Hardcore gone casual LFG

sanitysend

Well i used to be a pretty insane MMO gamer, but lately my work schedule has prevented me from playing as much as I used to (or would like to).

Right now I just want something I can hop on at night and play for an hour or two and still have some fun.

I really would prefer a strong community (otherwise what's the point of a MMO?) and grouping is a MUST, although because I can't be on as much soloing must be an option. I'd prefer something that doesnt take forever to get capped and nothing where you must soak in 10000's of hours to be competitive *cough* darkfall *cough* (which i actually loved).

Sorry not trying to digress.

No EVE, WoW or COX/CO suggestions please. I've finished with all of those. Currently doing the LOTRO trial and enjoying it alot but worried about how much of a timesink it will need to be later.

Any suggestions?

zeowyrm

I say go with lotro.  End game isn't as much of a time sink as you'd think, unless of course you raid.  Skirmishes are great for if you just want to log on, run through some crazy fun content and log off.  I personally feel the rewards for doing skirmishes are crap, but whatever.  Tradeskills can be a big grind, which makes for some nice soloing.  I played for about a year, but just didn't care for where the game was going after Moria hit.  But it might just be what you're looking for.

GhostSever

All MMO's can be timesinks and none of them have to be time sinks.....so dont know why this is even an issue. But i do agree that it sounds like LOTRO would be a good fit for you.

sanitysend

Originally posted by GhostSever


All MMO's can be timesinks and none of them have to be time sinks.....so dont know why this is even an issue. But i do agree that it sounds like LOTRO would be a good fit for you.

 

I understand that all MMO's CAN be timesinks, but i strongly disagree that none of them HAVE to be. Certain games do HAVE to be to played obsessively to progress really at all, my Darkfall example is a good one. Hmmm so 2 voted for me to stay with LOTRO.

May i ask zeowyrm why you didnt like what moria changed with it?

Also how long does it take to get up to the higher tier of content?

kaiser3282

Have you tried DDO? Its F2P, with a cash shop, but everything in cash shop can be bought by gaining favor simply from playing thegame and meeting different goals, doing quests, killing stuff, etc.

Its both very solo and very group friendly as you always get a choice of difficulty when enetering the dungeons anging from Solo, normal, hard, and elite (think they may have added another tougher one too). Solo, obviously can be done easily solo, and nearly every one can be completed solo on Normal difficulty. Once you start getting into Hard and Elite runs, youll want groups (Especially for Elite, as SOME hard missions can be done solo depending on your toon & gear).

Lots of depth to building your character, allocating stat, skill, and ability points to build exactly what you want out of your class, as well as being able to goe either with a pure class or being able to mix up to 3 classes together in one toon.

I also find it to be both casual and hardcore friendly, really just depends on how fast you want to level and stuff. Theres dungeons ranging from taking just 5-10 minutes to complete, up to a good hour or 2 to complete.

sanitysend

I hadn't even thought of DDO, normally F2P games are an afterthought to me, but after doing some reading it does seem pretty interesting... How is the player base? and how often to you actually come into contact with multiple people, versus the game just being a guild wars type games filled with instances.

zeowyrm

Originally posted by sanitysend

Originally posted by GhostSever


All MMO's can be timesinks and none of them have to be time sinks.....so dont know why this is even an issue. But i do agree that it sounds like LOTRO would be a good fit for you.

 

I understand that all MMO's CAN be timesinks, but i strongly disagree that none of them HAVE to be. Certain games do HAVE to be to played obsessively to progress really at all, my Darkfall example is a good one. Hmmm so 2 voted for me to stay with LOTRO.

May i ask zeowyrm why you didnt like what moria changed with it?

Also how long does it take to get up to the higher tier of content?

Well, I was a hardcore burglar player, which at one point in time was a great, complicated jack of all trades class.  Moria added no new useful skills for the burglar, and turbine seems intent on relegating burglars to a secondary dps class with some cc, as opposed to a utility class.  Some will of course argue with me on this, but its simply based on my own personal observations.  Overall, I feel Turbine doesn't seem to have a good grasp of where they want the game to go.  PvMP is a great concept, but hasn't been touched beyond increasing the level cap for creeps, so there is no real incentive for doing it.  Skirmishes are supposed to be alternative to the level grind and although they are quite fun, and I truly enjoyed them, the rewards are utter garbage beyond cosmetics and maybe some crafting stuff.  The lvl 65 skirmish barter armor for instance, is inferior in almost every way to the lvl 58 crafted gear.  Anyways, that's just the list for me.  I keep logging in during their free weeks, hoping things get better, because the game was my first true mmo love since the old EQ days. But hey, maybe you'll enjoy it more then I did.

Unknown

I rarely come to this thread to suggest games.  But based on your criteria, and based on the fact that I have recently returned to this game.  I would give EQ2 a try.  It definitely doesn't take long to level any longer.  The Alternate Advancement is cool to tinker with.  Crafting is fun and amazingly still quite profitable.  Since the new expansion they have tailored down the longevity required in gaining a level it seems.  There are enough solo and Heroic quests to see you all the way to 90 without talking to a soul.  Then when you are feeling friendly and wondering what quests you might have passed up (which there are many Heritage Quests and other fun ones to finish) you can Mentor down to a lower level group and 'go back in time' so to speak to complete those as well.

I love how the quests give you more than just exp and money, you gain AA exp and if doing guild quests (called writs) you also gain status points which you can use as a currency to get cool guild-only items..armors, etc. 

The new Sentinel's Fate box if you can find it has all the expansions and core game in one install.

I have played them all, and it has been very enjoyable going back to Norrath.  I highly suggest it, especially to those that haven't played it yet.

sanitysend

So i tried DDO and it just didnt click with me... idk, and item shops of any sort arent really my thing.

 

LOTRO is fun for the 10 day trial and it may be a good one to stick with.

 

I have actually never played EQ2... hows the population? Its definately something id try out, altho i know next to nothing about it

TweFoju

hm let's see

Face of Mankind - a totally 100% player driven world Sandbox game, even the departments are all player made, there is no NPC at all in this game, all Quests are made by users, and some factions that is also made by the user, mainly you are gonna be RPing in the game ( not necessary, but it's what make the game alive ) , one downside is that the Map is so insanely small, there are only around 10ish map, and you could explore all of them under 30 min, but community are great

that's what you are looking for right?

 

Ryzom - another good sandbox MMO, and it's skill based, so there shouldn't be a time sinking for you, and the community base is rumored to be one of the best in MMO today

 

LOTRO is one of the MMO i was gonna advice, but seems like it's been answered

 

 

Aysono

WoW clones such as Aion and RoM seem to be what you are looking for. Even the most causal players can have multiple characters hitting max level cap. If grouping is a must for you then try RoM. Almost all the quests there end up with killing bosses you definitely can’t solo

Izuil10

I've got two suggestions for you.

First is Age of Conan had a rough start but is mostly fixed and could be on it's way up with the expansion coming April/May.

Second is Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, the game had a really rough start but that's all fixed up by now however the player base isn't very big but if you do like the game and think you could keep on playing it if you just have a few people to play with give me a shout and I'll send some info about our voice chat so you can come join us if you like.

zeowyrm

Originally posted by Izuil10


I've got two suggestions for you.
First is Age of Conan had a rough start but is mostly fixed and could be on it's way up with the expansion coming April/May.
Second is Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, the game had a really rough start but that's all fixed up by now however the player base isn't very big but if you do like the game and think you could keep on playing it if you just have a few people to play with give me a shout and I'll send some info about our voice chat so you can come join us if you like.

 

I'd actually second the AoC referral myself. Great game, if my comp could handle it better I'd be playing it right now.

As far as VG goes, I wouldn't.  I love the game, love the concept, but based on things that have been going on for the last few months, the game is going no where and the already small player base is only dwindling further. 

Izuil10

Originally posted by zeowyrm

Originally posted by Izuil10


I've got two suggestions for you.
First is Age of Conan had a rough start but is mostly fixed and could be on it's way up with the expansion coming April/May.
Second is Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, the game had a really rough start but that's all fixed up by now however the player base isn't very big but if you do like the game and think you could keep on playing it if you just have a few people to play with give me a shout and I'll send some info about our voice chat so you can come join us if you like.

 

I'd actually second the AoC referral myself. Great game, if my comp could handle it better I'd be playing it right now.

As far as VG goes, I wouldn't.  I love the game, love the concept, but based on things that have been going on for the last few months, the game is going no where and the already small player base is only dwindling further. 

 

It's a shame you feel that way about VG... As you said the game is awesome but the community is small, problem is as long as people reason as you do a gave like VG won't be able to do a comeback

I just bought the game of Steam for 9,99€ ! Easily worth it

EDIT: If someone wants to join me and my brother feel free to PM me and I'll send you info about our voice chat server

dar_es_balat

I recommend Evony.   I hear you can save the queen!