With 2011 right around the corner, the members of the news team decided to share their personal opinions about 2010 and look ahead toward the New Year.

Senior Staff Writer Chris "Pwyff" Tom

As senior staff writer, I’ve been watching the MMORPG industry very closely over the past two years as it has grown and changed shape in ways that I could never have predicted. The constant shifting and changing is probably what makes me so interested in MMOs as a genre. Oh, and getting to do some serious PvP also helps! Here’s what I saw looking back on 2010:

Favorite MMO of 2010

While I just said that I love PvPing in any MMORPG, you might be surprised my favorite MMORPG of 2010 is Lord of the Rings Online! While it’s true that LOTRO’s bare-bones PvMP (Player versus ‘monster’ Player) system is rather odd, there’s really no denying just how big an impact Turbine has made on the MMORPG industry with its new ‘freemium’ free-to-play model. Straight subscription models are always great for your first MMORPG but, since World of Warcraft has dominated the scene for so long, I’m quite impressed that Turbine is one of the first companies that thought outside of the box when it came to competing. Not only that but, because of their new aggressive free-to-play revenue model, Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online has far more updates than almost any other MMO I’ve seen, and this alone makes me want to see just how far they can go in 2011.

Top News Stories of 2010

This one’s a toss-up between Champions Online going free-to-play versus Final Fantasy XIV’s huge company restructuring following their horrendous release reception a few months back. To be honest, both of these big game changes are indications of just how cut-throat the MMO industry can be. While I may not agree with Champions Online’s ‘free-to-play’ model that prevents non-subscribing players from accessing custom powersets, there’s no denying that this superhero MMO needed some radical changes, or it wouldn’t be around for much longer. In that same line of thought, Final Fantasy XIV’s huge restructuring campaign shows that even some of the biggest names in MMO development can make mistakes, but the survivors in this industry are those who adapt quickly. Let’s hope SE can evolve in time!

Biggest Disappointment of 2010

I want to say Final Fantasy XIV here, but I think I would be beating a dead horse. Yes, FFXIV was a big disappointment for hardcore Final Fantasy XI fans like me, but I’m finding that I can’t really hate Square Enix while they’re trying so hard to make things better. NCsoft’s Aion, on the other hand, is a demonstration of just how little you can do with your MMO development schedule, while still raking in that subscription money. With content updates happening so infrequently (and only Assault on Balaurea really counts as a legitimate content update), Aion is my big disappointment of 2010 just because NCsoft has been one of the slowest developers to adapt to this constantly evolving industry, and I wonder how long they can keep up this snail’s pace.

Most Anticipated Games

Others will note that they’re looking forward to specific MMORPGs like TERA, Guild Wars 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Rift, DC Universe Online or even Funcom’s The Secret World, but I’m really looking forward to how the MMORPG industry will be affected with the introduction of more than half a dozen quality MMORPGs. The fact is, each of these MMOs has been working hard to differentiate itself from the pack and, if any of them can capitalize on all of their bold claims, then we need to be ready for some huge changes in this gaming genre. The introduction of several huge MMO competitors into the industry simply means that there will be that much more innovation in the market, and that can only mean good things. I’m particularly excited, however, about Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic, because they seem to be the most ‘unique’ MMOs to come out in 2011, although I don’t think anyone is hungrier for a modern steampunk MMO (The Secret World) than I am.

Continue to Page 3 for Reiyami's answers.