Previously: Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition.

Endgame Viable Awards 2017

760 words.

It’s time once against for the prestigious Endgame Viable Awards for 2017, posted a bit early because the 31st is a Sunday. Hopefully I won’t play any new games over the weekend to skew these results.

2016 Awards

2015 Awards

I give out three awards: Game of the Year, MMORPG of the Year, and MMORPG Expansion of the Year. In my warped worldview “Game of the Year” sort of implies Steam game of the year and excludes traditional MMORPGs.

Eligibility

My awards are chosen from among games that launched in 2017 which I have personally purchased and played in 2017. This includes free-to-play releases, even though technically I didn’t “purchase” them.

I do not consider early access purchases as eligible, to punish developers for pushing their games too early. So, for example, Conan Exiles can never win an award from me because they launched the Early Access version and I bought it in 2017. If the game goes on to launch for real in 2018, it cannot be considered for my 2018 list because I already bought and played it for the first time in 2017. I can’t pretend I’m playing it again for the first time in 2018.

On the other hand, Dirt Rally is eligible for the 2017 awards because I purchased the release launch in 2017. Despite it being available for purchase since 2015, I did not buy any of those Early Access versions, so it is eligible for my list. (And a good thing, too, as it turns out.)

It’s not a perfect system, so don’t @ me.

Steam Purchases 2017

I highlighted eligible titles in italics.

  • Jan 31 - Conan Exiles (Early Access), 29.99
  • Feb 17 - Rise of the Tomb Raider 20 Year Celebration, 23.99
  • Feb 18 - Company of Heroes 2 Master Collection, 9.99
  • Mar 2 - Factorio (Early Access), 20.00
  • Mar 4 - CHKN (Early Access), 9.74
  • Apr 26 - Batman Arkham Knight, 7.99
  • May 13 - Alan Wake Franchise, 3.99
  • Mar 14 - Dirt Rally, 18.00
  • Jun 2 - Titan Quest Anniversary Edition, 3.99
  • Jun 26 - Ultimate Doom, 1.24
  • Jun 26 - Subnautica (Early Access), 9.99
  • Jun 26 - The Beginner’s Guide, 3.99
  • Aug 3 - Dark and Light (Early Access), 24.89
  • Sep 22 - Stellaris, 15.99
  • Sep 26 - Assassin’s Creed Unity, 9.17
  • Sep 26 - Assassin’s Creed Rogue, 6.11
  • Sep 26 - Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, 14.39
  • Oct 31 - Necropolis Brutal Edition, 4.49

I can’t find any other games I’ve purchased this year outside of Steam (excluding those below).

New MMORPGs Played in 2017

Depressingly enough, according to Syp’s MMO Timeline, the only other launches in 2017 that could have been considered were Albion Online and Tree of Life. I’d be interested in trying these games but given the complete lack of positive buzz, even the modest $20-$30 entry point seems too risky for something that I would probably discard an hour after installing it.

* I don’t think SWL counts as a “new” MMORPG in 2017. It seems more like FFXIV 2.0, which I would have counted as an expansion in 2013, had I been doing this then. SWL is not even an expansion. It’s effectively a re-launch of the same game, which is an entirely unique category. For the purposes of this post, I’m going to consider it an update to the same game, and ineligible.

MMORPG Expansions Played in 2017

Dates below are my date of purchase, not necessarily the launch date.

  • Jun 9 - FFXIV Stormblood, 39.99
  • May 22 - Elder Scrolls Online Morrowind, 39.99 (Amazon)
  • Aug 5 - Lord of the Rings Online Mordor, 39.99
  • Sep 22 - GW2 Path of Fire, 29.99

Winners

And the winners are …

  • Game of the Year 2017 - Dirt Rally. By default. It’s a fun game, but there was literally no other choice.
  • MMORPG of the Year 2017 - No award. Neither Revelation Online nor Kritika Online deserves this title, not least because I’m not sure I could even classify them as “MMORPGs” under my definition of the term.
  • MMORPG Expansion of the Year 2017 - FFXIV Stormblood. It had far more story depth than Path of Fire, and brought much-needed changes to the game (by which I basically mean the Bard class). ESO Morrowind and LotRO Mordor could not hold my attention for more than a a few hours total. (In fact I never even *got* to Morrowind in ESO because the breadcrumbs were so obtuse and confusing.)

Related

Previously: Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition.

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