RPGDot 2003 Awards: Biggest MMORPG Disappointment
The MMORPGDot Team, 2004-01-13

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.

Biggest MMORPG Disappointment
Some games we play are worse than we ever anticipated, some are exactly what we expected and some take us by surprise. This award is for the games that were not as expected and can be considered as a disappointment.

The winner: Star Wars Galaxies - An Empire Divided
Well, this was the most predictable thing this year. And also the most controversial thing in MMORPG history: SWG is not only among the best games of the year, it's also the most disappointing. The truth is that no game ever could have truly survived the outrageous hype that SWG has been subjected to before its release without coming out unscathed. Both the fans and the developers let the hype go out of hand, and so when the game was actually released it was both a revelation and a total let-down. For those who were more Zen among us, the game offered some good things, but for those who expected more there was no turning back, and the game was a disaster. The question now is: will SWG remain and manage to overcome the disappointment to live on a full life, or will it eventually become part of the gaming graveyard and be forgotten for the misgiving game that it was? Time will tell.

(Ekim)

Runner Up: Shadowbane
In a world where online games offer little to players in terms of justice and honour, Shadowbane was a promised land. Too bad it didn't live up to what it could have been. A game marred with technical problems and glitches, terrible lag and disappointing graphics, Shadowbane was a disappointment for many players that hoped for a true pvp game that would allow them to have a challenge that very few other games can even dream of offering. Sadly though, Shadowbane came too late and too soon at the same time. It could have done well to go through another few months of testing before release, but it was so late to begin with that the developers probably couldn't afford that anymore. Too bad.

(Ekim)

Second Runner Up: Final Fantasy XI
This third place slot for FFXI may seem out of place given that you folks have lauded it as much as you have so far. However, as anyone who has played FFXI knows, it's not without problems. While the core game is solid, there are many small annoyances that can add up quickly. A grueling install process, the inablity to select your server, and an extremely high barrier to group play made Final Fantasy XI something of a flop for players who didn't want the hassle.

(Dialogue)

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

And 51,8 % of those who participated were unable to select one of the games.

We, the RPGDot team also voted to create our own top 3:

We felt that Eve Online was a bigger disappointment than SWG was and that really shows.

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