Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
WoW, LotRO, Neverwinter, etc. - what to play?
Hi all,
Hope this is the right place, and hope I'm not doubling a thousand other threads, but... I'm a huge MMO fan, usually playing Star Trek Online and SW:TOR, with occasional tendency to go into superpowered reality in DCUO (or sometimes CO). I used to love EQ2, but at some point it started being deserted, then it went F2P, and I never really got the feeling that this game is what it used to be. I played almost everything that exists out there, and I am still seeking my MMO home when it comes to fantasy themed games.
Which of those games is most fun nowadays? I mentioned WoW, LotRO and Neverwinter, but I'm open to any suggestions (ESO excluded... I love how beautiful the game is, the class progression, but it just lacks something in playability for me...). I'm ready to buy a subscription, so F2P is no big factor for me. I just need a fun game, immersive world (I would call myself RP-friendly 
), and occassional good PvP, with mosty focus on PvE experience, with a feeling of living, breathing world.
I hope that my description doesn't sound like: I want diamond shoes, and golden laces to go with them, so that I can look stylish while I'm riding my unicorn . And I'll be more than happy to read some suggestions, as I got some time on my hands now, and would love to devote it to some good old fantasy MMO 
.
Comments
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
Not much new in MMOs right now. Unless you like crowd funded MMOs there is not much coming out this year. So its go old school or stick with what you are playing or played. Right now I have a new rekindled love for WoW after leaving the game for 4 years. Next MMO that hold me as a gamer is EQN because of what Storybricks and Voxel farms could do to MMOing if they pull it off.
EQ2 has made some big changes and the number of people playing the game has grown a lot since you left when it went F2P. I found the end game community stuck in a rut with people playing with the same people and didnt have much room for new players. I had fun playing it for many months for free lol.
IMO I would pick some of the top tripple A MMOs that have come out over the past few years that you have not tried and MMO jump till you find one you like. GW2 was a great blast for 6 months, Rifts is killer fun and one of the best end games I have seen in a MMO since WoW. I may try ESO again after patch 1.6 comes out, its to fix a lot of problems and my norm is when a MMO fails I will try it 6 months later when they fix things. TSW has some high praise on the forums and from what I read some of the best questing of any MMO. Some real out of the box thinking.
Depends on what is the most fun to you
If you like roleplay, great world, and also doesn't mind buying the sub, LotRO is a great pick (go for the roleplay servers). Occasional pvp is there too, but pve is in the major focus.
If you like fun combat, and with it a bit more pvp fun, Neverwinter is a good pick (even moreso since you have an account, you can use the same one you use for STO and CO). The world is tighter and instanced (like in STO), and roleplay is not very widespread, but the gameplay is fun, with plenty of different systems to goofing around with (like in STO). There's a Foundry too (again, like in STO
). In this case you don't need to worry about subscription.
(while not in the title, I'd add AoC too, it's a great game in the fantasy section. it's a nice ride both with or without the subscription.)
Well WoW is of course most folks choice. It offers the most polished content for the money imo. GW2 is fun to play for a couple hours at a time, and/or The Secret World. Both of those are B2P so you can't go wrong with them!
I found the best way to get an idea of what to play is find threads that other members have made like ask "What are you playing?"
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
I am playing ESO right now after recently resubbing to WoW. WoW is so easy right now it takes the fun / challenge out of it. I know there is challenge at high level raids, but as far as leveling I feel a monkey could do it. ESO is hard. I played skyrim on the hardest settings and ESO difficulty is up there. The progression is slow in ESO especially if you take time to collect / craft stuff. I have played many hours and have one character at level 8, one at 12, one at 5, and one at 3.
I had played neverwinter for a while and had a good time. I like the action combat of the game. Once I hit level cap I did not enjoy it much. It became really grindy and / or cash shop dependent. Also getting a group was difficult especially as a DPS. Another problem is some of the dungeons were difficult, but alot of guilds / groups would exploit them. Trying to find an honest group was near impossible. I have not played in a while so things may be better or worse?
I tried / subbed Tera. It was OK but the questing was horrible. It was all kill xx mobs. The combat was pretty good though, but after so many levels i just became tired of it.
Lotro is very good if you like the story. If you never played it, the amount of content can be overwhelming. The combat is a little slow, but dungeons offer a fair challenge. Only problem is the game can nickel and dime you to death, Even if you sub you have to buy expansion packs or content packs. I played when it first came out and bought an expansion or two. I quit once i got to max level because at that time I was on dial up and could not run the "raids". Last year I resubbed and found out that they changed some of the content so the one expansion back I had bought did not cover things it used to. If you do play LoTro I would definitely recommend subbing to it if you like it.
I have also played GW2. I could not really get into it. Some people love it, but it was just not for me. I would get bored really easy.
I also subbed to archage for a while. The game itself is not bad, but the management is by far the worst I have ever seen. Many many hacks/dupes/exploits that have gone on since alpha and not fixed. Questing / combat is not too exciting either its really basic. Farming / trade runs etc is the meat of the game, but currently you can not get land so its pointless. I could only find space for an 8x8 farm even though I had a 16x16 ready to put down that I swam across the ocean for. I checked every plot even in PVP areas and nothing..........At that point along with the land hacks I unsubbed and never logged in again.
I almost forgot about FFXIV. I played this for a while and it is overwhelming. One character can literally max everything or be every class. The amount of time that would take would be ungodly though. Depending on which clothes / weapons you equip is what class you are at the time. The same works with crafting. Whatever crafting tool you equip is what crafting class you are at that time. My main problem with FFXIV is the combat is so slow the GCD is too high for me. After playing other games and going back to FF it was painstakingly slow. If they sped it up just a bit I would probably go back to it.
I have tried several other games as well, but nothing really worth while that I can think of.
Great game, I loved my archer. Raids are more like simon says as they loops the same way every time. But still worth it. Great crafting system.
Adding a nod to LOTRO but also tossing a couple of others into the ring:
The Secret World - for something modern, different and B2P
Rift - for very customizable classes and F2P, plus sandbox building in Dimensions
You should try LOTRO at least until level 25/30, it's a level you can play in plenitude the F2P. After that you should subscribe.
It's a very good game for players who like to play a little roleplaying. In my opinion it's the game with more content and with a wonderful lore and very immersive world. Good community but not big (to much servers that they are thinking to merge in early 2015).
You will love the game, just take in mind that it's a eight years game.