Got Bored Of WoW Quickly. Want something deeper

Koholos

I'm tired of WoW. Frankly, the PvE got boring and repetative, I'm not great at WoW's PvP side, and while I LOVE instances, I can never find a party to do it with.

So, I'm looking for a different MMO. I'm considering EVE, (and someone recommended I might try Mabinogi) but I haven't made up my mind. I don't like Ragnarok, and I liked FFXI, except for the same issue of finding a good party, (and de-leveling)

What I'd REALLY like to find is a game like TES:Oblivion, but massively multiplayer.



Some things I'd really like to find in a game:

*Strong crafting system,

*Meaningful character leveling system, with frequent upgrades and new skills to learn (unlike FFXI's virtually empty levels.)

Lots of quests

*Variations of things to do.

An In-Game economy/trading (like caravaneer, or Sid Meier's Pirates, where you could become a trader, if you wanted)

An active and friendly community

A game where you feel like you're actually influencing the world around you.

(esp the 3 starred items)



Some things I don't want:

Games where you spend a lot of time doing nothing (finding parties/grave-yard running)

Games with lots of empty spaces, where you spend a long time finding things to hunt.



I'm ambivalent about PvP. If it's there I'll try it, if not, no big deal.



So, does anyone have some ideas of a game that might work for me?

fungistratus

I just left WoW craving that same thing.  If you have a decent rig you should try :

Vangaurd: Saga of Heroes --- they are releasing a trial soon but I think you can pick this game up for under 30 bucks.

They have made a ton of updates since launch and merged the servers.  It has a extremely robust crafting system and an extra "diplomacy" trade skill  thats kind of like a card game.  There are many differnet classes to try and the spell effects and armor are really beautiful.

neonaka

I would give Pirates of the Burning Sea a go.

 

I do not play it right now because of personal reasons, however, the game has a very decent crafting system, nice instanced quest, and plenty of quest to do on your avatar. Then you have the ship battles.

Think Sid Meier's Pirates but an actual MMO with tons of things going on around you, and it is kinda like that.

You definitely impact the world around you.

Also in the pvp side of things you don't have to worry about gear, you pvp with you ship on the open seas.

If you lose a fight against players with ships like yours, you lost because of your smarts not your gear.

 

Anyway it was just a suggestion. :-)

 

Good Luck

fungistratus

Forgot to add though:  I dont think this game is going to have such a strong following once Warhammer ONline and Age of Conan come out.

 

WAR is comming....

dethgar

Give Everquest 2 a try, its like wow with a deeper crafting system, though I never made it beyond 15 myself it was fun. I'm not sure what the LFG is like, I found groups easily though. Again, I haven't been far in. LoTRO is good but a huge pain to solo in, I spent a lot of time LFG even on high pop servers. Its a very guild/kin oriented game and is a bit of a turn off in that respect. The crafting is deeper than wow but much less detailed than a game like SWG(long ago) or Eve.

Trollstar

Originally posted by Koholos

Comparing your list to EVE

*Strong crafting system  - EVE has one of the best out there, and player gear is highly sought after.

*Meaningful character leveling system, with frequent upgrades and new skills to learn (unlike FFXI's virtually empty levels.) - EVE fails here, (in a good way) as there are no levels, nor classes for that matter.  Just skills that you ceaseless train up.  These can only be trained during realtime, which is great if you can't play a lot as your character continues to train for you.  Not so good in that adding more playtime does not increase your rate of training (except of course, by giving you money which you can use to by training improving implants and skills)

Lots of quests - EVE has quests, but they are kinda dull and mostly serve as one of the ways to earn ISK (money).  It is not a quest driven game.

*Variations of things to do.  - See, the thing with EVE is its a sandbox, and its skill system lets you train up whatever skills/occupations you wish.   You can be a miner, a combat pilot, a pirate, a trader, a contraband runner, a privateer, a mercenary, a thief, a contract hauler, a crafter, an inventor, an explorer or a fleet commander.  There's even more than this...you pick what you want to be and set out to become it.  Warning though, nothing will lead you there, you have to do research and figure out your own path.  Many folks are unwilling to do this.

An In-Game economy/trading (like caravaneer, or Sid Meier's Pirates, where you could become a trader, if you wanted) - Absolutely, many players make a good living simply trading, dealing in contracted goods, and heck, even scamming for a profit. (its legal in EVE)

An active and friendly community - All relative, you meet good and bad, real secret is to get into a good corporation/alliance and EVE really begins to shine.  Solo it can be a lonely world.

A game where you feel like you're actually influencing the world around you.  -Absolutely.  If you desire, you can begin a plan that starts by dominating star systems and before you know it your corporation could end up controlling vast areas of 0.0 space and defending it against all comers.  Its something EVE excels at on many levels, not just corporate leadership.

(esp the 3 starred items)



Some things I don't want:

Games where you spend a lot of time doing nothing (finding parties/grave-yard running) -  No, you won't do grave running, but travel times can be long at times, in fact, EVE's so large you can't actually travel everywhere, its just to vast.  And while you normally won't wait around much, sometimes large scale fleet actions have lots of waiting as you coordinate your attacks.  But in general, you won't be running around shouting "LFG"

Games with lots of empty spaces, where you spend a long time finding things to hunt. - Well sort of...you can plan your hunting so you don't waste time, but its a learned skill.  I try to move no more than 3 hops between hunting areas....but sometimes it takes more.  Face it...space is vast, so we have lots of empty areas in EVE.



I'm ambivalent about PvP. If it's there I'll try it, if not, no big deal.  - Well, despite the reputation, there is a large Empire area that is relatively safe.  Now, even there, you can be killed if your corporation has a War Dec dropped on it (stay in NPC corps this can't happen though) or you can be tricked into fighting.  I've gone over 4 months now in Empire without a single attack on 2 characters, but you still can die. PVP is always around, but it can be avoided.



So, does anyone have some ideas of a game that might work for me? - EVE just might.  I was a former WOW/LotRO player and the past 9 months in EVE have been a most excellent diversion. If not, you have 2 months or so until AOC comes out.

 

Recant

If you're looking for something 'deeper' than WoW I must assume that you mean something a bit more obfuscated by interface and design, because in my experience the PvE experience in MMOs is no deeper or more interesting than EQ1 and 2, Vanguard, EVE, CoX, LOTRO, and a few other MMOs that became repetitive very quickly.

To find true depth in MMORPGs you need to look at the social aspects.  Leading and managing guilds/corps/clans is far more interesting and diverse than any current gameplay right now.  Even in WoW, leading a successful raid guild is compelling, if you're willing to put up with much drama, but many long term friendships can develop from it.

So looking at your problem social perspective, and obviously dismissing WoW, I would suggest EVE Online because it offers at least the illusion that you have the power to shape the galaxy, even if in reality you won't be doing anything but serving those who are actually having the fun with the social metagame. Sstill, it's a more concrete way of 'influencing' the world as you desired.

Any MMORPG worth it's salt has a community where the relationships between player organisations can vary from amiable to hated enemies.  This is the ultimate in 'depth' because player interactions are as real as real life, and this is where MMORPGs shine.