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The best MMOs: what to try and how much it will really cost you
These are the best MMOs available today, from swords and sorcery to spaceships and sci-fi
Back in the day, there were only ever a few MMOs available at any given time and choosing which to devote all of your spare time to was a less daunting task. Now, as new MMOs continue to hit the market and old ones continue to thrive, it's a lot harder to know which one will be the right fit without throwing down the cash to try them all.
We've done the digging for you so you know which MMOs will suit both your play style and your budget. We've broken down which are free to play, which are buy to play, and whether each has an optional or required subscription. The going rate for a monthly subscription seems to be about £10 across the board these days. If you're a desktop player, that's the only monthly fee you need to worry about. For those playing on console, remember that a subscription to Xbox Gold or PS+ will also be required. Almost every MMO has a cash shop with optional convenience and cosmetic purchases so we've opted not to list it for each one. Just assume that you'll be welcome to throw down extra money for fashion in any MMO you join today.
Here are the best MMOs (and some honorable mentions) that you can explore right now:
World of Warcraft
The grandaddy of MMOs, World of Warcraft is still worth playing
© Activision Blizzard
Platform: Windows, OSX
Cost: Free download with optional paid DLC expansions
Subscription: Required £10
World of Warcraft has long been a classic, even before it went back to "WoW Classic." It's a household name and still seems to be the stick by which other MMOs are measured. WoW has continued to add expansions to Azeroth over its lifetime that have fundamentally changed the game and its map. World of Warcraft continues to be the quintessential MMORPG experience with everything that you'd associate with the genre: quests, guilds, raids, mounts, and plenty of gear grinding.
Your monthly subscription will get you access to the game as it exists now and to the recently released classic version of WoW circa 2005. If you were ever going to try World of Warcraft, the recent influx of players both new and returning veterans makes now the best time to head to Azeroth if you have friends to do it with.
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online lets you experience epic storytelling with mates
© Bethesda
Platform: Windows, OSX, PS4, Xbox One
Cost: Buy to play £15 with paid DLC expansions
Subscription: Optional £9/month
No, it isn't Skyrim Online, nor is it Oblivion or Morrowind Online either. The Elder Scrolls Online is more a traditional MMO in Elder Scrolls flavor than a singleplayer Bethesda game with the magic "online" button pressed. Fortunately, Elder Scrolls has a distinct taste and you'll recognize familiar places and faces all over Tamriel. Prince of Madness Sheogorath makes multiple appearances and ESO is the first modern Elder Scrolls game to send players to the Khajiit homeland of Elsweyr.
Elder Scrolls Online has skill bar style combat that trends towards action especially in melee classes whose skills often include a bit of automated movement. ESO is a very campaign-focused MMO with three entire faction stories to play in the base game before you'll ever need to buy one of the expansions that each add new maps and storylines. Although you can certainly find a guild that's serious about dungeons or crafting, ESO is one of the most laid back MMOs out there that lets you enjoy an Elder Scrolls style story with friends if that's all you want.
You can easily play ESO without spending on the monthly subscription, though it will get you unlimited crafting material storage and access to all of the DLCs as long as your subscription is active. One of the best ways to play is probably buying the base game, playing through at least one main faction campaign, and then considering DLC purchases based on whether you'd rather join Elder Scrolls guilds like the Dark Brotherhood or travel to Morrowind.
Destiny 2
Destiny 2 keeps getting better and better
© Bungie
Platform: Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Stadia
Cost: Free with paid season passes
Subscription: None
A huge chunk of MMOs are founded on medieval sword and sorcery themes and Destiny 2 is one of the few havens for first-person shooter fans when it comes to persistent online worlds. Bungie's recognisably enjoyable gunplay is one of the few that does away with the fantasy mould. Where Destiny 2 does stick to the script is in the traditional MMO grind. There's shiny gear and guns to earn and you'll be shooting plenty of creatures to get it all.
Destiny 2 has almost everything you look for in an MMO with the gloss of an FPS. There are multiple PvP modes from structured Crucible matches to wave-based Gambit that was added with the "Foresaken" DLC. For the player versus environment folks, there are raids to take on as well. Bungie has continued to add content to Destiny 2 over the years with season passes and other events that will always give you something new for you and your friends to shoot at.
Guild Wars 2
Huge battles are one of the best parts of Guild Wars 2
© ArenaNet
Platform: Windows, OSX
Cost: Free to play basic account with buy to play full version $30
Subscription: None
Guild Wars 2 is neck-and-neck with Elder Scrolls Online in consistency of adding new content. Since its launch, Guild Wars 2 has released two major expansions that vastly expanded the world, and added new systems to the game and numerous episodes of campaign story content to extend the game's campaign.
Guild Wars 2 sets the bar for open world collaboration with giant open-world boss fights, map events, and jumping puzzles. Tyria deserves to be explored in Guild Wars 2 and genuinely has some activity for any kind of MMO player. There are dungeons to run, achievements to grind, story missions to complete, structured player-vs-player and world-vs-world map competitions that can each occupy months of your time alone. It's easy to find your place as either a hardcore or casual player in Guild Wars 2.
Guild Wars 2 went free to play a few years back and puts reasonably few restrictions on its basic accounts that can experience all of the core game campaign. If you choose to buy the game, you'll get both expansions bundled together and access to additional endgame character progression as well.
Final Fantasy XIV: Realm Reborn
Final Fantasy XIV's best relaunch as Realm Reborn has won it huge audiences
© Square Enix
Platform: Windows, OSX, PS3, PS4
Cost: Buy to play £10-30
Subscription: Optional £9/month
Final Fantasy XIV's original launch was uninspiring – until the entire world got blown up and restarted that is. Now, after Realm Reborn, Final Fantasy XIV is one of the better classic MMORPG experiences available. It has standard skill bar driven combat and although it isn't strictly "open-world", it does have public events called "fates" that players can join in on the fly while exploring that keep things interesting. At its endgame, FFXIV has plenty of gear to earn, housing to buy, and raiding to do. Oh, and there are chocobos that you can ride as mounts, obviously.
Like World of Warcraft, FFXIV has clung to a required subscription model on top of its purchase price – but that has hardly stopped a recent flood of returning players since the release of the new Shadowbringers expansion. It's not the cheapest to play, but FFXIV still has a large, dedicated community if that's what you're looking for.
Black Desert Online
Black Desert Online can be pretty wild
© Pearl Abyss
Platform: Windows, PS4, Xbox One (Coming soon: iOS, Android)
Cost: Buy to play £8
Subscription: Optional
Black Desert Online earned a reputation early on for its extremely powerful, gorgeous character creator. The rest of the world is just as vibrant as its characters. Don't let its pretty face fool you though. Black Desert Online is an extreme grind for MMO players who thrive in repetition and micromanagement. BDO doesn't just reward you for logging in daily like other MMOs but also for staying logged in. Each of BDO's Life Skills – things like farming, fishing, and cooking – require lots of idling and grinding. Even casual guilds, thanks to how BDO's guilds work, often have attendance requirements. If you're looking for a time sink, and a pretty one at that, Black Desert Online is your bet.
BDO has fast-paced action combat that still relies on a skill bar but has much higher character mobility during fights than older games like World of Warcraft. Each of the character classes keep you playing actively, chaining skills together for combos, rather than zoning out pressing your auto-attack and the occasional special skill.
With a cheap buy-to-play option and no real need to drop money for cash shop items or a subscription, BDO is a great option for MMO veterans even if it can feel like a second job at times.
Eve Online
EVE is mostly about space accountancy, sometimes you get fighter battles
© CCP
Platform: Windows, OSX
Cost: Free to play
Subscription: Optional £10/month
Speaking of second jobs, EVE Online is notorious for the level of commitment required by players in top clans. EVE Online has planted its flag in sandbox MMO territory and not a single other MMO has honestly tried to take that position from it. Jokes about EVE being a spreadsheet simulator will probably always persist but EVE's total freedom of choice is what drives players to exhaustively document and record it.
EVE's universe is divided up into sections both with and without open player-vs-player combat, meaning that the challenge is there for those who want it and for the rest of us there's always safe space.
EVE is far from stagnant, even now, as 2019 brought one of the biggest upheavals in the game after AI enemies made a coordinated assault on a number of powerful player corporations in a massive bid to upset the status quo.
Now that EVE Online is free to play, it's even easier to dip your toe in to see if the space suit suits your fancy.
