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.

Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland

In 2010, my MMO horizons were opened when I joined the ZAM team. This means I have had the opportunity to sample and review several games I would not have tried or known about otherwise; but it also means that, for the majority of the year before I joined the team, I was focused on my main game: World of Warcraft.

Favorite MMO of 2010

Much like everyone else, my favorite game of 2010 would have to be World of Warcraft thanks to Cataclysm, its newest expansion. The expansion offered a fresh look at an aging game and it paid off spectacularly. The new zones were standard fair, but the revamp of almost every old zone completely changed the game for the better. And my favorite part of the new game? Flying! Flying was done right in WoW.

Biggest Disappointment of 2010

Where flying wasn't done right was probably in my biggest disappointment of 2010: Aion, which received the Assault on Balaurea expansion this year. I want to phrase this as nicely as possible, because I don't think the game is bad – it just feels mediocre to me at every level. The quests and zones seemed linear and dull; experience gain even at the beginning seemed to promise a long, dry grind and, although flying and aerial PvP was touted as one of the game's best points, it was a complete let-down. Flying was little more than what swimming would be in other games, except instead of a breath meter one had a flight meter, after which time your death rapidly approached. It wasn't fun, it was gimmicky, and it really saddened me that such a potentially good mechanic was implemented so poorly.

Top News Stories of 2010

I really enjoyed Pirates of the Burning Seas going free-to-play because that gave me an opportunity to try it out. The game ended up being my second favorite game of the year, and is completely free to download and play. It's quite a bit different than any other MMO I've tried, but seemed to represent a very successful switch from subscription to F2P that would actually help the game continue longer rather than shrink.

Most Anticipated Game

In the coming year, I am most looking forward to Rift. Despite only getting a short chance to play during the second closed beta event (and currently diving into the third), this game shows a ton of promise. I'm not sure if it lives up its own hype of “next-generation,” but their dynamic system with constant invasion events and shifting terrain was a blast when I tried it. The dark back story, customizable soul trees and good graphics outweigh the regular quest system and crafting. I can't wait to see what they do next!