Weekend challenge: Guess the MMO UI!

Is it just me or has the blogosphere been rather full on strife and negativity of late? Damn all item shops, ME3 ending drama, the EVE Online controversy….and pretty much every flavor of “what devs do wrong and why they all suck”-type of posts. I’ve raised so many eyebrows lately, my eyes start feeling a little sore. I suspect some are burned out from playing old games or bored waiting for new ones. That’s usually the phase when MMO players are a particularly edgy bunch. I remember waiting for the next expansion in WoW – not a good time for raidguilds either.

Well, whatever it is – I think it’s perfect timing for a QUIZ! In my first weekend challenge, I asked people to find the name of five MMO developers in a rebus. It was immensely entertaining to create and despite being pretty difficult in places, some readers did an impressive job at being creative and figuring out the correct answers. In case you’ve missed that first challenge and love quizzing and wordplay, here’s the link (don’t read comments if you still want to take the quiz).

High time for the new game! This time around, I present you all with a mixed pictures challenge and the topic is, you guessed right, MMO user interfaces. MMO players can spend years on end looking at the same UI – windows, bars, icons and maps. Every UI comes in slightly different colors and shapes, but in terms of functionality most games will copy what’s worked for years. So…just how well do you think you can tell them apart?

How-To: The following SWTOR screenshot contains a total of 12 common UI elements from many different MMOs, old and young. I’ve mixed them up and worked them into a new, completely fictional interface. Your job is to guess them all correctly and be specific about what item belongs to which game. Like last time, I won’t acknowledge any correct or wrong answers in the comments until someone has succeeded to name everything correctly. As usual, eternal fame & glory goes to the winner!

Happy guessing and apologies to the UI-modders!

(click to enlarge)

Wanted UI elements:
1. Main game menu (bottom left)
2. Chat window
3. Stat window
4. Character & target frame
5. Buff bar
6. Mini-map
7. Quest tracker
8. Side bar
9. Bag
10. EXP bar
11. Action bar
12. Cast bar

19 comments

  1. Very nice!
    I think I got 9 of 12, but the topmost row of elements is giving me a headache. Could’ve sworn I’ve seen the buff bar before, but the Unit frame and the mini map are not from any game I ever played, I think.

    How much are we allowed to scout around on the Internet? 😉

    1. I won’t have time to research that at the moment anyway, so that’ll give other people time to publish their solutions. 🙂

    2. I think I got’em all! Except for one which I’m really not 100% sure…
      I’ll answer for now though, to keep the fun in the game! I dropped you a mail though, so I can claim bragging rights in case I’m right. :p

    3. Hmmm, only I haven’t received any email yet? are you sure it worked out? I tested my webform and it delivered my message straight away. none of yours in my inbox though (retry?). =/

  2. My MMO UI Fu is weak.
    I recognised the Quest tracker, and perhaps the EXP bar. An iffy maybe on the stat window too. I played with a mod’d WOW interface for so longer, I dont think I would recognised an original element, but I’m eyeing off that cast bar.

    That bag though, is giving me the heebee-jeebees. For some reason, it’s reminding me of Ultima VII, although I’m remembering the spiders web and mandrake root from something else.

    Maybe I’ll come back tomorrow and publish my guesses (because they still might be wrong).

    1. I love that bag – and that’s all I’m saying! :p
      by all means you can still leave your guesses later, no rush.

    1. yes that’s the idea. I’ve chosen fairly popular titles here with characteristic elements/styles. nothing should be so custom or reskinned that you wouldn’t recognize it, assuming you know the game ofc.

  3. Well, I’m going to be honest in that I haven’t played enough MMOs to be able to pull out all of the original owners, but I do recognize the Age of Conan parts. I’ve also played enough WoW and LOTRO with the default UI to know what is and isn’t part of the pic, so I’m going to keep quiet.

    I’ll raise a beer to you, Syl!

    1. 😀 Not all, but I’ve played 8/12. The rest I easily narrowed down based on graphic style.

      I also had trouble with the Aion buff bar because I thought the minimap was from Aion for a long time.

  4. Lol, I have to admit I didn’t recognise any of it! If people above are correct about the cast bar being from WoW, I’m pretty sure that’s not the default font, unless they changed it since I stopped playing… 😛

    EDIT: One of my captchas read “ui[o]ptions”, uncanny! 😀

    1. now that IS uncanny!
      hmmm not sure about the font, I always had the default castbar in wow and to me it looked standard. but maybe it deviates just a little!

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