The Golden Joysticks Awards – The Likely Winners and the Dark Horses

By Oliver Hughes /

Best MMO

The Contenders €“ Eve Online, League of Legends, Lord of the Rings Online, Rift, Runescape, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Tera, The Secret World, World of Tanks The Likely €“ League of Legends The Dark Horse €“ Star Wars: The Old Republic The Verdict €“ I€™m not quite sure as to precisely how much of an MMO League of Legends is, but the Dota clone has been one of the most popular PC games of the past year, establishing itself not only as a forerunner in the micro-transaction model, but as a major eSport, with developers Riot pumping millions into pushing the game into the front of the competitive scene. A combination of aesthetically pleasing graphics and effects, easy to grasp and engaging gameplay, and addictive and persistent development to players€™ €œchampions€ provides an excellent experience. ToR is the only other real contender without World of Warcraft in the running, and BioWare€™s epic has received plenty of acclaim, but also criticisms. The half real time half turn based combat of the KOTOR series was loved by fans, but the attempt to make it more arcadey was a source of much discontent in the community, and the interesting animation style has also been criticised. That said, it€™s still a fantastically engaging game that one can pump hours into, though it holds one major difference with LoL €“ it requires a monthly subscription, while LoL is free to play (though ToR will be made free in a few weeks).