The most addictive MMORPGs

There are so many games to chose from if you're looking for a good Massively Multiplayer Online Role playing Game. These games make people drop out of school, murder their grandmas(true story) or literally play till they drop dead. Video game addiction is now recognized as a disorder across the globe, clinics have been built specifically for this. That all being said, I want to share with you some games that could make you neglect reality and possibly strangle your grandmother. They're ordered from least addictive, to most addictive. Years of gaming and I've only actually lost my mind once, really weird story where I hilusionate and try to open up walls, but first, let's get to it!

7. Ragnarok Online

[Client Based - Large Download - P2P]

First released in August, 2001, Ragnarok has grown substantially in over a dozen languages. The only reason I started playing this was because I had a handful of friends that already played it. I only played for a month at a friends house, at the time my Win 98 with 250mb of ram didn't cut it. I might have only played for a month but during that time, that's all I wanted to do and all I did. My pathetic friend that can't stay up past 2am actually pulled off his first all nighter playing Ragnarok, ya, it was that fun. I never made it quiet further than the level 1 ants in the beginning area, nevertheless it was a lot of fun. 

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot to say about this game. Nothing really stood out at the time and I never came back to play it. If you're looking for a game to kill some time, I recommend trying it out. This game is p2p but there are many private servers out there with large communities that are just as good. If you're interested I recommend trying this one. Like I said, I can't see anyone playing this for longer than a couple of months at best, but with every game there are the exceptional people that love it and can't stop. I lost a few nights of sleep over it but nothing crazy. Ragnarok Online comes in at number 7 as the least addictive game on the list.

6. Hellgate: London

[Client Based - CD Install - Free]

Hellgate was hyped as the next Diablo and a very anticipated MMORPG. With its unique first person shooter style approach to this genre, it had promise to be an awesome(addictive) game. Right off the hop, this game looks very cool. From the art to the in-game graphics, its a very grungy styled, detailed, eye candy of a game. This game is free to play but also has the pay to play option for additions such as more weapons and items. 

Every time I buy a new game that I've been itching to play, I run to the nearest EB Games with a idiotic grin spread across my face, prepared to sell my soul and hibernate in my basement. Never the less, there is a reason why this game pulls in at number 6. Hellgate was a flop and got very repetitive very quickly, all glamour no substance. For me, I lost interest because everywhere you explored looked exactly the same. The game maps were randomly generated, and they all used the same textures, meaning, the only difference from the first area of the game from the last, was instead of turning left, you turned right. The monsters were always the same to as far as I'm concerned, so that got pretty boring to. This game was also thought to be the next Diablo, and it failed miserably. I played this game for a month straight and lost many nights of sleep over it. On the positive side, this game is free to play, with the option of upgrading, and it looks phenomenal. On the negative, it gets repetitive very quickly, there's not a whole lot to it and you'll lose interest. The game is $19.99, dirt cheap and is worth checking out. They've released many patches since I've played and I plan on trying it out again sometime soon. Hopefully what I thought were major flaws are fixed and everything else that people whined about. Not a life zapper, addictive and fun for a bit, worth trying out.

(Like I said, looks ****ing awesome)

5. Guild Wars

[Client Based - CD Install - Free]

Said to be the best free MMORPG out there. Released back in February, 2005, Guild Wars was a pretty anticipated game and lived up to the hype. Now with 3 expansions, 10 professions to choose from, and with the anticipated release of Guild Wars 2, it probably is the best free MMORPG out there, but is it addictive? 

I'm almost ashamed to say I've only purchased the original Guild Wars and none of the expansions. I never agreed with a level cap of 20, fortunately this will be raised with the release of GW2. Other than that, there isn't a lot for me to pick on. The graphics look decent, the map is huge leaving tons of areas to explore, there are many quests to complete, and the talent tree is pretty cool. I played this game for 3 months and came back to it months later for a bit. I've trained 2 characters to level 20 but never felt motivated enough to do anything more than that. 

 

Guild Wars really revolves around it's PVP. There are many official tournaments with cash prizes, different character builds just for PVP and so forth. I prefer PVE and found it difficult to complete areas even when my level was maxed out, almost impossible to advance by yourself. It is possible I just sucked, but I'm not video game illiterate and I catch on pretty quickly. I never lost any sleep over this game, I played for 3 months regularly but nothing substantial. If you're looking for an RPG fix, I recommend picking this up for $19.99.

4. Maple Story

[Client Based - Large Download - Free]

I know what you're thinking, how does this 2d critter filled anime game come before games like Guild Wars and Hellgate: London? 3 years ago I started playing this game right before spring break, I got so addicted I was up till 8am every morning smacking 2d snails with a wooden stick. It has to be one of the most exp grinding games I have ever played, and it had me by the balls. I only played for a couple of months, the first 2 weeks I was on for a minimum of 8 hours, my play time slowly descended from there. There are four classes to chose from, there are many quests and a lot of monsters. Players can form guilds and actually get married in-game.

One thing that was really cool are the bosses that you can only kill with 5+ other people. Some so big they barely fit on the screen. The highest level character I've made was 37, it takes such a long time to level, it took me months to get to 37, the level cap in this game is 200 by the way. I've heard stories of people dropping out of college to play Maple Story, very crazy, but, I can easily see people doing that. Not everyone likes the cartoon style graphics, or the 2d scrolling game approach, but it's fun, and addicting.

3. World of Warcraft

[Client Based - CD Install - P2P]

Everyone knows what World of Warcraft is so I'm going to keep this brief. It's the largest and best MMORPG ever made. Over 10 million users play WOW worldwide. This game has so much content people substitute reality for this virtual fantasy world. I've just started playing this game a little over a month ago, I haven't had a WOW binge of consecutive playing, but it's got a pretty firm grasp on me. I play an average of 3-4 hours a day, to me that's nothing and perfectly fine. I did play 14 hours a day for the first few days, but, I'm pretty sure that'll be the peak of my WOW playing. It's insane when you hear those stories of guys(I've yet to hear of a girl addict) play 16 hour days for months and months. Most of you know about that 16 year old teen on the news who dropped out of school to play 16 hours a day. 

World of Warcraft is fun, but I could never become a complete addict like this guy or the thousands of others out there. It's the best of it's genre but I couldn't call it the most addictive.

2. Diablo II

[Client Based - CD Install - Free]

Diablo II was/is a life eater. Non stop hack and slash action with a very cool goth style and a huge community, not to mention the awesome cinematics. When I used to play this years ago, I'd wake up before school to play it, I'd play it right when I got home till I went to bed at 1am-2am. This must have gone on for 3-4 months before I starting using the "Hero Editor" hack and burnt my self out. Everyone should have played this game, if not, HERE. I've come back to this classic a few times for a couple months at a time, it's not the same as when I first played it but it's always a treat. 

Diablo III has recently been announced and to say the least I'm a little worried haha. I might as well supply my fridge with a few months worth of food and say goodbye to the world. I got pretty into this game but nothing over the top, you won't find me on the 10 o'clock news any time soon.

I've just gone over some very well known games that I've had a temporary addiction with. Not everyones going to agree with my game choices or what order they're in but that's the way it is. This last one has had an unrealistic effect on me in the past and is unquestionably the most addictive game ever made.

1. RuneScape

[Browser Based - Free]

If I was Merriam-Webster, I'd change the definition of "addiction" to "RuneScape". Bad joke, but you get my point. I must have been 11 when I started this and contintued for a solid three years. For the first few months my Win98 super PC couldn't quiet handle this masterpiece, making me insane and forced me to practically move in with my friend. Since we only had one computer, we would sleep in shifts, each having an hour of play time. The one time I really remember was when we became zombies. 

During that summer, we played RuneScape for 3 days straight, when we weren't on we were getting our hour or two of rest while the other person played. On the last day we walked outside after very little sleep during the past 72 hours, the sun made me dizzy and nautious, a very bizzar feeling. I rode my 12 speed bicycle home and that's when I lost my mind. I only remember bits and pieces but apparently I tried opening the wall of my laundry room, when I was asked if I knew where. I'm guessing I was just reacting to sleep deprivation, maybe I'm actually mentaly challenged and I'm the only person that doesn't know; never happened again.

I played for 3 years ecumilating gross time spent online, I have no choice but to say RuneScape is the most addicting MMORPG out there. I was pretty young and didn't know any better, if I could do it all over again I would. 

Video game addiciton is pretty serious, usually the parents are to blame for it escalating to such a dumb stage. That mom of the teenage WOW player in the video earlier, why doesn't she just cut off the internet if its ruining their family and his life? If you're older and spending gross amounts of time in a virtual world makes you happiest, then do it. Being happy is all that really matters.