LF Game with major pain lvling;)

Reskal

Hey all,

the topic sounds bit strange, but i remember the good old times, around 10 years ago and there were several games out, leveling was a major pain, and the guys with end lvl were the ones.

My question is, is there still a game out there, where leveling is hard and reaching high-lvl really rewarding ? So many games out there but they all seem to miss the real point to get addicted to them, at least for a while.`I played that many games, Anarchy Online, UO, EQ and EQ2, Tales of Egyptian nights, Wurm Online, Daoc, SWG(prepatch) and more i forgot and i often return to them but on the other hand i have the feeling i maybe miss something good just waiting for me:)

I read in the Lineage-II forum a bit, it seems pretty hard to lvl, is it maybe the game i look for or is there another one, suiting better to my wishes ?

 

xDayx

In my opinion, the best game for what you want is Vanguard. Its more of a classic mmo on par with the old everquest (not the new EQ) where alot of content is geared toward groups. After level 20 if you approach soloing with a can-do attitude and establish some sort of community for the stuff you definately need a group for you will find the difficulty and depth the game has addicting.

I played L2 at launch and the game, even though was slower at leveling, the level grind didnt feel as engaging as DAOC, EQclassic, or skill upping that Wurm has.

In addition, if you played VG after launch it is much improved. Sony bought VG from Sigil, fixed the bugs(99% of them), and havent touched the game since. So Sony not touching/improving or "wow-ifying" the game is the best thing to happen to VG for a player like you and I.  

Play through the trial or "Isle of Dawn" on at least 1 character just to experience it because it is fun. Then you can start creating characters out in the real world. What will keep you playing VG after that point is the difficulty and classic feel of the game.

Purutzil

Well when you say "leveling pain" I think your really focusig on the aspect of clasic MMos were it wasn't "max level and then grind for gear" but rather '"level grinding" where your hard work came on leveling. You want one that doesn't focus on end game and instead makes leveling the primary 'advancement' method of playing. Lineage 2 is a pretty good game for what your seeking though, give it a try.

In terms of that, there always is the option of Ragnarok Online. Shy away from the 'official' servers though... rather poorly cared for now a days and bots make up the population. Theres a few other 'faithful followers' (My friendly version of saying copy cats) such as Trickster or Secrets of Solstice as well if your looking for a newer one.

I'll look through and try remembering more, though a lot of games now a days from the sounds of what you play tend to be more gear focused anymore.

 

Axehilt

Yes, Lineage 2.  Hope you like repetition! (I guess you do, otherwise you wouldn't make this request.)

Reskal

First thanks for all the detailed answers. I played vanguard also long years ago, as it started and i remember the crafting system was a mixture of complicated and frustrating..more the character of a punishment:)..not sure if it has changed. I spoke with a guy 2 weeks ago and he told me he and his friends kept their chars on mid-40ies because they hated the endgame which was same as wow: raiding and raiding and nothing else.

Not sure if its completely like that and i guess it was a mistake of mine not to mention that endgame(daoc with its rvr had the best motivation to reach end-lvl in my opinion, and lvling was pretty hard also, at the time after release at least) would be also important,  not only painful leveling.

So hard leveling and having goals when done with it would be great. Like supporting a guild or building up own things.

xDayx

In Vanguard, Crafting is still the same system as it was at launch. However, they have added initial crafting quests to familiarize players with it. Crafting, in general, is basically a minigame where you want to create the highest quality item without running out of crafting points in the process. You do this through having better crafting only gear/tools and spending points that you earn into crafting only stats.

In my opinion its refreshing to have crafting that is more than just clicking 'create' with the mats in your inventory. But each to his own.

At endgame, aside from crafting houses, ships, and maxing rep for items, there is raiding.

There is a free trial at the moment for the tutorial island stated above. I would say that on most quests you actually will need to read them.  The free trial in and of itself is fun.

 

TruthXHurts

If you aren't dead set on AAA titles, and want a real challenge I suggest you have a look at Darkwind. It offers in depth character advancement, full customization of vehicles and my all time favorite... Permadeath.