AOC and Warhammer lasted about a month. Hated AoC, but believed that Warhammer had some great potential. Just not enough content or support from Mythic.
Rift for about 3 months. Liked it until around level 30, then started looking for excuses not to log in. Still lasted 3 months due to the guild I was in and wanting to give the endgame a chance.
Wow was the most extensive and enjoyable one. Played in Vanilla. Took about a year break just before BC came out. Came back a year into BC and stayed through Cata before leaving for good. No plans to return. Kinda outgrew it.
Lotro I've played on and off since launch. Probably my favorite game on the list due to the setting and environment. A deep, well-done game that still has the best graphics around, IMO. A bit too grindy for my taste, and the boring combat makes it so I can only do about 3-4 months at a time before needing a break. But a great game, and I always come back to it.
Currently playing TOR and enjoying it. But the linear style of the game and poor world design does make me return to Lotro every now and then when I'm feeling claustrophobic and need that open world feel.
Ive purchased just about every single themepark MMO out there since WoW and other then WoW I only lasted about 1-3 months in each.
WoWs success just ruined the genre because every developer was over promising and under delivering all the while trying to bite into Blizzards playerbase and failing miserably.
I will for ever call the 2006-2012 period in the MMO genre: "THE CLONE WARS"
Now that we ave some decent to great non clones coming out over the next 12 months or so we should see a return to the pre-WoW model of the genre when companies actually tried to get you to play their product and not get you to play their version of Blizzards product.
Playing: GW2 Waiting on: TESO Next Flop: Planetside 2 Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
Ive purchased just about every single themepark MMO out there since WoW and other then WoW I only lasted about 1-3 months in each.
WoWs success just ruined the genre because every developer was over promising and under delivering all the while trying to bite into Blizzards playerbase and failing miserably.
I will for ever call the 2006-2012 period in the MMO genre: "THE CLONE WARS"
Now that we ave some decent to great non clones coming out over the next 12 months or so we should see a return to the pre-WoW model of the genre when companies actually tried to get you to play their product and not get you to play their version of Blizzards product.
Oooh dont say that! The WoW hordes will form an alliance to collectively say mean and distasteful things to you involving multiple acronyms filled with disdain.
*takes a deep breath* WoW (+TBC, Wotlk, Cata), WAR, AoC, Aion, Rift, DCUO, CO, STO, SWTOR, Lotro, FFXIV, APB also even though it's not a mmorpg in my eyes, there could be some more that I forgot about.
Details are, I played only WoW and SWTOR more than the free month, and only real dissapointments were WAR and Lotro. All the other games except WoW and SWTOR I left in about 2 weeks average. SWTOR I've pretty much enjoyed longer because of the class stories and because I had very good company in form of old friends and others. About the other games, I had done my research and usually my expectations were low to begin with so I havent been very dissapointed with these games, I always hoped they would have been made with a bit different ideas and priorities but I cant change that. Voting with wallet is not really an option since there wouldnt be anything to play at all then
Why WAR and Lotro as only real dissapointments? Well WAR was a huge technical mess to me, something I thought I had done my research for but I couldnt believe all the bugs and errors and shortcuts the game had. Lotro because I had not done too much reasearch for it and just thought it would have been more fun and immersive for me, I cant really nail down the reason why it didnt appeal to me much at all even though I love Lord of the rings and Middle earth.
I preordered TERA and I expect to play it from 2 weeks to about 2 months max. The combat looks fun but wont keep the boat floating for me on a long run, as it seems to be the only standing out feature, I'm afraid.
I've bought a hell of a lot mmorpgs, themeparks at that, even though I know they wont entertain me for too long. I wish they would, and it's fun to try new mmorpgs even if they dont seem so promising, I just cant be arsed very often with singleplayer games these days so I pretty much buy every massive multiplayer ones in hopes they'd be fun at least for a while, they last about the same as singleplayer games and it's much more fun to socialise and play in groups compared to SP games.
Most importantly, what makes me not want to log in?
All these games share pretty much the same reason why I dont feel like playing them. They miss open world content besides questing and gathering. I want the areas to be enriched with hidden paths, areas, misc encounters, variables, spontaneous group content, random happenings. When I set foot in the open world of these games, I pretty much know exactly almost every inch of the gameworld how it is and will be if I visit it, what happens there and what can happen there, it's too static, almost 100% static in most of these games. It's boring and not "a living breathing world" like mmorpgs are always advertised as.
Other things are the meta game and socail side. I played WoW the most time because I got rooted on my guilds and online buddies, also when these games are built around instanced isolated content, they better have tools for me to engage in that stuff, and WoW has the best group forming tools out there to get going this isolated content, not to mention the rich guild features and all that nowadays, too bad the game is a relic and Blizzard refuses to spice up the open world side of things that I find is the heart of mmorpgs, but almost never utilized or mobilized. /lesigh
Curious, I would have figured Aion would have made this list as well.
I did think about including it, but then people would have asked where DCUO is and then where STO is and so forth.
I deliberately wanted a rather short list where people can give an exact number (instead of having to do 2-3, 4-6, 7-10, etc.) and thus decided to focus on the big 6 western-made AAA themeparks after (and including) WoW.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
I have purchased just about every MMO that has been released since the original EQ. Some I liked, some I didnt. Some were worth the money, many were not.
AoC and WAR I was fed up with in 2 months. WoW I play on occasion (used the 1-year thingy to get Diablo III and play it for the time being). Bought LotRo on release, jumped in the life-time sub at the 1st anniversary and I still play it quite often (3-4 months a year)
I just bought Lotro but the high level of people that bought 5-6 of these games goes to prove the point I have made in other posts that people just buy anything and mostly pre order them with little- no knowledge of the game.This is why MMO's for me will always be shit.
WOW - started in vanilla and play a few months per expansion.
LOTRO - lifetime account
SWTOR - quit before subscription kicked in
I also bought EQ2 and quit after two weeks. I eagerly followed the forums on AoC and kept an eye on WAR. I may of bought them if they weren't such disasters.
Rift was of zero interest to me. I definitely hate their wonky art direction.
Bought WoW, played AoC and LOTRO free, never had any interest in any of the others. Ended up winning an online contest long after I stopped playing WoW and won the WoW Battle Chest, it's still sitting around in plastic, unopened.
I just bought Lotro but the high level of people that bought 5-6 of these games goes to prove the point I have made in other posts that people just buy anything and mostly pre order them with little- no knowledge of the game.This is why MMO's for me will always be shit.
This is a true statement. But research never really trumps first hand experience either. I will read reviews and commentaries about any game and always take them with a grain of salt until I try them for myself. When I could not afford the hobby as much I would be more selective about what I bought. Now that I can afford to drop the cash just to see the game myself I do. If its a good game I will stay, if it is not then I dont. The success of the game is based on its own merits.
The voters in this thread bought 426 copies of the mentioned 6 themepark games, with 119 votes that makes 3,57 themepark games per voter.
What I found interesting is that there's a group of 47 people that bought 5 or 6 of these games. This group of 47 people thus bought 259 themepark games amongst them. The gaming industry loves you.
(I'm sure there's nothing representative at this poll, I found it interesting anyway. Thanks.)
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
Comments
I've played far too many to list. Some key ones, though, are...
Everquest, Everquest 2, Final Fantasy XI, WoW, Rift, SWTOR
EQ and FFXI were by far my favorites. Not a fan of WoW, but I will admit I have played worse.
So much love coming from one person. Are you sure you're in the right forum?
Bought them all.
AOC and Warhammer lasted about a month. Hated AoC, but believed that Warhammer had some great potential. Just not enough content or support from Mythic.
Rift for about 3 months. Liked it until around level 30, then started looking for excuses not to log in. Still lasted 3 months due to the guild I was in and wanting to give the endgame a chance.
Wow was the most extensive and enjoyable one. Played in Vanilla. Took about a year break just before BC came out. Came back a year into BC and stayed through Cata before leaving for good. No plans to return. Kinda outgrew it.
Lotro I've played on and off since launch. Probably my favorite game on the list due to the setting and environment. A deep, well-done game that still has the best graphics around, IMO. A bit too grindy for my taste, and the boring combat makes it so I can only do about 3-4 months at a time before needing a break. But a great game, and I always come back to it.
Currently playing TOR and enjoying it. But the linear style of the game and poor world design does make me return to Lotro every now and then when I'm feeling claustrophobic and need that open world feel.
I would not call EQ a themepark,it was a hybrid mmo.
Got em aaallllllll! I get everything.. except Tera, I'm not getting that.
Ive purchased just about every single themepark MMO out there since WoW and other then WoW I only lasted about 1-3 months in each.
WoWs success just ruined the genre because every developer was over promising and under delivering all the while trying to bite into Blizzards playerbase and failing miserably.
I will for ever call the 2006-2012 period in the MMO genre: "THE CLONE WARS"
Now that we ave some decent to great non clones coming out over the next 12 months or so we should see a return to the pre-WoW model of the genre when companies actually tried to get you to play their product and not get you to play their version of Blizzards product.
Everything you need to know about Elder Scrolls Online
Playing: GW2
Waiting on: TESO
Next Flop: Planetside 2
Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
Oooh dont say that! The WoW hordes will form an alliance to collectively say mean and distasteful things to you involving multiple acronyms filled with disdain.
5+
I like themepark games as much as I like sandbox ones and hybrids (which 90% of them are, to be fair).
It's badly made themeparks that lack scope, ambition, and imagination I have an issue with, not the sub genre itself.
*takes a deep breath* WoW (+TBC, Wotlk, Cata), WAR, AoC, Aion, Rift, DCUO, CO, STO, SWTOR, Lotro, FFXIV, APB also even though it's not a mmorpg in my eyes, there could be some more that I forgot about.
Details are, I played only WoW and SWTOR more than the free month, and only real dissapointments were WAR and Lotro. All the other games except WoW and SWTOR I left in about 2 weeks average. SWTOR I've pretty much enjoyed longer because of the class stories and because I had very good company in form of old friends and others. About the other games, I had done my research and usually my expectations were low to begin with so I havent been very dissapointed with these games, I always hoped they would have been made with a bit different ideas and priorities but I cant change that. Voting with wallet is not really an option since there wouldnt be anything to play at all then
Why WAR and Lotro as only real dissapointments? Well WAR was a huge technical mess to me, something I thought I had done my research for but I couldnt believe all the bugs and errors and shortcuts the game had. Lotro because I had not done too much reasearch for it and just thought it would have been more fun and immersive for me, I cant really nail down the reason why it didnt appeal to me much at all even though I love Lord of the rings and Middle earth.
I preordered TERA and I expect to play it from 2 weeks to about 2 months max. The combat looks fun but wont keep the boat floating for me on a long run, as it seems to be the only standing out feature, I'm afraid.
I've bought a hell of a lot mmorpgs, themeparks at that, even though I know they wont entertain me for too long. I wish they would, and it's fun to try new mmorpgs even if they dont seem so promising, I just cant be arsed very often with singleplayer games these days so I pretty much buy every massive multiplayer ones in hopes they'd be fun at least for a while, they last about the same as singleplayer games and it's much more fun to socialise and play in groups compared to SP games.
Most importantly, what makes me not want to log in?
All these games share pretty much the same reason why I dont feel like playing them. They miss open world content besides questing and gathering. I want the areas to be enriched with hidden paths, areas, misc encounters, variables, spontaneous group content, random happenings. When I set foot in the open world of these games, I pretty much know exactly almost every inch of the gameworld how it is and will be if I visit it, what happens there and what can happen there, it's too static, almost 100% static in most of these games. It's boring and not "a living breathing world" like mmorpgs are always advertised as.
Other things are the meta game and socail side. I played WoW the most time because I got rooted on my guilds and online buddies, also when these games are built around instanced isolated content, they better have tools for me to engage in that stuff, and WoW has the best group forming tools out there to get going this isolated content, not to mention the rich guild features and all that nowadays, too bad the game is a relic and Blizzard refuses to spice up the open world side of things that I find is the heart of mmorpgs, but almost never utilized or mobilized. /lesigh
Happy easter all :P
I did think about including it, but then people would have asked where DCUO is and then where STO is and so forth.
I deliberately wanted a rather short list where people can give an exact number (instead of having to do 2-3, 4-6, 7-10, etc.) and thus decided to focus on the big 6 western-made AAA themeparks after (and including) WoW.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
Buy? Two .. WOW and TOR.
All other ones I am playing for free.
I have purchased just about every MMO that has been released since the original EQ. Some I liked, some I didnt. Some were worth the money, many were not.
Now do 3 more polls:
A list of 6 sandbox titles, asking how many of those games players have played.
The themepark list again, this time asking how many players subscribed past the first month
And again with sandboxes.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Then do yet another poll.
How much developer money has been spent on Sandboxes.
How much developer money has been spent on Themeparks.
Once upon a time....
Almost all of them. :O( Hello, my name is Boats, and I am a Themeparkaholic. Thank You for sharing Boats. Take a seat....
Ballerinas are always on their toes. Why don't they just get taller ballerinas?
4 of them: AoC, LotRO, WAR, WoW
AoC and WAR I was fed up with in 2 months. WoW I play on occasion (used the 1-year thingy to get Diablo III and play it for the time being). Bought LotRo on release, jumped in the life-time sub at the 1st anniversary and I still play it quite often (3-4 months a year)
Well, make the polls when you want them. I wanted to know how many of the most popular western themepark games visitors of this forum have bought.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
I have to add, not only have I bought nearly every one since 99, but most I bought twice so the wife and I could play together.
I'm not going to do the math on this, it will hurt my feelings....
I just bought Lotro but the high level of people that bought 5-6 of these games goes to prove the point I have made in other posts that people just buy anything and mostly pre order them with little- no knowledge of the game.This is why MMO's for me will always be shit.
I bought 3 of the games listed:
WOW - started in vanilla and play a few months per expansion.
LOTRO - lifetime account
SWTOR - quit before subscription kicked in
I also bought EQ2 and quit after two weeks. I eagerly followed the forums on AoC and kept an eye on WAR. I may of bought them if they weren't such disasters.
Rift was of zero interest to me. I definitely hate their wonky art direction.
Bought WoW, played AoC and LOTRO free, never had any interest in any of the others. Ended up winning an online contest long after I stopped playing WoW and won the WoW Battle Chest, it's still sitting around in plastic, unopened.
Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
Now Playing: None
Hope: None
So far ive pick up WoW, Aion, Rift and SWTOR. GW looks promising and Lotr looks dope too. I need more time for games.
This is a true statement. But research never really trumps first hand experience either. I will read reviews and commentaries about any game and always take them with a grain of salt until I try them for myself. When I could not afford the hobby as much I would be more selective about what I bought. Now that I can afford to drop the cash just to see the game myself I do. If its a good game I will stay, if it is not then I dont. The success of the game is based on its own merits.Didn't buy WAR or SWTOR because I didn't fall for the hype.
However, I did buy all the others and thoroughly enjoyed them.
Final tally:
The voters in this thread bought 426 copies of the mentioned 6 themepark games, with 119 votes that makes 3,57 themepark games per voter.
What I found interesting is that there's a group of 47 people that bought 5 or 6 of these games. This group of 47 people thus bought 259 themepark games amongst them. The gaming industry loves you.
(I'm sure there's nothing representative at this poll, I found it interesting anyway. Thanks.)
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
I pre-ordered everyone of those games and beta tested 5 out of the 6. Not playing a single one now.