Gone are the days when saying you played an MMORPG meant you either played World of Warcraft or EverQuest; these days, the field is crowded with worthy rivals like Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and a surfeit of free-to-play MMORPGs that run the gamut from garbage to gold. And the field's about to become even more crowded. New MMOs are on the way from both native shores and Korea, with most revealing a strong affection for sandbox-style gameplay and action-oriented combat.

For the purposes of concision, we've left out some of the exciting games that fall into the broader "MMO" category like Destiny, The Division, and The Crew, and focused solely on upcoming games that place a heavier emphasis on the "RPG" aspect. In a field that contains dozens of contenders, we've singled out the few that look to be most worth your time. Many others would have made this list, including Monster Hunter Online and Otherland, but they're either plagued with localization issues or stuck in development hell.

WildStar

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If Pixar ever decides to create an MMORPG, it'll probably look something like WildStar. The key draw here is the so-called "paths" systems, which opens secondary activities for your character based on your playstyle preferences. Like exploring? WildStar will send you up to mountain peaks and down into caverns and tunnels. Just like killing stuff? WildStar will let you do that too. One of the other attractions of WildStar is that it lets you design your own PvP battlefields through Warplots, which can support either 20 or 40 players depending on how you design them. You can even dump a recently defeated raid boss onto your plot if you so wish (although with significantly reduced hit points), and customize them for massive battles in the style of World of Warcraft's Alterac Valley. Couple warplots with similarly interactive player housing, and you'll find that Carbine upcoming MMORPG gives you no shortage of ways to tell invaders to get off your lawn.

World of Darkness

If the recent cancellation of HBO's True Blood proves anything, it may be that the recent vampire craze really did drain itself dry after the release of the last Twilight film. Despite that significant hurdle, CCP Games (the same folks behind the decidedly unrelated EVE Online) still plans to release their vampire-themed MMORPG, even if it the launch still lies years ahead in the future. It could still be fun, even if the world's no longer interested in keeping up with the Cullens. The design places a heavy emphasis on fluid action movements in the style of a vampire, and much of the open-ended gameplay will focus on the struggle for control of territory. (EVE, anyone?)You can even play as an average-Joe human if you want to, or fight your way to the entire other end and mark players for permadeath once you become "Prince of the City." The one bummer? It's always night. Looks like those vamps in Skyrim's Dawnguard expansion finally won out, after all.

Elder Scrolls Online

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ZeniMax media is planning to remold one of the world's greatest RPG franchises into an MMORPG. What could go wrong? To be sure, there's plenty to look forward to if the franchise's winning formula for single-player games will translate well into an MMO. The Elder Scrolls franchise might not be known for the best combat, but there's something satisfying about whipping out your bow in first-person view and scoring a perfect shot based on your skill alone. ESO delivers that feeling, along with an open-ended leveling system that lets you design your character as you wish. Complement that with dynamic events and the series' fascinating lore, and ZeniMax may have themselves a winner.

Black Desert Online

Black Desert's playable world teems with the kind of stuff you usually only see in cinematics, and it's rounded off by some fluid abilities that even extends to what looks like an enjoyable implementation of mounted combat. Climate in Black Desert actually has an impact on the gameplay, so if you're in a warm region, you'll be able to spend your time fishing and farming when you're not cracking heads; in drier climes, you'll get to mine and raise camels. Housing, too, looks interesting, complete with a interface reminiscent of Rift's in that it grants you almost total freedom in regards to design. And it looks though it's almost ready for testing. Closed beta testing is about to start for Korean players, but unfortunately, you'll still have to wait a bit if you're on this side of the pond.

EverQuest Next

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Despite their size, MMORPGs tend to take place in static worlds. Dynamic events may bring a bit of liveliness to an otherwise staid questing area and world PvP might trigger whole battles on empty fields, but on the whole such activities barely affect a blade of grass in the world around them. EverQuest Next wants to change all that. Since the entire world is cobbled together out of voxels (and more beautiful ones than we ever saw in Minecraft), you can dig straight into the ground below you and find entirely new zones waiting underneath or destroy entire buildings if you so desire. NPCs allegedly have motivations for their behavior and don't stick to predetermined paths, and each server has a life of its own that could allow for vastly different experiences between servers. The world "innovative" gets tossed a lot these days, but EverQuest Next looks like it could be one of the few MMOs to live up to it.

The Repopulation

It's all in the title: in the Repopulation, you're expected to eke out your existence as the last humans in the universe, although we've now been shuttled off to a planet called Rhyldan. It's all supposed to be based on "real science," but what's most fascinating about The Repopulation is that it fits the description of a "sandbox MMORPG" like few games have since the golden age of Star Wars Galaxies. Players will once again be able to build their own homes and cities, and they'll even be able to wage war on their neighbors if they feel so inclined. (Good luck starting a hippie utopia.) NPCs will apparently remember your actions and comment on them with other players, and the open-ended "leveling" system means you could eventually learn every skill in the game if you wish. There's also a heavy emphasis on crafting, as well as an option to bioengineer your own pets. No word on if it covers the specific act of repopulation, though.

Lineage Eternal

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If there's one aspect of MMORPG combat that few developers have been willing to part with, it's the third-person view we all know so well from the likes of EverQuest, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, and countless others. But for the new Lineage MMO, developer NCSoft wants to dump all that for an isometric view in the style of Diablo III. It's a shame that there's only three classes (which works well for an action RPG but not so much for a full-fledged MMORPG), but Lineage Eternal further distinguishes itself through extensive interaction with the environment and large-scale siege battles.

Perhaps most exciting of all, combat's based around a patented "drag-skill" feature with your mouse. If you draw a straight line in front of your mage, for instance, a fire wall will pop up. That's hot.

ArcheAge

ArcheAge is one of those games with an amazing concept that was supposed to change everything, but judging from the mediocre reception it received after its recent launch in South Korea, the execution was a little clumsy. But, oh, what concepts! ArcheAge is filled with thousands of little details that help the virtual world resemble a living one, such as stains that remain on your clothes after killing other players that can be used as evidence in a court. If convicted, you'll even have to go to prison for a while and perform hard labor. In the world itself, you can engage in naval battles, race with other players on hang gliders, and even marry and have children. And that's just the beginning. Indeed, that may be what hurts ArcheAge when and if it ever makes it over here--it simply has too many ideas for its own good.

Pathfinder Online

MMORPGs are beastly expensive things to make, which makes it all the more surprising when developers manage to get funding for them through Kickstarter. One of the most successful of those Kickstarted MMOs is Pathfinder Online, inspired by the popular pen-and-paper RPG, which also invites its players to make castles in its own sandbox. It's almost absurdly open-ended, but therein lies some of its appeal. There are no classes, for instance; instead, you level skills of your choice much as you do in EVE Online. (See a trend here?) Much of the focus is on commerce in the surrounding world, complete with player-run shops within cities that they and their friends built themselves. PvP also apparently has "meaning," down to alignments resulting from your actions and an intricate bounty system.

Any other big MMORPGs you're looking forward to? Leave a note below and share what has you hyped.

Leif Johnson is a freelance writer from Chicago who plays too many MMORPGs for his own good. Follow him on Twitter at @leifjohnson to see Twitch previews for upcoming MMORPGs from time to time.