Not that it has any bearing on those who play them, but it's gotta be at least a little bit cool to know you're playing a Hall of Famer. That's the case for a a new selection of MMO (massive multiplayer online to the uninitiated) games that, as of today, are now officially part of the hallowed virtual walls of the MMO Hall of Fame. According to a press release from Fuzz Buzz Media, the Hall's owner and operator, five new games are now enshrined for 2014.
For its third year in operation, five new games were inducted due to their contributions to the MMO genre, and their respective popularity among their enormous player bases: Guild Wars, Star Wars Galaxies, Planetside, Lord of the Rings Online, and Wizard101.
So what makes one game stand out among the others? It all comes down to a vote among a nominating committee, which is made up of developers, creators, and staffers of some pretty notable companies - Sony and Bethesda to name a few, and for some reason, the lead singer of Blue Oyster Cult. Each committee member selects 10 games they feel have set standards in the gaming field, and any game that gets 60 percent of the votes become automatic inductees.
You may notice that most of this year's inductees are older releases, but they've been on the ballot a number of times before finally making it in. Interestingly, this is the first time that Wizard101 was considered. Not bad for its first time out.
Past games that have been considered include Age of Conan, and Warhammer Online. Last year's winners were RuneScape, City of Heroes, Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, and Meridian 59. For the truly interested, you can check out the complete list of votes and percentages, at the MMO Hall of Fame.