From time to time, the idea of progression servers gets tossed around by fans. Everquest has seen quite a lot of success with them. It’s an opportunity to relive the glory days, or experience them for the first time. Along the same vein is the idea of a Vanilla server, sought after by fans who somewhere along the way didn’t like a choice the developers made that in their view changed the game forever. While in theory any MMO could create a progression server or a vanilla server, there are a few that are better suited for it than others. In this week’s Listed we’re taking a look at 6 MMOs that could benefit from having a progression server or a vanilla server.
6. Black Desert Online
Black Desert Online is by far the youngest MMO on this list and it has earned its place because of player housing. Housing is limited in Black Desert Online. Not everyone who wants a house can get one and with player housing being such a big draw to the game the opportunity to get a house would be very welcome. Black Desert Online is incredibly successful and offering players another chance at housing would bring back players who left because they couldn’t get housing.
Housing is limited in Black Desert Online. Not everyone who wants a house can get one and with player housing being such a big draw to the game, the opportunity to get a house would be very welcome. Black Desert Online is incredibly successful and offering players another chance at housing would bring back players who left because they couldn’t get housing.
5. ArcheAge
Many consider ArcheAge to be one of the great disappointments of the MMO genre, so imagine being able to roll back the clock and make different choices. Not only could you make different choices with a fresh start but Trion could too. With special rules that correct the errors that were made along with way. No more P2W accusations, the chance for everyone who wants it to get a fresh start, it’s a dream come true.
4. Final Fantasy XIV
You won’t hear me saying FFXIV is a disappointment, it is one of the most beloved MMOs on the market right now. But wouldn’t it be great to start it all over? Maybe you didn’t start playing until years had passed and wish you could have been there from the start. Go back to a time before any expansions had released. This is the perfect situation for a progression server. This, of course, brings about all sorts of questions. How quickly would it progress? What happens to it after it catches up?
3. Rift
For Rift, a new server could go either way. Perhaps a vanilla server that goes back before the launch of Storm Legion, the first expansion and stays there. Or maybe it would take the form of a progression server which slowly reintroduced content created through the years. It would, unlike a vanilla server, allow for Dimensions which were only added to the game with Storm Legion. Or maybe it could be a combination of the two. Either way, it would give veterans the chance to return to the game and experience it all again. It also gives people a chance to get those all-important server firsts. Something which I am proud to say I have a few of. Of course, if a new server were introduced you would have current players leaping at the opportunity for those server firsts as well. It would revitalize every corner of the world as players decide what it is they want to famously be the first person to do.
2. Star Trek Online
Star Trek Online has had so many amazing releases through the years, introduced so many beloved characters from the shows to the game. This makes it the perfect candidate for a progression server. Imagine reliving all the excitement. I’ve met many people who feel overwhelmed with the amount of updates to the game. This would give them the opportunity to get in from the very start and work their way through the content as it releases.
1. World of Warcraft
With all the unofficial vanilla servers and the drama that has surrounded them, you had to know that World of Warcraft would be number one on this list. Blizzard could do both even. Have a server that only runs vanilla for those who prefer it and have a progression server. At Gamescom a few years ago while speaking to our journalists, then Game Director Tom Chilton mentioned that finding new players to try World of Warcraft was a struggle. And considering how successful the game is that is understandable, but how many people would be interested if it were a progression server? What if instead of playing through an empty world, only populated in high-level areas, you could get these people in at the start of an all-new server? Start them off in the beginning and progress through all the expansions, all the updates. It might just be enough to convince even the most resistant to give it a try.
And with that you have our list. It is by no means complete, in fact you could add just about any MMO to the list. For a brief time I did consider adding games that had been shut down. There has always been the call for a pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies, that’s one of those that I don’t think will ever fade. Equally beloved is City of Heroes, what an adventure it would be to start it all over again. It would be the ultimate progression server for fans of the game, as well as cashing in on superheroes suddenly being very in style right now. Sadly, of course, these are two that are very unlikely to ever happen but we can still dream.
Which brings me to you, the reader. Is there a game you would enjoy playing a vanilla or progression server of? Even one that has been shut down. How would you see it working? Let me know in the comments.
