MMO Awards of the Year on Massively (Voting Polls)

Bloodfang · December 2015

So another year has passed, and Massively has published this year's Award winners chosen by their staff. However the Voting Polls are now open, which is the only thing that matters really (opinions of thousands outweight the opinion of a few selected writers). On some of them people generally agree with the Award Winners, while on the others not so much. It's worth noting that Massively was very negative towards ESO last year, and hasn't given much love to ESO this year either (though at least ESO was one of the nominated MMOs, for the Most Improved MMO of 2015), which is why I'm surprised to see ESO doing so well in the Voting Polls. Massively won't really break the internet with these news, but hey any good publicity is great for ESO. It will just have to do for now, while we wait for the main "Best MMO of 2015" event on MMORPG.com in the coming weeks.

Either way, I'll just leave the links below in the Spoilers, for anyone that would like to Vote (No Registration/Account required to Vote):

Best MMO of 2015:

Link: http://massivelyop.com/2015/12/18/massively-ops-best-of-2015-awards-mmo-of-the-year/

Currently:

1. Final Fantasy XIV -> 23%
2. Elder Scrolls Online -> 18%
3. Guild Wars 2 -> 11%
4. Star Wars: The Old Republic -> 9%
5. Marvel Heroes -> 8%

Most Improved MMO of 2015:

Link: http://massivelyop.com/2015/12/09/massively-ops-best-of-2015-awards-most-improved/

Currently:

1. Elder Scrolls Online -> 22%
2. Wildstar -> 21%
3. Star Wars: The Old Republic -> 11%
4. Guild Wars 2 -> 9%
5. Elite: Dangerous -> 8%

Most Underrated MMO of 2015:

Link: http://massivelyop.com/2015/12/07/massively-ops-best-of-2015-awards-most-underrated-mmo/

Currently:

1. Elder Scrolls Online -> 14%
2. The Secret World -> 13%
3. Elite: Dangerous -> 8%
4. Trove -> 8%
5. Star Trek Online -> 8%

Best MMO Patch or Expansion of 2015:

Link: http://massivelyop.com/2015/12/16/massively-ops-best-of-2015-awards-expansion-of-the-year/

Currently:

1. Guild Wars 2 - Heart of Thorns -> 35%
2. Final Fantasy XIV - Heavensward -> 20%
3. SWTOR - Knights of the Fallen Empire -> 14%
4. Elder Scrolls Online - Tamriel Unlimited or DLC -> 13%
5. WildStar - Reloaded -> 3%

Elebeth · December 2015

Thanks for reminding me @Bloodfang !
Also, bump

Volkodav · December 2015

Just went and added my votes! TY for the links!

DannyLV702 · December 2015

Just voted eso for the first option. It's now at 22% lol

Bloodfang · December 2015

Elebeth wrote: »

Thanks for reminding me @Bloodfang !
Also, bump

Hey thanks for posting, and you're welcome!

Volkodav wrote: »

Just went and added my votes! TY for the links!

No problem!

Bloodfang · December 2015

As I can't edit my topic post, I'll keep the Vote Results updated here:

The "Good" Awards

Best MMO of 2015 (#1 - out of 30):
Link: http://massivelyop.com/2015/12/18/massively-ops-best-of-2015-awards-mmo-of-the-year/

1. The Elder Scrolls Online -> 950 Votes (39%)
2. Final Fantasy XIV -> 377 Votes (16%)
3. Guild Wars 2 -> 224 Votes (9%)
4. Star Wars: The Old Republic -> 169 Votes (7%)
5. Marvel Heroes -> 110 Votes (5%)
6. World Of Warcraft -> 87 Votes (4%)
7. Wildstar -> 57 Votes (2%)
8. The Secret World -> 46 Votes (2%)
9. Elite: Dangerous -> 33 Votes (2%)
10. Lord of the Rings Online -> 33 Votes (2%)
11. EVE Online -> 32 Votes (1%)
12. Trove -> 18 Votes (1%)
13. Runescape -> 17 Votes (1%)
14. Star Trek Online -> 16 Votes (1%)
15. Rift -> 15 Votes (1%)
16. TERA -> 14 Votes (1%)
17. Skyforge -> 13 Votes (1%)
18. Archeage -> 13 Votes (1%)
19. Everquest 2 -> 12 Votes (1%)
20. World of Warships -> 8 Votes (0%)
21. Neverwinter -> 8 Votes (0%)
22. Dungeons & Dragons Online -> 7 Votes (0%)
23. World of Tanks -> 5 Votes (0%)
24. DC Universe Online -> 4 Votes (0%)
25. Devilian -> 4 Votes (0%)
26. Landmark -> 3 Votes (0%)
27. The Crew -> 3 Votes (0%)
28. Otherland -> 1 Votes (0%)
29. Cabal 2 -> 1 Votes (0%)
30. Wander -> 0 Votes (0%)

Most Improved MMO of 2015 (#1 - out of 29):
Link: http://massivelyop.com/2015/12/09/massively-ops-best-of-2015-awards-most-improved/

1. The Elder Scrolls Online -> 379 Votes (25%)
2. Wildstar -> 311 Votes (20%)
3. Star Wars: The Old Republic -> 200 Votes (13%)
4. Guild Wars 2 -> 127 Votes (8%)
5. Elite: Dangerous -> 113 Votes (7%)
6. Final Fantasy XIV -> 85 Votes (6%)
7. Marvel Heroes -> 41 Votes (3%)
8. The Secret World -> 38 Votes (2%)
9. EVE Online -> 32 Votes (2%)
10. Lord of the Rings Online -> 28 Votes (2%)
11. World of Warcraft -> 27 Votes (2%)
12. Star Trek Online -> 18 Votes (1%)
13. Archeage -> 14 Votes (1%)
14. Rift -> 13 Votes (1%)
15. TERA -> 13 Votes (1%)
16. Runescape -> 11 Votes (1%)
17. Everquest 2 -> 9 Votes (1%)
18. Trove -> 5 Votes (0%)
19. Dark Age of Camelot -> 5 Votes (0%)
20. Ultima Online -> 4 Votes (0%)
21. Landmark -> 4 Votes (0%)
22. Neverwinter -> 4 Votes 0%)
23. DC Universe Online -> 3 Votes (0%)
24. Dungeons & Dragons Online -> 3 Votes (0%)
25. Age of Wushu -> 3 Votes (0%)
26. Everquest -> 2 Votes (0%)
27. Defiance -> 2 Votes (0%)
28. Darkfall -> 2 Votes (0%)
29. Aion -> 2 Votes (0%)

Most Underrated MMO of 2015 (#1 - out of 19):
Link: http://massivelyop.com/2015/12/07/massively-ops-best-of-2015-awards-most-underrated-mmo/

1. The Elder Scrolls Online -> 320 Votes (16%)
2. The Secret World -> 262 Votes (13%)
3. Elite: Dangerous -> 161 Votes (8%)
4. Trove -> 158 Votes (8%)
5. Star Trek Online -> 151 Votes (8%)
6. Lord of the Rings Online -> 133 Votes (7%)
7. Star Wars: The Old Republic -> 120 Votes (6%)
8. Wildstar -> 114 Votes (6%)
9. Guild Wars 2 -> 86 Votes (4%)
10. Final Fantasy XIV -> 76 Votes (4%)
11. Marvel Heroes -> 71 Votes (4%)
12. EVE Online -> 60 Votes (3%)
13. World of Warcraft -> 52 Votes (3%)
14. Skyforge -> 46 Votes (2%)
15. Wander -> 45 Votes (2%)
16. Rift -> 45 Votes (2%)
17. TERA -> 32 Votes (2%)
18. Archeage -> 23 Votes (1%)
19. Neverwinter -> 15 Votes (1%)

Best MMO Patch or Expansion of 2015 (#3 - out of 31):
Link: http://massivelyop.com/2015/12/16/massively-ops-best-of-2015-awards-expansion-of-the-year/

1. Guild Wars 2 - Heart of Thorns -> 466 Votes (33%)
2. Final Fantasy XIV - Heavensward -> 271 Votes (19%)
3. The Elder Scrolls Online - Tamriel Unlimited or DLC -> 240 Votes (17%)
4. SWTOR - Knights of the Fallen Empire -> 199 Votes (14%)
5. WildStar - Reloaded -> 37 Votes (3%)
6. LOTRO - Update 17 Minas Tirith -> 29 Votes (2%)
7. Path of Exile - Awakening -> 26 Votes (2%)
8. The Secret World - Issue 11 & 12 -> 20 Votes (1%)
9. Elite: Dangerous - CQC or Horizons -> 20 Votes (1%)
10. World of Warcraft - Adventure Continues, Fury of Hellfire -> 20 Votes (1%)
11. EVE Online - Proteus through Frostline -> 15 Votes (1%)
12. RIFT - Into the Wilds -> 13 Votes (1%)
13. Dark Age of Camelot - Otherworlds -> 8 Votes (1%)
14. Marvel Heroes - Avengers Age of Ultron -> 8 Votes (1%)
15. EverQuest II - Terrors of Thalumbra -> 7 Votes (1%)
16. Dungeons & Dragons Online - Update 25-28 -> 5 Votes (0%)
17. Ultima Online - Time of Legends -> 4 Votes (0%)
18. RuneScape - DarkScape -> 4 Votes (0%)
19. Neverwinter - Underdark -> 4 Votes (0%)
20. Trove - Rise of the Shadow Tower -> 3 Votes (0%)
21. TERA - Knockout Update -> 3 Votes (0%)
22. DC Universe Online - Episode 13-19 -> 3 Votes (0%)
23. Villagers & Heroes - Reborn -> 3 Votes (0%)
24. EverQuest - The Broken Mirror -> 2 Votes (0%)
25. Age of Wushu - Awakening -> 2 Votes (0%)
26. Darkfall - Economy Expansion -> 1 Votes (0%)
27. Defiance - Alcatraz -> 1 Votes (0%)
28. Aion -Typhoon Abyss update -> 1 Votes (0%)
29. ArcheAge - Heroes Awaken -> 1 Votes (0%)
30. Cabal II - Ruins of the Gods -> 0 Votes (0%)
31. The Crew - Wild Run -> 0 Votes (0%)

Best MMO Studio of 2015 (#5 - out of 22):
Link: http://massivelyop.com/2015/12/10/massively-ops-best-of-2015-awards-studio-of-the-year/

1. Cloud Imperium -> 1.344 Votes (44%)
2. Studio Wildcard -> 478 Votes (16%)
3. Square-Enix -> 230 Votes (8%)
4. City State Entertainment -> 182 Votes (6%)
5. Bethesda & Zenimax -> 162 Votes (5%)
6. ArenaNet -> 117 Votes (4%)
7. Blizzard -> 77 Votes (3%)
8. Gazilion -> 57 Votes (2%)
9. Bioware -> 53 Votes (2%)
10. Funcom -> 53 Votes (2%)
11. CCP Games -> 46 Votes (2%)
12. Trion Worlds -> 38 Votes (1%)
13. Carbine Studios -> 34 Votes (1%)
14. Frontier -> 33 Votes (1%)
15. Turbine -> 23 Votes (1%)
16. PWE & Cryptic -> 16 Votes (1%)
17. ArtCraft Entertainment -> 13 Votes (0%)
18. Jagex -> 11 Votes (0%)
19. NCSoft -> 11 Votes (0%)
20. Portalarium -> 10 Votes (0%)
21. Daybreak -> 9 Votes (0%)
22. Bluehole & En Masse -> 8 Votes (0%)

The "Bad" Awards:

The Biggest Disappointment of 2015 (#3 - out of 8):
Link: http://massivelyop.com/2015/12/11/massively-ops-best-of-2015-awards-biggest-disappointment/

1. EverQuest Next's silence -> 902 Votes (50%)
2. World of Warcraft's content drought & sub losses -> 441 Votes (24%)
3. Elder Scrolls Online's veteran ranks -> 87 Votes (5%)
4. Elite: Dangerous lack of world persistence -> 76 Votes (4%)
5. Turbine's apparent scaleback -> 69 Votes (4%)
6. The Repopulation's delay -> 68 Votes (4%)
7. The loss of SOE Live -> 66 Votes (4%)
8. Pathfinder Online's meltdown -> 37 Votes (2%)

The Most Overrated MMO of 2015 (#6 out of 27):
Link: http://massivelyop.com/2015/12/11/leaderboard-whats-the-most-overrated-mmo/

1. World of Warcraft -> 405 Votes (20%)
2. Guild Wars 2 -> 265 Votes (13%)
3. Star Citizen -> 236 Votes (12%)
4. Final Fantasy XIV -> 139 Votes (7%)
5. ArcheAge -> 122 Votes (6%)
6. The Elder Scrolls Online -> 105 Votes (5%)
7. Star Wars: The Old Republic -> 90 Votes (5%)
8. EVE Online -> 73 Votes (4%)
9. Black Desert -> 72 Votes (4%)
10. WildStar -> 66 Votes (3%)
11. EverQuest Next -> 54 Votes (3%)
12. Skyforge -> 53 Votes (3%)
13. Trove -> 41 Votes (2%)
14. Blade & Soul -> 38 Votes (2%)
15. Elite: Dangerous -> 32 Votes (2%)
16. Marvel Heroes -> 31 Votes (2%)
17. TERA -> 25 Votes (1%)
18. Crowfall -> 24 Votes (1%)
19. Landmark -> 23 Votes (1%)
20. The Secret World -> 17 Votes (1%)
21. Devilian -> 14 Votes (1%)
22. Star Trek Online -> 12 Votes (1%)
23. Neverwinter -> 11 Votes (1%)
24. RIFT -> 9 Votes (0%)
25. Lord of the Rings Online -> 8 Votes (0%)
26. Camelot Unchained -> 5 Votes (0%)
27. Bless -> 3 Votes (0%)

Volkodav · December 2015

1. Final Fantasy XIV -> 297 Votes (22%)
2. The Elder Scrolls Online -> 287 Votes (21%)
3. Guild Wars 2 -> 152 Votes (11%)
4. Star Wars: The Old Republic -> 121 Votes (9%)
5. Marvel Heroes -> 99 Votes (7%)

We need one more percent to make us #1!

daemonios · December 2015

Done my part, and ESO seems to be #1 for now

WolfingHour · December 2015

That Final fantasy some number or other thing looks really sweet.

Bloodfang · December 2015

- ESO is currently beating FFXIV by 2% (29 Votes) in the "Best MMORPG of 2015" Category.
- Wildstar by 1% (17 Votes) in the "Most Improved MMO of 2015" Category.
- The Secret World by 2% (24 Votes) in the "Most Underrated MMO of 2015" Category.
- And it's on the #3 place in the "Best MMO Patch or Expansion of 2015" Category.

I'd like to especially mention that achieving all of this on that site, is quite an accomplishment. As Massively staff mostly finds good words only about GW2 and FFXIV, while they've been hating and mocking most other MMOs, ESO probably the most. At one point one of their staff even suggested, if ESO even exists anymore. Well what better way to prove them wrong, than with winning 3 Awards by actual people's votes.

Merry · December 2015

Go ESO!!! I voted (although I didnt vote for ESO for best expansion....sorry lol). This game deserves the win in the other categories though....go vote people.

M

Aeladiir · December 2015

I love all those games, I really do. They're great, I met all these MMOs and played them - but let's face it, they're losers. We're the winners here, guys.

Vote The Elder Scrolls Online - Let's make the MMO genre great again.

Darlgon · December 2015

I... CANT..Pull the trigger.. for ESO.

Ra'Shtar · December 2015

I voted for ESO but not because i'm a fanboy i have played many of those MMOs (except GW2) and ESO does has the requirements for the best of this year.
Edit: On the expansion vote i decided to vote for GW2 because i have heard Hearth of Thorns is really fun.

MikeB · December 2015

Wow, I'm surprised to see ESO on the list. But I guess when you look at the competition they aren't any better. You think they leave WoW off on purpose? Lol

Ra'Shtar · December 2015

MikeB wrote: »

Wow, I'm surprised to see ESO on the list. But I guess when you look at the competition they aren't any better. You think they leave WoW off on purpose? Lol

I bet they did lol i mean WoD is just so EWWWW

Bloodfang · December 2015

MikeB wrote: »

Wow, I'm surprised to see ESO on the list. But I guess when you look at the competition they aren't any better. You think they leave WoW off on purpose? Lol

Actually almost all MMOs are on the list, including WoW (all popular ones for sure).

On the Best MMO of 2015, WoW is #6 with 65 Votes (3%), compared to #1 ESO -> 641 Votes (34%)
On the Most Improved MMO of 2015, WoW is #11 with 27 Votes (2%), compared to #1 ESO -> 328 Votes (23%)
On the Most Underrated MMO of 2015, WoW is #13 with 52 Votes (3%), compared to #1 ESO -> 297 Votes (15%)
And as far as "good" awards go, on the Best MMO Patch or Expansion, WoW is #9 with 20 Votes (1%), compared to #1 GW2 -> 461 Votes (34%).

However WoW did particularly "well" in 2 other categories:

- Biggest Disappointment of 2015 -> #2 WoW with 433 Votes (25%), behind #1 EQ Next (because it didn't release yet) -> 873 Votes (49%).
- Most Overrated MMO of 2015 -> #1 WoW with 394 Votes (20%), ahead of #2 GW2 -> 263 Votes (13%), and #3 Star Citizen -> 236 Votes (12%).

UltimaJoe777 · December 2015

How does ESO win most underrated? The ones it managed to beat there I've never even heard of which makes sense as far as I'm concerned but ESO is most underrated? Just... how? Is it all those review sites giving it negative feedback or what?

Bloodfang · December 2015

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

How does ESO win most underrated? The ones it managed to beat there I've never even heard of which makes sense as far as I'm concerned but ESO is most underrated? Just... how? Is it all those review sites giving it negative feedback or what?

Technically ESO is one of the most popular MMOs today, so it "shouldn't" be the Most Underrated. However, considering there is still so many negative reviews from 2 years ago, and ESO WAS/IS the best MMO of 2014 and 2015 respectively, ESO should be WAY more popular today.

Robo_Hobo · December 2015

Nice to see ESO winning in a lot of categories, especially since, as others have said, it gets a lot of negative reveiws almost everywhere. I haven't checked in awhile though, so maybe that's changed too.

UltimaJoe777 · December 2015

Bloodfang wrote: »

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

How does ESO win most underrated? The ones it managed to beat there I've never even heard of which makes sense as far as I'm concerned but ESO is most underrated? Just... how? Is it all those review sites giving it negative feedback or what?

Technically ESO is one of the most popular MMOs today, so it "shouldn't" be the Most Underrated. However, considering there is still so many negative reviews from 2 years ago, and ESO WAS/IS the best MMO of 2014 and 2015 respectively, ESO should be WAY more popular today.

Well aside from the 2 years ago bit I agree since technically ESO released April 2014 lol so yeah must be a lot of haters putting in votes there just to make ESO look bad...

Shunravi · December 2015

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

Bloodfang wrote: »

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

How does ESO win most underrated? The ones it managed to beat there I've never even heard of which makes sense as far as I'm concerned but ESO is most underrated? Just... how? Is it all those review sites giving it negative feedback or what?

Technically ESO is one of the most popular MMOs today, so it "shouldn't" be the Most Underrated. However, considering there is still so many negative reviews from 2 years ago, and ESO WAS/IS the best MMO of 2014 and 2015 respectively, ESO should be WAY more popular today.

Well aside from the 2 years ago bit I agree since technically ESO released April 2014 lol so yeah must be a lot of haters putting in votes there just to make ESO look bad...

Quite a few. Some internet celebrities and their blind fans too.

Bloodfang · December 2015

*Updated the Vote Results on the #6 comment to include all listed MMOs, and Award Categories, even the bad ones (Best MMO Studio of 2015, The Biggest Disappointment of 2015, and The Most Overrated MMO of 2015).

UltimaJoe777 · December 2015

Bloodfang wrote: »

*Updated the Vote Results on the #6 comment to include all listed MMOs, and Award Categories, even the bad ones (Best MMO Studio of 2015, The Biggest Disappointment of 2015, and The Most Overrated MMO of 2015).

Overrated list sounds about right, but Biggest Disappointment is Vet Ranks? I'd rather vote the Leveling System due to how easy it is, not just Vet Ranks.

Genomic · December 2015

Looks like to be only a few hundred people voted in each category. Out of 10's of millions of MMO players. Either Massively is almost entirely ignored by the MMO community, or the genre is in worse state than I thought. Regardless, with those tiny numbers, I'd put almost zero real world value or significance in the results. Heck, with those small numbers you could vote stack just by posting a 'vote for game x' in the 'game x' forums.

Jultzy · December 2015

Genomic wrote: »

Looks like to be only a few hundred people voted in each category. Out of 10's of millions of MMO players. Either Massively is almost entirely ignored by the MMO community, or the genre is in worse state than I thought. Regardless, with those tiny numbers, I'd put almost zero real world value or significance in the results. Heck, with those small numbers you could vote stack just by posting a 'vote for game x' in the 'game x' forums.

Most people just want to play the game and don't really care about forums etc.

Bloodfang · December 2015

Genomic wrote: »

Looks like to be only a few hundred people voted in each category. Out of 10's of millions of MMO players. Either Massively is almost entirely ignored by the MMO community, or the genre is in worse state than I thought. Regardless, with those tiny numbers, I'd put almost zero real world value or significance in the results. Heck, with those small numbers you could vote stack just by posting a 'vote for game x' in the 'game x' forums.

24k people have posted 10 comments on this forum in the past 2 years (Beta + Launch), out of 5 million registered Beta accounts, and 5+ million copies sold on all platforms. How many do you think would bother voting on an online poll? This topic alone has barely ~750 views (out of which probably at least 100 just mine) even though millions are playing ESO each month. 90% of players never even visit the forums, let alone vote on a poll.

Massively is not the biggest MMO site, but it's big enough to have some reputation worldwide. And as I've said before, Massively site is pretty much a fansite of FFXIV and GW2, which is why it's unusual to see ESO comfortably winning. Also the biggest MMO competition will be held on MMORPG.com too this year, where ESO got awarded as the Best MMO of 2014 by actual people's votes too. This year ESO was awarded as the Best MMO of 2015 by MMORPG staff already.

Mumyo · December 2015

Funny because playernumbers say that eso sucks in comparison.

Volkodav · December 2015

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

How does ESO win most underrated? The ones it managed to beat there I've never even heard of which makes sense as far as I'm concerned but ESO is most underrated? Just... how? Is it all those review sites giving it negative feedback or what?

It means that the reviewers didnt have enough respect for ESO.They think it's not good enough to rate.So wrong,and this just showed them!

Tyrion87 · December 2015

Woohoo! As I see, thanks to our help ESO became the leader of most of the polls. I voted for the game too, obviously except for the most overrated game poll

For me the game should receive 100% votes in the most improved game of 2015 cause it made a huge step forward.

Bloodfang · December 2015

UltimaJoe777 wrote: »

Bloodfang wrote: »

*Updated the Vote Results on the #6 comment to include all listed MMOs, and Award Categories, even the bad ones (Best MMO Studio of 2015, The Biggest Disappointment of 2015, and The Most Overrated MMO of 2015).

Overrated list sounds about right, but Biggest Disappointment is Vet Ranks? I'd rather vote the Leveling System due to how easy it is, not just Vet Ranks.

I personally never hated Vet Ranks, I just played through them in the same way as 1-49 (Reading/Listening to all dialogue). Though it kinda sucks doing the same thing all over again with alts. I don't think I've ever played MMO with as much levelling content as ESO, not even close as much really.

As for the "Levelling System", it used to be way harder, especially in the Veteran Zones. However ZOS had to nerf it, because too many people were complaining about it. When templars were pretty much broken at launch, it was almost impossible soloing 3 veteran mobs at once. I'd like to see different difficulty options though, something similar to what Hack'n'Slash games have (Diablo, Path of Exile).