The Best MMORPG Alternatives To Play In 2018 If You’re Disappointed With Bless Online!

So, I’ve actually had quite a few people leave comments, DM me on Discord, Twitter, Facebook.. pretty much anywhere you can reach me, has had people asking me to tell them what MMORPG to play since they were let down by Bless.
There are still a lot of MMORPGs out there at present, and I guess with this new influx of interest in the genre I may as well direct you all towards the better ones currently available.
That way you waste, maybe 5, maybe 10 minutes of your time watching this video as opposed to taking the time to look for them yourselves.

Now – I wish Bless no ill will, unlike a lot of other Youtuber’s and streamers right now. I don’t hate the game, I don’t have any intention on seeing the game fall.
In all due honesty, I truly hope Neowiz does whatever is necessary to turn the game around.
If you want to know my opinion of the game though – you can find the link to it in the description, or, click through to it at the end of the video.

Regardless, as I stated, there are a lot of MMORPGs out there right now. A couple pay to play, a few buy to play, but most free to play. So with that in mind, I’m going to list the best MMO alternatives to Bless along with their positives and negatives.
That way you know what to expect before jumping in.

I’ll start this list off with one of the better ones.
This is probably one of the closest alternatives you’re gonna get. A fantastical world filled with magic. Tab-target combat. An actual story to follow through that sets up the game, each patch, and every expansion.
Final Fantasy XIV is unique in so that it allows you access to every single class in the game on a single character. That provides players the ability to play everything on the same character.
The game also features additional jobs – acting, in essence, as extensions to each individual class.
These consist of Paladin, Warrior, Summoner, Scholar, Bard, Dragoon, Monk, Ninja, Black Mage, White Mage, Astrologian, Dark Knight, Machinist, Samurai, and finally the Red Mage.
Final Fantasy is absolutely packed with content and has already had 2 expansions released thus far – adding new continents, features, races and classes to the game.
Their combat however is often complained about by people that aren’t fond of tab-target combat, insisting that the gameplay is far too slow to enjoy.
There is also a lot of content to get through if you’re a new player. So much so that the first handful of hours are spent mainly going from NPC to NPC trying to leave your starting city.
However, the story is so enthralling to partake of that once you overcome the initial hurdle of the beginner experience you’ll see that Final Fantasy XIV has more to offer than almost any other MMORPG.
There are so many dungeons and raids to participate in, there are FATE’s that spawn across the world, instances like Palace of the Dead, Trials that have you go up against giant Summons, Clan Hunt’s that have you group with players to take down world-like boss, and Levequests.
Which are.. essentially, mini, repeatable quests that you can repeatedly take for XP.
PvP is instanced however. There is no open world PvP – and the PvP is a minor part of the game.
And finally.. crafting in the game, man. Don’t even get me started on that. The fact that you can level your professions like classes is just.. both exhausting and thrilling to do.
So with all of that being said, here is a quick break down of Final Fantasy XIV:

Pros:
– Polished tab-target combat
– Instanced PvP for people who don’t like getting ganked
– Lots of PvE content to keep you occupied
– A large selection of classes to choose from
– Frequent updates
– A professional dev team
– An engaging storyline to follow

Cons:
– Slow tab-target combat for players that enjoy combat like Black Desert or Blade and Soul
– No open world PvP for players that like the challenge
– Slow start to the game

Guild Wars 2 actually has quite a lot in common with Final Fantasy XIV. The game is once again set in a large fantastical world filled with magic and technology. Unlike Final Fantasy though – Guild Wars 2 features action combat.
Yes, the action combat isn’t nearly as fast paced or flashy as Black Desert – a point of interest that a lot of people use as a way to disrespect the game.
However, Guild Wars 2’s combat is contrastingly different to most games of the same niche.
The game has quite a few classes, the Guardian, Revenant, Warrior, Engineer, Ranger, Thief, Elementalist, Mesmer, and Necromancer.
Each class has a pre-determined selection of different traits that players can work on providing an additional form of progression in the form of Specializations.
Adding on to that are Elite Specializations – further customization available at max level that fundamentally change the abilities of your class by providing access to new weapons, skills, and unique traits associated with the specialization.
Like Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2 has had two separate expansions launched over the years as well, bringing in new content, features and classes.
While there is a main focus around the story in-game, it is broken down into chapters. You follow through with the story until you hit the end of the chapter, then continue leveling as normal until you hit the required level for the next chapter.
One fascinating element of storytelling Guild Wars 2 employs is that individual choice matters. The things you say, the things you do. They all have an impact on the story being told, and a lot of people’s stories differ – even slightly.
This can leave you with different NPCs, different areas to explore, different missions to play through.
However, on the opposite side of the spectrum is the fact that if you want to play cooperatively with a friend or partner, you’ll have to pick the same options throughout the story to share the instance and simultaneously complete it together.
There are quite a few different PvE elements to the game. The Personal Story, Renown Hearts which are Guild Wars 2’s version of side quests, Dynamic Events that open up in the world, Dungeons, Raids, Map Completion, and more.
PvP, like Final Fantasy, is instanced only. Once again, there is no open world PvP – the PvP being of larger importance than in Final Fantasy XIV but still being a much lesser part of the game.
Crafting, as well, is more or less comparable to how it is in most games.
Now, with all of that being said, here is a quick break down of Guild Wars 2:

Pros:
– Thought provoking action combat with a lot of mechanics such as different skills for different weapon types and underwater combat
– Instanced PvP for people that don’t like getting ganked
– Lots of PvE content to keep you occupied
– A large selection of classes to choose from with the addition of continued leveling after you hit max level
– Semi-frequent updates
– A professional dev team
– A storyline where choice matters
– Large Territory wars vs other worlds
– A fun, varied leveling experience

Cons:
– Slower, less flashy combat than games like Vindictus, Blade and Soul or Black Desert Online
– No open world PvP for players that want more than instanced PvP
– Makes grouping with friends for story progression more difficult if you aren’t aware what choices you made
– With so many combat mechanics, can be difficult at first to grasp
– Fuck jumping puzzles (lol)

I feel like large, fantastical worlds filled with magic and technology is a selling point for a successful MMORPG.
If you’ve ever played an Elder Scrolls game then The Elder Scrolls Online should feel fairly reminiscent of the series. It’s like a cross between Oblivion and Skyrim.
It’s pretty basic, nothing fancy or flashy – but that’s not to its detriment. In fact, the combat is actually quite entertaining.
I cannot begin to express how many times I stabbed an NPC by “accident,” shot a fireball at a guard or got caught pickpocketing and attempted to fight my way out of the city.. only to be firmly rooted in place and then slaughtered. Heinously. Over like.. 2 Septims.
Whoops. Going off topic here.
So anyway, The Elder Scrolls Online features 5 pre-made character archetypes. The Dragonknight, Sorcerer, Nightblade, Templar, and Warden. Each class also comes with three unique skill lines.
Each player is capable of equipping any form of gear and any kind of weapon. For example, I was a mage running around in Heavy Armor and a Greatsword. Then, later on, I played as a stave-wielding hulking warrior with a robe and flip flops.
Like both Final Fantasy XIV and Guild Wars 2, The Elder Scrolls Online has a large emphasis on story, along with a semi-important choice system that functions more or less the same way as Guild Wars 2’s does.
Featuring fully scripted voice acting for every single NPC, the game is definitely not something you’ll come across again.
Unfortunately though, with the speed at which they speak at, most players just skip the voiced quests anyway. Otherwise they’d be there all day.
PvE consists of things like Dark Anchors – which are dynamic events spawned around the world, world bosses, dungeons, public dungeons that you can run with other players without the need to party, trials which are 12-player instanced challenges, and arenas.
Arenas functioning differently in ESO though. They are instead actually PvE related as PvP is condensed into a different selection of modes.
PvP in ESO is actually faction-based.
There are 3 factions, and depending on which you choose, you are given the option to go to war with the remaining two. PvP modes, however, feature 1v1 Duels, large scale Alliance Wars, and 4v4v4 (yes you heard that correctly) Battlegrounds.
Again, though, no open world PvP.
With all of that being said, here is a quick break down of The Elder Scrolls Online:

Pros:
– Large, filled world
– Combat has consequences, especially if you hit an NPC by mistake
– Unique class system with interesting sub-classes you can create on your own
– Well thought out story with a lot of choices to make that affect your story
– Instanced PvP for people that don’t like getting ganked
– A large, varied selection of PvE related options to participate in
– Fully scripted voice acting
– A variety of PvP related activities to participate in

Cons:
– Slower, basic looking and feeling combat
– No open world PvP for players that want to fuck up some noobs
– The premium membership option being all but a requirement for easy crafting

I mean the king of all MMORPGs deserves to be mentioned, right? Regardless of whether or not you believe the game looks dated or you hate tab-target combat, the fact of the matter is.. World of Warcraft is one of the most expansive, complete MMORPGs there is.
And with their Battle for Azeroth expansion coming up soon what better time to is there hop in and catch up?
There are 12 total classes in World of Warcraft: The Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Death Knight, Shaman, Mage, Warlock, Monk, Druid and Demon Hunter, their latest added class with the Legion expansion.
World of Warcraft is one of the only games with a completely open world – something many a player references when talking about open world MMORPGs.
The game world itself is by far the largest I’ve ever had the opportunity to experience. There are zones with every single environment you can imagine.
The tab-target combat is also by far the most polished. It isn’t as flashy as Final Fantasy XIV, but the global cooldowns, skills off the global cooldown, and character movement – especially with their overhaul, is some of the best in the genre.
However, again, the combat can feel dated for people that aren’t a fan of the game. You can definitely tell that both the combat – along with the graphics are far from Black Desert or Blade and Soul, but that’s alright.
I’m personally a fan of its style of graphics – I loved WildStar and currently enjoy the look of Dauntless as well – so that’s a graphical style I can get behind.
Classes are pretty basic: Tank, healer, DPS. Granted, you can have heavy armored healers like Paladin and leather armored tanks like Druids, but WoW doesn’t do anything to stand out.
Featuring perhaps the most expansive storyline in an MMO, along with by far the most lore you’ll find in one, WoW pushes you through a world-wide story that has left many a player shedding a tear or two.
However, with each expansion, the story gets slightly more complicated since there are instances where the entire zone is overhauled to include changes to the latest expansion.. but the game doesn’t realize this.
For example, there are points in the game where Garrosh is still leader of the Horde. And then.. Vol’jin is.. and then.. Sylvanas is, and you’re just like.. the fuck?
PvE in WoW consists of questing, world quests which are dynamically generated quests, dungeons, mythic+ dungeons, raids, world bosses, and artifact power farming to upgrade your weapon.
PvP is handled in 2 forms: Instanced PvP such as arenas and battlegrounds, and open world PvP for PvP-enabled servers.
World of Warcraft separates PvP enabled and PvP disabled servers for people that merely want to play the game, and for those that want to fight other players while playing the game.
Now, with all of that being said, here is a quick break down of World of Warcraft:

Pros:
– One of the largest, open worlds to explore
– Polished tab-target combat
– Very active dev team
– Constant updates
– Unique class halls for each class
– Expansive, lore rich world.
– Instanced PvP for people that don’t like getting ganked
– Open world PvP for players that want to compare e-peens

Cons:
– Dated combat and graphics
– Feels slower than newer MMORPGs like BDO or Blade and Soul
– Confusing storylines at times due to expansions
– Lower levels are boring to level through

So there you go. For those of you that already knew about these MMORPGs – no problem, but for everyone else asking in my Bless videos, here you go.
Hopefully this list provides you something to play while you either wait for Bless to fix their problems, or a new game to awe you.