Piratical swashbucklers might want to check out two pirate-themed MMOs, Pirates of the Burning Sea and Puzzle Pirates (see image). The former is an upcoming title set amidst tales of adventure on the high seas, and promises to be packed with piratical fun. Puzzle Pirates, on the other hand, manages to combine puzzles like Tetris with cutesy 2D avatars and swashbuckling lingo for a game that stands up to both casual and long-term play.

Sci-fi junkies are welcomed in space-themed MMOs like Star Wars Galaxies, Anarchy Online, EVE Online and Phantasy Star Online. Each of these games has had different successes, with EVE standing out for its ship-based (rather than avatar-based) approach; Star Wars Galaxies has met with a lot of criticism after a major relaunch recently, unrelated to its genre.

Cyberpunks abound in The Matrix Online and Neocron, and upcoming title Auto Assault also takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. The "us versus them" mentality lends itself well to MMOs, but the first two titles have only met with limited success.

Social butterflies gravitate towards worlds like Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom, The Sims Online, A Tale in the Desert, Second Life and Habbo Hotel, amongst many others. Ranging from 3D worlds to 2D chat-spaces, the common thread between all these titles is people over content; many "games" in this category aren't really games at all.

While VMK concentrates on replicating Disneyland with the same care TSO lavishes on its multiplayer Sims port, Second Life furnishes players with nothing but their own skill at creating in-game items. ATitD is essentially a testbed for social experimentation with an Egyptian flavour, and Habbo Hotel is a giant chatroom where teenagers host virtual parties and talk the night away. Success has been mixed with these titles, with some exceeding expectations but others like TSO not meeting their targets.

Let's talk about sex? That's encouraged in Naughty America: The Game (set for launch this spring), Sociolotron and another upcoming title, Spend the Night. While cybering in other MMOs isn't unheard-of, specific sex-based games bring a whole new dimension to MMO play, although the genre isn't really established enough to judge whether new ventures will succeed or fail.

Heroes and villains can roam the streets in City of Heroes/Villains and an as-yet-untitled Marvel MMORPG. Superheroes and comics have their own following outside of gaming, which adds to the appeal of these titles, but subscriber numbers have been dwarfed by those of traditional sword-and-sorcery titles. Marvel's intellectual property may broaden the appeal, but it might also be the case that everyone who wants to play a superhero is already doing so.

The most attractive genres--social worlds, and the fantasy/science fiction border--have successful titles and will doubtless attract more success, but fantasy still holds the crown overall. We'd also like to point out that there are many more titles falling into these categories, and others, so fantasy definitely isn't the be-all and end-all of massively multiplayer games.

Some of the games listed here also manage to break the traditional monthly subscription models; Puzzle Pirates, for instance, features a system whereby you can exchange real cash for in-game "doubloons". Second Life has a similar cash exchange, and there are even some free-to-play games listed: Anarchy Online, Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom, and Habbo Hotel. Many of the others offer free trials, but keep that World of Warcraft account active--you may find that there's nothing quite like good old-fashioned elf-bashing, after all.

[Thanks, elchin safarov and Merus]