It has only been a scant decade since MMO gaming went from the domain of the MUDs (multiple-user dungeons) to the graphical powerhouses we are seeing nowadays.

MUDs were mostly text-driven and not as intricate as the massively multiplayer online games presented now. The modern era of MMOs really began back in the late 1990s. Meridian 59 (first published by the 3DO Company ¨C which no longer exists) was the first commercial MMO to tap into the sword-and-sorcery culture. It was followed by Ultima Online in September 1997, EverQuest in March 1999, and Asheron¡¯s Call in November 1999.

Hold on a moment longer; the history lesson is not quite over.

Anarchy Online took the high fantasy-dominated genre in another direction in June of 2001, and Dark Age of Camelot followed in October of that year.

The games were deep, involving and evolving and remain popular today. It really wasn¡¯t until November of 2002 that the class of MMOs took a major leap forward in the eye candy department with the release of Asheron¡¯s Call 2. Unfortunately, though, the game was fraught with problems and while both the developer and publisher were pointing fingers at one another, and the live team was scrambling to fix it, the decision was finally reached to close the game.

[Via GameZone]