While nothing will compare to the &#x27;first time&#x27;, the bewilderment need not diminish to zero.<p>Ultima Online was my first and still favorite MMORPG back in the late 1990s&#x2F;early 2000s but when I tried EverQuest for the first, the 3D world and depth of races&#x2F;characters&#x2F;NPCs blew me away.<p>Then I tried Dark Age of Camelot. The 1-world-but-3-continents&#x2F;factions concept amazed me. There was always &#x27;the others&#x27; and a sense of citizenship with the group of players I could actually interact with. Everyone in UO&#x2F;EQ was a potential rival&#x2F;friend. In DAOC I knew where my loyalty lied and the enemy was always clear.<p>Then I played Ragnarok Online -- my first Korean MMORPG. Again, blown away for totally different reasons. The music, the colors, the sprites, and GIRLS!! Lots of girls played Ragnarok. I didn&#x27;t meet any girls on UO&#x2F;EQ&#x2F;DAOC -- 95% boys, 5% house wives.<p>Next up was Star Wars Galaxies. No more &#x27;levels&#x27;, back to skills ala Ultima Online but in a totally different and more complicated way! 3D persistent housing! Crafting! Dancing at the local cantina as a totally legit profession! Multiple PLANETS!! OMG!<p>Then came World of Warcraft -- nothing I hadn&#x27;t seen before this time. But it was presented in the most streamlined manner and was the first MAINSTREAM MMORPG. Everyone my age was playing. I felt like the grizzled veteran of the genre&#x2F; I knew the mechanics. I taught my friends how to tank. How to heal. How to lead a raid, etc. Again, amazing for totally different reasons.<p>Sad to say, I haven&#x27;t felt anything new since WoW. But I honestly don&#x27;t think its because the genre is played out. Its just we haven&#x27;t been shown anything different. That might change this year with plenty of promising games in the pipeline -- Shards Online, Albion Online, Camelot Unchained, etc.<p>If you still think the genre has hope, check out my ~1yr old website, <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;mmos.com" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;mmos.com</a> I hope to see you on my next adventure.