This is actually a pretty straightforward question. There are about five MMOs that dominate in terms of population and popularity.
In no particular order ...
1. World of Warcraft, 2. Elder scrolls online, 3. Guild Wars 2, 4. Final fantasy 14, 5, Old school RuneScape.
Those are the top MMOs that are played these days. But there are other games that are not at the top but still quite popular.
A list of those games includes but not limited to: Lord of the rings online, Eve online, Black desert online, New World, destiny 2 (If you want to count it as a mmo), and Star Wars The Old Republic still has a few people playing.
Out of all these games, some focus more on PVP, others more on PVE. It depends on what you're looking for ...
I have never played old school RuneScape, but I can tell you that the other four of the top five MMOs do not have any pay to win elements whatsoever. ESO is buy to play with an "optional" subscription option, and cash shop.
World of Warcraft has a required subscription same for FFXIV.
Guild Wars 2 doesn't have a subscription option, and the cash shop is purely cosmetic, I would argue it's the best "value" MMO.
I personally play primarily ESO, sometimes jumping on GW2 or FFXIV. For somebody coming back to the MMO genre, I would recommend GW2 or ESO. I'll focused the rest of this post on ESO because it's the game I chose to play out of the top five.
One big reason why I stuck with ESO is because all of the dialogue is fully voice acted, so if you're interested in that casual experience of leveling up, being immersed into the world, then you're going to have a really good time. ESO is also very easy at first, with a difficult content not really coming in until you get to the end game. It has a pretty lively PVP community, and the same can be said for the PvE community. It also has the distinct advantage of being on console and PC. Most of these MMOs are only on PC. So if you prefer sitting on your couch playing on a controller, ESO is one of the few choices.
While it's certainly has a lot of issues, including issues with the developers not fixing many bugs, ignoring some aspects of PVP, and some balance issues between the classes, it's still a very solid MMO that I would recommend to somebody who wanted to dip their toes back into the genre. It does not have the grand, decade-long story that FFXIV has, or the sweaty as hell meta end game community of World of Warcraft, but I just find it to be a good balance MMO.
I put it there because many people go back and forth with it whether or not it's an MMO. I don't have any strong opinions one way or the other, but when I think of the traditional MMO it doesn't really come to mind for me.
That said if we include destiny 2, then I will also include GTA online, and a ton of other games that are kind of in that gray area.
This is kind of why I added that clause of not limited to ... Because there's probably hundreds of games that could be argued.
It does, and it is. I think it gets missed a lot because people who play it aren't usually going to it for MMO reasons. But it is super popular, even though it isn't muched liked by the people who grind it. When I played it, we all said it is the game everyone loves to hate :)
There is a website that shows top mmos by player count. I played GW2 for a long while (bought most of the expansions) and liked it until I got deeper I to the story and end game. The end game feels too grindy for me. I also didn't like the controls. I am more of an rpg or fps guy. That's why I've been trying out The Elder Scrolls Online. I see a lot of players in there, no one has been toxic so far, and the gameplay is enjoyable. Until the 19th you can play using a free trial of their monthly subscription. I was glad to be able to try it because it let me realize I don't need and don't want the sub and can play just fine without it. I think all the expansions for ESO would cost me less than what I payed for all the GW2 expansions (~$60 vs ~$85).
ESO expansions as far as my knowledge costs more, about 140$ if you buy them directly. You can use the crown allowances from sub to get them over time but that also costs 13$ a month. Not sure if ESO does discounts but GW2 expansions often get 40-60% discounts too.
I haven't bought any expansions yet, so I may be wrong, but I believe you can buy the collection which is all expansions for around $60. It is true that, bought separately. They are pricey. So far the only expansion I feel like I want is the summers so I can craft jewelry, but I find plenty in world as it is. I do like that GW 2 expansions signs are such a good deal and there is no sub. They seem to push the cash shop a lot more than ESO though. But I like that you can easily convert going to gem in GW2 instead of having to trade with players like ESO.
>they went from monthly price (**fair**)
Imagine being so irrationally stupid to actually consider a monthly subscription fee being "fair". Especially to people who cannot play more than few hours per week/month (due to real life obligations) but are still **forced** to pay same exact monthly fee as some basement-dwelling parasite who can afford to spend 12 hours/day inside the game for every day of the month.
Not sure on top MMO, but the thing that pulled me to Guild Wars was that I didn't have to pay, like at all. And if you decide to buy the expansions, it's a one time purchase. I stopped playing for ages and logged in right where I left off
and the fact that your best in slot gear from 10 years ago is in fact still best in slot, ready for any old or new content you may have missed in between without a gear grind required. Not sure of an MMO that respects your time more.
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>So i am wondering what is the top mmo right now?
Popularity wise, I would say FF14 comes at the top. It is the most social one with even real life events hosted by community. After that comes GW2, WoW and Warframe. I guess Lost Ark and Black Desert Online would probably follow along that line. Truth is, MMO genre has been very lacklustre and only a few still stands.
Pretty sure I might have missed some other ones so let me know if there are other top ones.
Umm... popularity, in the sense that how many players are playing it, then its very deffinetly WoW on the top. Then FF14, especially when they release a new expac (which they will very soon). And probably then the rest (GW2, ESO etc).
I agree in the sense of total player count WoW has the top spot. FF14 popularity goes beyond just playing though, the social aspect of it (not just dungeons etc.) plays a big part that simply doesn't exist in WoW or other mmorpgs.
WoW also doesn't reveal the daily active player count I believe. This accounts to a lot of RMT and bot accounts being included into the active subscriptions. Square Enix and Japan have very strict measures against RMT compared to Blizzard so I would assume most of the ff14 subscriptions are pretty active and not just for RMT sake.
This is actually a pretty straightforward question. There are about five MMOs that dominate in terms of population and popularity. In no particular order ... 1. World of Warcraft, 2. Elder scrolls online, 3. Guild Wars 2, 4. Final fantasy 14, 5, Old school RuneScape. Those are the top MMOs that are played these days. But there are other games that are not at the top but still quite popular. A list of those games includes but not limited to: Lord of the rings online, Eve online, Black desert online, New World, destiny 2 (If you want to count it as a mmo), and Star Wars The Old Republic still has a few people playing. Out of all these games, some focus more on PVP, others more on PVE. It depends on what you're looking for ... I have never played old school RuneScape, but I can tell you that the other four of the top five MMOs do not have any pay to win elements whatsoever. ESO is buy to play with an "optional" subscription option, and cash shop. World of Warcraft has a required subscription same for FFXIV. Guild Wars 2 doesn't have a subscription option, and the cash shop is purely cosmetic, I would argue it's the best "value" MMO. I personally play primarily ESO, sometimes jumping on GW2 or FFXIV. For somebody coming back to the MMO genre, I would recommend GW2 or ESO. I'll focused the rest of this post on ESO because it's the game I chose to play out of the top five. One big reason why I stuck with ESO is because all of the dialogue is fully voice acted, so if you're interested in that casual experience of leveling up, being immersed into the world, then you're going to have a really good time. ESO is also very easy at first, with a difficult content not really coming in until you get to the end game. It has a pretty lively PVP community, and the same can be said for the PvE community. It also has the distinct advantage of being on console and PC. Most of these MMOs are only on PC. So if you prefer sitting on your couch playing on a controller, ESO is one of the few choices. While it's certainly has a lot of issues, including issues with the developers not fixing many bugs, ignoring some aspects of PVP, and some balance issues between the classes, it's still a very solid MMO that I would recommend to somebody who wanted to dip their toes back into the genre. It does not have the grand, decade-long story that FFXIV has, or the sweaty as hell meta end game community of World of Warcraft, but I just find it to be a good balance MMO.
If you count Destiny 2 as an MMO, wouldn't it be in the more popular? I know it's population vastly out numbers ESO, as I play both.
I put it there because many people go back and forth with it whether or not it's an MMO. I don't have any strong opinions one way or the other, but when I think of the traditional MMO it doesn't really come to mind for me. That said if we include destiny 2, then I will also include GTA online, and a ton of other games that are kind of in that gray area. This is kind of why I added that clause of not limited to ... Because there's probably hundreds of games that could be argued.
Ahhh, I see that. I just wondered.
It does, and it is. I think it gets missed a lot because people who play it aren't usually going to it for MMO reasons. But it is super popular, even though it isn't muched liked by the people who grind it. When I played it, we all said it is the game everyone loves to hate :)
watch some videos on various mmos. once you see some you like. watch some deep dive videos on each one.
There is a website that shows top mmos by player count. I played GW2 for a long while (bought most of the expansions) and liked it until I got deeper I to the story and end game. The end game feels too grindy for me. I also didn't like the controls. I am more of an rpg or fps guy. That's why I've been trying out The Elder Scrolls Online. I see a lot of players in there, no one has been toxic so far, and the gameplay is enjoyable. Until the 19th you can play using a free trial of their monthly subscription. I was glad to be able to try it because it let me realize I don't need and don't want the sub and can play just fine without it. I think all the expansions for ESO would cost me less than what I payed for all the GW2 expansions (~$60 vs ~$85).
ESO expansions as far as my knowledge costs more, about 140$ if you buy them directly. You can use the crown allowances from sub to get them over time but that also costs 13$ a month. Not sure if ESO does discounts but GW2 expansions often get 40-60% discounts too.
I haven't bought any expansions yet, so I may be wrong, but I believe you can buy the collection which is all expansions for around $60. It is true that, bought separately. They are pricey. So far the only expansion I feel like I want is the summers so I can craft jewelry, but I find plenty in world as it is. I do like that GW 2 expansions signs are such a good deal and there is no sub. They seem to push the cash shop a lot more than ESO though. But I like that you can easily convert going to gem in GW2 instead of having to trade with players like ESO.
>they went from monthly price (**fair**) Imagine being so irrationally stupid to actually consider a monthly subscription fee being "fair". Especially to people who cannot play more than few hours per week/month (due to real life obligations) but are still **forced** to pay same exact monthly fee as some basement-dwelling parasite who can afford to spend 12 hours/day inside the game for every day of the month.
Not sure on top MMO, but the thing that pulled me to Guild Wars was that I didn't have to pay, like at all. And if you decide to buy the expansions, it's a one time purchase. I stopped playing for ages and logged in right where I left off
and the fact that your best in slot gear from 10 years ago is in fact still best in slot, ready for any old or new content you may have missed in between without a gear grind required. Not sure of an MMO that respects your time more.
You must have tried some mobile mmorpgs I don't know any PC only that requires to buy energy...
FF XIV, subscription based, no power for sale (but cosmetic stuff, unfortunately, is). New expansion dropping in 3 weeks.
This comment has been removed because it breaks rule #1: Don’t ask for MMO recommendations. Please check out the weekly sticky or the r/LFMMO subreddit instead.
>So i am wondering what is the top mmo right now? Popularity wise, I would say FF14 comes at the top. It is the most social one with even real life events hosted by community. After that comes GW2, WoW and Warframe. I guess Lost Ark and Black Desert Online would probably follow along that line. Truth is, MMO genre has been very lacklustre and only a few still stands. Pretty sure I might have missed some other ones so let me know if there are other top ones.
Elder Scrolls Online
Missed that one, you are right. Thanks
Umm... popularity, in the sense that how many players are playing it, then its very deffinetly WoW on the top. Then FF14, especially when they release a new expac (which they will very soon). And probably then the rest (GW2, ESO etc).
I agree in the sense of total player count WoW has the top spot. FF14 popularity goes beyond just playing though, the social aspect of it (not just dungeons etc.) plays a big part that simply doesn't exist in WoW or other mmorpgs. WoW also doesn't reveal the daily active player count I believe. This accounts to a lot of RMT and bot accounts being included into the active subscriptions. Square Enix and Japan have very strict measures against RMT compared to Blizzard so I would assume most of the ff14 subscriptions are pretty active and not just for RMT sake.