YOU and MMORPG's (OMG!)

[ded srs]

CALLING ALL MMORPG PLAYERS! CALLING ALL MMORPG PLAYERS! Please converge on this location!

I did a search for a general MMO thread and didn't find one. MMO's are sort of like consoles in that they are supported longer than most other types of games (to the point of actually having a lifespan), and that there aren't as many cranked out as other genres. Well...not as many mainstream ones anyway. So I thought it'd be cool to have a thread to discuss all things in the world of massively multiplayer online roleplaying games. So...

What was your first MMO? Which ones are you playing currently? Which ones are you looking forward to? Which ones do you miss or remember? What's going on out there in this particular corner of the industry? Know any great, still active MMO's you'd like to share?

OT: I've been playing Guild Wars 2 religiously since it came out. All the naysayers on its official forums are talking about how ESO and Wildstar will give Guild Wars a run for its money, but I doubt it. Given how flexible and fast development on Guild Wars changes I don't think ArenaNet will have any trouble adapting if the market shifts and population drops. And I trust them not to make any game breaking mistakes along the way.

[Gunstar Green]

Phantasy Star Online was my first one I suppose, which I still play occasionally on a private server.

I've never been big into this genre, but I played a good bit of Star Trek Online and am currently playing through the story missions of Star Wars: The Old Republic with my girlfriend.

[ded srs]

I've never been big into this genre, but I played a good bit of Star Trek Online and am currently playing through the story missions of Star Wars: The Old Republic with my girlfriend.

I've been meaning to try the free version of Old Republic, but I don't know much about it. I heard it plays just like WoW, in other words, same old same old. I know it has a big story, but what's the actual gameplay like? Is it really just as stand there and click buttons as WoW? That's not a gamebreaker for me or anything, I'd just like to know. Oh and how is exploration? Is it seamless or are there tons of loading zones? Also, how big are the zones?

If you want more questions I can ask.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I've never been big into this genre

Same here. I like the mechanics of a lot of MMORPGs, but the idea of playing a never-ending game + paying a monthly fee + feeling obligated to play at certain "scheduled" times never appealed to me.

I did sink many hours into Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds back in high school. Back then, being able to play anything online was simply fascinating.

I've also dabbled with Ultima Online, Final Fantasy XI/XIV, Phantasy Star Online, and World of Warcraft. In WoW I leveled my character up to level 10 before quitting - not very impressive, I know. It was also the first place I used the BoneSnapDeez nickname.

I own EverQuest II, but have never even tried to install it.

Any "older" posters here play the original Neverwinter Nights or other early 90s stuff?

[Gunstar Green]

I've never been big into this genre, but I played a good bit of Star Trek Online and am currently playing through the story missions of Star Wars: The Old Republic with my girlfriend.

I've been meaning to try the free version of Old Republic, but I don't know much about it. I heard it plays just like WoW, in other words, same old same old. I know it has a big story, but what's the actual gameplay like? Is it really just as stand there and click buttons as WoW? That's not a gamebreaker for me or anything, I'd just like to know. Oh and how is exploration? Is it seamless or are there tons of loading zones? Also, how big are the zones?

If you want more questions I can ask.

It's like a single player BioWare RPG with WoW mechanics honestly if that makes any sense. It's like a cross between Knights of the Old Republic and WoW. I'm playing it more for the story than anything else. There isn't a whole lot of loading. It's got to load for each planet and that's about it.

Some classes are more mobile than others, but from what little I know of WoW the combat is pretty much the same.

[ded srs]

Thanks for the answer Green. I'll have to check it out soon.

Now, for those who are aren't so...green when it comes to MMO's (it was funny admit it!), I read something about a now defunct MMO in an old PC Gamer Magazine called Shadowbane. From what I know about it, it had an awesome dark gothic theme and was heavily PvP oriented. What was it like in practical terms, though? Were the battles big? Was the world fun to explore?

Oh, and apparently some people have sort of revived it: http://shadowbaneemulator.com/page.php? ... ercreation This project had a closed beta a while ago. Anyone here get in?

[Sload Soap]

I played too much Star Trek Online before losing interest. It's not really a good game and it's a terrible Star Trek game. All you do is kill things and because of the F2P model, everything good is behind a paywall.

And the community is really unhelpful/unfriendly in my experience. MMO's suck.

[Gunstar Green]

I played too much Star Trek Online before losing interest. It's not really a good game and it's a terrible Star Trek game. All you do is kill things and because of the F2P model, everything good is behind a paywall.

And the community is really unhelpful/unfriendly in my experience. MMO's suck.

They've added a lot of "adventure areas" to STO that put it more in-line with Star Trek such as helping the Romulans re-settle a new world. The drawback being that they're pretty pointless and boring.

I really hated how combat oriented it is as well as its very wartime setting. The original Star Trek Online concept before Cryptic got their hands on it seemed a lot more interesting and ambitious but that's probably the reason it didn't pan out.

Cryptic went the safe route and this is what we got. The space combat is kind of fun, and I enjoyed building my crew and my ship. I even thought the story was alright and some of the missions did have a Trek-like feel. Overall though the type of game it is just isn't a good fit for the universe.

Honestly some of the best stuff in STO is the player created content. People have come up with missions and stories a lot more interesting than the official ones.

[isiolia]

My first and main MMO I've played is Final Fantasy XI, which I played from about NA release in 2003 until the servers went down for the tsunami in 2011, then wound up going back to again, taking another break, going back, and currently am not playing again as of August last year or so. In part due to not really caring for new content, and in part because pretty much everyone I did stuff with quit too. Still, I can get majorly nostalgic about it, so, never know if I'll start playing again...but sans friends I kinda doubt it.

Since I put so much time into FFXI, I wasn't really putting much into other MMOs (or games I collected).

I tried the WoW trial, but didn't get far and wasn't really hooked.

I tried PSO Blue Burst when it was new and had a demo, and didn't care for it. 'course, it's not really an MMO anyway.

I've played through most of the campaign stuff in Guild Wars, save for some of the post-Eye of the North stuff to tie things to GW2. Most of that was still done solo anyway, since by the time I played it the Hero system easily allowed for it. Like PSO, not an MMO really...but as a coop-possible online RPG I really liked it. I kicked myself for dismissing it as a PVP thing for years.

Played SWTOR for a bit as friends were playing it. There were aspects I liked, but combat was awful and progression was too slow for the story to stay compelling after level 20 or so. Most people I knew dropped it quickly and went back to XI. I tried going back when it went F2P to see about finishing the story, but it was even worse with F2P restrictions.

I played through nearly all of the main Guild Wars 2 story, except for the final mission because it was a dungeon and I didn't want to try and get a group for it. I dabbled in a couple other classes and some of the holiday events, but for the most part I put a good bit of time into it near launch and not much since. I still think highly of it though.

I've dabbled in Aion and The Secret World, but not gotten too far.

I guess if you count Diablo III, I...played through it once, and partly again on another class. Not the several times through you're supposed to just to hit the level cap. To it's credit, Diablo II didn't keep my attention more than the first dungeon or so.

Most of my friends from XI went to XIV:ARR, which I played to cap, through the story, and tried doing endgame, but I didn't really care for it. I had figured my group would pick up doing stuff similar to how we did in XI, but it didn't really happen. I don't find the gameplay appealing enough to keep going back to otherwise, and hate doing PUGs anyway.
I mean, if I want the general style, I'd just as soon play GW2, which is free and has more variety in things to do instead of recycling the same fights over and over only harder.

In general, I think I just don't really care for the highly vertical, WoW-like progression that most MMOs seem to use. It gets real boring real fast. I mean, third party tools and everything, but, XI took a full inventory of gear scripted with XML to play how I eventually played it (and I dual boxed on top of that). Playing that game kinda scratched the building/modding type itch at times, versus purely putting a wall of grinding in the way of being able to attack the next biggest fight.
I'm not usually actively looking for an MMO per se...currently more trying to attack the mountain of single player games I've bought and not played much of

[Sano]

EverQuest was my first MMO. I now hop around different MMOs; when I get bored with one I go to the next one I haven't played in a while.

I currently have:
Star Trek Online - Active Player
WoW - Semi-Active Player
EverQuest II - On vacation from this one
Ragnarok Online (Private Server) - Just play when I am really bored.