LFG: MMO with great leveling experience.

neurro

Been out of MMOs for awhile, sampled some here and there without putting much time in them. 

I want to play an MMO again, but I'm looking for one that has a great leveling experience.  End-game content is a bonus, but I'm not overly concerned with that or PvP.

Solo-friendly, optional group content along the way.  I enjoy RPing as well, so a good amount of RPers would be another bonus.

F2P or P2P doesn't bother me.

I'm all about leveling and the "experience" and I'm having a hard time figuring out which MMO to try for this.

Sevenstar61

Try SWTOR. Excellent leveling  experience, engaging story. Pure fun. You can try as F2P and see if you like it. 

Bladestrom

If you like Lord of the rings fiction then LOTR has an awesome levelling experience.  Best overall levelling experience I would give to ESO, great quests, well written (voice acted) and no quest hubs and lasts for months.  TSW has a much smaller world and the maps are a bit disjointed but there seems to be a lot of positives in there as well. 

 

neurro

Of what was recommended so far I think I'm most interested in TOR or ESO.  I've heard really mixed things about ESO though.

TheDove

Secret World - Best quests/story, IMO, of any MMO. Modern day setting, mystery / horror theme.

LotRo - Landroval is the RP server.

Neverwinter - trip to cap is fast, but has 'campaigns' after cap that are essentially solo PvE expansions. Forgotten Realms fantasy setting.

EQ2 - but, the population is very top heavy, so low level zones are pretty empty most of the time. EQ2 has the alternative advancement system that lets you keep building your character long after reaching level cap. It's old now, but has massive amount of content.

I've heard good things about Elder Scrolls online, but haven't played it myself.

Po_gg

Originally posted by TheDove

Secret World - Best quests/story, IMO, of any MMO. Modern day setting, mystery / horror theme.

I agree, one of my favourite games. However, there's no levels, and for many folks with a more "regular" mmo background the Wheel unlocking and the build theory-crafting is a bit odd. OP seeking for a leveling experience, maybe TSW is not the best pick.

Originally posted by TheDove

LotRo - Landroval is the RP server.

Actually Laurelin, Belegaer and Estel are the RP servers, Landy is the RE (as in roleplay encouraged) server ok, just splitting hairs. And strongly agree, for OP's "Solo-friendly, optional group content along the way.  I enjoy RPing as well, so a good amount of RPers would be another bonus." criteria LotRO is a perfect fit, with Landroval as the most fitting server selection for a US timezone resident.

 

Sevenstar +1, TOR has a great leveling experience too. But if you pick TOR, don't forget your words "P2P doesn't bother me" and pay the sub, the f2p route is hindering the experience pretty heavily. Don't know the Rp over there, the Eu Rp server has much less Rp than LotRO for example.

Bladestrom

If you do go for LOTR i've just noticed tonight you can buy all 4 expansions for £15 on steam, nabbed it myself

Po_gg

Yep, I posted about it earlier the sale is on until Jan.1st. Also there's a beorning sale in the in-game store (but that's just for the week).

Viper482

Originally posted by neurro

Been out of MMOs for awhile, sampled some here and there without putting much time in them. 

I want to play an MMO again, but I'm looking for one that has a great leveling experience.  End-game content is a bonus, but I'm not overly concerned with that or PvP.

Solo-friendly, optional group content along the way.  I enjoy RPing as well, so a good amount of RPers would be another bonus.

F2P or P2P doesn't bother me.

I'm all about leveling and the "experience" and I'm having a hard time figuring out which MMO to try for this.

My favorite leveling experience MMO in recent years was Guild Wars 2. I leveled two toons to max back to back, and I am usually one of those who struggles to get to max level with one toon in a lot of MMOs.

FFXIV was good as well, very rich world and leveling. You have to group a few times through the main story, but the dungeon finder makes it easy.

YashaX

ESO is really good for levelling, almost like a single-player rpg that you can play with friends.  Looks and feels amazing too, especially  in pve.

Yamota

Originally posted by Viper482

Originally posted by neurro

My favorite leveling experience MMO in recent years was Guild Wars 2. I leveled two toons to max back to back, and I am usually one of those who struggles to get to max level with one toon in a lot of MMOs.

FFXIV was good as well, very rich world and leveling. You have to group a few times through the main story, but the dungeon finder makes it easy.

You have to group in an MMO. How low has the genre sunk where you have to make it clear that you have to group to finish some content.

As for the OP. I have found TERA fun to level in, mostly due to the engaging combat, beautiful GFX and bad-ass elite mobs, so called BAMs. However the solo content, which is basically everything in the open world, can get mind-numbingly boring. The PvP and PvE instances are pretty fun though.