WAR closed (which might be due more to Games Workshop than popularity I dunno), and although Dark Age of Camelot is still running, itвЂ™s an older game. The вЂњgolden ageвЂќ of the MMO was built on the backs of вЂњ WoW ClonesвЂќ, PvE games that chased BlizzardвЂ™s Magic Formula that showed there was more of an audience for co-op than co-mpetition. PvP in MMOs has traditionally been a second class citizen or when it wasnвЂ™t, quickly sidelined. WeвЂ™re also in an age of serving the underserved. Nature - and game development - abhors a vacuum, especially when thereвЂ™s the potential for money to be made. That Eastern MMOs (from Asia or even Eastern Europe/Western Russia, which seems to be a hotbed of development in general these days) are stabbing Westward is possibly a result of Western developers just not giving shit about the genre at this time. This situation is rather confounding to me I canвЂ™t remember any of them by name, which tells me that I am not interested in them, or that maybe they have tried to tap the Western market but have failed to reach a critical mass. Final Fantasy XIV is probably the highest-profile Eastern MMO right now in the circles in which I personally travel, and there have been several others in the past few years. WeвЂ™re at a point now where the type of MMO that was being made in the heyday of the movement has fallen out of favor, which leaves it open for different kinds of games that are vying for the mantleвЂ¦many of which we might not be interested in.ДЄs I speak from a Western perspective, we are now in an age of imports. We went through вЂњthis is the next big thingвЂќ to вЂњhereвЂ™s a specific formula for success so everyone copy thatвЂќ to вЂњweвЂ™re oversaturated, letвЂ™s pull back the reins a bit and see how things suss outвЂќ to вЂњwe see an opening thatвЂ™s not being filled by the traditional players so letвЂ™s throw our hat into the ringвЂќ to our current situation of вЂњwhat constitutes an вЂM-M-OhвЂ™, exactly anymore? /shrugвЂќ. The history of the genre isnвЂ™t really all that different from what we see in other genres. Now I content myself with the occasional MMO dip, like Secret World Legends during the Halloween season, or Guild Wars 2 when nothing else I have installed is really exciting me.ДЇor me, the current MMO landscape isвЂ¦tricky. Then I went through several years of in tense MMO immersion with popular titles like World of Warcraft, EveryQuest II, and Warhammer Online, as well as games most folks might not have heard of, such as Istaria Online (ne Horizons) and NeoCron. When it was young, I was only involved in a handful of titles like Ultima Online or Star Wars Galaxies. This kind of mirrors my feelings about the genre. My first blog was a generalist gaming blog, my second two were all about MMOs and less about other gaming, and this one dedicated more to my other hobbies with the occasional game-related thing thrown in. MMOs used to be my bread and butter of the four main blogs I have maintained in my lifetime, two were dedicated to the genre for a good period of time. Like almost anything, it depends on who you ask, and what stake they have in wanting a particular answer. ELOA then was closed in September 2016 and subsequently resurrected as Warlords Awakening under Playwith in summer 2018.The massive multiplayer online roleplaying game genre - MMORPG to us old guard, or MMOs to the slightly less old guard, or World of Warcraft to the kids - is alive and well.

Webzen challenged it as an illegal server and got it taken down, after which it brought ELOA to the west from 2015 through 2016. ELOA was published by Webzen in the east while another company, Game Release Entertainment, grabbed an illegal CBT copy and rushed to release it in the west under the name Inspirit Online. The history behind this MMO is confusing, so hereвЂ™s the short version. By discounting the cash shop items, removing in-game purchases and granting more daily rewards, we hope that everyone that wanted to play Warlords Awakening will have the last chance.вЂќ This is to ensure that we can achieve more users to make the game more enjoyable for everyone involved. Warlords Awakening will remove all in-game purchase. вЂњOn the other hand, May 31st, the game will become free-to-play so that you can enjoy its content until the game is no longer available. вЂњWe inform you that Warlords AwakeningвЂ™s service will cease on June 28th,вЂќ the company said. For Elite Lord of Alliance ( ELOA), this is the exact situation it now finds itself in as Playwith Interactive announced that it is going to sunset the latest incarnation of the fantasy title (called Warlords Awakening) later this month.

HereвЂ™s a hat trick that no MMORPG ever wants to earn: being closed three times in a row.

Mmorpg inspirit online