MMORPGs I Still Actively Play and Genuinely Recommend

The end of 2021 is almost here. MMOs are preparing to enter maintenance mode for the following month, families are preparing visits, Christmas is right around the corner. New MMOs have launched, some have succeeded, some have failed. Some have faded into obscurity almost as quickly as they gained mainstream attention.
New MMOs have been announced for 2022, for 2023. We have MMOs we’re still anticipating, that we hope have a substantial enough impact to change the direction the MMORPG genre is headed.
Overall it’s been a pretty good year. We’ve had a lot of titles to play, and more time than ever to play them. Of which I have personally played many. With this experience, this knowledge in hand, I feel it necessary to dedicate a little time to showcase what best represents the genre at present.
Where if you were to show someone that wasn’t interested in MMOs any of these games – it would carry the potential to persuade them otherwise.

There are quite a number of MMOs still active, and honestly there are several I would love to include like TERA, Blade & Soul, Vindictus, Mabinogi or SoulWorker. But these titles are supposed to excel in a variety of areas, more so than any other in their respective genre.
And as much as this might offend some of you, it needs to be said: Most MMORPGs are just not very good.
Now for this list, I’m going to be breaking down every facet of the game. Graphics. Combat. Narrative. World. Community. Content. Population.
If you don’t see your favorite game here, then that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily bad. But it does mean that it definitely didn’t leave as lasting of an impression on me as any of the following.

I’m going to start this off with Black Desert Online. BDO is currently over 5 years old, releasing in North America and Europe back in 2016.
Since releasing, it has gone on to become the benchmark for the genre in terms of combat, gameplay and character creation.
Graphically, there is no MMORPG that even comes close to competing with Black Desert. From the stunning world, to the detail in your characters. The gorgeous outfits, and the special effects when engaged in combat.
Granted, while this is most definitely a blessing, it also comes as a curse as there are many players unable to run the game without severe lag.
In terms of combat, many players believe Black Desert utilizes what is arguably the best action combat in the genre. And honestly, I can’t really contest that opinion. I’ve played many action MMOs and this easily has the best looking and most fluid combat you’ll find.
You’re not limited to a hotbar – a small selection of abilities. Rather, you have many different skills that you’re required to remember the combinations for. Which, while admittedly too difficult for me to remember, provides a lot of challenge and depth for others.
BDO has never been known to have a gripping narrative. You’re kinda just.. thrown right into the game. Your little Black Spirit companion gives you a bit of context as to what’s going on, and then you’re off on your very own journey!
The world is incredibly large, and 100% open. There are absolutely no loading screens present forcing you into segregated zones. You can run from one point of the map to the other, then sail around the world in a circle and still never hit a single loading screen.
This type of world brings a whole new level of freedom to the game, especially with regards to the open-world PvP. In MMOs like Blade & Soul you could potentially trigger a loading screen and save yourself if someone was hot on your tail. That isn’t the case here.
Unfortunately, as is common in most games with some type of player vs player focus, the community can be a toxic cesspool of macho man-children trying to dominate one another, with the benefit that online anonymity provides them.
There are some amazing, kind people that play the game, don’t get me wrong, but you’ll quickly realize they’re typically in the vocal minority.
Black Desert is a grindy game. For years you’d make your character, then immediately set out in a bid to eliminate as many monsters as possible to level. Questing wasn’t really required, and the story was.. absent.
However they’ve attempted to remedy that by adding a little more of a focus on the story within the game, and with the introduction of the game’s very first dungeon, seem interested in providing players more than just a repetitious grind against the same monsters.
Outside of the dungeon, monster grind and various forms of PvP, there’s currently nothing else to really do. Well.. life-skilling, I guess. Other than that, the game can be quite limiting if you’re not into any of the aforementioned features.
The playerbase is fairly large, averaging several hundred thousand active players per month. It’s unconfirmed exactly how many are present in the game at any time, but every time I’ve played has always been bursting at the seams with players.
Ultimately, Black Desert excels at quite a few things. It’s a gorgeous game. It has an incredible character creator. Fantastic combat. A stunning open world. Lots of PvE and PvP content, and a healthy population.
Yet it also has a pretty poor narrative, toxic community and the PvE can be limiting if you’re not into grinding monsters in the open world.
Nevertheless, this also happens to be THE most popular action MMORPG available right now.

An action MMO that is slightly less popular is The Elder Scrolls Online. ESO is currently 7 years old, having launched all the way back in 2014.
This is an MMO set within the much larger Elder Scrolls universe. Players wanted an Elder Scrolls 6 after Skyrim, but got presented with an MMO set within the Elder Scrolls world instead. And while it wasn’t received too well at the beginning, after repeated updates, it has gone on to become one of the more polished titles out there.
Graphically, The Elder Scrolls Online looks great. You can tell it’s a Western MMO as unlike various Asian MMOs, it has more of a medieval fantasy feel with very fantasy-inspired races. The world is vibrant, although admittedly character animations and special effects leave a little to be desired, as do the character models.
Players have very strong opinions with regards to the combat. On the one hand, animation canceling is a thing, and I personally find that a tedious mechanic to have in a game. But the sheer depth they go to to allow for individual class and character identity is unparalleled.
You can run around as a dual-axe wielding ninja with a robe and metal hat shooting fireballs and healing. Yup, try doing that in literally ANY other MMO out there right now. You can’t.
The narrative to me is one of the clear selling points of the game. While The Elder Scrolls games have always presented players with seemingly endless freedom – lengthy side-quests, deep main stories, ESO is no exception.
Every zone in this game feels entirely alive, with their own cast of unique characters, backstories, stories that continue to evolve and develop as you move from area to area. Add onto that the entire game is voiced – with an exceptional voice cast, and you got a damn narrative!
The world is enormous. However it utilizes segregated zones, meaning that there are small loading screens separating regions. I will note that the zones are ridiculously large though, that you can go hours exploring and questing and not encounter a single loading screen.
The community itself, from what I’ve come across, seems relatively helpful. There’s some toxicity there – that’s to be expected, but that’s typically restricted to PvP or instanced content.
In terms of content, ESO has more than most. A lot of variety in terms of dungeons and raids, public dungeons, PvP modes, quests – both main and side-quests, as once again, everything, including side-quests are entirely voice acted.
The playerbase is definitely large, one of the 5 largest MMOs, realistically. And it’s understandable as to why that is.
This is one hell of an MMO. Heck, you could tackle this entirely solo – as a single player game and you’d have just as entertaining of an experience as you would in any other Elder Scrolls game.
It has a great fantasy-aesthetic. Its combat isn’t amazing, but it’s good enough to spend large quantities of time hacking, slashing and shooting fireballs at enemies. It has an absolutely astounding narrative that is fully voice acted. A large world, albeit with segregated zones which might turn some people away.
A solid community of players. An almost exorbitant amount of content to consume. And most importantly, has a very large playerbase. As nobody wants to play a dead game.

Speaking of “dead games,” though, people often claim that Guild Wars 2 is a dead MMO, when contrary to popular belief, with the End of Dragons expansion literally right around the corner, the opposite couldn’t be any more true. Guild Wars 2 was released back in 2012 – yes, as we move higher through this list, the MMOs continue to get progressively older.
Is that a coincidence? Regardless, Guild Wars 2 was ArenaNet’s attempt at turning their successful Guild Wars intellectual property into a much larger franchise. And it worked. Well, for the most part.
They still have to contend with NCSoft being an absolutely atrocious parent company, and there are fans that believe they should’ve stuck with the original Guild Wars formula instead of opting to turn it into an MMO.
Graphically, Guild Wars 2 has definitely begun to show its age a little bit. It’s still a gorgeous game, there’s no arguing that. Stunning zones that are bright and vibrant, full of life. A surplus of unique cosmetic items – I mean, honestly, there’s a reason this is often referred to as “Fashion Wars.”
The combat is somewhere this game excels as well. Instead of utilizing a tab-target or action combat system, Guild Wars 2 melds the two together to make for an interesting hybrid action combat system, where you have the added benefit of action combat, with the slower pace and control of a tab-target control scheme.
The game allows players to equip more than 1 weapon type, with each weapon presenting players with a different selection of abilities to use, so swapping between weapons makes for entirely new playstyles that provide unique opportunities for players to more easily adapt to the situation.
The narrative in Guild Wars 2 is one of a mere handful of titles in the MMO genre that actually have a worthwhile story. I daresay Guild Wars 2 even makes top 3. And given that the entire story takes place in JRPG-inspired scenes that are fully voice-acted? Yeah, there’s nothing you can do but praise the dev team in this regard.
The world, much like The Elder Scrolls Online is segregated. Meaning that there are loading screens separating each and every zone from the other. However the areas are so large and filled with unique events, story, bosses and players that you never even realize the loading screens are present.
Especially given that the leveling is a little slower in this than other MMOs I’m used to, thus requiring players spend additional time in each zone.
I think if we gave out awards based on how kind, welcoming and helpful a community could potentially be, Guild Wars 2 would take the cake. I’ve had people run across the map to come res me after I died to. Players form groups to help me take down an elite I couldn’t do on my own.
Just stop by when out questing and ask if there’s anything I need. I cannot stress how wholesome this community is. Except for PvP. You see the normal types of players there. Name calling. e-peen measuring.
There’s a plethora of content to consume, dungeons, raids, fractals, new events every other month, world bosses, zone elites, crafting, world exploration. The collection of as many outfits as you can possibly find. I think Guild Wars 2 actually has more to do than most other MMOs I’ve played.
I just wish more people did dungeons. Dungeons are an aspect of MMOs that both Mrs Stix and I love, and seeing a lot of players opt out of running them is a little disappointing.
In terms of population, with the new End of Dragons expansion on the immediate horizon – literally just 2 months away, the playerbase is booming. It’s always been a highly populated game, but with their slow update schedules it left the playerbase on the decline for an extended period of time.
With its unique questing system, its sheer amount of content to consume, its great looking world, engaging hybrid combat system, addicting narrative, large world filled with things to explore, unrivaled wholesome community and active playerbase, there’s no denying Guild Wars 2 is one of the best MMORPGs right now.

Yet, and I know this is going to be quite the contentious opinion, it isn’t the best MMORPG.

Okay, I know I just lost a handful of subscribers with that comment, but thankfully most of you understand the difference between opinions and fact. This is, after all, a completely subjective opinion of what I believe to be the best MMORPG to me.
Final Fantasy XIV launched back in 2010, and was an absolute, critical failure. After investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the game, Square was about ready to call it quits and shut the project down. Thankfully they didn’t, because with the “A Realm Reborn” overhaul, it has gone on to become the most populated, and most popular MMORPG at present.
Actually managing to dethrone the reigning titan for the last decade, World of Warcraft.
Graphically, much like Guild Wars 2, the game certainly shows a little age. Mainly the early leveling areas that I hope one day Square put some time into optimizing, as expansion zones look absolutely stunning. Abilities are almost a little overwhelming at times, but for someone like me that enjoys a lot of effects going on at once, I couldn’t be happier.
I’m not a fan of using abilities, seeing bosses use abilities that look like being slapped in the face with a wet noodle. I want to feel my screen shake, see every inch of it enveloped in special effects. I guess I’m a bit of an effects junkie and I never knew it.
Combat is.. debatable. I’m a fan of it. I think, once you get used to the global cooldowns on abilities, and begin to tackle more competitive content, the tab-target combat system makes perfect sense. People often compare it to other tab-target games like WoW, ArcheAge or Aion, but honestly.. this isn’t like them.
The narrative present is the best you’ll find. Well, if you’re a fan of dark Shounen Anime or JRPGs. Me being a fan of both, fell in love with the story and the characters. Sure, A Realm Reborn can get slow and tedious, especially finishing the post-game content.
And there are dips in terms of speed periodically throughout every expansion, but I’ve never found myself so enthralled in an MMO, so invested in the characters as I have in this. Typically it’s “jump in, speed level and hit endgame as soon as possible.” And I know a lotta you relate to that on a deep, personal level.
The world is exactly like Guild Wars 2 and The Elder Scrolls Online. Well, not entirely. A Realm Reborn features smaller zones, but every expansion has increased limitations on size and content available within each zone, so much so that as soon as you hit Heavensward it feels like an entirely different game.
Yes, the world is segregated, but that in no way inhibits your ability to explore it without issue.
The community is… good-ish. They’re kind. They’re welcoming. They’re very active, and have a lot of RP’ers. But it can get very toxic in competitive content, and players get very aggressive when you start attacking the game.
I wouldn’t say they’re necessarily “white knights,” but “ardent defenders,” definitely. Most of the community, though, is kind and supportive of one another. I’ve seen very little negativity or toxicity outside of Extreme Trials, or Savage and Ultimate Raids.
In terms of content… there’s more to do in this than any other MMO I’ve played outside of World of Warcraft. Dungeons. Raids. Savage raids. Ultimate raids. Trials. Extreme trials. 24-player Alliance raids. FATEs. Leves. Crafting and professions. Glamor grinding. Leveling every job on a single character. Beast tribe quests. Your Relic Weapon.
And I can – no joke – keep going. There’s just a ridiculous selection of content to participate in, to consume. So much so that you’ll almost never be bored.
And there are more players to run all of this content with than any other MMO. Yes, Final Fantasy XIV is the most populated MMORPG in 2021, and will be the most populated MMO in 2022 as well. It’s unreal to have been here since 2014 and to have seen the monumental growth this game has had. To see the game this has become.
Other than the speed at which you progress through the game in the pre-Heavensward zones, I daresay there isn’t a single thing that Final Fantasy XIV does wrong. This game is as close to being as perfect as I think I’ll find.
The game looks gorgeous, especially after leaving A Realm Reborn. It has intuitive, engaging combat that requires forethought. A compelling, unrivaled narrative. A large, lore-rich world. A community that is welcoming, kind and passionate. More content than pretty much any other MMO. And the largest, most active playerbase in the genre.

And I know what you’re thinking. “Wait, what? 4 MMOs? Why only 4 MMOs?” Because, unfortunately, while there are plenty of other great titles out there: RuneScape, Vindictus, PSO2, Mabinogi.. I just couldn’t bring myself to play any of them long-term.
I’ve found everything I wanted in each of these games, and continue to come back to them year after year. This is proof of their quality, a quality I haven’t found in any other MMO outside of WoW, but.. well, WoW is.. yeah. A topic for another video.