YOU and MMORPG's (OMG!)

[cha cha]

It wasn't really an MMO per se, but kinda was... Guild Wars was the only real game in this genre that I ever played, and I played it competitively. Guild Wars 2 became more of a "traditional MMO" and I disliked it rather quickly.

and I never played a PC game after it

[ded srs]

It wasn't really an MMO per se, but kinda was...Guild Wars was the only real game in this genre that I ever played, and I played it competitively.

If you really push the definition of MMO, I could see it. And it would count as my first MMO. Played it the same time I was playing WoW.

Guild Wars 2 became more of a "traditional MMO" and I disliked it rather quickly.

and I never played a PC game after it

>:O REPENT SINNER

Hey, here's an obvious question for everybody to consider: are the earlier "modern" (modern meaning late 90's to today) MMO's retro in your opinion? Like Everquest for example. It's still being supported, but it's also very old. I'd argue yeah. Come on, '99 is going to be 20 years old soon. So I'd say early MMO's are retro: Everquest, Anarchy Online, Dark Age of Camelot, that rough era. Yeah, some of them are still supported, but they still have that "old" feel. Thoughts?

[isiolia]

Hey, here's an obvious question for everybody to consider: are the earlier "modern" (modern meaning late 90's to today) MMO's retro in your opinion? Like Everquest for example. It's still being supported, but it's also very old. I'd argue yeah. Come on, '99 is going to be 20 years old soon. So I'd say early MMO's are retro: Everquest, Anarchy Online, Dark Age of Camelot, that rough era. Yeah, some of them are still supported, but they still have that "old" feel. Thoughts?

Well, what's "retro" or not tends to wind up being debated anyway.

The textbook definition would say retro indicates a style that is no longer in fashion, which I think older MMOs would tend to fit. Most newer games emulate WoW in some way, where prior to that they were either doing their own thing, or more likely, copying Everquest.

[ninjainspandex]

I used to play a ton of World of Warcraft and quite around 2010, never went back because apparently my account was hacked after I quit and didn't care enough to have anything done at the time. Cataclysm just felt like the downfall of the game everything was so simplified and the automatic group matching system just made things so impersonal I missed all the friends you made making guilds and running raids they old fashioned way. Oh well I made alot of awesome memories in that game, some of my greatest laughs were had in ventrillo. What a great bunch of friends I had made back then, sometimes I still miss it.

[ded srs]

Well, what's "retro" or not tends to wind up being debated anyway.

I've seen the thread about the PS2. lol. Someone should take that question to the extreme. Are beheadings retro now? I'd be all over that thread.

The textbook definition would say retro indicates a style that is no longer in fashion, which I think older MMOs would tend to fit. Most newer games emulate WoW in some way, where prior to that they were either doing their own thing, or more likely, copying Everquest.

But what about the apparent emerging trend of games going free to play and have more active combat mechanics? Is WoW really still the trend setter anymore? Tera and Guild Wars 2 have more active combat, and games like Old Republic and Rift have Free to Play models as options. In fact, so does Everquest now.

[BogusMeatFactory]

the very first MMO I played was called Underlight in 1998 using the oh-so-awesome MPlayer. The game was first person, 3D environments with 2D character sprites, real time combat system and a player run leveling system.

Learning new skills and going up levels required you to seek out players who were teachers. They would give you a custom made quest for you that usually was RP-oriented. It also features a unique House/Guild system with physical buildings and even featured a very taboo, rare skill that caused permadeath (barely ever used and people were highly persecuted for it). The game was unparalleled at the time and was something I dearly loved, but it came out before Everquest came in and demolished everything.

Now...I don't play many MMOs. I delved into The Secret World, because I loved its cinematic and thought provoking puzzles and quests. After finishing the majority of the content and trying and failing to find a nice group to get together with, I dropped it.

For me, most MMOs are a double edged sword. Finding the right people and the right game can lead to a world of fun. The problem is that eventually, everything you worked on will be lost when those servers closed. I can not play a game without knowing that my progress is saved for me to revisit.

[casterofdreams]

I never played Phantasy Star Online... online. I've played offline always and split screen with a buddy back on the Gamecube days. I don't really consider it an MMO because of strictly not requiring an internet connection.

The only MMO I've played is Star Wars The Old Republic and I like that game a lot. I messed with the options where I don't get bothered by anyone and play it like a single player Bioware game.

[Jmustang1968]

I've had my fair share of MMO play.

I played some online MUDs back in the 90s, but I don't remember their names. I had some friends who played Ultima Online and Everquest when I was in high school, but I didnt have the means to pay a monthly subscription.

So my first MMO was Earth and Beyond. This was a fairly crappy space exploration MMO that would be most similar to Eve I suppose. It was really cool and beautiful at first, but quickly got boring so I moved on.

My next MMO was FFXI. I played fairly early where you couldnt solo at all, and basically the game was spend forever finding a group, then grind enemies for hours etc... My PC was not very powerful and had issues running the game, crashing often. I played it for a few months, and then moved on to...

World of Warcraft. I still had a shitty PC, but became hooked in WoW right after release. I recruited several of my college friends, some who were not into PC gaming at all that are now PC gaming enthusiasts because of this.
I transferred schools, and moved and during this I quit for awhile. I bought a new PC and I started back up on a new server with a friend who was GM of a sucessful raiding guild. Brought some old friends back along and even introduced to the game to my gf (now wife) who became thoroughly addicted. We would have WoW 'date nights' where she would bring her PC over and we would hang out and play together.
I then started a pattern towards the end of Burning Crusade to quit and come back about every expansion until I got tired of it again.

I tried a bunch of other MMOs along the way that never quite captured my interest for too long. Each of these my wife, a few of the same college friends, and my brother would all jump into the next big MMO together.
Guild Wars I enjoyed, but my wife and friends didnt like the way it played, so I was the only one left, so I quit.
Conan had some cool concepts and great graphics but hated the server system and lack of content early had us lose interest.
Warhammer Online had a few other unique concepts but was plagued by the same stuff and just became boring.
Guild Wars 2 and FFXIV ARR I thought were both great. And I still want to play more FFXIV, I just dont have the time to play like I want to. I struggle to just casually play an MMO. I am usually all or nothing with them and it will basically consume my free time.

[dunpeal2064]

I don't really consider it an MMO because of strictly not requiring an internet connection.

Plus, if playing with 3 people is "massive multiplayer", then almost any online game would be an MMO.



Okay, my MMO-aholic confession:

I played Wow for quite some time, pretty much from launch to the release of WotLK. I really liked the idea of raiding, fighting something so big and strong that even with 25 people, it would require a good amount of consistency and team work. End-game raiding was where it was at for me, and was probably what started getting me into challenging myself with my gaming, instead of just killing time.

Unfortunately, the amount of time that you have to put into these games in comparison to the amount of actual, quality game play, seemed to keep growing more distant, and "playing" Wow turned into boring farming and arguing with guilds. The quality of players started to drop too, and where relying on 24 other players was once fun, it quickly became infuriating.

I also played FFXI for a bit, around the time the Chains expansion came out I think. I really enjoyed it, the game was brutally difficult right off the bat. Fighting a group of lvl 11 goblins felt like raiding in Wow, and since the game was less popular, and forced cooperation more than Wow, I found myself getting frustrated at other players less often. Unfortunately, everyone I knew played WoW, so I ended up hesitantly going back to it. I would say that leveling to 30 in FFXI (at least, the way it was then), was the best MMO experience I've had.

[ZenErik]

Guild Wars 2 and FFXIV ARR I thought were both great. And I still want to play more FFXIV, I just dont have the time to play like I want to. I struggle to just casually play an MMO. I am usually all or nothing with them and it will basically consume my free time.

I am still playing FFXIV on Leviathan if you ever come back. Could join my FC too. Thoroughly addicted still. Been playing 6 1/1 weeks. 2 lvl 50's and a few other classes on their way. Got the 6 month sub

Getting back on topic, FFXIV is the first MMO I've played to endgame content. The first MMO I tried was FFXI, and it was during my first semester at college in 2005. I didn't really get it at the time, I guess. And whatever server I was on seemed very dead. At least in n00b areas. Only saw other players a couple times. Didn't end up playing for more than a few weeks.

Next came GW2, 2012. Alright game, but I only made it to mid-40s before getting tired of it. And that was while having a bunch of real life friends to play the game with.

Finally tried WoW during fall 2013. A bit late to start. Only really played when a friend of mine was on. Didn't really get into it. Only got to mid-40s here too.

Move on to FFXIV, and that's where I am now. I was reluctant to try it because for a few reasons. How bad 1.0 flopped. Friends said they were interested but never bought it. Others said they were in the beta and didn't like it. And I guess I don't have as much faith in Square as I used to.

Finally purchased FFXIV during a winter sale for $15 on Amazon. Changed my life. I talk people in my FC more than I do my real life friends, haha. That's not to say I don't talk to my real life friends anymore, but I only see them on weekends. This gives me a lot more interaction with people I enjoy talking to/playing this game with.

Excluding the day or two each week that I am not home at all I probably play an average of 6 hours a day. Maybe not something to be proud of, but I am very into it. Just last night I also started playing DayZ with some friends from the FC.

I've joined a static coil/raid group and actually do play with 1 real life friend there. So that's cool. Nice to at least play with one person I know outside of FFXIV.

So yea. Waiting for 2.2 patch. I've cleared pretty much all there is to clear besides t5 coil. But I've still got a lot to do. Leveling other classes. Working on gathering and crafting, which I've largely been ignoring.