There's a lot of awesome games to look forward to in 2016, but don't let all that buzz make you overlook one genre worth paying attention to this year. Spread between massive crowdfunding campaigns and smaller indie projects, MMORPGs are on the cusp of big changes to the familiar formula we've all come to know. And, fortunately for you, we've rounded up some of the most promising MMORPGs that are worth keeping an eye on this year.

Star Citizen

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If the growing mountain of money that Star Citizen has received through crowdfunding isn't a big enough reason to be interested, then looking over the proposed features of the game would probably do the trick. By combining multiple genres together, Star Citizen is looking to take MMOs to bold new frontiers with its blend of sophisticated space combat, first-person shooting, and deep economic and social simulation.

Like the Swiss Army Knife of video games, Star Citizen offers something for just about everyone. And all of it tied together by an expansive universe where one minute you could be participating in a competitive FPS match and the next scouring an asteroid field for pirates to kill. With a star studded cast, a single player campaign in addition to the MMORPG, and an ever ballooning budget, Star Citizen might seem too good to be true. Let's hope that it isn't.

Tom Clancy's The Division

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It might not be the most traditional MMORPG on this list, but The Division is shaping up to be one of the more inventive online games of this year. Borrowing a few pages from Destiny, The Division uses a disease-ridden Manhattan as the backdrop for a hybrid shooter with RPG elements that you'll play online with friends or strangers—just be sure you can trust them.

MMORPGs have always been about creating unique social interactions, and The Division looks like it won't disappoint. After entering the ominous Dark Zone, you'll likely run into other groups of players and whether you decide to slaughter or help them is up to you. Just be sure you can trust the people you're fighting alongside as they might put a gun to your head once it's all over.

World of Warcraft: Legion

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Following last year's rather lackluster expansion, World of Warcraft is in the middle of a "make or break" moment with a lot of people wondering if the granddaddy of MMORPGs is starting to see its dying days. Enter Legion, an expansion that is going to need to prove that World of Warcraft has a long future ahead of it, and Blizzard is going to have to whip up some enchanting new tricks in order to make it happen.

Allowing players to finally don the mantle of Demon Hunter is a good start. This new class will allow players to tap into their demonic side to do battle against the Burning Legion. Along with the new artifact weapon system, which allows you to tailor the most iconic weapons in the game to your personal tastes, and a new continent to explore, there's more than enough reasons to be hopeful that World of Warcraft's next chapter will be the best yet.

Everquest Next

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Despite the silence surrounding Everquest Next since its developer was sold and rebranded as Daybreak Game Company, there's still hope that this evolution of the classic Everquest series will be making its way to us in 2016. And if it does, it could be one of the most innovative MMORPGs ever released.

Like it's name implies, Everquest Next aspires to be the next step in the genre by combining familiar elements in a world that can be, quite literally, shaped by the players. Like Minecraft, Everquest Next's landscape can be built upon or dug into, opening up access to new areas and allowing players a huge level of freedom in how they play. Whole cities can be destroyed, new ones built, and player stories forged or lost in the rise and fall of virtual kingdoms.

Black Desert Online

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Don't be fooled by Black Desert's gorgeous environments and characters because its beauty isn't just on the surface. Since launching in South Korea last year, Black Desert has captured the attention of many looking for a unique take on the sandbox-style of MMORPG. And in just a few months, the wait for Black Desert Online will be over.

Black Desert Online offers a truly wondrous world to explore that isn't spoonfed to you through a series of conveniently strung together quests. You're free to grow and play any way you please. Whether decorating your house, taming horses, or taking up arms in epic player-versus-player battles to capture territory, Black Desert Online is bursting at the seams with things to do. And if all else fails, you can spend your time creating celebrity look alikes in its beautiful character creator.

Crowfall

If you're tired of the lifeless and static worlds found in most MMORPGs, Crowfall's constant sense of change and impermanence is something you should look forward to. You play immortal gods locked in an never ending struggle over dying worlds. Each world you fight over is a separate campaign with different rules and geography, and over time the world will slowly die as the war between player factions becomes more dire.

If that' doesn't make your heart flutter, then the combat most certainly will. Instead of mashing a series of hotkeys to cast abilities, you'll be knocking heads in highly skill-based active combat. If you're not afraid to get a little bloody, Crowfall is shaping up to be one of the best PVP MMOs of this year.

Albion Online

Albion Online is looking to redefine how we think about mobile games by mixing the brutality and political scandal of EVE Online and planting it into a vast fantasy world. Whether you're playing it on a tablet or at your computer, Albion Online offers a chance for you and your friends to build an epic kingdom in a cutthroat land where death means losing everything. No seriously, you drop all your items when you die outside of designated safe zones.

If forging barbaric empires isn't your thing, Albion Online also offers a complex crafting system that will require you to specialize in order to profit from its dynamic, player-driven economy. And if you're a true pacifist, you can even buy up your own little island away from all the war and betrayal and raise sheep until your hair goes grey.

Camelot Unchained

Set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world, Camelot Unchained promises epic player-versus-player clashes on an ever-shifting landscape steeped in Arthurian legend. Not quite a spiritual successor to the much older Dark Age of Camelot, Camelot Unchained is a much bolder and riskier attempt to shake up the MMO formula and introduce some exciting new features to the genre.

Chief among those features is the conquest of the Kingdom of Camelot by three different player factions and the way the "puzzle pieces" of the landscape will shift and reorganize over the course of the game. Though there will be some opportunities for less competitive play, this is an MMO built from the ground up to enable fierce player-driven conflict.

Warhammer 40K: Eternal Crusade

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After the untimely demise of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, most were pretty certain that we'd never see another Warhammer MMORPG again. Eternal Crusade might be set 40 thousand years after the original, but you're still going to see the same vicious conflict between man and Ork.

Eternal Crusade isn't just another average MMORPG, either. It's a tactical squad-based shooter where you'll choose a faction and fight for control over territory in a persistent war against three other factions. Even if you aren't a fan of Warhammer, Eternal Crusade's combat and overarching strategy looks to provide immediate action without all the tedious grinding. And who doesn't love the idea of chainsawing Orks in half?

This list only covers a few of the most notable MMORPGs due to arrive this year. What other MMORPGs are you excited to try out in 2016? Let us know in the comments!