of innovative gameplay
mechanics like huge scale PvP battles
the hype surrounding Warhammer Online
was definitely palpable
unfortunately the end result was kind of
a cluttered mess the game was unbalanced
with many classes being totally useless
and having put so much emphasis on PvP
and large-scale questing the underlying
game felt kind of mediocre ultimately
Warhammer Online age of reckoning was
just too bloated and unconventional for
its own good
your flesh number 5 Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies though it never
really blew anyone away Star Wars
Galaxies eventually established itself
as a viable MMO for fans of the series
was it overly complicated definitely was
it riddled with bugs and wonky mechanics
that sometimes detracted from its
gameplay absolutely fans still flunk to
the game however partially due to the
fandom and partially because Star Wars
Galaxies managed to make you feel like
you were actually part of a giant
breathing universe Star Wars Galaxies
ultimately died due to meddling from its
developers Sony Online Entertainment in
a misguided attempt to revive the game
they changed and streamlined everything
turning this MMORPG into a weak
third-person shooter the changes
alienated hardcore fans and Star Wars
Galaxies never recovered
number four final fantasy xiv an amazing
example for the developers of other
struggling mmo’s final fantasy xiv went
from being one of the darkest moments in
this hallowed RPG series to being one of
the most successful and beloved MMORPGs
currently on the market
when Square Enix released the original
iteration of Final Fantasy 14 it was
universally panned filled with terrible
half-baked ideas boring lifeless
gameplay and a myriad of technical
issues Final Fantasy 14 was not only a
terrible Final Fantasy game but it was a
terrible MMORPG
luckily Square Enix took the high road
on this one we releasing the game
eventually as Final Fantasy 14 a realm
reborn almost completely rebuilding the
game systems from the ground up
number three APB all-points bulletin
as an attempt to be Grand Theft Auto
online before it even existed all points
bulletin crashed and burned right at the
starting line
sporting absolutely terrible controls
and gameplay an open-world crime and
gang life simulator definitely seems
cool but things become tricky when it’s
a chore to even get your car from point
A to point B basically the opposite of
Final Fantasy 14 APB was re-released
after the closure of its original
developers as APB Reloaded instead of
actually making the game better however
the new developers decided to fill what
was already a troubled universe with
microtransactions yay number two tabula
rasa
garnering a lot of pre-release height
based on its creator alone tabula rasa
failed to separate itself from the
hundreds of other MMORPGs releasing
around the same time the creative mind
of richard garriott the man behind the
granddaddy of all MMORPGs ultima online
was enough for many hardcore gamers to
put their dollars behind tabula rasa a
sci-fi space opus with intense combat
and interesting world building ideas
this title had so much potential before
long however vicious infighting between
Garriott and publisher and see soft led
to unstable support for the game and
eventually a huge lawsuit in suit
ultimately tabula rasa shut its doors
before it could really solidify itself
in the cutthroat MMORPG market
before we unveil our top pick
here are a few honorable mentions
ouch ouch ouch ouch
number one Vanguard saga of heroes
all of the legendary MMORPG minds and
heavy-hitting publishers in the world
couldn’t stop Vanguard
saga of heroes from releasing in a
completely broken state and quickly
earning the dubious honors of being the
biggest bust in MMO history developed by
the minds behind the original EverQuest
Vanguard went through pre-release hell
being dropped by Microsoft mid
development thus unlike a funding forced
digit to release Vanguard early the end
result was almost completely unplayable
plagued with a laundry list of crippling
bugs unfulfilled gameplay promises and a
boring and empty world Vanguard saga of
Heroes looked pretty and that’s about it
this game couldn’t even hold a candle to
EverQuest leaving thousands of hungry
MMORPG fans completely disappointed do
you agree with our list did we forget
any notably disappointing MMOs
I can’t wait to captain one Sunday for
more massively awesome top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
well you’ll be making harder decisions
than that
you
Please follow and like us: