This year might not feature the rapid-fire releases of big budget MMORPGs that made 2012 such a treat, but that doesn't mean it's not without its surprises. Consider 2013 the rise of the little guy. Some of the most attractive upcoming titles are browser-based, free-to-play, and funded by Kickstarter; the big developers, on the other hand, are largely silent.

The good news is that shift means greater variety, and with that in mind, we've compiled a list of our most anticipated MMORPGs for 2013 and beyond. Will we finally get the fabled "WoW killer" gamers have been talking about for years? Well, there's only one way to find out.

Depending on who you ask, an Elder Scrolls MMORPG sounds like the greatest idea or the worst idea for an online multiplayer game ever. On one hand, Tamriel's sprawling provinces and rich lore provide one of the best settings for an open world MMORPG. On the other, it runs the risk of rubbing shoulders too closely with the likes of EverQuest and World of WarCraft to honor the open and largely meaningful world we've come to associate with the series.

Some of it looks encouraging, such as a fairly open system that lets you design your class as you want to, but other ideas seem at odds with the entire Elder Scrolls legacy. We're hoping that the minimalist UI and the social opportunities inherent in its "megaserver tech" will make up for these perceived shortcomings.

For all of its problems with grinding and server performance, the original Darkfall was a PvP junkie's dream, featuring action-based combat and the ability to loot your slain enemies while partaking in almost limitless open-world PvP. The sprawling world, said to be one of the genre's largest, was an attraction in itself, and the ability to partake in sieges and similar activities allowed Darkfall to maintain a devoted audience throughout its run.

Darkfall: Unholy Wars seeks to prove the same experience, but with updated visuals and a degree of polish aimed at winning new players into the fold. It's said to be a fast, frantic, action-packed MMO that'll be more approachable to those with experience in competitive games.

Browser-based MMORPGs used to be pitiful, ugly affairs aimed more at the casual Facebook crowd than the genre's core audience. But City of Steam wants to prove that there's no reason why our browsers can't deliver the same quality we expect from downloadable MMOs. It certainly leaves a good first impression.

Minutes in, you're battling demons on speeding trains with a user interface that's clearly inspired by Diablo and Torchlight, and trudging through rusty suburbs that look as though they were lifted from decayed Detroit factories. It's not the best looking game, unfortunately, but it wears its steampunk aesthetic well, and a handful of funny cinematics enliven the experience.

We know, we know--sometimes it seems like we should all just give up hope of ever playing a good game set in the Game of Thrones universe. But Game of Thrones sounds like it could be fun in a War of the Roses (the game, that is) kind of way, particularly considering its focus on sandbox PvP, castle sieges, and a political system.

Unfortunately, the details are better kept secrets than the truth about Joffrey Baratheon's parentage, although we do know that weapons like the two-handed sword has as many as 20 different skills and 60 abilities. Considering that this, too, is a browser game, we may be witnessing a trend toward the legitimization of the platform for the genre.

We recently had a chance to experience a few hours with WildStar, and we liked what we saw. Playing it feels at once familiar and refreshing, as it combines several standard ideas with some attractive attempts at innovation. Among these is the path system, which lets you spend a good chunk of your time climbing mountains and exploring underground passageways.

Still others include an uncommon focus on single-player content at the level cap and the ability to create your own PvP battlefields through WildStar's version of player housing. All that aside, though, it's good to see a MMO that brings a Pixar-esque lightheartedness to its cartoony visuals, rather than using them to relate oh-so-serious narratives.

EVE Online has been the quintessential niche MMO for a decade now, and DUST 514 marks an unlikely attempt to bring the brand to a larger audience by setting it in the most popular genre of all: the shooter. The basic concept sounds great. While free-to-play warriors are spraying bullets at each other via the PS3, subscription-paying EVE players will be spaceside in their ships, targeting objectives on the planet's surface.

Putting this idea into practice, however, might be a challenge. These are two vastly different player bases known for general jerkery, and the arguments that arise when a strike inevitably goes wrong may be the stuff of legend. Of course, player drama is what EVE has always thrived upon.

The Twilight craze may have given vampires something of a bad name in recent years, but that doesn't mean we're not still excited about World of Darkness. For one, it's another project from the maverick team behind EVE Online, and for another, it allegedly offers an unparalleled degree of freedom and the ability to mark a player for permadeath once they become a "Prince of a City."

Still, the project is full of risks. Permadeath failed to garner much attention in Wizardry Online, and the modern urban settings of The Secret World failed to nab the audiences of its fantasy counterparts. World of Darkness's launching with both concepts, so the rest of the game will have to perform well in other areas to succeed. Maybe all those Twilight fans will come in handy, after all.

So many ambitious MMORPGs make the transition to a free-to-play payment plan reluctantly, but Neverwinter looks to be among the first to run with the concept right out of the gates (in the West, at least). And from what we've seen, it has the potential to live up to the legacy of its storied franchise.

The combat's fun (if not too deep), the world captures the general feel of the Forgotten Realms setting we know so well from Baldur's Gate and relates games, and so far, the cash shop doesn't appear to be too overbearing. We're most interested in Foundry DIY system, though, which lets players create their own content. If that works out as well as it sounds, then Neverwinter may have stumbled on a surprising way of stemming the need to churn out new patches.

Neverwinter Opening Cinematic

Guild Wars 2 made a big splash when it was released last August, and despite some concerns over weak social interaction and the introduction of a form of gear progression, it's still on track for success. Judging from a report from Korean investment firm KDB Daewoo Securities, an expansion may not be so far behind.

An expansion so soon actually makes sense, considering Guild Wars 2's buy-to-play payment model, as ArenaNet needs other ways to make cash besides letter players pay for hairdo makeovers and seasonal costumes. Just one thing, ArenaNet--please, no more zombies. Orr was a massive letdown.

We're looking forward to this one, but only reluctantly. Considering all the time and money that's going into making Final Fantasy XIV into the MMORPG it should've been at launch, it's worth wondering why Square Enix didn't apply that same effort to making a new MMORPG altogether. All of their talk of updated visuals and an improved UI and combat model sounds enticing, but the damage may already have been done.

If that's not worrisome enough, Square Enix's decision to bring back a subscription plan to a playerbase that had become used to a free-to-play model might prove disastrous, and if it fails this time, we might be looking at the final Final Fantasy MMO.

We know graphics aren't everything, but damn, Bless is beautiful. You thought TERA looked nice? TERA looks like alpha footage compared to Bless. Alas, all the development team's attention seems focused on delivering such a massive helping of beauty, as the gameplay itself looks heartbreakingly dull.

That's something of a surprise, since titles like Age of Wushu and ArcheAge suggest that South Korea (of all places, considering their reputation for grinds) is one of the only countries that's at least attempting to inject some fresh ideas into the genre.

Marvel Heroes may not have a particularly open world or a stellar character creation setup (after all, its key draw is the ability to play as iconic Marvel superheroes), but it's an MMORPG nevertheless, and one that proves that we need not limit ourselves to the EverQuest/WoW model so favored by developers.

Its closest relative, in fact, is the Diablo series, with isometric combat taking the place of the genre's familiar third-person viewpoint. Although, Marvel Heroes does break from that tradition by letting you play any character at any time. Oh, and it's completely free aside from cosmetic upgrades. If that's not a confident gamble, we don't know what is.

Sandbox MMORPGs are slowly making a comeback after the disappointing shows by games like Star Wars Galaxies, and Korea's XL Games hopes to be in the vanguard of that revival, courtesy of ArcheAge Online. With the inclusion of instanced dungeons and standard quests, though, it's clear that XL is taking the safe route.

It's the details of its sandbox gameplay that are most enticing, though, such as how you'll need to use a tractor to farm or how you'll need to work to reduce a prison sentence for murder and how you'll be able to take part in naval battles with ships you built. If that doesn't sound fun, then consider this--you can race against your friends on hang gliders.

Other developers must wish that coming up with new winning titles is as easy as it is for Wargaming.net. After the stunning success of their World of Tanks, it only made sense to apply the same formula to the other death machines of World War II, thus giving us World of Warplanes and World of Warships.

The core progression will remain much the same across all three titles, but we're most interested in Wargaming.net's ambitious plan to combine the endgame for each into massive battlefields that take place on air, land, and sea. Our one question: How long will it be before people tire of typing "You sank my battleship!" in chat?

It doesn't seem like a stretch to claim that one day, MMORPGs will morph into the virtual worlds envisioned by the likes of Tad Williams and Neal Stephenson. So we're optimistic about Otherland, based on the Tad Williams novels of the same name. True to its origins in the fiction of virtual reality, Otherland takes the "theme park" brand of MMORPGs a little too seriously, offering locations as diverse as medieval countrysides to pixelated fields with chess pieces hovering in the air.

It also features a cloning system in the form of eDNA, and a hub known as Lambda Mall that lets you play minigames and shop instead of simply standing around and making nasty jokes in trade chat. We haven't seen much of the game's combat--but maybe this is one MMORPG that won't actually rely on battles.

The Repopulation's premise sounds dismal, but it's probably realistic. Far into the future, we've had to abandon Earth for another planet--and wouldn't you know it, we start fighting among ourselves. And once we land, the disgusted resident aliens do their best to wipe us out. As befits a settling game, you're not forced into combat missions, and you can spend your time harvesting and engaging in diplomacy if killing 25 baddies and collecting 10 datapads isn't your thing.

It gets points by default for attempting a science fiction setting instead of the usual fantasy fare, but it also wins our attention with vehicle combat and Guild Wars 2-like dynamic events. And forget guilds--The Repopulation lets you establish your own nation.

Crafting is usually a sideshow activity in MMOs, and in most cases it's meant merely as a means of providing gameplay variety or acquiring buffs and gear for the core combat. In Salem, however, combat's the side activity. Salem takes place in the untapped wilds of colonial New England, where it's your job to forge villages and other settlements with the raw materials nature gives you.

The sheer complexity is the true draw here, as Salem requires you to go through the process of mining, smelting, and forging nails before you can use them on the wood you chopped and shaped for building your house. That (coupled with the vaguely Facebooky graphics) may be a little too much realism for most players, but for the right audience, it'll relieve an itch that's so far only been scratched by the likes of Minecraft and Terraria.

At first glance, Black Desert Online looks like a cross between Skyrim, a Final Fantasy game, and... Assassin's Creed? Seriously. It's got parkour. Only time will tell if this Korean-made MMO will be yet another grindfest, but its laundry list of features have us foaming at the mouth.

In addition to the aforementioned wall climbing mechanic, player housing extends beyond just building up your own homestead. You can purchase buildings in pre-existing towns, opting to turn them into shops, inns, or just a really awesome pad for you and your friends. The developers also say it'll feature citywide siege battles, action-based combat, and some seriously great-looking visuals, which this trailer backs up. Oh, and did we mention there's parkour?

It's unlikely that we'll see EverQuest Next by the end of the year, especially considering the secrecy it's been wrapped in since 2009, but considering the original's undeniable importance, we can't wait to see what Sony Online Entertainment has in store.

The details are scarce, and even the name may be temporary. Right now, we know it'll be a sandbox, it'll likely be free-to-play, and we're going to take a wild stab and say that it'll have a half-naked elf on the cover. For the most part, though, it's better described as a reboot rather than a sequel as the action takes place in a parallel universe, and that could be a good thing for a new generation wanting to get hooked on the genre's first true hit.

Pathfinder sounds like a dream--a dream that sounded so good that it recently won developer Goblinworks the $1 million they asked for on Kickstarter. Gone are levels, replaced by a skill system reminiscent of that in EVE Online. (Age of Wushu, anyone?) Goodbye, classes--you design your character by focusing on the skills you want to have.

Shops are run by players, and players can even build the buildings and cities that house those shops. Most promising of all, Pathfinder even includes a meaningful alignment system and bounties for PvP. That's a tall order even for a major studio, however, but if Goblinworks can pull it off, it could herald the coming of an age in which indie studios can compete in the MMO playing field.

Take the fast-paced shooting and jetpack action of Tribes, combine it with the dynamic questing system of Guild Wars 2, and you basically have Firefall. This upcoming free-to-play sci-fi MMO shooter straps every player into a Battleframe--a class-based mech suit that will dictate your combat abilities.

The whole game is structured around group events and PvP combat. While you'll be able to upgrade your skills and equipment for PvE, competitive matches against other players are based more on skill than loot. Even though we've been waiting, like, several years to play it, Firefall is finally entering open beta on July 9.

Several recent MMOs have made bold claims about action-based combat, but few take that term so seriously as Blade & Soul, which has already been out for a while in South Korea. Much like TERA, it places a heavy emphasis on battling gigantic, hulking monsters, but it distinguishes itself by requiring complicated combos in the vein of Bayonetta or God of War to achieve the most effectiveness.

This could be big. Even after attempts at including dynamic events, rich stories, and interactive player housing, the genre's core combat tends to be on the bland side, especially when compared to games designed for a gamepad. Too bad the port has been in development hell for years. The outlook for a 2013 release stateside is looking better, but we won't keep our hopes up.

Sure, Dragon's Prophet might not be the prettiest MMO we've ever seen. But it's the only one that promises to let players capture and tame dozens of dragons before embarking on an adventure. Actually, it reminds us a lot of Pokemon--except every one of them is a dragon type.

This free-to-play MMO also includes plenty of other typical features, including player housing and action-based combat. It also let's guilds build entire kingdoms, which is pretty awesome so long as those kingdoms serve more than a cosmetic purpose. Still, the thought of riding a fire-breathing dragon into battle is pretty appealing, especially if we can use them in combat.

If you like the idea of taking your MMO experience anywhere you go, then you can't go wrong with Phantasy Star Online 2 (or so we hope). Already out in Japan, the free-to-play Phantasy Star Online 2 will eventually make its way to your PC, iOS device, Android, and PlayStation Vita.

We've waited a long time for Phantasy Star Online 2's mix of sci-fi and fantasy, however, and right now, it looks like we'll be waiting even longer. That's a shame, because it contains all the blocking, action-based combat, and weapon-based skills we're starting to expect in PC-based MMOs, and such a hefty package can only help the beleaguered Vita. We'll get some idea of how that'll work as early as tomorrow, when it officially becomes available for Sony's handheld in Japan.

Can Blizzard pull off another success like World of Warcraft? It'll be tough. The MMO scene is a vastly different place than it was in 2004 (thanks in no small part because of WOW), and promising new ideas make their way into new releases every year. With all of Blizzard's silence over the last couple of years, we can almost see the project team witnessing new, exciting ideas and taking the entire project back to the drawing board.

What we do know sounds iffy. It'll have a casual focus and feature some form of in-game advertising, it'll have a sci-fi setting, and it'll be a new IP separate from Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo. If some leaked concept art reflects reality, it'll look somewhat like WildStar. We're probably not going to see it this year, but with BlizzCon back on schedule, we're hoping we'll at least get an official announcement in Anaheim this November.

That's just a taste of what's on the horizon, and with so many fresh ideas making their way into the MMORPG market, we may at last be working our way away from the usual cries of "EverQuest clone" and "WoW clone." Are there any other MMORPGs that you're looking forward to that we missed? Let us know in the comments!

And if you're looking for more MMOs you can play right now, check out our list of the best free-to-play MMORPGs and the best overall MMORPGs.