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Are there any MMOs I might be interested in?
FredMSloniker
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
In an effort to make some friends on the forums so I have somebody to hang out with at the next PAX Prime, I'm looking around for an MMO I might be interested in. I've tried WoW, City, EvE, and FFXI, but none of them have really gripped me; still, I remain hopeful there's some hidden jewel I can tease out.
I liked WoW for its crafting system, specifically Engineering--I love being able to make fireworks and mechanical squirrels and other cool stuff! (Being able to make weapons and armor is kind of boring, especially since the coolest stuff is always dropped.) I also liked its sense of place, the way just hanging out in Ironforge or Thunder Bluff was cool. Combat went swiftly 95% of the time too, which I like; I want to drop one foe and move right to the next. What ultimately killed it for me, though, was a combination of Serious Business players all rushing to the endgame and a lack of interest in heading to the endgame myself.
As for the others... well, City of Heroes/Villains puts waaaay too much of its content in randomly-generated instances. No sense of place, and the combat wasn't fun enough to stand on its own. I really wanted to like EvE--I love outer space as a setting, and the graphics are gorgeous!--but the combination of spreadsheet play (you can't see the graphics because they're all hidden behind menus and charts!) and playerbase sociopathy (seriously, when the devs encourage players to cheat each other, so long as no actual laws are broken...) pushed me away. And FFXI? Well... did I mention I like fireworks? :?:
I dunno, maybe the game I want doesn't exist, but I remain hopeful. Anybody got something they'd like to recommend? I think the three key elements have to be:
I liked WoW for its crafting system, specifically Engineering--I love being able to make fireworks and mechanical squirrels and other cool stuff! (Being able to make weapons and armor is kind of boring, especially since the coolest stuff is always dropped.) I also liked its sense of place, the way just hanging out in Ironforge or Thunder Bluff was cool. Combat went swiftly 95% of the time too, which I like; I want to drop one foe and move right to the next. What ultimately killed it for me, though, was a combination of Serious Business players all rushing to the endgame and a lack of interest in heading to the endgame myself.
As for the others... well, City of Heroes/Villains puts waaaay too much of its content in randomly-generated instances. No sense of place, and the combat wasn't fun enough to stand on its own. I really wanted to like EvE--I love outer space as a setting, and the graphics are gorgeous!--but the combination of spreadsheet play (you can't see the graphics because they're all hidden behind menus and charts!) and playerbase sociopathy (seriously, when the devs encourage players to cheat each other, so long as no actual laws are broken...) pushed me away. And FFXI? Well... did I mention I like fireworks? :?:
I dunno, maybe the game I want doesn't exist, but I remain hopeful. Anybody got something they'd like to recommend? I think the three key elements have to be:
- A feeling of a unified world, not a bunch of little shards
- A primary activity (that would be combat in 99% of MMOs) that's fast and, to at least some extent, reflex-based
- A playerbase, or at least a community, that's friendly and laid-back, obeying Wheaton's Law
FredMSloniker on
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WoW's design is not unique and most of the MMOs you will play Ripped off WOW or were ripped off by WOW.
GW2 Looks promising - SWTOR is shaping up to be an updated WoW with a focus on story - The F2P Korean MMOs are getting more exciting with their combat but the design is all essentially visual lobbies connecting dungeons.
TERA is an action based Korean MMO that's going to be coming stateside with a boxed release.
But your third criteria, communities that are nice and laid back, are pretty much regulated to smaller or dying games and LOTRO.
Try LOTRO when it goes F2P if you haven't. It's got 2 of your criteria (Great community) and a fairly centralized world (like WoW, large overworld, instanced dungeons). Not sure how the community will fair after F2P. It's looking like your best bet right now.
If the several you've tried haven't done it for you though, it's hard to think of one on the market that will. Supposedly there's another planetside game coming out at some point, maybe that would do it.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
As for future MMOs, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2 are your best bets. SWTOR looks like it'll be basically WoW: the Star Wars Edition with some new stuff like Mass Effect-esque storyline, whereas Guild Wars 2 seems to be a genuine step forward as far as MMOs are concerned, a next gen MMO if you will. I'm sure both of them will be fine games in the end, which you decide to go with is down to whether or not you have Obi-Wan Kenobi pajamas.
Also, Guild Wars 2 won't have monthly fees.
It's pretty formulaic in the WoW-style, but with a lot less polish (though Blizzard are the undisputed masters of that).
Most classes feel fairly reflex-based. A lof ot them have tier- and event-based skills, like the Minstrel having three tiers of ballads (the higher tier requiring a ballad from a lower tier to be played first), and then Anthems requiring a T3 ballad.
I think all classes have a bunch of event-based skills. Guardians can do stuff when they block/parry, Captains can do stuff when an enemy is defeated, and so on.
It also has a really great, tight story - you have Epics, which are the main storyline through the game. Most of the chapters in an Epic are standard quests, but some of them put you in your own instance of the world so you won't get interrupted by Gändolf the Lore-Master during an epic showdown with a Nazgûl.
The playerbase is probably one of the best I've seen in any MMO, more than happy to give help and advice. There's a 14 day trial on the main site with a specially created starter island thats gives a decent idea of the full game.
Every MMO has community though, you just have to get involved. But crafting thats GOOD, check out Ryzom. Combat is simliar to the quick stuff you were talking about.... its a classless game though. In fact the skills you use in game are something you design.
Its a bit futuristic too. And the world is very ambient.
There is a trial. If its not your thing then someone mentioned Vanguard, cause its crafting system is top-notch as well. It had a rough start though, and the community is small... but its very much there and you can get involved if you put yourself out there in-game.
I would really ignore anything people say about future MMOs... those same people probably would have given you the same answer before WAR and AoC were released... I'm not saying some of the upcoming ones will suck--just MMO hype trains are a cesspool thats best to stay out of because they usually just consist of people who are tired of the current MMO they are playing, but will go back to after they realize the "next big MMO" isn't what they thought.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I've played almost all the other MMO's listed here save Ryzom, and subsequently quit them within a month because they're pretty much WoW only not as good. Not that they are clones, as each has its own flavor and some, such as Vanguard, have interesting crafting systems, but ultimately they just aren't as good in the 'all-around' category.
So with WoW's main downfall being community, having a solid group of PA jerks to pal around with pretty much off-sets the only reason not to play it. :P
That said, from what I've heard of LotRO, its basically WoW with less of an endgame focus.
Yeah, LotRO is a lot more about the journey than the destination. I'm having tons of fun doing all quests I can find in Bree, and I barely get any experience from them by now.
Its actual plot and storytelling is a lot tighter than WoW's too.
no zoning, so despite the occasional instance it's all one connected zone.
combat is much more active than FFXI. You actually initiate strikes etc.
hard to judge the community yet though I suppose.
One of his three main criteria was a primary activity that was fast and reflex-based. Nothing about this game is fast.
MMOs arent fast and reflex based anyway. Global Agenda, Planetside are... cant think of any more at the moment.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
He just wants an activity inside an MMO, which immediately - though it pains me to say so - makes me think of WoW arena. Unless I'm misunderstanding the whole concept. I'm just thinking of say, crafting in FFXIV, which no one has really figured out yet and should tell someone right there this is not the experience he's looking for.
What does crafting have to do with Arena?
I still dont get why people are having issues with FF14 crafting, Ive had no issues with it in beta. Reminds me alot of crafting in Vanguard.
Anyway, he said:
"A primary activity (that would be combat in 99% of MMOs) that's fast and, to at least some extent, reflex-based"
Again, Planetside and Global Agenda are all that come to mind, key thing being "primary activity".
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
There is also Black Prophecy if you like space ships.
XBL:Phenyhelm - 3DS:Phenyhelm
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
I never said arena had anything to do with FFXIV crafting, someone just recommended FFXIV to him as a game which is neither fast nor reflex-based. Regardless, FFXIV crafting is crazy and if you've figured the whole system out kudos to you sir. Please share with the rest of us what all the flashing colors, sparks, and crystal instability of elements you aren't even using to craft mean and I will be forever in your debt.
thats funny
instead of clicking one hot key for an attack, you need to click one hotkey plus 3-6 more for a single attack. over and over. lamest mechanic ever. and of course casters don't need to do this making the pvp stupidly balanced in their favor
unless they've changed core mechanics since I last played
For the record, I was comparing the combat in FFXI to the combat in FFXIV specifically since he said he had played FFXI.
That system was absolute crap. It could have been great if combining attacks actually "made" a combo, but as I remember, it was shit. As a barbarian the best way to fight was hide out of line of sight, do a combo into nothing and then when you are one hit from finishing the combo you run upto someone and finish it.... soooo bad. And then knockdowns and heavy armor types being immune to them, it was just so bad.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
There are still combos, however simplified, and casters still don't have to do them, so take that as you will.
Plus, digital boobies.
But outside of combat, it's actually quite a populated world, with all sorts of professions and things to explore. My friend says the community's pretty easy-going and friendly, if a bit immature. Maybe check out a few screenshots and see if it looks like something you might like.
www.twitch.tv/Teknotier
Er...
http://www.massively.com/2010/09/16/realtime-worlds-announces-the-closure-of-apb/
He knows that, he's just being Sarcastic.
XBL:Phenyhelm - 3DS:Phenyhelm
That's why I don't usually post til the caffiene kicks in.
It's like raaaaaaiiiiiinnnnnn on your wedding day.
Edit: On topic. I'd really like to put in another word for vindicitus. After actually having played it I must say it's pretty good.
XBL:Phenyhelm - 3DS:Phenyhelm
WoW's design is not unique and most of the MMOs you will play Ripped off WOW or were ripped off by WOW.
Do not remember having to use light attacks at least 5 times in between using special attacks in MUA.
If that was your experience with CO then you may have designed your character poorly. It's very possible to build a character with zero energy issues who can spam powerful attacks or cycle through a killer combo indefinitely.
The downside of open character creation is that you can make a very bad character very easily. The upside is that you can also make extremely fun characters who can do anything you want pretty much.
Yeah, a lot of successive MMOs ripped off WoW quite blatantly, but none of the major ones did.
Having a similar-ish list of features to another major MMO does not mean you ripped it off and its retarded to say that it does.
WAR and LotRO are probably the two MMOs that play the most similarly to WoW and yet really all they share in common is a features list. When you actually play them, they are completely different experiences.
If you want to try a new MMO you could give Runescape a whirl. I have no idea how well its stood up to the test of time, but I enjoyed my time playing it a few years ago before I got into WoW, and its pretty successful (and I hear quite cheap for an MMO). It has both a free to play (no item shop) section with limited content (still lots of content for a new player though) and a Members area which is where all the updates go. Its been running a long time...much much MUCH longer than WoW (three or four years longer at least) and is still going strong.
Again I have no idea if its actually a fun experience these days, it was my first MMO and I had little to compare it to, but I did enjoy it.