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The Time of Trials: finding my way back to MMO-Land
MundaneSoul
fight fighterDaehan MingukRegistered User regular
fight fighterDaehan MingukRegistered User regular
A while ago I decided to cancel and uninstall WoW after realizing that I just wasn't really enjoying it any more. Raiding got to seem more like a second job than anything else. I recently got a new computer that should be able to run most MMOs much smoother than my old PC ever would have, and now that I've had some time off from the world of MMOs, I'm ready to jump back in and try out something new for a change.
My ideal MMO is an RPG or something with strong RPG elements with a complex and rewarding leveling/skills system. While I'd like to play something that has a strong PA community, solo and casual friendly play is a big plus because my play schedule tends to be pretty varied and I like to be able to sign on and do my own thing occasionally. Also, I'd really like to find a game that doesn't require a massive time investment just to get anything done. I'd like to be able to jump on for an hour and actually get something done. Also, penalties for death are pretty annoying, the harsher the more annoying. I generally prefer PvE, but if there's a game that's competently built around PvP, like WaR, I'd consider it.
So over the course of the next couple of months I'm going to be going on an MMO Trial frenzy. I'll list most of the games I plan to try here and use this thread to describe my experiences with them. Hopefully before too long I'll be able to mark this thread as SOLVED! and I'll be nice and cozy in my new MMO home. Until then please feel free to recommend your favorite MMO or one that you feel would be appropriate and extol its virtues. I am open to all suggestions.
MMOs I plan to try:
Age of Conan
I don't know a whole lot about Age of Conan, but what I do know excites me. Doyle's setting is fantastic and this game looks beautiful. Don't know much about the how character advancement works, but I like the idea of more action-based combat and the whole siege combat/city vs. city business sounds like a ton of fun. Not sure about solo/casual play potential, and I hear content tends to thin out after the opening levels, but I'm not sure if that's still true or not.
EVE Online
This game fascinates me because it's so different from most of the MMOs out there. It seems like it could be a lot of fun, but it also seems pretty daunting. I worry about it not being very casual-friendly, and it seems like most of the content is pretty freeform, which concerns me a bit. I like PvP and social interaction/commerce, but I also occasionally want to run through a great, dynamic quest or a "dungeon" type area. The community for this game seems really great.
EverQuest II
The old behemoth still lives. I've never played EQ before and I'm ready to give it a go. While I worry that the mechanics may be a little too old-school for me, the game seems pretty quest-focused and I like that. Honestly, considering this franchise is such an MMO classic, I really don't know all that much about it. I like the huge array of race and class combinations available and the guild system looks like a lot of fun.
Vanguard
A game with a lot of potential that seems to have been hampered by a lot of technical issues. However, it seems like SOE is really doing their best to turn this one around, and it seems to be showing a lot of promise. The community looks great and I like the idea of the Spheres. I don't mind rooting for an underdog every now and again.
Warhammer Online
I've never been the greatest at PvP, but WO looks good enough that I've got to give it a try. The character customization looks fantastic and the game is beautiful. Not sure about the community, or solo/casual-friendly play, but as cool as this game looks it may not even matter.
MMOs I own and plan to try again:
City of Heroes/Villains
I love the character creation in CoX, but ended up fairly bored with the gameplay. Something about the set up of the questing system left a lot to be desired for me. I usually had more fun flying around the cities than actually trying to do something significant. Still, it's worth trying again if I can kick around some good/bad guys with my fellow PAers.
Lord of the Rings Online
Probably the game I'm most excited to try out (again). I was part of the LOTRO open beta and got Founder pricing and all that, but my computer had a tough time running it with decent graphics settings (and that seemed to make a big difference in LOTRO - the game world at high settings is gorgeous) and I had a hard time finding groups. However, I love the world, the crafting system, and the fun little extras like the music system. I'm very excited to try this again and jump in with a PA group.
MMOs I own and don't care to play again:
Final Fantasy XI
My first MMO. I just...didn't get it.
Matrix Online
Fun for a little bit, then very monotonous.
WoW
No.
So there you have it, PA MMO community. If you think a game deserves special attention, should be avoided, or should be on my list but isn't, yell at me about it. Thanks and cookies.
My ideal MMO is an RPG or something with strong RPG elements with a complex and rewarding leveling/skills system. While I'd like to play something that has a strong PA community, solo and casual friendly play is a big plus because my play schedule tends to be pretty varied and I like to be able to sign on and do my own thing occasionally. Also, I'd really like to find a game that doesn't require a massive time investment just to get anything done. I'd like to be able to jump on for an hour and actually get something done. Also, penalties for death are pretty annoying, the harsher the more annoying. I generally prefer PvE, but if there's a game that's competently built around PvP, like WaR, I'd consider it.
So over the course of the next couple of months I'm going to be going on an MMO Trial frenzy. I'll list most of the games I plan to try here and use this thread to describe my experiences with them. Hopefully before too long I'll be able to mark this thread as SOLVED! and I'll be nice and cozy in my new MMO home. Until then please feel free to recommend your favorite MMO or one that you feel would be appropriate and extol its virtues. I am open to all suggestions.
MMOs I plan to try:
Age of Conan
EVE Online
EverQuest II
Vanguard
Warhammer Online
MMOs I own and plan to try again:
City of Heroes/Villains
Lord of the Rings Online
MMOs I own and don't care to play again:
Final Fantasy XI
My first MMO. I just...didn't get it.
Matrix Online
Fun for a little bit, then very monotonous.
WoW
No.
So there you have it, PA MMO community. If you think a game deserves special attention, should be avoided, or should be on my list but isn't, yell at me about it. Thanks and cookies.
MundaneSoul on
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I understand that the PA guild I was with isn't around anymore, but there is an LotRO thread around here somewhere.
My Backloggery
It is also my fan boy duty to encourage you to play a trial for Guild Wars if you have not done so already. It is not a traditional MMO, in the sense that there is no monthly fee and it is heavily instanced. It has a pretty unique combat system that is heavily oriented towards pre-fight build strategy and group synergy. The community is not as active as it once was, but there are still a lot of players doing PVP and PVE content and most of it is solo friendly.
Here's some hawt pornography for your eyeballs:
I am going to second Guild Wars. It's not like any other MMO out there but is entirely unique and pretty goddamn amazing. The only grind in the game is entirely optional and doesn't give you any real benefit (some titles and weapons and armor that look cool), the gameplay is really all about choosing which skills to use (and there are a LOT of skills) and your actual ability to use them. It's really deep and a ton of fun to do PvE or PvP. Also, I still think it's the best looking MMO out there.
As for death penalties? lol. The consequences of death are the harshest in Eve. You spend a week grinding away to save up for a big fancy ship, and then you can lose it in an hour. But it's part of how the game works. If you destroy the enemy's fleet, then their corp (guild) is weakened as a result, and less able to defend their space by just that little bit. The depth of strategy in PvP in Eve is staggering, and is a complete blast accordingly.
There is a pretty decent PA following, have a read of the OP of the Eve thread here. Please note that in this game there is a serious threat of dismantling a corp from within through espionage and betraying people's trust, so you may half-heartedly be called a spy. It's just part of the game!
Warhammer is possibly the most boring MMO I have ever played (not necessarily the worst). Terribly boring PvE. And PvP (the main focus of the game) I found waaaaaay too repetitive... which lead to complete and utter boredom just after two weeks of playing. I wanted to shoot myself after getting to tier 3 because it felt like I was playing the same shit over and over and over and over and over again. Now this is just my opinion, obviously, and some people do enjoy it.. so you are free to try the trial and decide for yourself.
One of the most underrated MMOs out there is DDO (Dungeons and Dragons Online). Mostly because it had such a terrible launch, a lot of people gave up on it (including myself till I checked it out a couple monts back), which is why its not that popular. But three years later, its really fun. I would recommend trying out the trial at ddo.com ( http://www.ddo.com/trial ). Fun combat system and doesnt play like your standard MMO, which is always good.
DDO and Eve Online are probably are probably the two best MMOs I am not playing since my time is too consumed by LoTRO. DDO I probably will resub to eventually but Eve I will probably never will because it takes a lot of time to get shit done. You definitely need a lot of patience for that game.. and I dont have it. :P
Age of Conan is also pretty good. Fun combat, but lacks content and has a couple annoying bugs. I will probably resub in about a year or so once a lot more conten has been added and the game has been ironed out a little more.
DDO sounds pretty cool as well. D&D rules in an MMO could be interesting.
Looks like I'm going to start things out by jumping back into LOTRO for a bit...they sent me an email offering me a cheap upgrade to the new expansion and a free week of play, so I figure I'll give it a go. Spent last night updating the files and whatnot, should be able to jump on and stab some badlings tonight.
I'll probably also download a couple of trials tonight to play around with.
If you have a profession preference, the main six are available in every game, with two additions each in Nightfall and Prophecies.
Nightfall was the third released, and probably the most polished. It is the most solo friendly because you gain access to the most amount of heroes (AI teammates that you have a bit more control of).
That said, any chapter you choose should be fun.
But, remember, Guild Wars is much closer to Diablo 2 then it is to WoW.
LOTR Online I didn't like at all. It had alot of cool ideas, but the classes were pretty boring imo and the combat just felt .... clunky.
I'm temped to ditch WoW, but thus far have simply been uninspired by other MMOs, so I often find myself reading about upcoming MMO's and hoping the next one will be better.
If you like RPG's you could give Witcher a try.
Actually, I'm playing that right now and loving it.
I'll be sure to report back with my impressions as they come along. I'd really like to try either EQII or Vanguard soon as well.
If there's one problem I have with LOTRO, it's the classes. I find a couple of them interesting, but none of them just cry out to me to be played immediately, the way that several classes did for me in WoW. I'm sure that with a little time investment I'll find a couple I really enjoy, though.
This is one reason I'm excited to try EQII. Insane race/class combination potential.
:^:
Yeah I'm playing Witcher and loving it also. I have a love/hate relationship with the idea of playing EQII, I've played many MMO's but of them I've spent the most time playing EQ and WoW, I'm not sure I if I want to go down memory lane. I don't really know much about vanguard.
@Aldo
I think you're right. My plan is to stop playing WoW when Starcraft 2 and/or Diablo 3 come out and by the time I'm sick of playing those I'm hoping there will be a whole new generation of sweet MMO's.
Problem is, the answer is invariably: yes. It's so unfortunate that nothing out there even comes close.
After all, would you play the same single player game, say half life 2 or portal, over and over after having completed all or almost all the content? No, you move on to other games, other content, even if it is second best.
I think a lot of MMOs beat WoW in niche areas, especially PVP.
But in a broader sense, yeah, not many games are as polished as WoW.
Polish is VERY important though. And that's something Blizzard has always understood and other companies .... haven't.
I mean, for all that some other games may do some things better then WoW, WoW simply plays better because it feels polished.
My only beef with the game is that you can't jump, and sometimes this is highly irritating when all you want to do is get around a 2 foot wall, but you can't.
Yeah, Guild Wars has gotten much better looking over the years as the expansions came out. Eye of the North is probably the best looking yet, though Nightfall is great too.
I must also say I love the music for Guild Wars, Jeremy Soule is probably one of my favorite artists ever. I have all the Guild Wars soundtracks and listen to them pretty often.
I just like taking pretty screenshots.
EQ2 is also pretty great. The one HUGE complaint I have about the game is that it seems to make your computer strain for what seems like very mediorcre graphics. I can be in a barren zone and my comp is chugging (6gigs of ram, quad core etc). I don't get it. LOTRO runs smooth as silk with graphics that kill EQ2's. The game just has so much to do. The crafting is a game in itself. Talking about it makes me want to get in again
I really liked WAR the first week I played. I then noticed, as previously stated, that it got very repititious. I also noticed that I was alone in many zones half the time and was unable to do the public quests that seemed pretty neat. I felt like I was missing a ton of cool content. I may revisit this game as I had a decent time. Crafting stunk.
I dug creating a character in City of Heroes. That was about it. I just didn't get into it. It may be because I like getting loot and getting new items that change your appearance. I may revisit this one also as I tend to play one mmo for 2 months then switch.
I played DDO at launch. It was cool but there was no content. It got to the point that people would just rush through the dungeons and not even let the story unfold. I may have to take a look at it again.
LOTRO (Second) First Impressions
For me, the character creation in LOTRO is a little underwhelming, and probably my least favorite part of the game. There are a small number of options that can be customized to change a character's appearance, but I find many of the models just plain ugly. Also bothersome is the relatively small number of race and class options. With the additions from Mines of Moria the class selection has broadened a bit and there's a now a bit better variety to be had, but I didn't like having only four races to choose from, though understandably the developers had to work within the confines of the lore and that limited them a bit. I think it would have helped to have the different races' social groups broken down into separate race selections with different racial abilities. Also, none of the classes particularly excite me in the way I've come to expect from an MMO. There are some that appear interesting, but generally I'm initially very excited to play one or two classes in any given MMO, and here it just wasn't quite the same for some reason. There are slightly more options involved if one is interested in Monster Play, though at the moment I plan to stick to the regular portion of the game.
The opening scripted scenes are, as always, a joy. Turbine has done a wonderful job of immediately involving you in the story of Middle-Earth in an exciting way. The tutorial area that you arrive in afterwards is fairly monotonous, but manages to close with a well-executed set piece that does a great job of setting the PC in place to affect the major events of the game world.
Here the game begins in earnest, depositing the PC in his or her race's starting area with a simple quest that leads to the first quest hub of the region. Middle-Earth is recreated here brilliantly whether you're a hobbit padding through the beautiful rolling hills of the Shire, or an elven adventurer taking in the serenity and splendor of Ered Luin. The quests are generally fun and truly attempt to break the mold in many ways. Though there are certainly the standard selection of "Kill X monsters" and "Fed Ex" quests, the game does its best to make these more exciting; for instance, the quests to run post bags from village to village are on a timer and can potentially be interrupted by "Nosey Hobbits" in the area, who show up on the world map to warn you of their presence. Initially these quests are fairly simple, but eventually you'll be working on shorter timers and find that Nosey Hobbits have been strategically placed to make things much more challenging. The quest system here is absolutely a triumph. Even when quest instructions are a bit vague, you'll find yourself enjoying exploring the landscape enough to not be particularly bothered by it.
One of the great things about LOTRO is the way in which you're able to customize your characters abilities. The Deed system is wonderful and rewards players above and beyond the standard quest/reward archetype of many MMOs. A PC may walk across a farm while questing and suddenly open up a deed to visit all farms in the area, or complete a certain kind of quest (such as the post bag quests described above) and discover a deed to finish all quests of a similar nature in the region. There are even deeds for achieving certain experience levels without dying. Rewards for deeds range from titles to Virtues, which can be slotted at special NPCs to customize and improve a character. While character creation leaves something to be desired, character advancement through the deed system is exceedingly enjoyable and Turbine deserves to be commended for it. They've definitely attempted to do something different here, and, in my opinion, they've succeeded.
This week I'll be trying out the crafting and music systems, continuing through the game's central storyline, and attempting some fellowship quests if at all possible.
Vanguard First Impressions
First of all, the character creation in this game is fantastic. There are 19 races to choose from and 15 classes, or "professions." Most of the races manage to be well differentiated from each other, with each having a unique and useful racial ability, a specific stat customization scheme when leveling, and bonuses to certain statistics based on the racial group that they fall into - such as elf, human, or animal. After choosing a race and profession, you'll be allowed to further customize your character's physical appearance in a great number of ways. SOE has done a great job of providing just the right number of options; I really enjoyed customizing the appearance and never felt overwhelmed. Currently the facial shape and hairstyle options are relatively limited, but most of the models are designed well enough for it not to make that much of a difference, and SOE seems to be in the process of adding new content to these areas in recent months.
After character creation, you're allowed to begin in either your race's starting city or on the Isle of Dawn, though if you're a trial player you won't be allowed to choose; all trial players begin on the Isle. The island is beautiful and, with the exception of a bog area that was a bit too foggy for my liking and caused me to have trouble finding my way around, very well-designed. Your character begins with a good-looking set of starter gear and quickly begins receiving upgrades through quest rewards. Unlike WoW, where you'll spend the first several levels in trash gear, here you're immediately given items with stat bonuses to equip - you'll receive your first within minutes of beginning the game. The "Adventuring Sphere" quests (we'll touch more on Spheres in a moment) are fairly standard MMO fare, though the tutorial quests are well thought out and generally do a great job of guiding you along. One place the quest system really succeeds is that it generally marks an area on the World Map where a quest objective is located, saving you the trouble of wandering around when an NPC gives inept directions. The interface is a bit unfriendly at first, but after a bit of tinkering it quickly becomes second nature. The game does a few things up front to immediately make life a bit easier on you, like giving you a Sprint ability to travel more quickly back and forth from quest hubs and providing you with a torch ability that lights up the area around your PC.
This game's strength is found in the sheer wealth and depth of the gameplay options available to the player. There are three main "Spheres" used in the game: Adventuring, Crafting, and Diplomacy.
Adventuring is just what you'd expect from an MMO, grinding and completing quests to increase combat proficiency. Crafting is extremely fun and rewarding, and almost a game unto itself. Each item crafted requires you to play a bit of a mini-game that requires you to use "Action Points" to attempt to create the highest-quality item possible. High quality items are worth more and can be used as material for crafting even better items, like armor or jewelry. Each town has an NPC who will hire you to fill crafting Work Orders that may pay out in money or crafting recipes.
Diplomacy is a real treat, allowing you to converse with just about any given NPC in a town and play a "card game" (referred to as Parley) to try and sway them in your favor. The game involves attempting to sway the balance of the conversation to your side of the game board and keep it there for a set number of turns while the conversation proceeds. The real conversations actually take place in a separate window from the gameboard and are very well written and intelligent. If you succeed, there are endless possible rewards. You may receive hearsay, rumors, or evidence that can be taken to an informant to receive special diplomatic items or items that can be sold for a good amount of money. You might receive a key that will open a special treasure chest that is otherwise inaccessible. You might receive a quest or complete a diplomatic questline. Apparently you can even receive special mounts this way, and through diplomacy you can actually change the passive buffs that a city or region awards PCs that are adventuring in the area! Supposedly SOE plans to make Diplomacy even more in depth than this, but as it is it's already very fun.
The thing that really makes these Spheres unique is that your character advances in levels separately in each Sphere. You might be a Level 4 Sorcerer, a Level 3 Diplomat, and a Level 8 Crafter. Also, your character equips entirely separate gear for each profession. That might sound cumbersome, but the game handles it flawlessly, by giving each Sphere its own tab on the character sheet and letting you pull gear into any tab at any time. It also automatically switches between your gear sets as necessary. If you walk up to a townsperson and initiate Diplomacy, you'll equip your diplomatic gear. Then you can run a few yards away and throw a fireball at a monster and you'll find yourself back in your adventuring gear. It's a very cool system, but for those who find it jarring, there's a further tab that allows you to equip cosmetic gear that will be permanently displayed on your character. You're also given a tab for mounts that allows you to equip things like horseshoes and saddle bags. The intricacy and detail here is truly pretty astounding.
Speaking of mounts, you'll receive your first at level 10. Better mounts can be had at 20, 30, and 40, and through special questlines. Also, there are three types of flying mounts available, each one with increased speed over the one before, though getting the fastest flying mount requires making it through a very tough questline.
Almost the entire world of Vanguard is constant. There is no instancing at all, and only one dungeon uses sharding - an endgame raid that takes places (I believe) underground. This means that you'll be actively traversing dungeons at the same time as other groups. I have yet to see this in action, but it seems intriguing. As long as respawn timers are fast enough on bosses and the like, it seems like it could lead to some really fun situations. Maybe an experienced player could weigh in on this. The fact that you could travel basically the entire game world without a loading screen is pretty amazing.
Also available are player and guild housing and shipbuilding. I don't have a lot of details on these just yet, but I know that houses and ships are actually built with items that the players themselves make through crafting. It's a cool idea that is hopefully well-executed.
If there's one thing dragging this game down, it's the bugs. For being such an amazing game, it's still very rough around the edges. Apparently Sigil released it well before they would have liked, and it shows. Still, since SOE has acquired Vanguard they've gone out of their way to really try to overhaul the game - the last patch apparently fixed around 1,500 bugs, and it's supposedly much, much better than it used to be. I've still received a couple of very annoying bugs, and one that crashed me to the desktop, but to be honest, I was enjoying myself so much that it almost didn't matter. I just started back up and jumped right back in.
So far I've played the game for several hours and only advanced my Adventuring level to 5, because I've been having so much fun with Crafting and Diplomacy. There's one Diplomacy questline in particular that I absolutely loved. I have to say that I'm very, very pleasantly surprised with Vanguard thus far, and can't wait to continue my journey. The trial version of the game maxes out at level 10 for each sphere and doesn't let you leave the confines of the Isle of Dawn, which means that I may very well purchase the full version of the game just so I can keep going. If it remains as exciting as it is currently, I almost certainly will.
Hope you all enjoyed reading my first impressions! And for those of you on the fence about trying out either of these games, I hope this helped you make a decision. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to post them here and I'll be happy to answer.
I found there were positives and negatives to sharing a dungeon with many other groups in everquest. Fighting your way down a huge dungeon to a boss spawn point and breaking up the re-spawn timers was fun.
Walking into a dungeon and finding that every boss is already being camped...not so fun.
I'm very curious how well vanguard has implemented non-instanced dungeons.
Also, I've gotten very used to using the auction house in WoW, do other mmo's all have their own versions of an auction house? Seems like it would be essential for crafting.
Also, ever mmo I've ever played had an auction house. It's one of those essentials.
I'm interested to see how Vanguard and EQII compare. I've got EQII all downloaded but haven't started my trial yet.
It's just the original game (Prophecies) but that's more than enough to get anyone started. You don't need a physical copy, just get the installer from GW's website and let it run overnight and it'll download most all the content for you.
I'll send myself an email to remind me to check on that account.