RPGDot 2003 Awards: Best Sound in an MMORPG
MMORPGDot Team, 2004-01-07

The last couple of weeks you could vote for the best RPGs and MMORPGs that have been released in 2003. Not us but you the player decide who receives the RPGDot 2003 Awards in the various categories. We thank all those who entered their votes and helped us in making it possible to select the best games of 2003.

Best Sound in an MMORPG
The sound and music in a game can make a big difference. When not done correctly sound and music in games tend to get annoying, yet when done properly it adds to the gameplay experience while playing and can draw you deeper into the game.

The winner: Star Wars Galaxies - An Empire Divided
Although sound is often overlooked, it does help to pull the player in the game's universe. SWG did that impeccably with its array of familiar sounds from the movies which helped players to really immerse themselves in the Star Wars Universe. But the best part of SWG's sound isn't so much in the familiar sort of effects we're already used to hear (blasters and lightsabers, speeders and beeping droids) but in the frightening sounds of incoming beasts so large that they could swallow you whole, or the environmental sounds that make it seem you were walking in a living place where animals fill a void that other games sometimes fail to give any attention to. SWG is certainly worth listening to.

(Ekim)

Runner Up: Final Fantasy XI
No real surprise as to why this one second place, right? In two words: Nobuo Uematsu. The sound effects in FFXI were entertaining, for the first few times. Except for the summons, however, they quickly grew tired. The music, however, is top notch. Uematsu has been crafting music for the Final Fantasy series for years and gamers now expect his excellence as part of their gaming experience.

(Dialogue)

Second Runner Up: Dark Age of Camelot - Trials of Atlantis
Strong sound effects and a beautiful new selection of ambient music resulted in this strong showing for ToA. Mythic's game has been a fan favorite in the genre ever since the original game opened so strongly, and the Atlantis expansion has greatly expanded options for long-time players of the game.

(Dialogue)

The Numbers
To make it complete we now give you the top 10 as voted by our visitors:

And 64,8 % of those who participated were unable to select one of the games.

We, the RPGDot team also voted to create our own top3:

There are only 3 entries in the team list as no other votes were cast for another game. Besides the number one, we really think that there should be two other games as runner ups.

Note that percentages are rounded to the nearest number.

Overview of all awards on MMORPGDot
 Best Sound
 Best Graphics
 Best Atmosphere
 Biggest Surprise
 Biggest Disappointment
 Most Anticipated
 Best Expansion
 Best MMORPG

Overview of all awards on RPGDot
 Best Sound
 Best Graphics
 Best Atmosphere
 Biggest Surprise
 Biggest Disappointment
 Most Anticipated
 Dream Game
 Best RPG/RPG-Strategy Expansion
 Best Non-RPG
 Best RPG-Strategy
 Best RPG