MMO's whilst I wait

[v8envy]

If we disregard MUDs, my first MMO was Anarchy Online. No first instrument bias there, I'll be the first to rage against game design which requires the "perfect" class or GTFO, endless grinding and the awful graphics.

Nowadays I only play Eve with a side order of Perfect World and Sword of the New World. It's spreadsheets online if you let it be. You have to have the right mindset to enjoy it -- it's a game of ruining someone else's day. The game itself is absolute shit, but the sandbox framework lets you build a fun experience if you "get it." As a bonus, just about anyone in the eve thread in these forums can get you 21 days of trial if you PM them.

 

[Martimus]

If we disregard MUDs, my first MMO was Anarchy Online. No first instrument bias there, I'll be the first to rage against game design which requires the "perfect" class or GTFO, endless grinding and the awful graphics.

Nowadays I only play Eve with a side order of Perfect World and Sword of the New World. It's spreadsheets online if you let it be. You have to have the right mindset to enjoy it -- it's a game of ruining someone else's day. The game itself is absolute shit, but the sandbox framework lets you build a fun experience if you "get it." As a bonus, just about anyone in the eve thread in these forums can get you 21 days of trial if you PM them.

Yeah, the PvE in Eve probably leaves something to be desired. I can't really remember that much since I haven't done any PvE in about 4 months. I even stopped Ratting as bait, as I was on a quest to get to -10.0 (Last I looked I was at -9.99, and even though I podded someone and killed 5-6 ships since then, I was still at -9.99). I kill enough people that their loot makes up for my losses thus far, so I haven't needed to PvE in quite a while.

It really is a game that you make what you want out of it. There is no "right" way to play the game, and there is an effective counter for pretty much any strategy you can devise. I seem to have become the primary FC of my alliance during my timezone, and it is different going from leading small 4-5 man gangs to 40-50 man gangs. Both are fun in their own way though.

 

[tk149]

back to PC gaming for a while. Old DAOC and EQ1 guy here. Spent years. Tried AC2, EQ2, CoH/V, WoW, AO, AoC, WaR, GW, Vanguard, and a couple flash or web games. Nothing holds a candle to the community and fun that I had years ago in DAOC and (to a lesser extent) EQ1. I suspect nothing ever will. BUT I am looking for a mature, fun, time-consuming but not boring MMO. WoW isn't it. Candidates:

1. DDO:EU (currently free, and I've made it through the first few quests)
potential downfall: no PvP whatsoever. I struggle to understand what to do at max level. WHat I've played, was quite fun.
2. Darkfall ($1 trial for a week). Waiting to try that out.
potential downfall: gankers and griefers, cheating, Might have missed the initial rush, may go the way of WaR.

Any thoughts?

I've played Eve Online, and my head just asploded. I'ma pretty big nerd but that game is just way too complex and I'm not willing to put that level of time/effort in. I also played STO and I didn't really have fun. It had the WoW effect for me. (flavor of the month).

I'm an avid DDO:EU player.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=321958&highlight=dungeons+dragons

The first few quests are VERY easy. The difficulty ramps up around the mid levels. There is no PVP to speak of.

There are two things that DDO has that I've heard other games lack:
1. Immense customizability of your character. You can multiclass and create some truly awesome characters or some really weak ones. Multiclassing is not for the uninformed. Personally, my favorite characters are pure sorcerers.

2. You usually must work as a team in later quests. If you don't, you die, and your party dies. Sometimes this is good (e.g. you get a feeling of great achievement and satisfaction for a job well done) and sometimes this is bad (e.g. that idiot barbarian just caused a party wipe and wasted two hours of our time). There are some people who can solo quests several levels above them on elite difficulty. There are more people who THINK that they can, unfortunately.

At max level, you pretty much just grind through high level instances looking for loot. I haven't really played other MMORPG's, but isn't this the norm? The developers recently created "Epic" difficulty for level-capped characters only. I've tried it, and it's gawdawful difficult, but the rare loot drops are "Epic" indeed.

You also have the option to "Reincarnate" your character, in which case you start back at level 1, but are slightly more powerful and you get to keep all your items.

Good luck with whatever game you try!

 

[Indus]

Same here.. EQ1 still holds good memories but I've tried to move on.. I still play EQ1 on occasion just to pass the time.

I've tried Silkroad Online - that held me for 3 years
I've tried Aion - that held me for 4 months
I've tried 9 dragons, rapplez, shaiya, eq2, vanguard, and other games which only held me for 2 weeks or so.

I think I like pve games more than pvp so I'm waiting for Tera Online.. which will have different PVP and PVE servers from what I hear..

Google Tera Online.. it has dx10 graphics too.

But for now your options are pretty low.. ultima online has an old dedicated community. EQ1 is dying slowly really.. most good people moved on and guilds are now scraping the bottom of the barrel and finding dust if they're lucky in terms of players with skills and good attitudes.

 

[KaOTiK]

OP and any other EQ1 lovers. Steam has EQ1 and its 15 expansion packs on sale for $2.50 total, that includes a free month of game time for new station accounts.