ESO made it onto a list of healthiest live MMORPGs at the end of 2019

tinythinker

ESO made it onto a list of healthiest live MMORPGs at the end of 2019

3. The Elder Scrolls Online
I feel like The Elder Scrolls Online now is what FFXIV was a few years back: an amazingly solid game that often doesn’t get its full due for putting out excellent, steady content on a reliable schedule. Seriously, if you remember the game’s launch state (and we do!), it’s almost amazing to think that this is one of the most routinely crowd-pleasing MMOs out there, one I myself panned pretty thoroughly when it launched. But the team puts in the work and produces good stuff, and it feels secure in its space and deservedly loved.

Pity about some of that cash shop, though.

BlueRaven

It’s nice to see the game highly ranked. Although to be honest I did not even know there were even ten mmo’s on the market right now.

Tommy_The_Gun

Would be probably 1st if the contest was "mmorpg that has seen the most nerfs"

tinythinker

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

Would be probably 1st if the contest was "mmorpg that has seen the most nerfs"

Dunno, WoW might still be king if you ask people who main certain classes... especially when some were mostly left to languish from pre-launch of BfA... "Maybe this patch? maybe the next one... maybe... ohhhh " Same for some healers who've hated the changes so far in Shadowbringers for FFXIV. Nerf complaints power the servers of most MMORPGs.

Kel

I think it could be #1 hands down...

If it could just work on a most basic level.
If bar swapping and skills firing when you push your buttons would actually reliability work, it would go a long way to helping the health of the game.

YMMV

Juhasow

2019 was one of the worst years in terms of health for both WoW and ESO and both titles are in top 3. That list is simply population indicator it have nothing to do with games health.

tinythinker

Juhasow wrote: »

2019 was one of the worst years in terms of health for both WoW and ESO and both titles are in top 3. That list is simply population indicator it have nothing to do with games health.

Population is a major indicator of a game's health. Along with sales. That's what keeps MMORPGs alive. Look at the description they gave to WoW. It's sitting at the top because of the massive popularity of Classic.

Toc de Malsvi

Juhasow wrote: »

2019 was one of the worst years in terms of health for both WoW and ESO and both titles are in top 3. That list is simply population indicator it have nothing to do with games health.

Definitely. They are looking at population and financial numbers not the state of the games. Wow is probably smaller than ever and is still bigger than everyone else. ESO is struggling to remain functional.

MMOs aren’t as popular right now and the future seems a bit bleak. Which might be generically tied to the general political climate and financial state of the 1st world countries.

casparian

putting out excellent, steady content on a reliable schedule

It's telling that specifically this is what the article praises ESO for. Not engaging combat, healthy balance, or consistently good experiences in endgame content like Cyrodiil, BGs, or trials. No, ESO is good because there are a bunch of new quests and zones and dungeons on a regular schedule.

I know a lot of people are hyped about that stuff, but many of us who signed onto the game 3, 4, or 5 years ago just want our well-designed, well-functioning endgame back.

anadandy

BlueRaven wrote: »

It’s nice to see the game highly ranked. Although to be honest I did not even know there were even ten mmo’s on the market right now.

Looking at that list it looks like they just included any semi-viable MMO out there. Not meant as a dig at ESO - but seriously, that list included pretty much all of them.

Edziu

this ranking seems to be worthless...what I have read about ESO or gw2 in it....they looked only about frequency of releasing new content without even looking at state of this content and game in overall...they just ignorect facts as ESO new content patches are mainly very small in overall....while new content in gw2 yet is not oftent but their new expansions was just huge....and they was additing additional content tho these expansions much oftent and with quality (which we cant say this about ESO) and for free if you was online within longer time after released if you have bought this expansions

biased ranking is biased :v

for same reason I could ask why some other games are not in this ranking instead of some others because of other bias or just real ranking of games..

Edziu

Toc de Malsvi wrote: »

Juhasow wrote: »

2019 was one of the worst years in terms of health for both WoW and ESO and both titles are in top 3. That list is simply population indicator it have nothing to do with games health.

Definitely. They are looking at population and financial numbers not the state of the games. Wow is probably smaller than ever and is still bigger than everyone else. ESO is struggling to remain functional.

MMOs aren’t as popular right now and the future seems a bit bleak. Which might be generically tied to the general political climate and financial state of the 1st world countries.

gotcha....as this is enough excuse for me as why BDO is on that high place.....and so rankings biased this way.....are worthless then for real players who would want to try new game for them.....looking at some in this top10...they will be just dissapointed when they start playing these and noticing what is ongoing in them for real

ofc with some can be vice-versa...unconvincing description while game state is much better once you play some more this game to notice this

CasgarTheSomnolent

Out of curiosity, I recently was searching around for what MMOs are out there right now, and the list here has a lot of the recurring ones on those lists. And most of those are games like WoW, EVE, Guild Wars 2, RuneScape, etc. that just have continued to survive. That longevity is pretty incredible, so "health" is indeed a good term.

However, ESO and FFXIV are always the only consistent faces of any, what I'd call, "modern MMOs." And they're pretty incredible stories both of them. ESO managed to inject itself right in the middle of the MMO wars, build itself up, reevaluate, adapt, and become a powerhouse. It has its flaws, which of course, as players we're hyper aware of, but it's really amazing what it managed to do and become in the face of all the competition out there. It's also doing this (and this may very well be why it has succeeded) by taking the nonstandard and risky approach of not having a subscription model.

FFXIV is probably an even more impressive story. After producing a game so addled with demons, it had to be literally taken off the market, it was resurrected as a real masterpiece within just a couple of years and continues to shoot for the stars.

Let's just appreciate our two modern MMO representatives. They've both had major growing pains, and their developers haven't been afraid to make some radical changes to ensure their survival and increase their vitality. It's worthy of praise and admiration. What they've done is incredibly hard.

Araneae6537

ESO deserves a high rank (best of the list in my opinion), even though some things this year could have been better (and long term players may well word that more strongly). Perhaps it means less considering some of the other games on the list... But as others have already said, sadly there may not be a lot of MMORPGs on the market. GW2 has released some fun content, but I think the game peaked around Heart of Thorns (many would disagree, of course) and there were many missteps this year, including, in my opinion, butchering several specs. I will say that complaints about the cash shop and loot boxes seem least justified in that game since it is F2P and most things, including some wonderful mount skins, can be bought directly and aren’t locked behind loot boxes. BDO I have heard nothing good about, but it is probably made for a demographic that does not include me.

tinythinker

Keep in mind this list is about the relative health of games, not subjective opinions of quality or fun but which ones are doing well in terms of players and revenue. Think of it as, "How likely are these games to still exist by the end of 2020 or early 2021?" Even if you don't like them, enough other people do. At the bottom the author mentions why some other games aren't listed.

People keep asking if ESO is dying or predicting it is dying soon (it's been a running theme since 2014), so it seemed like an article that listed it as healthy at the end of 2019 would be relevant here.

Elsonso

tinythinker wrote: »

ESO made it onto a list of healthiest live MMORPGs at the end of 2019

3. The Elder Scrolls Online
I feel like The Elder Scrolls Online now is what FFXIV was a few years back: an amazingly solid game that often doesn’t get its full due for putting out excellent, steady content on a reliable schedule. Seriously, if you remember the game’s launch state (and we do!), it’s almost amazing to think that this is one of the most routinely crowd-pleasing MMOs out there, one I myself panned pretty thoroughly when it launched. But the team puts in the work and produces good stuff, and it feels secure in its space and deservedly loved.

Pity about some of that cash shop, though.

Cool, and a place on this list is deserved.

Odovacar

"Pity about some of that cash shop, though." Lol, they really needed to add that at the end of their comments.

tinythinker

Odovacar wrote: »

"Pity about some of that cash shop, though." Lol, they really needed to add that at the end of their comments.

Yeah just because the games on the list are presented as the healthiest of the MMORPGs doesn't mean immune from criticism.

Odovacar

tinythinker wrote: »

Odovacar wrote: »

"Pity about some of that cash shop, though." Lol, they really needed to add that at the end of their comments.

Yeah just because the games on the list are presented as the healthiest of the MMORPGs doesn't mean immune from criticism.

Of course...I just chuckled when I read it.

tinythinker

Odovacar wrote: »

tinythinker wrote: »

Odovacar wrote: »

"Pity about some of that cash shop, though." Lol, they really needed to add that at the end of their comments.

Yeah just because the games on the list are presented as the healthiest of the MMORPGs doesn't mean immune from criticism.

Of course...I just chuckled when I read it.

i as well

idk

The post is correct. ESO has sold as many copies as FF14 did at the same age. The game has a large player base as well. Zos has been putting out good content, probably the best of current major MMRPGs.

The issue is server performance and the performance of key systems like the GF. Add to that the major change fatigue we are experiencing with Zos reworking combat to hopefully make it so they can manage the game decently going forward. Getting these things taken are of will spell out the future of ESO>

Nemesis7884

on one hand i completely agree, eso has come a long way since the beginning and improved tremendously - when the game released it was a huge mess and i hated it, now its certainly one of the best mmo's on the market...

...that being said - on this list are pretty much all major mmorpg's that are left anyhow... even swtor is on there which isn't exactly growing what is a shame... the reality is that mmorpg's are dying...a dying breed and therefore among the bling, the one eyed is king...so its not exactly amazingly hard to get on that list if you are an mmorpg...

Anhedonie

If only EU server was healthy.

tinythinker

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

on one hand i completely agree, eso has come a long way since the beginning and improved tremendously - when the game released it was a huge mess and i hated it, now its certainly one of the best mmo's on the market...

...that being said - on this list are pretty much all major mmorpg's that are left anyhow... even swtor is on there which isn't exactly growing what is a shame... the reality is that mmorpg's are dying...a dying breed and therefore among the bling, the one eyed is king...so its not exactly amazingly hard to get on that list if you are an mmorpg...

there are still MMORPGs released every year and many older MMORPGs that are out there hanging on but at higher risk of folding

people just mostly know/talk about the ones that are doing well

ArchMikem

ESO would definitely secure #1 if the PC and PS4 versions were actually stable.

I know a lot of people here think of me as a shill, a fanboy, a ZOS "apologist", and I won't deny I stand up for ZOS on the daily. That's only because I can look past the poor and see the amazing that's in this game, and understand the sheer amount of technical work that goes into this that I can't even begin to fathom how it all works or comes together. But these people do it, and continue to do it in the hopes of fixing the issues that are undoubtedly daunting even though the community here wants to believe they could easily fix the game in their sleep themselves.

Even though I'm one of those people who are easily amused and get more replayability out of games than the average person, ESO is the single, solitary video game title I have played continuously for four straight years and counting. No other game has even come close to maintaining my attention. That's a major accomplishment.

Goregrinder

BlueRaven wrote: »

It’s nice to see the game highly ranked. Although to be honest I did not even know there were even ten mmo’s on the market right now.

There's probably more like 100 on the market right now.

wild_kmacdb16_ESO

I dig the game otherwise I wouldn’t be here, but with the state of the MMO market, this award is basically like scoring on an open net

Kalante

I always take these “mOsT healthy mmo's list" with a grain of salt. These reviews never highlight the poor performance or balance games because the people making these articles are not invested in the game for long periods of time. Only vets can judge ESO and know what it is truly happening specially on Console. Such garbage.

dcam86b14_ESO

Just counting western MMOs, ESO deserves this spot.
Sure ppl will find anything to complain about but ESO has the $$ and the IP to keep it going for 5 more years at best.

MLGProPlayer

Lol at BDO being #4 after they already announced a sequel to replace it last month.

GW2 is also reeling after half their staff were laid off and their long-time studio head quit.

The rest of the games on there are old as hell.

Really puts into perspective the pitiful state of the MMO genre. The only games worth playing at the moment are ESO, WOW, and FFXIV.

MLGProPlayer

Kalante wrote: »

I always take these “mOsT healthy mmo's list" with a grain of salt. These reviews never highlight the poor performance or balance games because the people making these articles are not invested in the game for long periods of time. Only vets can judge ESO and know what it is truly happening specially on Console. Such garbage.

You'll find this exact same comment on every game's forum from that list.