# The 27 Best MMORPGs of All Time

> Subscription giants, free-to-play sandboxes and servers long since switched off are all in play, so nostalgia gets a vote alongside current player counts.

*By YPB Team · Published November 1, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-27-best-mmorpgs-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **World of Warcraft** — score 1000/1000
   Blizzard's 2004 fantasy MMORPG that peaked above 12 million subscribers and defined the genre for two decades.
2. **Star Wars Galaxies** — score 832/1000
   The 2003 sandbox MMORPG with player-run economies, still mourned years after its 2011 shutdown.
3. **Star Wars: The Old Republic** — score 786/1000
   BioWare's 2011 story-driven MMORPG with fully voiced class campaigns set millennia before the films.
4. **New World** — score 756/1000
   Amazon Games' 2021 MMORPG set on a supernatural island, which drew over 900,000 concurrent players at launch.
5. **Final Fantasy XIV** — score 708/1000
   Square Enix's MMORPG, relaunched as A Realm Reborn in 2013 after a disastrous debut and praised for its story.
6. **Guild Wars 2** — score 654/1000
   ArenaNet's 2012 subscription-free MMORPG known for dynamic events and open-world exploration.
7. **The Elder Scrolls Online** — score 604/1000
   ZeniMax's 2014 MMORPG set across Tamriel, a millennium before the events of Skyrim.
8. **Wizard101** — score 593/1000
   KingsIsle's 2008 family-friendly MMORPG of turn-based card duels at a school for wizards.
9. **Warhammer Online** — score 593/1000
   Mythic's 2008 MMORPG of large-scale realm-versus-realm battles in the Warhammer universe.
10. **The Lord of the Rings Online** — score 524/1000
   Turbine's 2007 MMORPG that lets players walk the length of Tolkien's Middle-earth.
11. **RuneScape** — score 524/1000
   Jagex's long-running browser-born fantasy MMORPG, launched in 2001 and still updated.
12. **City of Heroes** — score 524/1000
   Cryptic's 2004 superhero MMORPG, beloved for its costume creator and revived by fans after shutting down.
13. **Black Desert Online** — score 523/1000
   Pearl Abyss's 2014 Korean MMORPG known for action combat and deep life-skill systems.
14. **Lineage** — score 443/1000
   NCSoft's 1998 Korean MMORPG that drew millions of subscribers and made PC bangs a national pastime.
15. **Toontown Online** — score 443/1000
   Disney's 2003 cartoon MMORPG where players fought corporate robots with gags, later revived by fans.
16. **EverQuest** — score 443/1000
   Sony's 1999 3D fantasy MMORPG, nicknamed EverCrack for how much of players' lives it consumed.
17. **EverQuest II** — score 443/1000
   Sony's 2004 sequel set centuries after the original, with deep crafting and housing.
18. **Old School RuneScape** — score 349/1000
   The 2013 revival of RuneScape's 2007 version, whose updates are decided by player polls.
19. **Lost Ark** — score 349/1000
   Smilegate's isometric action MMORPG that drew over a million concurrent players on its 2022 Western launch.
20. **Guild Wars** — score 349/1000
   ArenaNet's 2005 original, which proved an online RPG could thrive without a monthly fee.
21. **Final Fantasy XI** — score 349/1000
   Square's 2002 online Final Fantasy that put console and PC players on the same servers.
22. **Aion** — score 349/1000
   NCSoft's 2008 MMORPG of winged combat and faction warfare between two warring races.
23. **Ultima Online** — score 238/1000
   Richard Garriott's 1997 sandbox world, the game that popularized the term MMORPG.
24. **EVE Online** — score 238/1000
   CCP's 2003 single-shard space sandbox whose player wars and heists make real-world headlines.
25. **Ragnarok Online** — score 238/1000
   Gravity's 2002 Korean MMORPG with sprite art based on a manhwa, a staple of Asian internet cafes.
26. **Lineage II** — score 0/1000
   NCSoft's 2003 sequel, famed for massive clan wars and castle sieges across Asia and beyond.
27. **Albion Online** — score 0/1000
   Sandbox Interactive's 2017 cross-platform MMORPG with a player-crafted economy and full-loot PvP.

Tags: games, rpg, all time, mmorpg, online games