Need a new fix

skee

Yes, this is another suggestion thread

I've recently given up on WoW and FFXI, but I get the feeling I can't go for long without a MMORPG fix... So to all you who've spent more time than me playing and researching: Is there an existing game I could check out, or anything that looks neat on the horizon? I've only recently gotten into MMOGs but I have a long history of playing PnP and console RPGs.

I played FFXI for well over a year and what had me in the end was the constant struggle to keep myself with money, and the economy spinning out of control. Community, concept, lifespan and graphics are excellent IMO, though endgame tends to revolve solely on spawncamping 3 rare mobs (Fafnir, Behemoth, Adamantoise) and that got boring quickly.

I've been playing WoW for a while now too. It's fun for a while, but the sheer lack of content is throwing me off. I'm not a big fan of PvP, so I just find myself grinding solo (Really the most effective way of getting XP and gold) and it seems way too simple. I would enjoy it if it wasn't for the PvP (PvE servers are really only half the game :-) and the lack of story/immersion. The rude and immature nature of the community as well as the need to beg/spam to find a group for anything is also a big letdown for WoW. I like the concept of instances though.

I'm really hoping some game could combine the scale and community of FFXI with the swift gameplay of WoW (and look good in the process). Setting isn't that crucial, I love the tech/fantasy genre but anything goes.

As far as the most obvious titles go, I've pretty much excluded the older MMOGS. I'm really hoping I can be part of a growing community as I hope to be playing for a while. Being the eternal noob is never fun hehe. Eve online doesn't feel right for me either.

Jenuviel

It's been mentioned in other threads on this page (as of the time I'm posting this, anyway), but Saga of Ryzom is worth a look. On a personal level, I didn't enjoy the combat much, but it did have a lot of features I enjoyed overall. It's definitely not "massive" at this stage, however. It was released by a small company that had distribution problems initially. Furthermore, their first major patch was a community killer in many regards (a mass exodus occurred after Patch 1, which they're apparently still trying to recover from). There's a definite plan behind the story, however, and it's a very original world. Like every MMO on the market, it's far from perfect. Unlike a lot of the MMOs out there, however, it's worth the cost of the box to investigate. The fact that you can just download it from Nevrax's website is a bonus.

It might not be for you, but you never know. It's still small enough that it may have slipped beneath your radar. It certainly seems to have snuck past the majority of people I've spoken to about it, despite the fact that it's fairly high on the list here at MMORPGs.com. If nothing else, I'd recommend checking out the game's website and reading some of the forums there to get an idea of what the playerbase thinks of it. Like most forums, you'll see good and bad reviews. Just assume the truth is in the middle.

EDIT: And if you do check out Ryzom's official forums, do a search for "Jenuviel" on the English-speaking general page and read the post called "TNN-Tryker Network News." It's a thumb in cheek news report about that nasty series of patches.