this is a very cool site for rakeback
http://www.therakebackmafia.com

Thanks, folks - appreciate your feedback. Re: political views, not sure where the perception came from (maybe Sarah Palin reference?), but next time I’m playing it safe and going with the OJ joke :).

As for the selections, keep in mind the list is entirely subjective, and based on a number of factors from overall inventiveness to user-friendliness, willingness to take risks, public enthusiasm and general mass-market appeal. Comments and suggestions are fully welcome, as is input on what your top 10 might look like.

That’s the Catch 22: With so many great MMOs to pick from - Warhammer and City of Heroes were both mentioned, see bottom of page 1 - no two players’ list of faves will look alike. While I’m not fond of EverQuest II (too formulaic a fantasy outing IMO), there’s no reason another equally valid companion piece featuring Star Wars Galaxies, Guild Wars, Lineage 2 or even the original EQ, still running to this day.

Adam

Keep your political views where they belong which is not on a electronic discussion website or the AVS Forums main page.  A large percentage of the country have different political views to your own.  If I wanted to hear political views I’d go to that sort of website.

This list ill-serves the Electronic House community.

First of all, how can you declare a game that has not even been released (or even in wide-spread beta) a “Must Have” game. (I refer to The Agency.) How about actually playing some of these games before you declare them “must haves.”

Pirates of the Burning Sea is an MMO that is swiftly sinking (har har) as the developers have to merge servers to maintain any sense of population. Why is this? Because the game is still half-broken. Naval combat is fun, but the ‘swashbuckling’ is terrible and the economy (a major factor in the game) is currently busted.

Age of Conan made a big splash but then tanked badly. It is far, far FAR from a “Must Have” game.  Funcom, the company behind it, is struggling with top management bailing out and layoffs among the rank and file.

Worthwhile titles not mentioned: Warhammer Online, which is relatively new and still struggling to find its audience, but offers something different in its rich player vs player options & goals.

Everquest 2 which just released its 5th expansion and continues to improve with time.

City of Heroes, a superhero-themed game that offers a more ‘active’ experience and a nice change of pace from the swords and sorcery fantasy milieu.

Any of these 3 would be MUCH better choices than Pirates or Conan.

For kids, old and young alike, Wizard 101 offers a free-to-get-started-in world of magic, very Harry Potter-ish. Combat is via a collectible card system, somewhat similar to Magic: The Gathering. Kids under 13 can’t type or see typed chat, making it a very safe game for the young ones (they have to pick pre-set words to string into sentences, or choose from pre-set phrases).

I salute EH for offering content “outside of the box” but please find authors with some basic knowledge of the topics they are writing about!!