Games with a almost unreachable level cap?

dewiy180

I would like game suggestions, please.  My favorite part of MMORPGs is leveling, and I'm getting really tired of games where you reach the level cap in a couple of days after launch or a new xpac.  I like games with an almost unreachable level cap.  Back in the day there used to be a game called Astonia 3 where they could actually have a top 100 because of the almost unreachable cap, thought the graphics were terrible, but the game is ancient, and I miss gameplay like that.  Any suggestions? 

Dattelis

BDO? Ragnarok Online?

Cactus_LFRez

I would actually suggest roguelikes, I know they are not MMOs, except for Realm of the Mad God.

Reason is, roguelikes are focused entirely on the journey (going into the dungeon, climbing the tower etc.) and making interesting character builds.
If you lose you start over, if you win you start over, the game is all about the run and the variety between.

OldKingLog

All I can recommend would be Eve Online or Ultima Online. Hardly new games sadly.

Scot

No, but what you want would suggest that it is really hard to level, with MMOs going down the easy mode route for the past 15 or so years that's going to be a hard find.

Maybe one of the old MMOs but so many of them have gone easymode themselves, but they may be your best bet.

olepi

Scot said:

No, but what you want would suggest that it is really hard to level, with MMOs going down the easy mode route for the past 15 or so years that's going to be a hard find.

Maybe one of the old MMOs but so many of them have gone easymode themselves, but they may be your best bet.

Ryzom is an old skills-based MMO, with dozens of skills and a level cap of 250 for each skill independently. Your character doesn't have a level, your skills do. It would take many years to max all of them.

I'm not aware of any modern skill-based MMO's that work like that. Perhaps Eve, if that is called modern now.

Kyleran

Embers Adrift maybe?

Not necessarily hard but difficult to stay motivated I think.

Scot

Kyleran said:

Embers Adrift maybe?

Not necessarily hard but difficult to stay motivated I think.

So it would take him ages to level because he would keep giving up on it?

Jakobmiller

Tibia. There is no level cap. Highest level character is above 2300.

It will take you many years to reach that and still there is no max.

Kyleran

Lineage 1 doesn't have a level cap, but only available on private shards or Korean only official servers.

Sovrath

Black Desert ... Lineage 2 used to have a very difficult level cap but I don't know what changes were made. Still, worth a try, especially on a classic server.

Theocritus

Dattelis said:

BDO? Ragnarok Online?

Its been awhile since I played BDO....I remember players in game saying it may take a year or so to gain one level after 60 or so......That was all I needed to hear /uninstall

Dattelis

Theocritus said:

Dattelis said:

BDO? Ragnarok Online?

Its been awhile since I played BDO....I remember players in game saying it may take a year or so to gain one level after 60 or so......That was all I needed to hear /uninstall

Yeah, even Lost Ark has a 'soft level cap' as well which I forgot about. Blue Protocol supposedly has slow leveling as well, but apparently a lot of people are randomly getting banned due to the game's weird anti-cheat program.

Kyleran

Dattelis said:

Theocritus said:

Dattelis said:

BDO? Ragnarok Online?

Its been awhile since I played BDO....I remember players in game saying it may take a year or so to gain one level after 60 or so......That was all I needed to hear /uninstall

Yeah, even Lost Ark has a 'soft level cap' as well which I forgot about. Blue Protocol supposedly has slow leveling as well, but apparently a lot of people are randomly getting banned due to the game's weird anti-cheat program.

Weird as it actually bans cheaters?

Scot

Kyleran said:

Dattelis said:

Theocritus said:

Dattelis said:

BDO? Ragnarok Online?

Its been awhile since I played BDO....I remember players in game saying it may take a year or so to gain one level after 60 or so......That was all I needed to hear /uninstall

Yeah, even Lost Ark has a 'soft level cap' as well which I forgot about. Blue Protocol supposedly has slow leveling as well, but apparently a lot of people are randomly getting banned due to the game's weird anti-cheat program.

Weird as it actually bans cheaters?

I sometimes think of a guy in a leaky rowing boat trying to desperately bail out the water when it comes to banning cheats. Its a never ending job and some will always be in your game sadly.

Maurgrim

I would say Black Desert Online, you have  soft level cap after that it takes ages to level more levels.

Djijin

The old Asheron's Call has levels but wasn't really a level game. You could often ball park content 50 levels above you, and many never reach level cap yet could still participate in late game content. Massive, open world design.

The game is too old for me to play again, but it ruined my expectations of mmorpgs since. It made me think that mmorpgs would get bigger, better and continue to become more sophisticated. I was so wrong. Pretty much the exact opposite happened, along with the deterioration of player maturity and intelligence. Games used to be hobbies for well rounded people who had lives. Gaming is now the realm of anti-social shut ins damaged by the very life choice they pursue.

ValdemarJ

Scot said:

Kyleran said:

Dattelis said:

Theocritus said:

Dattelis said:

BDO? Ragnarok Online?

Its been awhile since I played BDO....I remember players in game saying it may take a year or so to gain one level after 60 or so......That was all I needed to hear /uninstall

Yeah, even Lost Ark has a 'soft level cap' as well which I forgot about. Blue Protocol supposedly has slow leveling as well, but apparently a lot of people are randomly getting banned due to the game's weird anti-cheat program.

Weird as it actually bans cheaters?

I sometimes think of a guy in a leaky rowing boat trying to desperately bail out the water when it comes to banning cheats. Its a never ending job and some will always be in your game sadly.

Stop making leaky boats and then try to sail the ocean with them. If a better boat can't be built, then just don't do it at all until it can be done. Only fools build bad boats, sail them, and then cry as they're sinking. Why feel sorry for them? They made their bed.

Wargfoot

Scot said:

I sometimes think of a guy in a leaky rowing boat trying to desperately bail out the water when it comes to banning cheats. Its a never ending job and some will always be in your game sadly.

I always wanted a game where the developers would ban asshats.
There so busy going after people exploiting bad code that the community side will probably never get addressed.

Akulas

Astonia still exists somewhere if you look hard enough. Most likely still the same guy doing the private server long before 2 and 3 shut down. The other guy that used to do it got sick and died or something. Who'd play it though these days? Only older people would appreciate it.

Maybe Ryzom if that is still up. Has a skill cap but you can level up each skill. It takes a good while to do it.

Brainy

Wurm online, it pretty much doesnt have a level cap, some skills can take many years to get high.

Billiewood

Totally get what you mean. For MMOs with a longer grind and satisfying progression, you might want to check out games like Old School RuneScape or EVE Online. They offer that old-school feel with a sense of accomplishment. And hey, if you're up for some casual fun, I also like playing bingo for cash online. It's a chill way to pass the time and maybe even pocket some extra cash! Good luck!

MMOExposed

whats the point of some artificial character levels?

Kyleran

What's the point of anything really?

Quizzical

This thread died in June 2023.

Regardless, Uncharted Waters Origin nominally has a level cap of 99, but no one is close to reaching it yet.  Someone did reach level 90 not that long ago, but probably won't reach 99 by the end of the year.

KnightFalz

Kyleran said:

Embers Adrift maybe?

Not necessarily hard but difficult to stay motivated I think.

It takes a fair amount of time and that pace is largely dependent on group play which may not always be easily available at one's convenience. If one can deal with that it may be a viable choice.