World of Warcraft is a huge success.

So much so, that the game has become synonymous with the massively multiplayer online game genre in the same way that Kleenex has become synonymous with the bits of paper you use to soak up any blood from those 3AM nose bleeds your last girlfriend was prone to.

When you meet someone, if they say they play online games and you rattle off a list of possibilities, there's a good chance their eyes will gloss over at anything other than Blizzard's game.

Like falling in love with a gorgeous girl with a raging coke addiction though, it's only a matter of time before the sheen wears off and you hunger for an alternative. Perhaps something with more hobbits, perhaps something with spaceships, perhaps something with remaining cartilage in its nasal passages — in any case, choices do exist and I'm here to educate you on which games are worth your monthly scratch.

As a bonus, I'm also going to toss in a few games that you should avoid. I could be sued for saying these games will give you chlamydia, but like that same young lady I mentioned above, these ones might just make your junk turn black and fall off before taking a bump off the remains.

Hypothetically speaking, of course.

The Good

Lord of the Rings Online

More than either of the other two games on my list here I'd consider Lord of the Rings Online a true sleeper hit. Though it received hype immediately prior to its launch in 2007, it was never really widely viewed as a World of Warcraft killer (like Warhammer Online), nor has it seen the same "virtual worlds are so amazing" breathless hype from media outlets in awe of virtual factions robbing each other blind that EVE has been blessed with.

Even without its competitors' prolonged praise however, Lord of the Rings Online has consistently been one of the most stable, well-planned, content-packed online games in the history of the genre. It tells the story of Tolkien's fantasy world during the time period made famous in Peter Jackson's film series, though instead of guiding a virtual Orlando Bloom or Sean Astin through the trials of Middle Earth, you face the world's evils through the eyes of your own character. You're free to choose between Dwarfs, Humans, Elves and Hobbits, and a number of standard roleplaying game professions, but once you've finished the completely standard character creation system you immediately realize the game's true strength: Its heavy reliance on story.

While most online roleplaying games are content to drop hints at the story going on around you, or strew virtual books in your path that do the hint-dropping for the lazy developers, LOTRO is jammed full of cutscenes to rival the Halos and Call of Dutys of the world. You actually feel like you're an integral, contributing part of the tale, and once you start burning through the content in the newly-released Mines of Moria expansion pack, you'll feel powerful enough to drag Frodo's whiny ass up to Mount Doom yourself.

All of that would be enough to earn a spot on this list, but LOTRO also has the perfect blend between World of Warcraft's cartoony art style and Age of Conan's overly-realistic aesthetic. Though World of Warcraft's strength lies in its ability to work on even the most dilapidated computers, and Age of Conan's in its gorgeous graphics (that don't always work properly), LOTRO manages to shine on the system you dropped $3,000 on, while still looking quite realistic on your shitty 3-year-old laptop.

Even ardent World of Warcraft fans should give this one a try, if only to see the best example of the otherway to create a fantasy MMO.

EVE Online

You say you want spaceships.

You say you want to see "C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate."

You say you want to pilot your way through asteroid fields while trading laser fire with pirates and corrupt security goons while diverting all power to your boosters in a vain effort to make your delivery schedule.

EVE Online is that game.

While the most successful titles in the genre all plunk you down in a world of elves and dragons, EVE is set entirely in gorgeous deep space. It's certainly more complex than World of Warcraft, but after a few hours of play you'll be plying the spaceways like something out of a failed Joss Whedon series.

What's more, if you're the sort of gamer who only has a few hours a month to spend in an online game, EVE lets your character learn skills even while you're away. Just set your avatar's planned skill set, spend a few days in reality and you'll return to a new, more powerful virtual life.

Plus, EVE's reliance on a single-server architecture means that your little slice of space is also occupied by thousands of other would-be Han Solos. No one can hear you scream in space, but in EVE someone will always be around to see you swear in the main chat channel as they blast your ship to pieces and steal your hard-earned swag.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Warhammer Online launched near-simultaneously with Age of Conan, both of which were hailed as the new World of Warcraft. While neither actually lived up to that hype, WAR actually turned out to be a pretty damn good game, if only by virtue of its lifting most of World of Warcraft's best ideas.

Instead of simply copying Blizzard's game verbatim though, developer Mythic Studios added a host of new quirks that Blizzard then jacked and added to their game in its Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Xbox 360-esque Achievements, for example, first appeared in WAR, though in Mythic's game — unlike Blizzard's — the entirety of your exploits are recorded for future investigation.

Wondering how many wolves you've murdered? That's in there. Wondering how many times you've been murdered by some asshole 14-year-old in the game's fully-realized player-versus-player combat? That's in there too.

Add a gorgeous graphics engine and a community that rivals WoW'sfor sheer enthusiasm, and you have the most WoW-like of the WoW alternatives.

The Bad

Age of Conan

I'll make this short: Age of Conan was released far before it was ready. Even though I had a total hard-on for the game when I saw it during last year's Game Developer's Conference, the developers severely dropped the ball. Even months after release playing the game is an exercise in frustration, glitches and characters that magically vanish through the landscape.

For fuck's sake, they didn't even get the homoeroticism right!

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

What do you get when the allegedly painkiller-addled creator of Everquest is handed a nigh-unlimited budget by Sony and asked to create something to beat both World of Warcraft and Everquest? If Vanguard is any indication, you get a barren, desolate game that looks pretty and plays terrible.

Yes, it is certainly more "hardcore" than World of Warcraft, but so is trigonometry. Both are also intensely dull.