If World of warcraft didn't exist what MMO would be superior?

[Durandro]

Star Wars Galaxies should still be here. As for Swtor not being around if not for WoW perhaps to some extent, but there would be another Star Wars MMO.

Oh yeah, Galaxies was good.

And WoW indirectly killed it. When the devs decided to completely change Galaxies to compete with WoW's new model, the fanbase abandoned ship in droves. Which sucks really, it should have continued being its own thing.

I'm totally in favour of different styles of MMO. Its why I like Eve as a concept (even if I refuse to play it due to fear of losing what little social life I have left), and have a healthy amount of respect for Guild Wars. I just can't stand copycat games that can't even be their own thing.

[beanman12345]

I never did play EQ but i knew it was insanely popular. The MMO i played as did all my friends at the time was City of Heroes. But that was a superhero mmo not a high fantasy mmo like eq/wow. I would probably have to put my money on EQ or maybe even guild wars. But i don't think any mmo would have been as popular as wow because it already had a huge built in playerbase from the RTS games.

[Arbs]

Rift was built on the success of WoW, as was a heap of other MMO's.
I'm choosing something that was already in place, or coming out soon, so EQ1, EQ2 or GW1.

I was gunna stay GW1 or EQ 2 would prbly be the #1 MMO.

Rift wouldn't of existed if it wasn't for WoW to set the foundation for this generation of MMOs, its almost like Vanguards &
WoW would of never existed if wasn't for EQ to set the foundation for that generation.

In a sense WoW capitalized on that gap in the market that EQ1, SWG & FFXI failed to close, by the time Rift came out WoW had completely sealed that gap & it was to late already as all the marketing they did against WoW litterally blew up in there face.

Its like we have said for so long trying to release a game like exactly like WoW when it released wont succeed unless its done fresh (Something like Wildstar is doing), Rift isn't fresh its WoW with Dynamic Events.

But I do believe if it wasn't for WoW releasing EQ 1/2 or GW1 would prbly be the MMO(s) of the generation.

[Chirri]

EQ2 came out ~a month prior to WoW's release. It's still out there, it's still supported (I wouldn't say "going strong). It's got years worth of content available. When I went back to try it out a year or two ago, it wasn't bad. It was really really empty feeling, but there were lots of things to do as a non-level-capped character and we were actually enjoying ourselves just fine (I really enjoyed crafting). We went back to WoW when a patch came out with fresh WoW content and couldn't really rationalize paying for two MMO subscriptions.

GW (original) plays very differently from other MMOs - WAY more instancing. Multiplayer Online, yes. It never felt Massive though.

CoH is gone, but it brought a lot of fresh concepts to MMO players (modern setting, side kick / temp de-leveling which other games STILL haven't bothered with as far as I can tell, player submitted content? [I stopped playing years ago, but vaguely remember hearing about it] which only one other MMO I've heard of offers and that one is pretty much brand new).

I don't think any of WoWs contemporaries would have been able to manage what WoW did. SOE wasn't innovative enough with EQ2. GW felt rather niche to me. CoH was pretty neat, but you can only enter an office building, warehouse, research lab, or underground tunnel system and feel like you're somewhere new so many times.

None would be superior. They'd just be the only options their players deemed acceptable. Which is to say, no different than things are WITH WoW. Except there'd be fewer MMO players in total.

[Fullmetal89]

Don't know but from what I use to play before WoW. I'd say SW:Galaxies, EverQuest or Final Fantasy; those where the ones that all my friends and I played. I'd mention EVE online but that's kinda always been popular within its own niche. One thing is for sure it wouldn't be an attractive model for any large developer because they wouldn't see it as a worthy investment. WoW changed all that, for better or for worst, because of WoW the MMO market became mainstream. That allowed other developers to test the waters, most have failed but at least there's some variety out there. I don't think the types of MMO's that are like WoW will continue to exist for much longer. MMO's are currently in a phase where they are going to evolve drastically due to social networking and melding of different genres. I'd say the next big thing in MMO's will be something akin to Destiny or Ubisofts 3rd person MMOFPS. Games with more traditional RPG styles like WoW will become niche genres again and survive like EVE Online.

[Deleted]

I know alot of people who play Guildwars, I think that would made a fair chance.

[Deleted]

Hmm When was Runescape created?

January 2001.

[Stevegasm]

If not EQ2, then probably Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. As far as old school MMOs go, that one probably had the best systems and mechanics. Also, the world was huge. I haven't come across an MMO with a more interesting crafting system yet. It was also designed by the same guy behind EQ1, and Keith Parkinson designed a lot of the game too. If there was anything going against it (aside from WoW existing) is that it needed a decent computer to run.

[NightZero88]

GW1, simply because it had no sub fee. I don't think the market would have tolerated a sub based game if not for WoW.

[Uoyredrum]

Probably EQ2

[Utinil]

Honestly people are giving EQ2 way to much credit. EQ was much more popular than EQ2 after EQ2 was released. I believe without WoW butting in EQ would have actually killed EQ2.

[Chickat]

If wow was never made the top two mmos would have likely been everquest 2 and guild wars 1 until Rift had it still came.

[Viabull]

Everquest would probably still be top dog. It had its caveats though; it was a much more mature game than WoW is, and it was considerably harder. No flying mounts, no silly addons to tell you to move out of fire or to use certain cooldowns, no LFR, etc. You had to build community with people, or else you couldn't reach the high tiers of raiding. You had to group to get things done; the only classes that could effectively solo were necromancers and druids (and that was by kiting, so if the mob summoned, you were most likely toast.)

The world actually felt epic and huge. Unless you wanted to pay a wizard or druid to port you places, you had to run. There were certain races that couldn't see well at night.

Don't get me wrong, WoW has its pros too, and I do play regularly, but no MMO will ever come close to beating Everquest from the early to mid 2000s

[Kegler]

Probably Everquest 3

[Alopex Major]

Probably Rift, though someday I'll finish all my SWTOR class storylines... someday.

[Irisel]

Obviously Runescape.