Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
List of non-instancing games
vinemt
Member Posts: 10
Is there a list on mmorpg.com or some way to sort games based on the amount of instancing included in the game world?
Non-instanced
World of Warcraft
Darkfall
Eve Online
LotRO
Anarchy Online
Vanguard
Fallen Earth
Lineage 2
Everquest
Asheron's Call
Ultima Online
Mostly non-instanced
Everquest2
Allods
Warhammer Online
Dark Age of Camelot
Instanced only for missions or certain missions
Anarchy Online
Edit - please note - I'm not debating what type of game is better, I'd just like to read about the games that aren't instanced. Personal preference, that's it.
Edit2 - adding to the list based on feedback. For clarification I'm looking for games that have a whole world to explore where if you're in the same area as another player you'll be able to see them without switching to the same instance or zone.
Comments
For non-instancing I think UO does not have any. Thought that may have changed since I've played.
fallen earth
vanguard
Anarchy Online is the game that invented instancing
Both LOTRO and WOW have open world , with moderate use of instancing.
EVE is almost 99.9% non instanced
Other non instanced games: Fallen Earth , Darkfall , Everquest , Vanguard
And mostly non instanced: Allods , EQ2 , WAR , DAOC ...
Very much "oh my god all is instanced" games: STO , Champions , COX , AOC ,DDO , GW ...
Darkfall zero instance.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
Fallen Earth has instancing actually, just not very much of it.
Anarchy Online is the game that invented instancing
Both LOTRO and WOW have open world , with moderate use of instancing.
EVE is almost 99.9% non instanced
Other non instanced games: Fallen Earth , Darkfall , Everquest , Vanguard
And mostly non instanced: Allods , EQ2 , WAR , DAOC ...
Very much "oh my god all is instanced" games: STO , Champions , COX , AOC ,DDO , GW ...
Are you sure about the accuracy of this (highlighted in yellow)?
Everquest would fall under mostly non-instanced (though the world is divided into zones). LDoN had all instanced dungeons.
I wouldn't consider EQ2 mostly non-instanced either. It has a lot of instances. It has a good variety of both instanced dungeons and non-instanced.
I've seen "instance" and "zone" used interchangably sometimes, so I'm curious. OP, did you mean games that featured areas that you and your party enter where it's just you, like in WoW dungeons or the questing areas of Guild Wars, or do you mean zones like EQ2 or AoC?
I ask because often people are looking for game worlds that are wide-open, such as Vanguard or Darkfall and use the word "instance" to refer to the zoning of areas.
"You'll never win an argument with an idiot because he is too stupid to recognize his own defeat." ~Anonymous
Lineage 2 has very little instancing
My god has horns.... nah, I don't think he is real either.
Anyone know if Earthrise will be instanced?
Anarchy Online is the game that invented instancing
Both LOTRO and WOW have open world , with moderate use of instancing.
EVE is almost 99.9% non instanced
Other non instanced games: Fallen Earth , Darkfall , Everquest , Vanguard
And mostly non instanced: Allods , EQ2 , WAR , DAOC ...
Very much "oh my god all is instanced" games: STO , Champions , COX , AOC ,DDO , GW ...
Are you sure about the accuracy of this (highlighted in yellow)?
Everquest would fall under mostly non-instanced (though the world is divided into zones). LDoN had all instanced dungeons.
I wouldn't consider EQ2 mostly non-instanced either. It has a lot of instances. It has a good variety of both instanced dungeons and non-instanced.
He is correct.
Anarchy Online is the game that invented instancing
Both LOTRO and WOW have open world , with moderate use of instancing.
EVE is almost 99.9% non instanced
Other non instanced games: Fallen Earth , Darkfall , Everquest , Vanguard
And mostly non instanced: Allods , EQ2 , WAR , DAOC ...
Very much "oh my god all is instanced" games: STO , Champions , COX , AOC ,DDO , GW ...
Are you sure about the accuracy of this (highlighted in yellow)?
Everquest would fall under mostly non-instanced (though the world is divided into zones). LDoN had all instanced dungeons.
I wouldn't consider EQ2 mostly non-instanced either. It has a lot of instances. It has a good variety of both instanced dungeons and non-instanced.
He is correct.
That he is.
sorry I missed this - I'm interested in no instancing - I don't mind zoning so much but I'd prefer everyone in the same area being able to see each other. For me, STO was too instanced. I tried playing with a fleet there that had over 100 members but we could never have everyone meet at the same place - the instance limit was 50 but even then it wasn't like you could start your own and use all 50 slots. For me it broke immersion, also going from place to place in the game began feeling like following hyperlinks on the web rather than actually travelling anywhere.
Thanks for all the comments - I'm going to begin editing the original post to reflect the growing list.
Anarchy Online is the game that invented instancing
Both LOTRO and WOW have open world , with moderate use of instancing.
EVE is almost 99.9% non instanced
Other non instanced games: Fallen Earth , Darkfall , Everquest , Vanguard
And mostly non instanced: Allods , EQ2 , WAR , DAOC ...
Very much "oh my god all is instanced" games: STO , Champions , COX , AOC ,DDO , GW ...
Are you sure about the accuracy of this (highlighted in yellow)?
Everquest would fall under mostly non-instanced (though the world is divided into zones). LDoN had all instanced dungeons.
I wouldn't consider EQ2 mostly non-instanced either. It has a lot of instances. It has a good variety of both instanced dungeons and non-instanced.
He is correct.
That he is.
He is correct although instancing is really only used for missions.
The rest of the world is open zones which IMO is different from the instancing in question.
Asheron's Call 1 is also a non instanced world.
Fallen Earth is mostly open world with instancing only for group dungeons and some solo experiences as demanded by the story line which isn't much at all.
UO wasn't instanced when I played, cannot comment about it now though.
Einherjar_LC says: WTB the true successor to UO or Asheron's Call pst!
Anarchy Online is the game that invented instancing
Both LOTRO and WOW have open world , with moderate use of instancing.
EVE is almost 99.9% non instanced
Other non instanced games: Fallen Earth , Darkfall , Everquest , Vanguard
And mostly non instanced: Allods , EQ2 , WAR , DAOC ...
Very much "oh my god all is instanced" games: STO , Champions , COX , AOC ,DDO , GW ...
Are you sure about the accuracy of this (highlighted in yellow)?
Everquest would fall under mostly non-instanced (though the world is divided into zones). LDoN had all instanced dungeons.
I wouldn't consider EQ2 mostly non-instanced either. It has a lot of instances. It has a good variety of both instanced dungeons and non-instanced.
EQ2 is a mixed bag depending on your level.
All overland zones in EQ2 are non-instanced. Well that’s not 100% true as if more then I think 100 players are in a overland zone a new instance of it is spawned. But 100 is probably big enough to be considered non-instanced and you can choice which zone you go into if more than one exist.
If you talking about dungeons.
1-60 is almost all shared zones with only a handful of instanced areas.
61-79 The number of shared dungeons per leveling range starts to fall off with more use of instanced 6 man zones.
80 EQ2’s big experiment with instanced dungeons was here. All the dungeons added in the last expansion The Shadow Odyssey where instanced
81-90 the new expansion (coming 2/16) seems to be pushing back to less instancing with some big shared dungeons