Was There An MMO That Ever Surprised You With How Much You Liked It? | MMORPG.com

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Was There An MMO That Ever Surprised You With How Much You Liked It? | MMORPG.com

Every once in a while we start to play a game that we don't think will be our cup of tea, only to realize just how much we enjoyed it in the end. MMOs can be the same way. Was there ever an MMO you didn't think you'd like, but somehow were surprised by just how much you enjoyed it in the end?

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Morfo2

I'm addicted to gaming since DeviousMUD (Runescape) from 1999 but the game that really changed my perspective was Tera in 2011 with that amazing hack n slash combat and the freedom to go around the entire world without the need to use instance teleports.
Since then gaming in general stopped making sense, there are other good MMORPG's but not a single one of them gave me the same feeling of fun like Tera combat did.
I'm just waiting for Blue Protocol, it's somehow close to that combat feeling I need

DigDuggy

I really enjoy MO2. Taking a break to get some more content and fixes, but I've had a lot of fun. Trove. A gem of a game. Anarchy. Wish there was something modern like this. Albion online. I think the simplistic graphics are refreshing.

Probably more. I go into games with an eye towards allowing myself to enjoy it. I think too many people go in, ready to find the fault and never really give the game or themselves a chance to find enjoyment.

The secret world. What a refreshing departure from the normal formula.

Saruomo

New World. Never thought I’d get used to no tab targeting or target lock action based mmos. Took a few months to get used to and now I cannot not play NW daily.

NexeusS

Definitely. For me it was FFXIV because back in 2010 I heard only bad stuff happening to this game so I thought it's not worth my time. 3 years later I still thought it was some kind of (you know), one of those lilipop skirt show where you see as*** and nothing else behind the character, without doing any reasearch. In 2014 I gave it a try and boy, how wrong I was.

Literally the game said to me; in your face brah. Never judge a game becuase you thought ain't good until you actually try the game. There's many good and awesome MMO's, but FFXIV is top of the pop for me. It's just the game is that good. I highly suggest to anyone who's into story games, especially heavy ones to try FFXIV, otherwise you won't like it to it's full potential.

The other game was New World beta version. I really liked the game, like I was planing to stay for a while but then they released the full version and ppl started duping gold and what not crap and then I suddenly left. it's just ruins the fun knowning that some dingleberries have 1mil gold. Last week they had fresh servers and I was hyped until I saw that old toons from other servers can transfer to fresh. Means all those who dupped could transfer, and it had happened, and I left again. The stuff from New World just don't get it how to do it right.

Iselin

Rift.

I Didn't know much about it going in and really liked their flexible class system, the Chloromancer soul became one of my all-time favorite healers and they did zone events (invasions) better than anyone before or since.

Angrakhan

Vanilla Wow before it was called "Vanilla" and instead just WoW. That game became a straight up addiction for a while. It lost its magic many years ago, though. New World surprised me with how fun it was. I quit due to some boneheaded decisions with one of the earlier patches. Also, I really wanted to play spear+musket but that setup wasn't meta at the time. It bugged me that for a game with so much apparent flexibility in class builds, the game really boiled down to 1 or maybe 2 viable builds for specific roles (tank, melee dps, ranged dps for pvp, heals), and everything else was kinda trash. All my issues aside, the world is beautiful, and the gameplay loop is really fun. I hope things have changed when I rejoin after the patch releases.

Chaserz

ARK. Same reaction for me. At face value, "Not my kind of game." But once I started playing it and taming animals, I fell hard for it. What a pleasant surprise. My g/f and I built ourselves a paradise on "herbivore island".

cheyane

Anarchy Online. I was just trying the beta and and I was totally hooked with my shotgun trader. I loved the fantastic array of skills that completely caught me by surprise how very innovative they were and the way you learnt them from these crystals. So many new ideas that blew me away.

FrodoFragins

Forsaken World was a surprisingly decent WOW clone, at least in the early stages of leveling.  Runes of Magic was much better than expected as well.  I know at least one of them was P2W, probably both.  

I tried WOW in the open beta before vanilla launch and thought it was amazing.  UO, EQ and SWG never offered enough for be to take the plunge.  WOW fixed everything wrong with those games.

Scot

Not really, the amount of research I do before I play has ensured I enjoyed everyone. Some have surprised me by being lacklustre in the medium term, no method you have of pre-checking a MMO is fool proof. 

Aeander

Marvel Heroes. Heard so much negativity, but the game was awesome. RIP.

Theocritus

cheyane said:

Anarchy Online. I was just trying the beta and and I was totally hooked with my shotgun trader. I loved the fantastic array of skills that completely caught me by surprise how very innovative they were and the way you learnt them from these crystals. So many new ideas that blew me away.

I started a bit later after launch but I really enjoyed it also.....The missions were alot of fun and I like worlds where we can explore.....Also loved the implant system.

Mendel

Aeander said:

Marvel Heroes. Heard so much negativity, but the game was awesome. RIP.

It took me awhile to become accustomed to various versions of my character went past.  Once I adapted, it was a great ARPG.

TheDalaiBomba

Mine was very recently realizing an old MMORPG that was ahead of its time: SWG.

I always placed more weight on the "there was a reason for the NGE/shut down" crowd, but after having played literally both the NGE and a CU-emu with NGE content (including JTL), I can confidently say that SW:TOR should have been a Neverwinter Nights style single/multiplayer RPG, and SWG should have continued to receive support.

The game plays like most modern MMORPGs on SWG Legends, but still retains that virtual world sandbox spark that WoW never even came close to achieving, much less rivaling.  Same goes for almost all the modern entries.

I know it sounds cliché, but it's true: WoW's runaway success became mostly about social proof and bandwagon effect, and it did more harm than good for the genre over the long-term.  If I could go back, I would have avoided subbing to WoW when it released.

FrodoFragins

Aeander said:

Marvel Heroes. Heard so much negativity, but the game was awesome. RIP.

The launch was REALLY bad and people weren't really on board with the monetization at the time.  They couldn't decide on how they wanted people to reach the level cap and so they just made it really slow to get there and had very little content to do.

You could get new heroes from mob drops and the feeling was amazing.  But it was far too random and getting drops of heroes you already had was a big letdown.  they brought in a new game lead, Doomsaw, who improved the game greatly though.

It's really too bad that it was shut down as people would definitely still be playing today even if it was 100% maintenance mode.

Slapshot1188

My current one: Neverwinter

I played it once years ago, but have a disdain for lootboxes so it was quickly dismissed. Then, a few months ago, in desperation we started loading up old games.  We hit on Neverwinter and have now played 3 months and I see no signs of stopping soon.

For a decade old game it has great graphics and it has a ridiculous amount of content for a new player to absorb. Plus, unless you are hardcore and endgame focused you can ignore the lootboxes. I can play for 15 minutes and get something accomplished, or I can play for hours.

No, its not perfect, but I thought this was a game I'd play for a few days and move on.  Instead Im here 90+ days in, and still finding new things to do.  It will certainly hold me until the NBD drops.

user298

FF14 actually surprised me in terms of its music - I really enjoyed the type of it and especially wide variety of it in Trials/dungeons, was a HUGE contrast to most other MMO's lazy, boring "generic medieval fantasy soundtracks". It also surprised me in terms of story - it was actually enjoyable to follow (well, after I finished the ARR's billions of "lvl50 quests"), especially compared to 99% of other MMOs I've played. Its story is definitely not perfect, and I still prefer to rely on other players shaping the in-game world and creating their own "history" based on interactions between themselves instead of following same fixed stories provided by developers, but it was much better than I expected.

Kyleran

I had played ESO at launch, but quit after less than a month, even asked for my one and only game refund which they declined since I lived in the US, EU customers were being refunded at the same time.

So I gave it another go 7 yrs later and had a surprisingly good time for about 9 months despite the wonky combat mechanics and One Tameril design, both being areas of doubt when I went in.

Uwakionna

Short answer;
No.

Long answer;
Not really.

There's been plenty of MMO's that I've enjoyed, but none that have caught me off guard or surprised me. Generally found I'm not one to be surprised by much in the first place, and picking games apart for their mechanics is something I do a lot. Feel like I have an inherently more clinical way of thinking about games, even when playing them for fun, that leaves little wiggle room for that.

SaintAsuraka

For me it was The Secret World, especially the starting area, Soloman Island, with Kingsmouth Town, Savage Coast and Blue Mountain. It really hit the spooky Lovecraftian/Stephen King vibe with the atmosphere. Yes the combat was lacking but I still had a lot of fun. It will always feel like it had such great potential as an alternative fantasy MMOs. A shame that it never really caught on and seems to be only hanging in there by a thread now.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

HazenXIII

TheDalaiBomba said:

Mine was very recently realizing an old MMORPG that was ahead of its time: SWG.

I always placed more weight on the "there was a reason for the NGE/shut down" crowd, but after having played literally both the NGE and a CU-emu with NGE content (including JTL), I can confidently say that SW:TOR should have been a Neverwinter Nights style single/multiplayer RPG, and SWG should have continued to receive support.

The game plays like most modern MMORPGs on SWG Legends, but still retains that virtual world sandbox spark that WoW never even came close to achieving, much less rivaling.  Same goes for almost all the modern entries.

I know it sounds cliché, but it's true: WoW's runaway success became mostly about social proof and bandwagon effect, and it did more harm than good for the genre over the long-term.  If I could go back, I would have avoided subbing to WoW when it released.

This right here. SWG was my first MMO (in 2004 so the Vanilla/Pre-CU version of the game). It wasn't until I ventured into other MMOs that I realized just how ahead of its time in almost every way possible SWG was (even now). I played it non-stop until its shutdown, kept and eye on SWGEmu, and started playing SWG Legends in 2017. This game has been in my life since 2004, and I still feel like I've only scratched the surface of all the possibilities in that game.

alexryba

Everquest Online Adventures!!!! On PS2

Scot

alexryba said:

Everquest Online Adventures!!!! On PS2

Welcome to the forums!

Phaen

Funcom made some awesome games, I really liked Age of Conan for the setting and combat, great raids and plenty of challenges. The Secret World also had great settings and exceptional stories, but lacked a bit in combat. Its a shame neither really continued getting good content updates.
Vanguard Saga of Heroes was another MMO that surprised me with its depth, both in skills and combat class interdependencies, but also Diplomacy and how that worked it everything, from zone buffs to epic quests.