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Good PVE game with not much grind? Or something difference.
I’m in-between games at the moment and have been looking for a new game to try for a couple of weeks now, but just haven’t been able to find one I like.
Any ideas?
To help, some things about my play style:
I don’t like forced PvP or when the focus is on PvP more then PvE.
I solo a lot, but do group with friends. I don’t like forced grouping games.
Like trade skilling, but only if it’s not too complex or a grind.
I like having many alts. I like to try out the different classes/skills etc.
I don’t like having to do the same thing (mission, dungeon, raid etc) over and over again.
I like getting new skills/abilities/spells on regular basics (but don’t like when you just get upgrades on existing ones).
To give you idea, following is a very brief comment about most of the games I have already played (in no particular order).
Everquest – Love it (I must have as I played nothing else for five years). In the end but it was the need to do constant raiding, getting flags and faction that turned me off the game.
Dark Age of Camelot – Liked the very distinct differences in the classes. Didn’t like the PvP. Although some RvR action was fun, there was too much focus on PvP for me in the end.
City of Heros/Villians – Love it. However the grind can get to you. It’s one of those games I play for a month, leave then come back again in six months for another go. It’s one of the few good MMORPGs that you can leave for a long time and pick back up very easy.
World of Warcraft – Liked it. In the end it was simply the grind and focus on raiding that got to me.
EVE – The focus on PvP and the grind finally got to me.
Champions Online – Didn’t like the graphics or the linear feel everything had. Just got the feeling that you were doing the same thing over and over.
Wizard101 – Something different and therefore was fun, at least for a month or so. Didn’t like the lack of soloablity at the 45+ levels. More options of cards (spells) per class would make this game much better.
Wish – Like the concept, didn’t like the grind or GM events never been during my playing time. Pity the game never got launched.
Anarchy Online – Like the different ways every class where played. Heaps of things to work on, maybe too many options in the end. Tried to go back to the game after a year away and found it too hard to remember everything you need to known.
Earth and Beyond – Loved it, a non-complex version of EVE! A pity it was so short lived.
Age of Conan – Never got the game to run. Despite several emails, forum posts & tickets to their support never once got a reply (except uninstalled and reinstall – which I tried many times).
Warhammer Online – Was fun while had heaps of friends playing, not so much when they all left. Didn’t like that most skills/spells where just upgrades of others.
Asheron’s Call – Got close to playing, when to a friends place to have a look only to see him use an exploit all the time while grinding. When I asked him why, he said that everyone did it and if you didn’t you’ll never level. That and dated graphics turned me off.
Dungeons & Dragons Online – Good when had full team playing together all the time. No real ability to solo hurt. Although the dungeons where well done, didn’t like the fact you did the same ones, over and over again. I also didn’t like the higher levels when you started to need specific classes or skills to do most dungeons (ie. must have a rogue or a warrior with 24 STR etc).
Everquest II – Didn’t like it all when it first came out. Went back later and found it improved a lot, however still got turn off because of the grind.
Free Realms – Fun for about ten minutes but that was about it for me.
Guild Wars – Simply way too much grind.
Lord of the Rings Online – Paid for lifetime sub so was happy to keep going back to it now and again. However the changes to house rentals annoyed me (the need to keep playing to keep your house) and pissed me off a fair bit. Will still go back when friends decide to do so also.
Saga of Ryzom – Way too much grind.
Shattered Galaxy – Like it during the beta testing, but it quickly got too populated with idiots to be fun.
Silkroad Online – Like it, but OMG the grind! Didn't like see player stores everwhere.
Star Trek Online – Was looking forward to this game, until I sat down and watch a friend play it for half an hour. Didn’t like the ship-to-ship combat or the graphics.
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - Was very interesting, but too much grind and way too much travel time. Too many things where a time-sink.
Sword of the New World – Very nice graphics, but too much grind and lack of variation.
Sorry, got a bit carried way thinking of the different games. Anyway, anyone got any suggestions?
Comments
I don't know how much it helps you now, but in a few weeks there's an OBT for a game called "Camon Hero". It's based off of Orka Online and claims for it to be possible to level using only quests. It involves summons monsters in the form of cards which can be upgraded, traded, etc. There isn't any kind of forced PvP. It might be a bit too cutesy for you though, if you've played that many other MMOs you're probably getting up there in years (like me).
There's no real "class" system, there's only new skills and abilities to acquire and upgrade, along with summons, like i said.
Well anyway take a look. It's F2P, so it isn't like my advice is ever going to cost you anything.
http://camonhero.uforia.com
that's just how I am!
If a game isn't PVP focused and if you aren't PVP focused, all you're left with is PVE, crafting, and/or whatever other minor things there are to do an in mmo. I think you're looking for the perfect game: where the grind doesn't kill you, and the end game doesn't get old. Let me know if you find it.
Thanks FreaKen, I’ll have to check Camon Hero out. Sounds a bit like Wizard101, which I kinda liked.
No offense, but I think you just need a bit more patience with some of those games. For instance you say that Guild Wars is just all grind I do not see how that is since you can get to the max level in around and hour or so. It all depends on how you play the game and if you have people to play with in my opinion. Admittedly games like silkroad and ryzom are grinds, but get funner if you have a great guild to go with it so you are not just mindlessly mining or killing.
Well to be honest what game doesn't have to much grind in one way or another? Me I don't like quest grinders, I like to group up kill stuff and do a few quests here and there that are actually interesting. I would suggest FFXI but It I'm betting you'd think its to grindy. But it is quite a different game.
Max level in around an hour or so? Gee, the game must had changed a lot since I last played, which admittedly was a few years ago now. Last I played it was taking hours to see any movment in the exp bar (I think I was level 14).
May go back to see what changes there has been.
Cukimunga – something like the levelling rate of LOTRO or WOW is ok with me. I don’t want to get to max level in a couple of weeks, but at the same time I don’t want it to take a couple of years. Five or Six months (of playing 10 or so hours a week) to hit max level is ok.
When I say grind, I mean more about just killing the same mobs over and over again without any real reason except to increase the exp bar.
And offcourse my memory of the grind level of some of the games I’ve played may had been affected by old age, everything seems worst then it was with age.
Was going to ask for more details about Guild Wars but a user already got to that before me.
Guild Wars' max level is 20. You end up being level 20 far before you reach the end of the story/game.
Note that Guild Wars' PvE is story driven that's made up of PvE Missions that can be completed with parties up to 8-10 as single player with NPCs or purely of players. The PvE Missions also have a medal system so if you beat one with a really good score you get a gold medal type thing. It's also a very big world to explore and collect skills.
Cukimunga – something like the levelling rate of LOTRO or WOW is ok with me. I don’t want to get to max level in a couple of weeks, but at the same time I don’t want it to take a couple of years. Five or Six months (of playing 10 or so hours a week) to hit max level is ok.
When I say grind, I mean more about just killing the same mobs over and over again without any real reason except to increase the exp bar.
And offcourse my memory of the grind level of some of the games I’ve played may had been affected by old age, everything seems worst then it was with age.
Well in FFXI I guess you can say your killing stuff for a reason. The beastmen are on the rise and you kill them to gain conquest points which you can turn in for items. Nations are in battle to be in control of zones and if yours is you don't have to pay for home points (the place you spawn if you die) and you can get signet cast on you which is a buff.
But mostly in FFXI you're camped out killing the same mobs over and over again. But you can do the Field of Valor which is kinda like a quest thing, they tell you to kill x mobs so that keeps the party mobile to an extent. These do give xp and money, but most quests and missions in FFXI don't give xp its mostly just money and items.
Edit: Now that I saw the edit that shows your play style you may not like FFXI. While it is more solo friendly it will take a lot longer to get to max level which is 75 main 37 subjob. But their is 20 jobs or classes in the game and you can be all of them with just one character you just have to unlock the advanced ones. Its mostly a PvE game, but there is PvP but its more like a sport and its not forced at all.
Maybe Fallen Earth?
No forced PvP. (Limited to certain small areas).
Very solo friendly. Some quests are listed as group missions but most of those are possible to solo even at "normal level". Of course if you want to group up with friends it can be more fun and speed things up.
Ten different trade skills and crafting is important in FE (but you dont have to be a crafter to craft basic stuff).
Alts are important because you need to allocate points into attributes and skills carefully and specialize in one combat style (rifle, pistol or melee) or crafting. Character development is complex and no respec is possible leading to many "alts" becoming main characters...
Very limited grind. I cannot believe some of the other suggestions you got here. FE is western style = limited grind (a generalisation but so what if it's true). FE might be regarded as quest grinding because you need to do a lot of quests (not just for exp but for "AP" which helps a lot) and they are of the standard mmo type. If you decide to max a character by "spinning the wheel" around the six different factions some mob grind is needed to get back to positive standings with factions. However, the amount of time is very limited. My new character is at mid level (22) and I have been grinding mobs about 30 minutes in total (only because I needed to get my faction rep back up). I haven't repeated anything else either. For me this is a new exp in a mmo. I find myself levelling without seeing it as "work". Speed levelling is not the main goal in FE because you need to do the AP missions sooner or later and this will take time.
There are many different abilities (knowledges and mutations) and you choose your own path. If you want loaded action bars you spin the wheel and get mutations from different factions. Faction based mutations comes into play in middle game. In lower levels combat is simplistic (no surprise here). If you go melee with max defense you might find PvE combat too easy but that's just one possible build and then there is the possibility to PvP.
Having said this, no game is perfect. FE is rather buggy (mobs shooting and running through walls for example) and graphics are not great. Character creation is basic. There are some balance issues in PvP (surprised?). More meaningful content should (and will be) added to end game. On the plus side, I like the FE community. In general ppl are mature and helpful. Also, it seems both the devs and support listen to players. Final plus: no/very few gold sellers and very limited spam in chat.
Long post, sorry, cheers!
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
One of my friends plays Fallen Earth, so I'll go over to his place on the weekend and check it out.
Hi all,
Hey Logansan,
Played most of what you name. I think I might have a similar approach. A few notes: CoX is coming out with Going Rogue (and combined I18 or I17 or whatever is next
) which might regain a few months' of interest?
Ryzom: I broke the tedium by making a Ranged Fighter. That takes a lot of doing (you really have to make your own ammo, and that has implications that took me 3 months to complete). It was fun and it has a very good community but it's mostly sandbox with some rather high-quality PvP (big battles with never, ever a bad word from anyone) thrown in. Maybe not your cup of tea.
Asheron's Call: my First MMORPG Love and returned 3 times. Yes you can exploit. But you can also do it the right way. I have solo'd Major Atlan Vaults with an UA at 37 or s, where 30 level 50 people would die horribly. 'Use your head' will bring you a game with near infinite content, hundreds of dungeons you do not have to group for, and a vast land. But outdated graphics for sure.
Have you tried Atlantica Online?
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/2867766#2867766
There's a little rundown I did on it on these boards.
I have played it for about 6 months and had to give but because I had set up a 10 guild nation but a few really rotten muckups (now chased from the server finally, I hear) were being nasty and anyway, I was level 100+ and it was time to move on. I will say this: this game looks iffy at the start (you will find much you like later on) and it really took me a while to get into. But once I did, the *only* thing I found wrong with it was the grindy-dungeon-content. However the combat is turn-based and very tactical. My fav combat systems are CoX, and this one.
You can PvP in Atlantica but they will be duels - and there is 'matchmaking'. I am not much of a PvP'er but got to 200 or something like that (ranking). Good equipment helps; you probably do not want to start paying for it because the shop is expensive. Better to buy Inventory there, if need be.
Atlantica is one enormous, convoluted, twisted, interconnected semi-linear story arc. Think all the 30 or 40 major story arcs in CoX, then combined into just one. It starts out vague, but as you go along you will find yourself more and more involved with your 'major theme'.
Anyway, it's Free To Play (I never spent so much money on a game as I did on Atlantica, fair warning
) so give it a go? Don't stop until you have a Monk (Beijing). If at that point you don't like the game - better leave it be 
Good luck,
Lucas aka Muzzlepuzzle (ex-Argos server)
* I say, there is no
* darkness but ignorance.
-
* Twelfth-night; or, What You Will
Yes I will be going back to Cox for a while when both issue 17 and Going Rogue come out. I doubt I keep playing all the time between I17 and the expansion however (Demon Summoning won't hold my interest that long) however. I'm hoping the expansion brings new life to the game and gives everyone something different to do for a while.
how much grind is too much hahaha. You stated Guildwars has a grind so apparently anything that takes over 2 hours to reach max level/gear has too much of a grind for you.
Read above Frostbite, someone else also mentioned this. Guildwars has changes since I played, and when I say grind I'm not just talking about time it takes to level.
Mind you, I'm now very tempted to go back to Guildwars just to see what the difference is