Bored With MMOs....:(

[The Happy Stromboli]

I've been looking for an MMO to play and to be honest I don't think I have the time nor desire to put into one. I don't want to go back to WOW, I'm unsure about Star Trek Online and am really unsure about spending 50 bucks on a game I might not even play long term. I've tried Lords Of The Ring Online as well as Everquest II and I just don't have any interest. I really want something great to play that isn't going to be a constant drain on my time and wallet. Could it be that I'm just done with MMOs? Anyone else understand how I feel?

 

[SunnyD]

That's the key to the MMO... buyer's remorse. If you have no problems giving money to a company for something you may or may not use on any given day, then MMO's are fine.

If you like the social aspect, you should look into some of the free MMOs out there like NeoSteam or something like that. If not, then you probably don't want to bother with MMOs.

 

[ZzZGuy]

Wellll, EvE online has a free 14 day trial if you want to give that a spin (21 days if someone already playing sends you a invite). Probably not your cup of tea but it's 14 free days. Also note that you will have to join a corp (aka, clan) to have fun.



Also another one of Sunny's posts http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=298935&highlight=free+mmo

Also recall Age of Conan is free up to X level.

And there is good old runescape, which took me two weeks to realize I had no idea why I was playing it.

 

[v8envy]

Meh. Been a mostly solo artist in eve for over 3 years. Still having reasonable amounts of fun.

Of course, it's cost me a grand total of $20 for multiple accounts over those years, so I may be biased.

Go try the 14 day trial, and if you like it PM pretty much anyone in the eve thread and we should be able to toss you a 21 day to get started "for real."

F2P MMOs with micropayments are also great. Play when you feel like, no feeling that money is "burning" any day you didn't rush home to play.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

Try Dungeons and Dragons Online, its free to play and supposedly has been revamped to be quite a bit more fun than it was at release. No buyer's remorse with a free game.

 

[pontifex]

I haven't played an MMO in a long time. I always keep thinking I want to play another one, but I agree, the time commitment is huge. I generally do have plenty of free time when I'm not working, but I don't feel like putting that much time into one.

I don't have any friends that play MMOs either so playing alone is another drag.

Also, every MMO that has come out since WoW has been utter garbage.

 

[The Happy Stromboli]

I just feel like I'm missing out. I was really looking forward to Star Trek Online and while playing beta realized it's just another MMO. It's a grindfest and I don't really have the time to put hours each day into a game. Maybe only a few hours a week. I just started thinking do I really want to spend 50 bucks on this when I'm probably just going to be bored with it in a month or less. If I don't buy it I feel like I am missing out. Does this make any sense?

 

[coloumb]

I've been looking for an MMO to play and to be honest I don't think I have the time nor desire to put into one. I don't want to go back to WOW, I'm unsure about Star Trek Online and am really unsure about spending 50 bucks on a game I might not even play long term. I've tried Lords Of The Ring Online as well as Everquest II and I just don't have any interest. I really want something great to play that isn't going to be a constant drain on my time and wallet. Could it be that I'm just done with MMOs? Anyone else understand how I feel?

Breaking free of MMO's is like breaking free of any habitual "drug" - once you've realized you don't need it anymore - you are a happier and more productive person of society.

Don't go back - go do something else to keep you busy.... well.. unless [MOST] of your friends are playing an MMO - then immediately go start playing that MMO because it's a blast.

 

[Skott]

I finally hit MMO burn out some time ago. Now that I havent played one in a while I really don't miss them. It was fun for a while but I have moved on. Outgrew it I guess. I wouldn't say I'll never go back to one but I can honestly say I don't look to play one again even if it is the greatest of all time.

 

[The Happy Stromboli]

I finally hit MMO burn out some time ago. Now that I havent played one in a while I really don't miss them. It was fun for a while but I have moved on. Outgrew it I guess. I wouldn't say I'll never go back to one but I can honestly say I don't look to play one again even if it is the greatest of all time.

What games do you play?

 

[Lumathix]

Breaking free of MMO's is like breaking free of any habitual "drug" - once you've realized you don't need it anymore - you are a happier and more productive person of society.

Don't go back - go do something else to keep you busy.... well.. unless [MOST] of your friends are playing an MMO - then immediately go start playing that MMO because it's a blast.

This is pretty much the truth.

 

[pontifex]

Breaking free of MMO's is like breaking free of any habitual "drug" - once you've realized you don't need it anymore - you are a happier and more productive person of society.

Don't go back - go do something else to keep you busy.... well.. unless [MOST] of your friends are playing an MMO - then immediately go start playing that MMO because it's a blast.

I quit playing MMOs and i still don't do anything productive in my free time. i mostly either watch TV shows/movies or play other games.

 

[Skott]

What games do you play?

Games I'm playing lately include Torchlight and Far Cry 2. Crysis is still waiting to be played. I'll get to it once I finish FC2.

MMOs I have played in the past:

Dark Age of Camelot
World of Warcraft
Eve Online
Age of Conan
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning


MMOs are all generally the same. Level up grinding, raiding, and PvP. The only things that really change are the themes/world they take place in. I spent over 7 years playing these games. My favorite was DAoC. In its heyday it was the best game to play for PvP. Fond memories but no desire to return to them. Single player games from here on out.

 

[paperfist]

I just feel like I'm missing out. I was really looking forward to Star Trek Online and while playing beta realized it's just another MMO. It's a grindfest and I don't really have the time to put hours each day into a game. Maybe only a few hours a week. I just started thinking do I really want to spend 50 bucks on this when I'm probably just going to be bored with it in a month or less. If I don't buy it I feel like I am missing out. Does this make any sense?

You're lucky, you burned out on MMOs early I've never played an MMO that wasn't the same in one way or another as they all pretty much boil down to kill mobs, level up, kill mobs with a different skin, level up and repeat ad nausea. Sorry, but that gets old after a while and you end up feeling like you're paying someone to run on a wheel with no end.

I really wish they'd just make an MMO where you could explore a world in a movie like setting adventuring around with friends.

 

[Skott]

What makes MMOs appealing and fun is the social factor. Yes, the gameplay is fun but I also made a lot of new friends playing MMOs and its a blast to team up and go battle mobs or other people. Also, how cool is it to meet and play with people from other countries and societies on the other side of the world? Its very cool! An easy way to expand one's knowledge of our world and its inhabitants. I actually learned things while playing in MMOs. How cool is that? LOL

 

[matas]

What makes MMOs appealing and fun is the social factor. Yes, the gameplay is fun but I also made a lot of new friends playing MMOs and its a blast to team up and go battle mobs or other people. Also, how cool is it to meet and play with people from other countries and societies on the other side of the world? Its very cool! An easy way to expand one's knowledge of our world and its inhabitants. I actually learned things while playing in MMOs. How cool is that? LOL

cool story bro.

but it is true. It's so fun make internet relationships.

 

[fatpat268]

Maybe that's why I find a lot of MMO's boring. I just don't get into the social aspect... It's not that I can't, it just doesn't happen.

That said, I'm done with MMOs for now until Cataclysm and The Old Republic comes out.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Hey, I bought RF Online brand new, I know what buyer's remorse is.

 

[Markbnj]

I know exactly how you feel. I played EQ1, DAoC, Wow, Vanguard, Warhammer, and most recently Aion (which I just cancelled). Some were great games, some just good, but overall I've never been able to recapture the feeling of EQ1 and DAoC (most specifically DAoC). Modern games are such complete theme-park sandboxes, with every aspect totally controlled and layed out at your feet. There's no challenge left in them at all, and not much to hold long-term interest. I had friends in DAoC for four years that I still talk to online, but none of us have lasted more than a few months in any game since.

I've come to the conclusion that I can't go back again.

 

[RedArmy]

Hey, I bought RF Online brand new, I know what buyer's remorse is.

I was wondering about that game after taking a hiatus from it for a few years. I went to their 'website' and was just like "oh". I had millions and millions of gold or whatever it was and had invested it in the in-game stock market. I always wondered how it fared after all these years, guess I'll never know. I liked that game =/

 

[Modelworks]

I know exactly how you feel. I played EQ1, DAoC, Wow, Vanguard, Warhammer, and most recently Aion (which I just cancelled). Some were great games, some just good, but overall I've never been able to recapture the feeling of EQ1 and DAoC (most specifically DAoC). Modern games are such complete theme-park sandboxes, with every aspect totally controlled and layed out at your feet. There's no challenge left in them at all, and not much to hold long-term interest. I had friends in DAoC for four years that I still talk to online, but none of us have lasted more than a few months in any game since.

I've come to the conclusion that I can't go back again.

There is no risk in these games anymore. Without risk there can be no reward. People complained about having to fight in places like crushbone in EQ1 and how it was crowded and that if someone started a train that innocent bystanders could die. Developers listened to the complainers for fear of losing customers and so we got care bear mmorpg where you too can be just as good as anyone else no matter how much you play or how skilled you are.

I hated death in EQ1 . Running back to a corpse after being killed by a train of enemies I did not pull was annoying, but it did add to the game in an odd way. Some of my best memories are crushbone and watching the trains . I also remember being scared to get too close to the enemy bosses in places because I did not want to die, I feared death, imagine that , something I have never done in current MMORPG, it is just a respawn.

Socially EQ1 worked because there was downtime. People had to prepare before fighting and that made time to talk. Now people complain if they can't chug two potions back to back and get on to the next mob. I guess it is the short attention span of the newer generations.

 

[Lumathix]

There is no risk in these games anymore. Without risk there can be no reward. People complained about having to fight in places like crushbone in EQ1 and how it was crowded and that if someone started a train that innocent bystanders could die. Developers listened to the complainers for fear of losing customers and so we got care bear mmorpg where you too can be just as good as anyone else no matter how much you play or how skilled you are.

I hated death in EQ1 . Running back to a corpse after being killed by a train of enemies I did not pull was annoying, but it did add to the game in an odd way. Some of my best memories are crushbone and watching the trains . I also remember being scared to get too close to the enemy bosses in places because I did not want to die, I feared death, imagine that , something I have never done in current MMORPG, it is just a respawn.

Socially EQ1 worked because there was downtime. People had to prepare before fighting and that made time to talk. Now people complain if they can't chug two potions back to back and get on to the next mob. I guess it is the short attention span of the newer generations.

I agree. I kniow I sound like an old dude when I say this, but mmorpg's aint the same anymore. The "realism" isn't there. They're all just another game. Not special like classic EQ.

 

[Skott]

I know what you mean. When I first got into MMOs DAoC had just launched and although it wasn't the first, MMOs in general were still new and developing so the excitement was there. I wish they could make a *good* MMO where you could play a dragon. Yeah, I know about Horizons. I tried it (Forgot to include it in my list above) but although it was a great idea it failed in implementation miserably. A shame too. I'd come out of my MMO retirement for a good dragon MMO. I love draggies. LOL

 

[Raduque]

You know, I never played any MMOs at all till I played a trial of EvE in 08. Played my trial out and forgot about it till I got bored and reacted in mid 09. Played it till December when I canceled my accounts as I lost my job.

Been playing the beta of STO and really enjoying it much more than I enjoyed EvE. I'm definitely getting STO when I start working again.

 

[JoshGuru7]

I'll second ScorcherDarkly in recommending DDO.

Downsides: It is miserable if you're not playing with friends, the user interface is abysmal, there is no PvP to speak of, the graphics are dated, and veterans will chew through content an order of magnitude more quickly than Turbine releases it.

Upsides: It is also far and away the most fun I've ever had in an MMO and I've played dozens of them. A more ideal co-op experience does not exist then adventuring through a destructible DDO dungeon with a group of really good friends.