I played WoW a bit after its initial release through the first couple xpacs. Getting the MMO itch again, but I know the WoW I grew up with doesn’t really exist anymore, so now I’m pretty out of touch.
For those of you playing / recently played an MMO, which one? How’s the community? How’s the lore? Gameplay in pve/pvp/rvr?
The only mmo’s I ever really spent any significant time with were FFXI (on dial up for most of the time I spent with it so my experience wasn’t great) and GW2. not mentioning eve… we dont talk about that…
There was a free MMORPG called Planeshift (I played quite a lot in 2005 or so, it’s still around and being actively worked on) that was very elder scrolls inspired, I put a lot of time into in the past too but being a small free amateur project it didn’t have a lot of players.
I just don’t have the time or motivation to give modern MMOs the attention they really need to make progress, and I was very much a solo player at the time so progress was slow and hard.
I think if I was to pick up a new one it would be FF14, it has a balance of open gameplay and story which a lot of mmos ignore, it seems like a good community but as with all mmos they really dont want you to just drop in a play a couple of hours every second weekend, they want you to get in daily and stick to a routine, which I just cant commit to these days.
FF14 is actually a lot more forgiving of that more casual gameplay style. It’s very easy to gear up after a break for anything outside of Savage and Ultimate raiding (and even then, you can buy or craft the week 1 gear if you want to get into Savage), the dungeon roulette system makes it so it’s generally always possible to find people to complete content with, even if it’s older, and unless you want to get into housing there’s not really any penalty for say subbing for one month, taking a break afterwards and then coming back when you have time to play, outside of missing out on seasonal events (and generally any exclusives you get from those events get put on the cash shop the following year).
Also, FFXI player here as well, the ability for that game to run on low speed connections was frankly impressive for the time. I remember playing it using an infrared GPRS data connection on my laptop 😂 Sure it lagged a bit in city areas but the fact that it was still playable was a feat.
I started with MMOs back in the MUD days, both on dial up BBSs and (eventually) on university servers. I will always remember the sysop who walked me through signing up for his BBS MUD while I was giving responses like “y” and “go north” because I thought he was just an infocom game and not an actual person. Twelve year old me was so embarrassed that I never went back. If you’re out there, sysop, or if you’re just someone who has tried their best to support online communities despite the best intentions of absolute idiots, I salute you.
I played EverQuest since it came out, stupidly choosing a ranger and studying fletching all very badly because I didn’t know about gaming the game mechanics and had read too many fantasy novels. I played a lot, mostly by myself, and didn’t get too far. I also tried EQ2 when it came out, and when Diablo 2 released I decided to experiment with gaming the trading market.
I was an early WoW adopter. I played through the level caps two or three times. I joined a more serious raiding guild when I hit 60 (instead of my old rpg guild) and cornered the market on cotton a couple of weeks in a row here and there. I eventually fell out of it - end game content turned into feeling like a job, where you had to study and rehearse in order to get past bosses, your loot dropping was like a 1 in 20 chance, and if you screwed up a single person could cause a group wipe. Honestly, it just got boring compared to being a level 8 warlock wandering around.
What is keeping me from trying new ones is that there’s a massive disadvantage in starting an MMO that’s already been going on for years and years. You can fire up Skyrim for the very first time this afternoon, and have the exact same experience (honestly, a much improved one) as if you fired it up on launch day. I can launch Baldur or Disco or Stray and just not have to worry about getting ganked other than what was already intended by the devs. There was a time in EverQuest where another player challenged me to 1v1 and finally talked me into trying it, then proceeded to beat the living shit out of me but then bandage me right before I died. He kept on doing it until I disconnected. As funny as that was in retrospect, it’s also a problem with MMOs in general.
I would love for there to be a new WoW - something that restored the magic of the game when you could solo or group up and both explore the world and feel progress. I’m still waiting.
I’m having the mmo itch but the thought of the riot mmo coming out in 3 to 5 years has me at bay for now. I did do a little ff with my girlfriend and enjoyed it but trial accounts are a bit too limited for my liking.
I’ve gone to playing Project 1999, an OG EverQuest emulator server.
It’s only up to velious and it’s as close to how the game was back then as you can get.
I don’t recommend it to people who never played EQ back in the day - games have changed far too much for this ancient game to be fun for most people who don’t have nostalgia for that era of gaming.
But sounds like you might, so I thought I’d suggest it to you.
Seconding Project 1999. I have played on and off (mostly off) since near the beginning. I wish I had more time to play it. It takes so long to make decent progress that it’s just not for me these days. I’ve thought about rolling a cleric so that I could maybe/hopefully get groups quickly and maybe then in 10 years I’ll be max level
WoW, but with short and longer breaks. It’s a massive time sink, and I simply do not have the time that WoW demands in order to accomplish most of the things.
It can be an enjoyment, can be fun, can also cause you to burnt out so fast.
I was playing Wrath Classic when it came but the wow token and GDKPs absolutely killed the experience. Wow itself has had some good changes and announcements lately, it might be worth revisiting that a little to see if you might be interested again.
Another option is Hardcore, which does somewhat feel interesting and old school again.
Star Wars Galaxies, A New Hope launched in July and doesn’t have any of the BS restrictions in place like SWGEMU does. Play on multiple toons, use of macros and scripts, ultimate fun.
HorizonXI. It’s a classic Final Fantasy XI server.
I grew up playing XI and wanted to get back into it, but the retail server is a solo experience these days. Horizon has been incredible to relive my childhood on Horizon, and the community is amazing. It’s certainly not for everyone but I’m so glad to have it in my life.
I was lucky in that the ffxi US beta was my first dive into an MMO. And I think it’s one of the best games ever, but the harsh reality is that it’s hard and tedious, especially for folks who only have experience with super hand holdy MMOs like they mostly are today. If you can get into it, it can be like crack, but I really feel like most people won’t have the patience for it these days.
This isn’t me saying don’t try it. Try it for sure. Just be ready for a huge time sink. It doesn’t help you at all.
I absolutely agree. XI is hard and a huge time sync. I don’t think most gamers would enjoy it at all, and most of my enjoyment comes from nostalgia and the sense of community.
If you’re mainly interested in PVP or resource gathering, New World.
If you want better PVE, more interesting storylines and better more varied world design, Guild Wars 2.
Personally, I quit New World as a mainly PVE player after playing for around 30 hours. It was just too mind-numbing killing the same 5 mob types over and over even after getting to a new area. Even reading all the quest texts, I never got very interested in the world or (barely existant) storyline.
New World was such a huge letdown for me. Low level mobs respawning so fast you can’t even clear an area long enough to loot, empty world outside of endgame areas. etc.
WoW was my introduction to MMOs, and ive never really replaced it, despite trying out ff and eso. That voids still unfilled, but I have picked up Warframe, which i suppose might technically count, but its not quite the same - third person mission based sci fantasy shooter doesnt quite scratch the same itch, but it is an mmo.
Great quests, i really enjoy them when they come in.
Labyrinthine progression system, im currently building a new class so that i can generate an Impact weapon and then i’ll throw the class into the dumpster, absorb its power blue-mage style, slap it on a different class, and use an upgrade from another part of the game to turn that impact weapon into an energy generator, slap the ability on another class i like, and use the impact energy generator fueled ability to set up a whip attack that needs enemies affected by the blue maged impact energy weapon fueled ability to farm another - ok ill stop, but its this kind of game.
The space hats are good and pretty to look at. most important part imo.
Idk if Warframe counts as an MMO, but it’s the closest thing to an MMO that I play.
The lore is really cool, though it’s mostly for the people who care about it as it is really easy to skip/miss.
The community is mostly super friendly and a big part of the game (yk, trading in-game items for in-game currency, clans, etc…).
The PvE of Warframe imo is top notch, fluent movement, satisfying weapons, time or characters, abilities, strategies and weapons to choose from and reach one can be upgraded individually.
The PvP however… It exists and that’s all I can say about it, it’s kinda just bad and no one plays it.
Idk what RvR means lol.
Oh, and the game is completely free with no forced pay walls and it’ll run on pretty much anything.
Though it’s not perfect, it’s a grind (yk it’s a looter shooter) and there is an annoying mechanic of items taking a while to craft
I’ve never really paid any attention to Warframe, but just youtubed it. Kinda intrigued. How’s the co-op? One of the reasons I wanted an MMO is that a friend of mine is in the same boat looking for something new. We tried Elden Ring hearing that it was co-op, but ER’s co-op is little temporary instances of pulling another player into your world - you can’t actually progress together. The content I’ve seen so far on Warframe looks very single-player oriented, and ER has given me trust issues with things like that, lol.
RvR is realm vs realm. Sometimes it’s called WvW for World vs World. Basically it’s large scale siege style combat - you and like 50 other players from your server are attacking or defending objectives sought by another server, so you get 100+ players clashing in pure chaos. It’s a good time when it’s done right.
Warframe is designed as a Co-op experience, it’s the correct way to play the game, only parts of the main story is single player, cinematic experience and all, 90% of the game is supposed to be played co-op or in a team of randoms… RvR isn’t technically a thing the way you describe it, but there are huge hordes of enemies, so you can think of it as PvR… kinda.
And yea RvR wouldn’t mesh well with a shooter. Guild Wars 2 had it, I think Elder Scrolls Online had it, but that game didn’t hold my attention very long, so might be thinking of something else. Anywho, it’s more a traditional-style MMO thing, and not super common even among them.
I started playing DC Universe Online again for the first time in a decade+ a few weeks ago. Forgot how much fun creating a super hero is. I’m on PC, which I guess has crossplay with playstation?
Player population is hit and miss. The cities are a tad empty, though there’s almost always other people doing the same mission as you. But if you go to a major hub, like GCPD or Watchtower central hub, tons of players, especially on like a Saturday night. Game’s definitely not dead, and chat is very active.
Character customization via the styles tab is endless, and by default it has transmog so your gear doesn’t have to affect your appearance if you don’t want.
I hear the f2p model gets predatory near end game but i’m not there yet so I can’t confirm. Either way, having fun so far.
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