MMOs and MMORPGs have been around for decades at this point, and are still anticipated by many players. With so many popular titles like Final Fantasy 14, World of Warcraft, The Elder ScrollsOnline, and many more, players can pick their favorite genre or gameplay experience and get deeply immersed in their characters and lore.
Beginners to MMO games need to be able to easily get to know their chosen game’s mechanics without added complexity, and tutorials should be fun to play through. Some games’ introductions and tutorials can provide an isolated and safe experience for players to grow their characters, or they can have an integrated storyline that allows characters to naturally level up while enjoying the narrative.
6 The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online received update 30 on June 1, 2021, introducing a new tutorial system to players. Unlike before the update, players would experience a single universal game tutorial and then play whatever content and DLCs they owned. The tutorial area ends with access to different The Elder Scrolls Online content portals.
The tutorial begins on the Isle of Balfiera. The island is ridden with monsters and dangers, and players learn the game’s mechanics and get to know about right and wrong weapon choices. Norianwe, a mage, enlists the player’s help with investigating the happenings on the island. After players exit the Balfiera tutorial area through a portal, they cannot return.
5 Oldschool Runescape
Players can experience one of the hardest MMO grinds again in Oldschool Runescape. Every tutorial in Oldschool Runescape begins on the aptly named Tutorial Island. After character customization, the Gielinor Guide NPC welcomes players. Players are taught survival skills by Brynna, Lev the Masterchef teaches cooking, and the tutorial continues in this manner. NPCs guide players through the game's mechanics.
Some skills, if not all, can be leveled to level 3 while on Tutorial Island. The skills that can be gained on Tutorial Island include Attack, Strength, Defence, Ranged, Magic, Mining, Smithing, Prayer, Cooking, Woodcutting, and Firemaking. It is also possible to remain on Tutorial Island, however, there isn’t much to do and players won’t progress any further in the game beyond the level 3 skills.
4 Raid: Shadow Legends
One of the heroes has just been devoured by a dragon, kind of as a result of her hubris, and the other three heroes are absolutely destroyed by the dragon’s fiery breath. Fantastic. Players of Raid: Shadow Legends begin the tutorial by selecting and reviving one of the previous four heroes: Elhain, Kael, Athel, or Galek.
Beginners to the game are guided by the Arbiter. The Arbiter narrates the tutorial and introduces players to their Bastion where heroes are acquired and trained. Players are guided through the Mystery Shard mechanic, which allows them to summon champions of Common, Uncommon, and Rare quality. The first battle in the game’s campaign can then be played, set in Kaerok Castle.
3 World Of Warcraft
The Shadowlands expansion introduced a leveling zone to World of Warcraft called Exile’s Reach. New players to the MMO with legendary storytelling and world settings can go up to level 10 while exploring the quests and storyline. The tutorial experience begins aboard a ship where players fight a dummy and learn about fighting.
The ship then wrecks, and the player ends up on the beach of Exile’s Reach. The player can then work through exploration, cooking, and more fighting. A large part of the quests in Exile’s Reach is class-based, therefore each class will have a different experience throughout the tutorial. The ultimate goal is to stop Gor’Groth from awakening a dead dragon on the island. When the tutorial has been completed, players ride an Alliance Gryphon back to Stormwind City, and a new questline "Welcome to Stormwind" is started.
2 Eve Online
The AIR New Player Experience is the tutorial that Eve Online introduces after character creation. Players get to know New Eden, the star cluster inhabited by humans, in this tutorial. The player is in a capsule and is tasked with finding a ship. After joining the fleet of Commander Ballin Ferrus, the fleet is then attacked and the player’s ship is destroyed.
Vesper Calytrix helps players through the tutorial next after the player’s character wakes up at their home station. Players then learn skills and work towards meeting the Career Agents. After fitting a Mining Laser Upgrade and injecting necessary skills, players take a ship to their first mining experience. A Nephrite asteroid is mined until depletion, and players return to converse with their first Career Agents. The step-by-step tutorial for Eve: Online breaks down an incredibly immersive game that some can consider difficult into smaller manageable bites, creating an enjoyable tutorial and gameplay experience.
1 Star Wars: The Old Republic
The prelude serves as an introduction and tutorial for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Each of the unique classes has its own starter planet, and characters can level up to level 10 before beginning Chapter 1. This creates a decently varied experience for players, and it can reduce any tedium that can come up when starting up a new character.
Jedi Consulars and Knights start on Tython, Sit Inquisitors and Warriors start on Korriban, Bounty Hunters and Imperial Agents start on Hutta, and Smugglers and Troopers start on Ord Mantell. The planets of Tython and Ord Mantell fall under the Republic Prelude, while Korriban and Hutta are part of the Imperial prelude. Players are then sent to either the Carrick Station in the Republic fleet or the Vaiken Spacedock in the Imperial fleet, after completion of the prelude.