RPGDot 2003 Awards: Best Atmosphere in an MMORPG
MMORPGDot Team, 2004-01-09

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 Atmosphere in an MMORPG
Every good game has an atmosphere in which the player feels comfortable and in which the player almost can feel that he or she is part of the experience. A game can have stunning graphics or awesome sound, but without a decent atmosphere it won't last very long. And here are the games which are known to give this experience.

The winner: Star Wars Galaxies - An Empire Divided
There's something to be said about familiarity, and SWG's atmospheric environments were good enough to make the player believe that he was in places both familiar and alien at the same time, and that's no small feat! The beauty of the landscapes was enough to make you pause atop a hill to admire the view. The herds of dewbacks on Tatooine, the lively buzz of sprawling cities, the foggy swamps, the dark forests, everything was there to make SWG's atmosphere live up to what would be expected of alien worlds. But it also shrouded the wilderness in enough uncertainty to make you think twice about leaving the borders of the city.

(Ekim)

Runner Up: Final Fantasy XI
Not just a pretty face with good music, Final Fantasy XI also delivered a convicing world to run around in. From Moogles to Mithra, the Final Fantasy experience really shines through despite the MMOG nature of the game. The balance between the three city-states, the impressive zone architecture, and the immersive combat made Final Fantasy a singularly new experience for MMOG players in 2003.

(Dialogue)

Second Runner Up: Dark Age of Camelot - Trials of Atlantis
Long-time players of Camelot were treated to a whole slew of additional zones in the new water-logged expansion. Despite concentrating somewhat on higher level players, Trials of Atlantis contained a little bit for everyone. The boating system, underwater areas, and a brand new player
race ensured that all players in the realms had all new ways to play the game.

(Dialogue)

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

And 60 % of those who participated were unable to select one of the games.

We, the RPGDot team also voted to create our own top5:

The places 1 and 3 are the same, but we liked A Tale in the Desert a lot better than our visitors did.

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