I think the micro community is more important than the macro community. Keep good people close to you, find a guild of like minded individuals and the rest of the game's players dont matter
Dungeons & Dragons Online, as in my sig. Maybe LotrO too, I heard about it. But LotrO is too WoWish for me. I wanted something different, so D&D Online - the best community in-game to date.
Give The Chronicles of Spellborn a go. You can download and play the game for free until you get to around level 8 at which point the game turns off your ability to gain exp until you pay. Of course you can always re-roll and try out new characters. In fact you can play the early free part forever if you wanted to as there is no time limit to the trial.....although its not really a trial anyway as you have access to the full game along with everyone else.
The game has a very interesting twist to combat which requires you to actually think carefully about skills you bring into play. There is almost zero gear grinding as you actually have everything you need upon character creation.....which is really odd and something I find refreshingly different. Quite a few players at level 30 are still using the stuff they began the game with! The game is about player & character skills and gear is just for show.
TCoS also looks amazing! It is by far the best looking mmo on the market at the moment and considering the game is still in beta its surprisingly well polished and well made. Having said that the UI could do with a lot of tweaking and there are apparently some bugs in the game......but then its in beta so thats to be expected. The AI for the monsters is also very good as well......again better than all of the other mmos I have played. In fact because of the way the mobs work with each other it actually makes grouping a vital part of the game. You can certainly solo it if you want to but it will be a lot more challenging. There is also PvP in the game if you want to and because of the way the game relies more on player skill than other games it actually lens itself to this very well. If you dont like PvP then you can always just pass on it although I hear it becomes a bigger part of the game later on. Mind you if you're into playing games with other people then why are you playing online game sin the first place? lol
But you asked about community right? Well normally in mmos I have a tendency to keep to myself in games but I have found most of the players in this game to be fairly mature. Yes it has its childish idiots who think that typing /dance is the funniest and most entertaining thing in the world but in general I quite like the community which is pretty friendly in my opinion.
Anyway give it a go. Its free so you have nothing to lose.
The OP asked for a game with a good community; to which there can only be one real answer.
Every game has a good community. The problem is that every game has a bad community too.
When you join up to a new MMO and choose your server, there isn't a slider like this:
Please choose your community:
Morons - [.......................|.....] - Nice People
People are as you find them; if you want to be in a good community regardless of the game then you have to actively look for one amongst the hordes of gibbering dweebs that infest every single MMO.
Playing: EVE, Final Fantasy 13, Uncharted 2, Need for Speed: Shift
Trying to install that trial and actually get into the game was like doing my taxes. I gave up after a couple hours. I fear what I might have agreed to in all that mess. I've probably signed over my firstborn, my kidneys and my sanity. The best part about the whole thing was FilePlanet's 600KB/s download. But if I ever see PlayOnline again, I'll run away so fast that you won't see anything of me but a vapor trail.
Now it's time to see if Mythic's trial of Warhammer Online goes any smoother.
I'm not looking for a good guild to play around with in a game. I'm looking for a game that inherently has a good community like DAOC or EQ. In EQ, I would play with completely random people for hours, having a great time and socializing while grinding. The community is what made the grind seem less crappy.
Well people have moved on. Grouping with random people for hours just because the game forces u to .. is NOT fun. I don't really want to spend hrs to look for competent players and it is pulling nails grouping with bad players.
If you look at the market, some solo-friendiness is almost a must now.
I have grouped with random people when i was playing EQ years ago. I dont see why it is so great.
Can you play pen and paper RPGs where you are? You won't find better community and grouping content. I don't think there are any other MMOs that offer what you want.
I played Rifts for three or four years (Leyline walker and Mind Melter), Seventh Sea for one or two years (both as player and GM), and L5R for a year or so. I love pen/paper RPG's, but my friends and I no longer have the time to invest into them. When we were young and in high school with part-time jobs we'd play Rifts from around noon until 3am, go to sleep, and wake up to play for another eight hours at times. A couple friends and I are actually writing our own RPG to play as kind of a side project. It'll probably never get finished, but it's fun to make our own anyway. If I could play Rifts again with a roll and keep system, I'd be all over it.
Any, I'll respond to a lot of posts here.
For those of you suggesting WoW, you're not reading the entire post.
D&D is something I've never looked into, so I'll go and look at it.
FFXI sounds like a reasonable thing to try, but fileplanet is being a pain right now and I'm having trouble just downloading the stupid thing.
I tried Darkfall, didn't really like it, and sold my account to someone. Cool idea, but it just wasn't for me really.
I've tried EQ2 and Vanguard, both feel like WoW clones.
I have an account for TCoS but can't sign in for some reason. This I will also try.
Many of you are still really missing the main idea of what I'm looking for here. DAoC, more than EQ, had an astoundingly good community where pretty much everyone in your realm would help you out if you asked. People looked out for each other. In EQ, classes were highly specialized and the element of soloing was nonexistant for almost all of the classes, the exceptions being, if I remember right, the necromancer, bard, shadowknight to an extent, and maybe the magician. Everyone else pretty much had no choice but to get a group if they wanted to kill something their level. This forced grouping led to really getting to know your community and interacting with a lot of different people, something I enjoyed.
Now, both of those elements are non-existent. I don't want to find a game with a great guild. Every game has great guilds, but they lack that forced grouping idea. I've been in guilds where I really liked the people, but I always got burnt out on the game because I felt like I was playing by myself the majority of the time, and when I played with someone else there was nothing fun about it because we were all the same. That guy shoots arrows, I stab things, he shoots fireballs, but we all have the same damn impact on mobs. Damage damage damage. Oh, and that guy over there picking his nose heals occasionally between DoT's.
I played Wow from beta until beginning of last month.
When I quit, I hopped to all the MMOs I thought I would like better. I went to Vanguard, WAR, EQ2, LOTR, and DDO... none of which I could deal with for more than a week or two.
CoH was my last option, and the one I felt I would be least likely to enjoy, and I've been playing it for over a month now. The community is awesome, for the most part. People have pride in their characters, because the character customization is so strong... you can almost make anything you can conceive of, and the groups that result from some of these mixes of unique characters are truly awesome. And when you join a group in CoX, it's pretty much implied that you're going to run at least half a dozen missions. They're quick, challenging, and fast-paced from a gameplay standard. You actually get to know most of the people you group with. It's not like WoW where everybody is quiet, and anti-social, just inspecting each other and starting fights about how your hit rating is 2 points below the cap.
The only other advice I can give you on communities is that EQ2 and Vanguard have pretty solid ones. Mainly because they're comprised of 21+ players. But stay away from WoW's. I know people will cry about how that's cliche, but just go read any thread in any of the official WoW forums. 80% of the player base derives most of its enjoyment from personally attacking others, and just being downright miserable.
Science flies people to the moon. Religion flies people into buildings.
I played Wow from beta until beginning of last month. When I quit, I hopped to all the MMOs I thought I would like better. I went to Vanguard, WAR, EQ2, LOTR, and DDO... none of which I could deal with for more than a week or two. CoH was my last option, and the one I felt I would be least likely to enjoy, and I've been playing it for over a month now. The community is awesome, for the most part. People have pride in their characters, because the character customization is so strong... you can almost make anything you can conceive of, and the groups that result from some of these mixes of unique characters are truly awesome. And when you join a group in CoX, it's pretty much implied that you're going to run at least half a dozen missions. They're quick, challenging, and fast-paced from a gameplay standard. You actually get to know most of the people you group with. It's not like WoW where everybody is quiet, and anti-social, just inspecting each other and starting fights about how your hit rating is 2 points below the cap. The only other advice I can give you on communities is that EQ2 and Vanguard have pretty solid ones. Mainly because they're comprised of 21+ players. But stay away from WoW's. I know people will cry about how that's cliche, but just go read any thread in any of the official WoW forums. 80% of the player base derives most of its enjoyment from personally attacking others, and just being downright miserable.
Thanks for your suggestions, but EQ2 and Vanguard haven't been doing it for me as far as gameplay goes...but since you're praising the community of EQ2, I may take a second look because I liked the world and general EQ feel of that game. As for CoH, I've tried playing it twice, but the grind is probably the worst I've ever experienced and I just can't stick with it.
I played Wow from beta until beginning of last month. When I quit, I hopped to all the MMOs I thought I would like better. I went to Vanguard, WAR, EQ2, LOTR, and DDO... none of which I could deal with for more than a week or two. CoH was my last option, and the one I felt I would be least likely to enjoy, and I've been playing it for over a month now. The community is awesome, for the most part. People have pride in their characters, because the character customization is so strong... you can almost make anything you can conceive of, and the groups that result from some of these mixes of unique characters are truly awesome. And when you join a group in CoX, it's pretty much implied that you're going to run at least half a dozen missions. They're quick, challenging, and fast-paced from a gameplay standard. You actually get to know most of the people you group with. It's not like WoW where everybody is quiet, and anti-social, just inspecting each other and starting fights about how your hit rating is 2 points below the cap. The only other advice I can give you on communities is that EQ2 and Vanguard have pretty solid ones. Mainly because they're comprised of 21+ players. But stay away from WoW's. I know people will cry about how that's cliche, but just go read any thread in any of the official WoW forums. 80% of the player base derives most of its enjoyment from personally attacking others, and just being downright miserable.
Thanks for your suggestions, but EQ2 and Vanguard haven't been doing it for me as far as gameplay goes...but since you're praising the community of EQ2, I may take a second look because I liked the world and general EQ feel of that game. As for CoH, I've tried playing it twice, but the grind is probably the worst I've ever experienced and I just can't stick with it.
Oh there's definitely a grind in CoH, no doubt. Maybe I let on that I didn't feel that way before.
But there's just something about the game. There are so many cool powers,and different ways to fight... hovering, super speed, PBAoE.
I think it's the 4 year EQ player deep inside of me that actually... (Gasp!) doesn't mind joining a group and killing stuff for hours!!!!
Now a month after leaving EQ1 in 2004, I might have vomited at the idea of doing that again. But I think WoW was so sugary and sweet, and casual, colorful, and accessible, that I might be back to the darkside of MMOs, haha. I think I'm actually ENJOYING grinding mobs! Or maybe I enjoy the conversations that occur while we're doing it, meh, who knows. I just know the polish and dynamic nature of the archetypes in CoH is what really takes the grind, which is definitely present, and adds alot of flavor.
As for EQ2, it's the only other MMO I'm still thinking of giving another whack. I just loved the community, they were so helpful.
Science flies people to the moon. Religion flies people into buildings.
I've been searching for a good MMO for awhile now. All the good MMO's I onced love don't do it for me now (EQ is a joke with all the expansions, and DAOC has no one left). What I miss the most about EQ and DAOC was the awesome community. The games forced you to group with other people and work as a team. The problem nowadays is MMO's don't force you to group together. Sure, you need a group to do certain instances or raid whatever stupid dragon, but that's not what I care about. I miss the days where people would group for HOURS together, trying to reach an objective or grind. Now, people finish their quest and then leave you since you're of no use anymore. Thanks WoW. Thanks WAR. You've ruined the idea of a good community. Are there are games out there that aren't like this? I miss being specialized in my class so groups sought out specific classes to make a good group, instead of lumping five paladins and a priest together and calling it good. What a joke. I miss socializing with my group mates as we smash faces in. I miss vast worlds with unique areas, areas that I remember forever for how cool they were, worlds where I could never possibly explore all of it, not some linear BS. Is there a game out there that actually forces the community that EQ and DAOC once had? Or are we all supposed to get to level 500 by doing pointless, mindless quests over and over? I could blanket the earth with how many hides, pelts, and skins I've collected to "further the efforts of our glorious empire!"
theres a LOT of ex eq in Vanguard Saga of Heroes because we've all figured out its Eq3 The community is growing at about the same rate as the moon is leaving orbit (about an inch a year) but it is growing and its fun.
The community is smaller and I think thats why its good.
Can you play pen and paper RPGs where you are? You won't find better community and grouping content. I don't think there are any other MMOs that offer what you want.
I played Rifts for three or four years (Leyline walker and Mind Melter), Seventh Sea for one or two years (both as player and GM), and L5R for a year or so. I love pen/paper RPG's, but my friends and I no longer have the time to invest into them. When we were young and in high school with part-time jobs we'd play Rifts from around noon until 3am, go to sleep, and wake up to play for another eight hours at times. A couple friends and I are actually writing our own RPG to play as kind of a side project. It'll probably never get finished, but it's fun to make our own anyway. If I could play Rifts again with a roll and keep system, I'd be all over it.
Any, I'll respond to a lot of posts here.
For those of you suggesting WoW, you're not reading the entire post.
Yeah I dont know why people keep mentioning that game as you clearly said you were not into it.
D&D is something I've never looked into, so I'll go and look at it.
That games an odd one. I tried it recently and really couldnt get into even though its actually quite well made. If you can go into the game with a group of friends you already know then you will probably have fun with it. Its certainly different to the other mmos as it actually has real gameplay in it a bit like a single player game......however that was its downside too as it felt a bit lonely......but that was probably just my own fault because I dont like randomly joining up with complete strangers just for the sake of it. I prefer to get to know someone through a random encounter before counting them as a "companion" and thats pretty hard to do in this game as the only way to meet people is in the town area.
FFXI sounds like a reasonable thing to try, but fileplanet is being a pain right now and I'm having trouble just downloading the stupid thing.
I tried Darkfall, didn't really like it, and sold my account to someone. Cool idea, but it just wasn't for me really.
I've tried EQ2 and Vanguard, both feel like WoW clones.
Yeah thats pretty much what I thought too.
I have an account for TCoS but can't sign in for some reason. This I will also try.
Many of you are still really missing the main idea of what I'm looking for here. DAoC, more than EQ, had an astoundingly good community where pretty much everyone in your realm would help you out if you asked. People looked out for each other. In EQ, classes were highly specialized and the element of soloing was nonexistant for almost all of the classes, the exceptions being, if I remember right, the necromancer, bard, shadowknight to an extent, and maybe the magician. Everyone else pretty much had no choice but to get a group if they wanted to kill something their level. This forced grouping led to really getting to know your community and interacting with a lot of different people, something I enjoyed.
Now, both of those elements are non-existent. I don't want to find a game with a great guild. Every game has great guilds, but they lack that forced grouping idea. I've been in guilds where I really liked the people, but I always got burnt out on the game because I felt like I was playing by myself the majority of the time, and when I played with someone else there was nothing fun about it because we were all the same. That guy shoots arrows, I stab things, he shoots fireballs, but we all have the same damn impact on mobs. Damage damage damage. Oh, and that guy over there picking his nose heals occasionally between DoT's.
Yeah I feel just the same way. DAoC was great because all of its inhabitants really felt like they belonged to their realm and we all had our common enemy to bring us together. It felt like I was fighting for a cause.....and in a way I actually was because I could do battle with the champions of the enemy realms. Each of the 3 realms were unique and interesting and equally so were the races and classes. It was a great game and because of the way it was designed the people playing it formed into a community to reflect it.
Thats the thing about mmo communities. Its not actually completely about the people oddly enough but its also about the game itself. You see so many people saying that the community of one game is great but the community in another is bad and yet they completely forget that its the same people in all of them. The people forming the so-called "childish" community in WoW for example are the same ones that are supposedly "grown-up" in EQ2 or Vanguard.......and yet the same old twats and decent people moving between all of them. You have just as much chance of meeting a bunch of complete dickheads in any mmo but if the game actually gives them a reason to unite with each other then the community will seem better. Thats why so many of these generic mmos are the way they are. Intelligent communication isnt really neccessary in most of them. Its just a side option. People just sign up to fill a slot in a group, ask what quest you're doing and then off they go. No further reason to form any bond as the player isnt actually important. Its just the function they provide which is needed to plough through the content.......which is identical for everyone.
This is why I like the look of Chronicles of Spellborn even though I havent progressed through it that much. It doesnt have any classes in the game. No-one can fill the slot of tank, healer, dps or ranged dps. It just doesnt exist........and yet players have to work together in this game because the computer controlled opponents actually work together and will kick your arse if you wander out into the woods alone. You cant just switch your brain off and not communicate because you will die if you do. Later in the game you can ally with one of the 5 high houses so guilds have formed around this idea. Like with DAoC it helps to give players a sense of identity and belonging. In fact the quests in the game are different depending on what house you belong to.......which is great because it means mmos are taking steps to becoming games where player decisions actually matter for once. The choices you make early in the game have an outcome on the adventures you go on......unlike other mmos where everyone some the same old shit no matter who they are. This was something that got totally fucked up in EQ2 because it completely lost what was good about EQ1 with racial identity.
I've been searching for a good MMO for awhile now. All the good MMO's I onced love don't do it for me now (EQ is a joke with all the expansions, and DAOC has no one left). What I miss the most about EQ and DAOC was the awesome community. The games forced you to group with other people and work as a team. The problem nowadays is MMO's don't force you to group together. Sure, you need a group to do certain instances or raid whatever stupid dragon, but that's not what I care about. I miss the days where people would group for HOURS together, trying to reach an objective or grind. Now, people finish their quest and then leave you since you're of no use anymore. Thanks WoW. Thanks WAR. You've ruined the idea of a good community. Are there are games out there that aren't like this? I miss being specialized in my class so groups sought out specific classes to make a good group, instead of lumping five paladins and a priest together and calling it good. What a joke. I miss socializing with my group mates as we smash faces in. I miss vast worlds with unique areas, areas that I remember forever for how cool they were, worlds where I could never possibly explore all of it, not some linear BS. Is there a game out there that actually forces the community that EQ and DAOC once had? Or are we all supposed to get to level 500 by doing pointless, mindless quests over and over? I could blanket the earth with how many hides, pelts, and skins I've collected to "further the efforts of our glorious empire!"
theres a LOT of ex eq in Vanguard Saga of Heroes because we've all figured out its Eq3 The community is growing at about the same rate as the moon is leaving orbit (about an inch a year) but it is growing and its fun.
The community is smaller and I think thats why its good.
There's a lot of ex EQ players in every game because shockingly enough.......they can go anywhere (gasp!)
When you join up to a new MMO and choose your server, there isn't a slider like this:
Please choose your community:
Morons - [.......................|.....] - Nice People
Makes me think games should incorporate a rating system for players. Make percentage of positive feedback a parameter for LFG searches.
Or maybe games should stop trying to appeal to everyone by accomodating every type of playstyle (eg WAR)........but thats unlikely because it means less money for the companies.......well.......at least until a company realises that it might keep its players if the game is actually well-designed and FOCUSED.
You've made a lot of good points Neonwire. Hopefully I can get TCoS to actually work so I can try it out. That and FFXI seem to be the only MMO's that might end up appealing to me. I'm attempting to try EVE right now but I think it froze.
I've been searching for a good MMO for awhile now. All the good MMO's I onced love don't do it for me now (EQ is a joke with all the expansions, and DAOC has no one left). What I miss the most about EQ and DAOC was the awesome community. The games forced you to group with other people and work as a team. The problem nowadays is MMO's don't force you to group together. Sure, you need a group to do certain instances or raid whatever stupid dragon, but that's not what I care about. I miss the days where people would group for HOURS together, trying to reach an objective or grind. Now, people finish their quest and then leave you since you're of no use anymore. Thanks WoW. Thanks WAR. You've ruined the idea of a good community. Are there are games out there that aren't like this? I miss being specialized in my class so groups sought out specific classes to make a good group, instead of lumping five paladins and a priest together and calling it good. What a joke. I miss socializing with my group mates as we smash faces in. I miss vast worlds with unique areas, areas that I remember forever for how cool they were, worlds where I could never possibly explore all of it, not some linear BS. Is there a game out there that actually forces the community that EQ and DAOC once had? Or are we all supposed to get to level 500 by doing pointless, mindless quests over and over? I could blanket the earth with how many hides, pelts, and skins I've collected to "further the efforts of our glorious empire!"
Well, even if it is not really specialized, as you can become anything you like, Ryzom has an awesome community, comparable to SWG pre-cu-nge and DAoC during the SI era.
So stop wasting your time and join Ryzom ( www.ryzom.com )
It is one of the few true mmorpg's left, where teamwork, socializing, and freedom means something.
If you are interested in subscription or PCU numbers for MMORPG's, check out my site : http://mmodata.blogspot.be/ Favorite MMORPG's : DAoC pre ToA-NF, SWG Pre CU-NGE, EVE Online
I've been searching for a good MMO for awhile now. All the good MMO's I onced love don't do it for me now (EQ is a joke with all the expansions, and DAOC has no one left). What I miss the most about EQ and DAOC was the awesome community. The games forced you to group with other people and work as a team. The problem nowadays is MMO's don't force you to group together. Sure, you need a group to do certain instances or raid whatever stupid dragon, but that's not what I care about. I miss the days where people would group for HOURS together, trying to reach an objective or grind. Now, people finish their quest and then leave you since you're of no use anymore. Thanks WoW. Thanks WAR. You've ruined the idea of a good community. Are there are games out there that aren't like this? I miss being specialized in my class so groups sought out specific classes to make a good group, instead of lumping five paladins and a priest together and calling it good. What a joke. I miss socializing with my group mates as we smash faces in. I miss vast worlds with unique areas, areas that I remember forever for how cool they were, worlds where I could never possibly explore all of it, not some linear BS. Is there a game out there that actually forces the community that EQ and DAOC once had? Or are we all supposed to get to level 500 by doing pointless, mindless quests over and over? I could blanket the earth with how many hides, pelts, and skins I've collected to "further the efforts of our glorious empire!"
Well, even if it is not really specialized, as you can become anything you like, Ryzom has an awesome community, comparable to SWG pre-cu-nge and DAoC during the SI era.
So stop wasting your time and join Ryzom ( www.ryzom.com )
It is one of the few true mmorpg's left, where teamwork, socializing, and freedom means something.
I don't know. I've always been really skeptical and/or dissapointed by F2P games. Most have advertisements like, "Play our game! It looks pretty n' stuff! Realer than your life! It must be awesome!"
As of right now, Mortal Online is so far the most friendly mature gaming community I have participated in for years. I recommend checking them out if you like the sandbox, PvP centric competitive type of gaming.
Sorry excuse me if I'm thinking of completely the wrong game but isnt Mortal Online a game which doesnt even exist yet?
I've been searching for a good MMO for awhile now. All the good MMO's I onced love don't do it for me now (EQ is a joke with all the expansions, and DAOC has no one left). What I miss the most about EQ and DAOC was the awesome community. The games forced you to group with other people and work as a team. The problem nowadays is MMO's don't force you to group together. Sure, you need a group to do certain instances or raid whatever stupid dragon, but that's not what I care about. I miss the days where people would group for HOURS together, trying to reach an objective or grind. Now, people finish their quest and then leave you since you're of no use anymore. Thanks WoW. Thanks WAR. You've ruined the idea of a good community. Are there are games out there that aren't like this? I miss being specialized in my class so groups sought out specific classes to make a good group, instead of lumping five paladins and a priest together and calling it good. What a joke. I miss socializing with my group mates as we smash faces in. I miss vast worlds with unique areas, areas that I remember forever for how cool they were, worlds where I could never possibly explore all of it, not some linear BS. Is there a game out there that actually forces the community that EQ and DAOC once had? Or are we all supposed to get to level 500 by doing pointless, mindless quests over and over? I could blanket the earth with how many hides, pelts, and skins I've collected to "further the efforts of our glorious empire!"
Well, even if it is not really specialized, as you can become anything you like, Ryzom has an awesome community, comparable to SWG pre-cu-nge and DAoC during the SI era.
So stop wasting your time and join Ryzom ( www.ryzom.com )
It is one of the few true mmorpg's left, where teamwork, socializing, and freedom means something.
Maybe Ryzom has changed a lot from when I last played it but I seem to remember that game having lots and lots of freedom............to do nothing in particular. It was a sandbox game that was literally filled with sand. In other words there were no tools to do anything particularly interesting with. Maybe thats changed now though.
It had a big open game world that looked quite nice that was populated with animals and wildlife that had pretty good AI. The races were rather neat as well and I seem to remember it having a pretty good system for skills such as harvesting, crafting, combat and magic. I do remember its community being really good too but then thats hardly surprising as there wasnt anything for anyone to do except keep each other entertained while they all grinded away into infinity. This was one of those games where players would say "Oh but you have to make up your own fun. This game wont hold your hand ya know" which is basicly what people would say to each other if they were locked in an empty room. Mind you the game IS free so its certainly worth a look if you're lost for something to do. I have to admit that I did have a certain amount of respect for this game.
I've been searching for a good MMO for awhile now. All the good MMO's I onced love don't do it for me now (EQ is a joke with all the expansions, and DAOC has no one left). What I miss the most about EQ and DAOC was the awesome community. The games forced you to group with other people and work as a team. The problem nowadays is MMO's don't force you to group together. Sure, you need a group to do certain instances or raid whatever stupid dragon, but that's not what I care about. I miss the days where people would group for HOURS together, trying to reach an objective or grind. Now, people finish their quest and then leave you since you're of no use anymore. Thanks WoW. Thanks WAR. You've ruined the idea of a good community. Are there are games out there that aren't like this? I miss being specialized in my class so groups sought out specific classes to make a good group, instead of lumping five paladins and a priest together and calling it good. What a joke. I miss socializing with my group mates as we smash faces in. I miss vast worlds with unique areas, areas that I remember forever for how cool they were, worlds where I could never possibly explore all of it, not some linear BS. Is there a game out there that actually forces the community that EQ and DAOC once had? Or are we all supposed to get to level 500 by doing pointless, mindless quests over and over? I could blanket the earth with how many hides, pelts, and skins I've collected to "further the efforts of our glorious empire!"
Well, even if it is not really specialized, as you can become anything you like, Ryzom has an awesome community, comparable to SWG pre-cu-nge and DAoC during the SI era.
So stop wasting your time and join Ryzom ( www.ryzom.com )
It is one of the few true mmorpg's left, where teamwork, socializing, and freedom means something.
I don't know. I've always been really skeptical and/or dissapointed by F2P games. Most have advertisements like, "Play our game! It looks pretty n' stuff! Realer than your life! It must be awesome!"
The game is not a f2p game. It was p2p and it will return p2p soon. The new company asked time to fix and develop the game so it's running for free since reopening. You can like it or not, but don't compare Ryzom with classic f2p games.
Comments
I think the micro community is more important than the macro community. Keep good people close to you, find a guild of like minded individuals and the rest of the game's players dont matter
Also, stay away from forums
Torrential: DAOC (Pendragon)
Awned: World of Warcraft (Lothar)
Torren: Warhammer Online (Praag)
Dungeons & Dragons Online, as in my sig. Maybe LotrO too, I heard about it. But LotrO is too WoWish for me. I wanted something different, so D&D Online - the best community in-game to date.
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Great DDO PodCast by Jerry & co. http://www.ddocast.com
Hi Clobster
Give The Chronicles of Spellborn a go. You can download and play the game for free until you get to around level 8 at which point the game turns off your ability to gain exp until you pay. Of course you can always re-roll and try out new characters. In fact you can play the early free part forever if you wanted to as there is no time limit to the trial.....although its not really a trial anyway as you have access to the full game along with everyone else.
The game has a very interesting twist to combat which requires you to actually think carefully about skills you bring into play. There is almost zero gear grinding as you actually have everything you need upon character creation.....which is really odd and something I find refreshingly different. Quite a few players at level 30 are still using the stuff they began the game with! The game is about player & character skills and gear is just for show.
TCoS also looks amazing! It is by far the best looking mmo on the market at the moment and considering the game is still in beta its surprisingly well polished and well made. Having said that the UI could do with a lot of tweaking and there are apparently some bugs in the game......but then its in beta so thats to be expected. The AI for the monsters is also very good as well......again better than all of the other mmos I have played. In fact because of the way the mobs work with each other it actually makes grouping a vital part of the game. You can certainly solo it if you want to but it will be a lot more challenging. There is also PvP in the game if you want to and because of the way the game relies more on player skill than other games it actually lens itself to this very well. If you dont like PvP then you can always just pass on it although I hear it becomes a bigger part of the game later on. Mind you if you're into playing games with other people then why are you playing online game sin the first place? lol
But you asked about community right? Well normally in mmos I have a tendency to keep to myself in games but I have found most of the players in this game to be fairly mature. Yes it has its childish idiots who think that typing /dance is the funniest and most entertaining thing in the world but in general I quite like the community which is pretty friendly in my opinion.
Anyway give it a go. Its free so you have nothing to lose.
http://spellborn.acclaim.com/
The OP asked for a game with a good community; to which there can only be one real answer.
Every game has a good community. The problem is that every game has a bad community too.
When you join up to a new MMO and choose your server, there isn't a slider like this:
Please choose your community:
Morons - [.......................|.....] - Nice People
People are as you find them; if you want to be in a good community regardless of the game then you have to actively look for one amongst the hordes of gibbering dweebs that infest every single MMO.
Playing: EVE, Final Fantasy 13, Uncharted 2, Need for Speed: Shift
Trying to install that trial and actually get into the game was like doing my taxes. I gave up after a couple hours. I fear what I might have agreed to in all that mess. I've probably signed over my firstborn, my kidneys and my sanity. The best part about the whole thing was FilePlanet's 600KB/s download. But if I ever see PlayOnline again, I'll run away so fast that you won't see anything of me but a vapor trail.
Now it's time to see if Mythic's trial of Warhammer Online goes any smoother.
Well people have moved on. Grouping with random people for hours just because the game forces u to .. is NOT fun. I don't really want to spend hrs to look for competent players and it is pulling nails grouping with bad players.
If you look at the market, some solo-friendiness is almost a must now.
I have grouped with random people when i was playing EQ years ago. I dont see why it is so great.
I played Rifts for three or four years (Leyline walker and Mind Melter), Seventh Sea for one or two years (both as player and GM), and L5R for a year or so. I love pen/paper RPG's, but my friends and I no longer have the time to invest into them. When we were young and in high school with part-time jobs we'd play Rifts from around noon until 3am, go to sleep, and wake up to play for another eight hours at times. A couple friends and I are actually writing our own RPG to play as kind of a side project. It'll probably never get finished, but it's fun to make our own anyway. If I could play Rifts again with a roll and keep system, I'd be all over it.
Any, I'll respond to a lot of posts here.
For those of you suggesting WoW, you're not reading the entire post.
D&D is something I've never looked into, so I'll go and look at it.
FFXI sounds like a reasonable thing to try, but fileplanet is being a pain right now and I'm having trouble just downloading the stupid thing.
I tried Darkfall, didn't really like it, and sold my account to someone. Cool idea, but it just wasn't for me really.
I've tried EQ2 and Vanguard, both feel like WoW clones.
I have an account for TCoS but can't sign in for some reason. This I will also try.
Many of you are still really missing the main idea of what I'm looking for here. DAoC, more than EQ, had an astoundingly good community where pretty much everyone in your realm would help you out if you asked. People looked out for each other. In EQ, classes were highly specialized and the element of soloing was nonexistant for almost all of the classes, the exceptions being, if I remember right, the necromancer, bard, shadowknight to an extent, and maybe the magician. Everyone else pretty much had no choice but to get a group if they wanted to kill something their level. This forced grouping led to really getting to know your community and interacting with a lot of different people, something I enjoyed.
Now, both of those elements are non-existent. I don't want to find a game with a great guild. Every game has great guilds, but they lack that forced grouping idea. I've been in guilds where I really liked the people, but I always got burnt out on the game because I felt like I was playing by myself the majority of the time, and when I played with someone else there was nothing fun about it because we were all the same. That guy shoots arrows, I stab things, he shoots fireballs, but we all have the same damn impact on mobs. Damage damage damage. Oh, and that guy over there picking his nose heals occasionally between DoT's.
Makes me think games should incorporate a rating system for players. Make percentage of positive feedback a parameter for LFG searches.
I played Wow from beta until beginning of last month.
When I quit, I hopped to all the MMOs I thought I would like better. I went to Vanguard, WAR, EQ2, LOTR, and DDO... none of which I could deal with for more than a week or two.
CoH was my last option, and the one I felt I would be least likely to enjoy, and I've been playing it for over a month now. The community is awesome, for the most part. People have pride in their characters, because the character customization is so strong... you can almost make anything you can conceive of, and the groups that result from some of these mixes of unique characters are truly awesome. And when you join a group in CoX, it's pretty much implied that you're going to run at least half a dozen missions. They're quick, challenging, and fast-paced from a gameplay standard. You actually get to know most of the people you group with. It's not like WoW where everybody is quiet, and anti-social, just inspecting each other and starting fights about how your hit rating is 2 points below the cap.
The only other advice I can give you on communities is that EQ2 and Vanguard have pretty solid ones. Mainly because they're comprised of 21+ players. But stay away from WoW's. I know people will cry about how that's cliche, but just go read any thread in any of the official WoW forums. 80% of the player base derives most of its enjoyment from personally attacking others, and just being downright miserable.
Science flies people to the moon. Religion flies people into buildings.
Thanks for your suggestions, but EQ2 and Vanguard haven't been doing it for me as far as gameplay goes...but since you're praising the community of EQ2, I may take a second look because I liked the world and general EQ feel of that game. As for CoH, I've tried playing it twice, but the grind is probably the worst I've ever experienced and I just can't stick with it.
Lords of the rings is heavy on solo all the way to max level , 1-60 solo no joke here .
the only time players actually group is for Books , or to do certain fellowship quests and then at level 60 their the few raids .
Basically lotro is about the ride to 60 and enjoy it because that all to it really . I still love the game though .
All am saying is that grouping is very rare unless you have friends that run with you.
Thanks for your suggestions, but EQ2 and Vanguard haven't been doing it for me as far as gameplay goes...but since you're praising the community of EQ2, I may take a second look because I liked the world and general EQ feel of that game. As for CoH, I've tried playing it twice, but the grind is probably the worst I've ever experienced and I just can't stick with it.
Oh there's definitely a grind in CoH, no doubt. Maybe I let on that I didn't feel that way before.
But there's just something about the game. There are so many cool powers,and different ways to fight... hovering, super speed, PBAoE.
I think it's the 4 year EQ player deep inside of me that actually... (Gasp!) doesn't mind joining a group and killing stuff for hours!!!!
Now a month after leaving EQ1 in 2004, I might have vomited at the idea of doing that again. But I think WoW was so sugary and sweet, and casual, colorful, and accessible, that I might be back to the darkside of MMOs, haha. I think I'm actually ENJOYING grinding mobs! Or maybe I enjoy the conversations that occur while we're doing it, meh, who knows. I just know the polish and dynamic nature of the archetypes in CoH is what really takes the grind, which is definitely present, and adds alot of flavor.
As for EQ2, it's the only other MMO I'm still thinking of giving another whack. I just loved the community, they were so helpful.
Science flies people to the moon. Religion flies people into buildings.
theres a LOT of ex eq in Vanguard Saga of Heroes because we've all figured out its Eq3
The community is growing at about the same rate as the moon is leaving orbit (about an inch a year) but it is growing and its fun.
The community is smaller and I think thats why its good.
I played Rifts for three or four years (Leyline walker and Mind Melter), Seventh Sea for one or two years (both as player and GM), and L5R for a year or so. I love pen/paper RPG's, but my friends and I no longer have the time to invest into them. When we were young and in high school with part-time jobs we'd play Rifts from around noon until 3am, go to sleep, and wake up to play for another eight hours at times. A couple friends and I are actually writing our own RPG to play as kind of a side project. It'll probably never get finished, but it's fun to make our own anyway. If I could play Rifts again with a roll and keep system, I'd be all over it.
Any, I'll respond to a lot of posts here.
For those of you suggesting WoW, you're not reading the entire post.
Yeah I dont know why people keep mentioning that game as you clearly said you were not into it.
D&D is something I've never looked into, so I'll go and look at it.
That games an odd one. I tried it recently and really couldnt get into even though its actually quite well made. If you can go into the game with a group of friends you already know then you will probably have fun with it. Its certainly different to the other mmos as it actually has real gameplay in it a bit like a single player game......however that was its downside too as it felt a bit lonely......but that was probably just my own fault because I dont like randomly joining up with complete strangers just for the sake of it. I prefer to get to know someone through a random encounter before counting them as a "companion" and thats pretty hard to do in this game as the only way to meet people is in the town area.
FFXI sounds like a reasonable thing to try, but fileplanet is being a pain right now and I'm having trouble just downloading the stupid thing.
I tried Darkfall, didn't really like it, and sold my account to someone. Cool idea, but it just wasn't for me really.
I've tried EQ2 and Vanguard, both feel like WoW clones.
Yeah thats pretty much what I thought too.
I have an account for TCoS but can't sign in for some reason. This I will also try.
Many of you are still really missing the main idea of what I'm looking for here. DAoC, more than EQ, had an astoundingly good community where pretty much everyone in your realm would help you out if you asked. People looked out for each other. In EQ, classes were highly specialized and the element of soloing was nonexistant for almost all of the classes, the exceptions being, if I remember right, the necromancer, bard, shadowknight to an extent, and maybe the magician. Everyone else pretty much had no choice but to get a group if they wanted to kill something their level. This forced grouping led to really getting to know your community and interacting with a lot of different people, something I enjoyed.
Now, both of those elements are non-existent. I don't want to find a game with a great guild. Every game has great guilds, but they lack that forced grouping idea. I've been in guilds where I really liked the people, but I always got burnt out on the game because I felt like I was playing by myself the majority of the time, and when I played with someone else there was nothing fun about it because we were all the same. That guy shoots arrows, I stab things, he shoots fireballs, but we all have the same damn impact on mobs. Damage damage damage. Oh, and that guy over there picking his nose heals occasionally between DoT's.
Yeah I feel just the same way. DAoC was great because all of its inhabitants really felt like they belonged to their realm and we all had our common enemy to bring us together. It felt like I was fighting for a cause.....and in a way I actually was because I could do battle with the champions of the enemy realms. Each of the 3 realms were unique and interesting and equally so were the races and classes. It was a great game and because of the way it was designed the people playing it formed into a community to reflect it.
Thats the thing about mmo communities. Its not actually completely about the people oddly enough but its also about the game itself. You see so many people saying that the community of one game is great but the community in another is bad and yet they completely forget that its the same people in all of them. The people forming the so-called "childish" community in WoW for example are the same ones that are supposedly "grown-up" in EQ2 or Vanguard.......and yet the same old twats and decent people moving between all of them. You have just as much chance of meeting a bunch of complete dickheads in any mmo but if the game actually gives them a reason to unite with each other then the community will seem better. Thats why so many of these generic mmos are the way they are. Intelligent communication isnt really neccessary in most of them. Its just a side option. People just sign up to fill a slot in a group, ask what quest you're doing and then off they go. No further reason to form any bond as the player isnt actually important. Its just the function they provide which is needed to plough through the content.......which is identical for everyone.
This is why I like the look of Chronicles of Spellborn even though I havent progressed through it that much. It doesnt have any classes in the game. No-one can fill the slot of tank, healer, dps or ranged dps. It just doesnt exist........and yet players have to work together in this game because the computer controlled opponents actually work together and will kick your arse if you wander out into the woods alone. You cant just switch your brain off and not communicate because you will die if you do. Later in the game you can ally with one of the 5 high houses so guilds have formed around this idea. Like with DAoC it helps to give players a sense of identity and belonging. In fact the quests in the game are different depending on what house you belong to.......which is great because it means mmos are taking steps to becoming games where player decisions actually matter for once. The choices you make early in the game have an outcome on the adventures you go on......unlike other mmos where everyone some the same old shit no matter who they are. This was something that got totally fucked up in EQ2 because it completely lost what was good about EQ1 with racial identity.
theres a LOT of ex eq in Vanguard Saga of Heroes because we've all figured out its Eq3
The community is growing at about the same rate as the moon is leaving orbit (about an inch a year) but it is growing and its fun.
The community is smaller and I think thats why its good.
There's a lot of ex EQ players in every game because shockingly enough.......they can go anywhere (gasp!)
Makes me think games should incorporate a rating system for players. Make percentage of positive feedback a parameter for LFG searches.
Or maybe games should stop trying to appeal to everyone by accomodating every type of playstyle (eg WAR)........but thats unlikely because it means less money for the companies.......well.......at least until a company realises that it might keep its players if the game is actually well-designed and FOCUSED.
You've made a lot of good points Neonwire. Hopefully I can get TCoS to actually work so I can try it out. That and FFXI seem to be the only MMO's that might end up appealing to me. I'm attempting to try EVE right now but I think it froze.
As of right now, Mortal Online is so far the most friendly mature gaming community I have participated in for years.
I recommend checking them out if you like the sandbox, PvP centric competitive type of gaming.
Well, even if it is not really specialized, as you can become anything you like, Ryzom has an awesome community, comparable to SWG pre-cu-nge and DAoC during the SI era.
So stop wasting your time and join Ryzom
( www.ryzom.com )
It is one of the few true mmorpg's left, where teamwork, socializing, and freedom means something.
If you are interested in subscription or PCU numbers for MMORPG's, check out my site :
http://mmodata.blogspot.be/
Favorite MMORPG's : DAoC pre ToA-NF, SWG Pre CU-NGE, EVE Online
Well, even if it is not really specialized, as you can become anything you like, Ryzom has an awesome community, comparable to SWG pre-cu-nge and DAoC during the SI era.
So stop wasting your time and join Ryzom
( www.ryzom.com )
It is one of the few true mmorpg's left, where teamwork, socializing, and freedom means something.
I don't know. I've always been really skeptical and/or dissapointed by F2P games. Most have advertisements like, "Play our game! It looks pretty n' stuff! Realer than your life! It must be awesome!"
Sorry excuse me if I'm thinking of completely the wrong game but isnt Mortal Online a game which doesnt even exist yet?
There is a reasonable community in city of heroes/villains.
Runes of Magic and it's F2P
Well, even if it is not really specialized, as you can become anything you like, Ryzom has an awesome community, comparable to SWG pre-cu-nge and DAoC during the SI era.
So stop wasting your time and join Ryzom
( www.ryzom.com )
It is one of the few true mmorpg's left, where teamwork, socializing, and freedom means something.
Maybe Ryzom has changed a lot from when I last played it but I seem to remember that game having lots and lots of freedom............to do nothing in particular. It was a sandbox game that was literally filled with sand. In other words there were no tools to do anything particularly interesting with. Maybe thats changed now though.
It had a big open game world that looked quite nice that was populated with animals and wildlife that had pretty good AI. The races were rather neat as well and I seem to remember it having a pretty good system for skills such as harvesting, crafting, combat and magic. I do remember its community being really good too but then thats hardly surprising as there wasnt anything for anyone to do except keep each other entertained while they all grinded away into infinity. This was one of those games where players would say "Oh but you have to make up your own fun. This game wont hold your hand ya know" which is basicly what people would say to each other if they were locked in an empty room. Mind you the game IS free so its certainly worth a look if you're lost for something to do. I have to admit that I did have a certain amount of respect for this game.
Well, even if it is not really specialized, as you can become anything you like, Ryzom has an awesome community, comparable to SWG pre-cu-nge and DAoC during the SI era.
So stop wasting your time and join Ryzom
( www.ryzom.com )
It is one of the few true mmorpg's left, where teamwork, socializing, and freedom means something.
I don't know. I've always been really skeptical and/or dissapointed by F2P games. Most have advertisements like, "Play our game! It looks pretty n' stuff! Realer than your life! It must be awesome!"
The game is not a f2p game. It was p2p and it will return p2p soon. The new company asked time to fix and develop the game so it's running for free since reopening. You can like it or not, but don't compare Ryzom with classic f2p games.
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