The 5 MMORPGs that died the fastest
Many of the MMORPG top dogs like WoW or EVE Online have been with us for decades, but what about the games that weren’t lucky? We checked for you which MMORPGs had to close down the fastest.
How did the list come about? Titles listed are selected based on release date and server shutdown date. We focus on titles that have actually been officially released. Early access games are therefore excluded from our rating.
5th place – tabula rasa
Developer: NCSoft | release: November 2, 2007 | Shutdown: March 1, 2009
What kind of game is this? Tabula Rasa was a classic MMORPG in a sci-fi setting. Aliens had invaded the earth and the surviving humans had to save themselves on other planets and hope not to be caught. Of course, there were also dangers that you had to overcome.
The MMORPG relied on tab targeting battles and a classic class system with Holy Trinity of tank, healer and damage. As you leveled up, you could further specialize your class. Similar to current NCSoft titles like Guild Wars 2.
What was special about the game was that it was developed by Ultima inventor Richard Garriott. This had left Electronic Arts and built a tabula rasa for NCSoft, which should ultimately be the game’s undoing.
You can see the trailer for the game here:
Why is the game dead? This was for two different reasons. On the one hand, Richard Garriot announced in November 2008, about a year after the release of the MMORPG, that he was leaving NCSoft due to various disagreements. Without the creative mind behind the game, the publisher seemed to see little reason to continue the title.
The other problem was probably the numbers. According to NCSoft, Tabula Rasa fell far short of expectations in terms of player count and revenue. On March 1st, 2009, after only 15 months of running, the MMORPG was shut down and switched off forever.
4th place – Bless Online
Developer: Neowiz | release: May 20, 2018 | Shutdown: September 9, 2019
What kind of game is this? Anyone who has been interested in the MMORPG scene in recent years turns up their noses when they see the name Bless Online. While the game itself had a good concept and was seen as a great hope from Asia, a lot went wrong all around.
In Bless Online you should choose a class and fight your way through various quests, a story and a sophisticated PvP system with fast action combat battles. The latter focused on the war between two hostile nations. You should collect resources and complete missions to support your faction.
The game had a long development phase, as various betas kept getting negative reviews and individual mechanics had to be adjusted again and again. After some delays, the MMORPG was officially released on May 20, 2018 on Steam.
Here you can see the trailer for the game:
Why is the game dead? The MMORPG was originally promoted as a Buy2Play title and was released that way. So you had to buy the game to play it. In addition, Bless Online had a controversial in-game shop that at least partially relied on Pay2Win content.
Shortly after the release, however, the decision was made to make Bless a free2play title, which angered many fans who had already bought the game. The game also disappointed in terms of technology and features.
Even after the long development period, it still had numerous bugs and promised features were completely missing in the release version. When Bless Unleashed, a new MMORPG with similar assets, was announced for the console, the Bless Online servers became increasingly empty until they were finally shut down in September 2019.
Bless Unleashed, on the other hand, is still running and even celebrated its release on the PC in 2021. Although the game shares the name and a handful of assets, the MMORPGs have little in common. Although there were also allegations about Unleashed Pay2Win, the game is in a much better position than Bless Online.
3rd place – Chronicles of Spellborn
Developer: Spellborn International | release: November 27, 2008 | Shutdown: July 2009
What kind of game is this? Chronicles of Spellborn offered relatively new and little-used mechanics in an MMORPG at the time. Armor and weapons had no effect on how strong your character actually is.
All equipment in this game was purely cosmetic, while your character’s power was ultimately defined by the level of your skills. Aside from this new mechanic, however, one found ordinary MMORPG fare in Chronicles of Spellborn.
This consisted mostly of many fetch quests, an open world with an end-time scenario, 9 different classes that worked together in a Holy Trinity and were available in two races. Even if you didn’t farm any gear, you still had to kill and grind monsters to level up your skills.
You can see a first look at the gameplay here:
Why is the game dead? There isn’t really a spectacular reason behind the end of Chronicles of Spellborn. It simply didn’t have enough players to cover the publisher’s costs. The game relied on a subscription service and was provided with monthly costs, which is why few new fans came to the MMORPG.
The competition was also a little further back then in terms of technology and gameplay. Chronicles of Spellborn simply went under and shut down the servers in Europe in July 2009. In America, attempts were made to switch to Free2Play, but this did not bring the desired success. The American servers also went offline in August 2010.
However, the game still has some die-hard fans who brought the MMORPG back with the Chronicles of Spellborn – Reborn project. On this fan server you can gamble today for free and take a look at the MMORPG.
The next page continues with place 2, 1 and a special case.
Reference-mein-mmo.de
