Small Group Endgame

lazyone

Hey all, looking for some help picking out a new game for me and a few of my friends. We all came from WoW and most of us have quit already because of its endgame. It seems like the new raids are created just for the hardcore guilds, where it's not really about skill, preparation or knowledge of game mechanics, but it's really more of how much time can you fit in each week before the instance resets.

We're looking for a game where a small group of 5-6 people can experience everything that the endgame has to offer. I've been looking at FFXI and I've been really interested in trying it out. I don't mind taking a long time to reach max level, because as long as we're grouping and leveling together it should be fun. But as I understand it, there are no instances in FFXI, which means people have to camp the spawn points for the endgame bosses. I'm kinda turned off by that because we all have different schedules... if the competition for those bosses is that intense then it seems like we'll never get a shot at them.

I really want a game where there are 6-man instances that will take several days to finish. And not just killing trash, but having lots of boss encounters. If the encounters are challenging in a way that tests each group members skill, concentration and patience, that would be as rewarding as killing a raid boss in WoW.

So, just wondering if anyone's got any ideas for us to try. Thanks!