With the age of massively multiplayer online games also came the rise of the concept of expansions. An expansion is generally understood to be a fairly major addition to an MMO, and it often includes more content in the form of areas to explore, quests, levels, or more optimal gear. Expansions also include fixes and tweaks to improve the game overall, or sometimes they cause them.
An expansion is intended to make an MMO better, but there are a few that have changed their game for the worse. The following MMOs survived their bad expansions, but they were never the same again, nor were the players that left the open world, RPG, or sandbox because of them.
6 Mordor - Lord Of The Rings Online (2017)
Maybe not the worst expansion ever, but in terms of pre-release hype and actual content once it was released, Mordor was a crushing disappointment in a game known for its literary references and detailed storytelling. Players that were looking forward to experiencing the dark, dusty plains of Mordor ended up getting stuck behind paywalls, loot boxes, and other sneaky monetization techniques.
The expansion included fewer options for those using the free-to-play version of the game or who didn't purchase the next expansion, Minas Morgul. Players liked the new regions, but everything else was either a step in the wrong direction or more of the same, and way overpriced.
5 Delta Rising - Star Trek Online (2014)
A great concept and idea wasted, even for Star Trek fans that are keen on the Voyager-related parts of the history and lore. As the name suggests, this expansion returned to the Delta Quadrant and the effects the passage of the starship Voyager had on that part of the solar system.
The expansion included some basic improvements, like raising the level cap, but the problem is that the quests didn't offer a whole lot of progression without a massive time investment. The community was put off by this since the game had a reputation for being less grindy than other MMOs. The new Tier 6 ships were nice, but they made the previously max-level Tier 5 ships obsolete.
4 Cataclysm - World Of Warcraft (2010)
After a long run that's almost 20 years long and has seen a few expansions, gamers will argue about which one did the most damage to the game overall. Considering how much players argue about the smallest of details it's interesting how many will settle on Cataclysm as the absolute worst World of Warcraft expansion ever.
The Cataclysm expansion broke the world, literally, and put it back together in a way that nobody liked. The "open world" was divided into much smaller regions and quests led players down a set storyline as opposed to letting them explore, and classes and talents were changed to equalize everyone in a way that nobody liked.
3 Knights Of The Fallen Empire - Star Wars: The Old Republic (2015)
This was one of the most painful in a long line of hits that started when the game was first released. The Knights of the Fallen Empire confirmed what everyone already suspected, that SWtoR was always going to have a solid fan base, but it was never going to be the "WoW Killer" that some had claimed it would be.
The high point of this expansion was the storyline, and when a good review for this expansion comes up, that's the reason it always gives. Everything else, however, is either a bore or yet another attempt at monetization, which has cluttered this game up a lot since its initial release.
2 Gates Of Discord - EverQuest (2004)
EverQuest was the first MMO that was a force to be reckoned with even though it was still mostly a niche online activity. The popularity of one of the internet's first MMORPGs prompted one of the earliest expansions and one of the first big gamer disappointments. On top of that, there was also the issue of very bad timing
The expansion heavily favored endgame players and focused on content for those level 70 and up, which was fine for them, but the time of hardcore players and MMORPGs was coming to a close. The casual players who felt left out turned to a new MMO that was more tailored to their preferences that were released in the same year; the former RTS title from Blizzard, World of Warcraft.
1 Trials Of Atlantis - Dark Age Of Camelot (2003)
Dark Age of Camelot is another of the more obscure MMORPGs that still has a lot going for it, including one of the few that uses legends from human history as opposed to something made up in a fantasy world. The game started in 2001 and is still going strong, so it's going to take more than an expansion as bad as Trials of Atlantis to end it entirely.
The introduction of high-level Master Classes was tantalizing, but it turns out that only dedicated players with a lot of extra grinding to do would get anything out of it. There were also a lot of bugs when the expansion was first released, and that might not seem like a big deal now, but 20 years ago players expected more of a finished product.