The MMO Gamers Holiday Shopping Guide

Getting gifts for gamer can be a tricky exercise, what's new isn't always what's best, but sometimes the classics don't quite retain their luster. What to get? Fear not, for in this feature we play the role of your Secret Santa, we're going to be looking at a bunch of neat items and gift ideas for the special MMO gamers in your life, be they spouse, relative or just good pal, you'll find something useful on our list for that special someone.

World of Warcraft Battlechest

At under $40, this is probably one of the best deals in gaming on a dollar to gameplay content scale you're going to find absolutely anywhere.

Playing through the original World of Warcraft alone will take literally hundreds of hours, no, that's not a typo, I said hundreds, and that's all before delving into the game's first mammoth full on expansion, Burning Crusade, which is also included in the set.

What makes this a great gift for any MMO gamer is the fact that it'll give them the opportunity to run through World of Warcraft, scooping up quests, learning trade skills, earning wow gold and joining guilds along the way, all the time experiencing the best Classic WoW has to offer in preparation for the world-changing er... changes that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will bring when it hits in 2010.

Consider: Wrath of the Lich King would make a perfect stocking stuffer, although that might be just too much game for any one gamer to handle all at once. Alternatively, you could pick up a few game time cards so the giftee doesn't have to spend their own cash on monthly subscription for a bit.

Perfect for: A male or female gamer anywhere from their early teens and upward. World of Warcraft is family friendly and relatively inoffensive, it's also perfect for friends who've never played an MMO before and might be intimidated by something more hardcore, like EverQuest II.

Aion

In a word, it's the new hotness.

Despite being available to Korean gamers for over a year now, NCsoft's Aion has only recently been translated and localised for Western audiences.

Like most MMO's it did have its fair share of technical problems out the gate, but in the two months since launch they seem to have largely been rectified. The game's been lauded for its high level of polish and the manner it which its development team pays close attention to, and responds to community needs and requests.

Perfect for: The seasoned MMO gamer who's looking for something different. Aion features some unique gameplay, like flight based combat that's likely to make for a great change of pace for folks who've been there and done that and had just about enough of orcs and elves. It's also developed primarily in Korea which imbues it with a different cultural fabric that might be appealing.

Consider: It'll cost you some extra Kinah, but consider springing for an extra copy... for yourself! There's nothing more fun than making your way through a brand new MMO experience with your best pal.

Age of Conan

It might have had something of a rocky launch, what with its laundry list of technical hitches and content problems, but Age of Conan was also one of the best reviewed MMO games in recent history. Critics praised its presentation, graphics, and the fresh and different approach to combat.

A year later Funcom has added a ton of new content, addressing one of the major complaints with the game's original launch, the lack of content past level 20, they've also patched and polished the game so that it shines, and runs just as stable as any PC game.

At just $19,99, Age of Conan is an absolute steal, get it now, explore Hyboria, cleave some skulls, earn some aoc gold, and get your swarthy character ready to make the jump to the Rise of the Godslayer expansion when it hits next year.

Consider: Getting the giftee a subscription to Dark Horse's current run of Conan comics. While the stories are not directly related to the game itself, they are inspired by the same source material and make the world, lore and setting even more enjoyable. Dark Horse's current run is probably the best the license has had in comics since the seventies when Buscema was drawing for the book.

Perfect for: Age of Conan is rated "M for Mature", and it contains instances of gore, blood, extreme violence and nudity, so be sure the recipient is old enough to handle all this. It's probably a perfect game to get for a gamer who's recently built a brand new super rig or been gifted one, AoC can be a fairly demanding game and on a machine that can really make it sing in all its DirectX 10 glory, it's a real sight to behold.

Champions Online

Like Aion and Age of Conan, Champions Online is different from just about everything else out there... other than City of Heroes/Villains (which were both made by the same developer, Cryptic). However, Champions Online is much newer, runs much smoother, and it's actually based on a pretty cool license.

Consider: MMO gamers are all about their lore, and while the heroes and villains of the Champions Universe may not be as popular as their spandex clad counterparts from the DC and Marvel universes, they do have a rich history dating back to 1981 to draw upon. Consider getting your giftee some of the Champions books.

Perfect for: The jaded MMO gamer who's not into high (or low) fantasy, who'd rather crack open a copy of Batman than bother with Tolkien.

Dragon Age: Origins

Let's face it, even the most ardent MMO gamer needs to get away for a little while, to take a break from the guilds, the servers and the thirty man raids... but we still want to quest.

Every year a single player RPG comes along to fill the void, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Mass Effect are examples of games that have scratched that particular itch in the last couple of years, Dragon Age: Origins is the newest entry in that respected line of games, also, it's the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate. 'Nuff said.

Consider: Springing for the deluxe digital edition of the game, which comes with all the extra DLC available at launch, while the main game itself is pretty hefty anyway, it's a nice gesture and costs only $10 more. Alternatively, you might consider something like Fallout 3, which is just as expansive and definitely falls into the "single player MMO" category... getting all the DLC for Fallout 3 will cost you more though.

Perfect for: The MMO gamer who still wants to quest but either wants to drop off the grid for a while or simply can't afford the monthly bill :)


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