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What's the right game for me?
uselesslogic
Member Posts: 2
Due to a change in my schedule, I'll actually have some free time coming up, albeit not as much as I would like. Because of this, I've been thinking about getting into an MMORPG and I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion for me. So, first, some background:
My game tastes are split in half between strategy and RPG. I'm obsessed with Age of Empires (all of them) and I'm a big fan of Final Fantasy (I've played all of them).
I've tried the MMO scene before. I started with Diablo back on a 28.8k modem, then moved on to Ultima Online for a couple months but found it too complex (although my opinion could be different now). I tried Everquest for a month and just didn't find it very engaging and newbie-unfriendly.
A year or so later Final Fantasy XI came out and since I'm an uberfan of the series, I was one of the first in. I did that for about 4 months. I made it to about level 16 and hit a brick wall. The game really requires some regular party-goers and a lot of free time - I had neither. I tried again a few months later with another character class and ran into the same problem. I was disappointed to cancel my account. I really loved the scenery and the mood and even the gameplay. The only thing I didn't like was the sheer amount of time required to progress. With school and a job, I just didn't have the time to justify $15/month.
The next summer I played City of Heroes and played the crap out of it that summer. I loved how I could play for an hour or two at a time and make progress. Plus, there was no shortage of people wanting to team up. I didn't like the scenery at all, which is important to me. I really want to be immersed in the virtual world and a generic comic book city just doesn't do it for me.
Finally, I picked up Guild Wars and loved the graphics, controls, and the cost (free) ! However, I really don't like the fact that the only MMO regions were in towns - the outside world is instanced, which just isn't right.
I had a lot of good times in FFXI and City of Heroes and if FFXI made the leveling curve easier and made it easier to solo, I'd be back in a heartbeat. However, this doesn't look like it's going to happen. So I'm left looking for something else. Can anyone recommend something for me? Right now I'm thinking LotR Online even though I'm not really a big LotR fan. I'm also considering FFXI again, but this could be a mistake...
Comments
The games i would choose if i didnt have any time to group would be EQ2 (much more newb friendly than EQ1, and has lots of solo and group content), WoW (EQ 2 over wow, wow gets boring fast for some people and EQ2 has more content, especially in endgame, i would say only get wow if you have a pc that cant support anything better), and although i havnt played it i've heard tabula rasa is pretty solo and group friendly as well, makers of CoH so it may just float your boat if you liked CoH. the only problem wiht EQ2 is you need a relativly good pc to play it and you will have to drop a pretty penny if you want the expansion packs. My first pick woudl be EQ 2, then probably TR, then wow (only if you have a pc in between the ranges of crappy and decent though)... LotRO is alright, but from my experiences playing it, you ahve to be into the LotR lore to really get into it.
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Your requirements, as I read it:
I'd definitely say WoW, EQII or LotRO, leaning towards the former. EQII has more of the brick wall without a group than the other two, and WoW simply has so many different server communities that finding one that suits you should be very doable.
If you don't like WoW after some time at least you have experience from the game most people have tried and we should be able to guide you to another game fitting your tastes.
From what you described, the right game for you is located at this URL:
www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/forum/841
If Sci-fi is ok for you then Tabula Rasa because I am in the same boat. I have 2 accounts on EVE going and log on when I can but I play more TR as I can jump in for 1-2 hours and you actually accomplish something. Plus you can pretty much get into some action within seconds. Groups are easy to find as well.
Another vote for Tabula Rasa here.
The game is amazingly fast paced... you can jump in and out and still kick some Bane butt and feel like you've accomplished something. The tier system lets you work out what kind of class you'd like to play through actual play (instead of choosing from the beginning)... and the best part is that you can clone your character before choosing a new tier, so you always have a fallback if you decide you don't like your choice. No need to reroll from level 1 here!
The graphics and sound are great, the community seems mixed but good so far. They are patching huge patches every two weeks and have already talked about some really nifty stuff they're looking to add (like personal mechs). The only downside is that performance can suck on older computers... as long as you have a decent video card and plenty of RAM you should be good.
The story is good and believable. All of the game mechanics make sense to the world - like teleportation and cloning. The writing is good and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny.
BEST of all are the devs. Very supportive of player-run activities... they interact with the community on a scale I haven't seen since the beginning of UO.
All in all, I'm having a BLAST in Tabula Rasa (no pun intended) and it really makes playing other games seem boring and slow.
Get a 3 day trial from an active subscriber and check it out!
Regarding Tabula Rasa, a previous poster mentioned that it was made by the same company that made City of Heroes, but that's not the case. It's published by the same company, but it was made by Destination Games, whereas City of Heroes was made by Cryptic studios. The two games are radically different in pretty much every way and were designed by entirely different people. That said, they're both quality games for what it is they do. I do think you'll find the environment in Tabula Rasa to be more engrossing than CoH's, though. It feels as much like a make-believe war zone as any MMO is going to.
World of Warcraft and Everquest 2, both of which were mentioned by others, would be good choices in the short term. In the long term, you're looking at a lot of long raids. That doesn't mean they're bad choices at all, but it's something to be aware of. Really, all MMOs end up with either raiding, pvp, or a combination of the two, so endgame content is going to be an issue for someone with very limited time regardless of where you go. The good news is that it'll take you awhile to reach that stage if you're not playing four hours a day.
I'd also recommend giving the Lord of the Rings Online free trial a go. It's a decent game, not especially complicated, very attractive artwork and world design. It's a much slower game than Tabula Rasa, and combat actually tends to be slower than pretty much any game I can think of, but it's still entertaining and well-designed, and Turbine is excellent when it comes to updates. You said you're not a big fan of LoTRO, but that shouldn't really be an issue. Yes, it has all the same elves, dwarves and orcs pretty much every fantasy game has, but the quests are actually somewhat interesting to read, and the gameplay's entertaining enough to keep you going even if you just skim them. In any case, you'll know within about twenty minutes (if that) of playing the free trial whether it's for you or not, as the trial gives a pretty good representation of the gameplay mechanics.
Thanks for all of your help! I was actually considering Tabula Rasa. I'm more of a fan of the fantasy genre, but I could see getting into TR from what I've read about it. I hadn't really thought of Everquest 2 since I wasn't a fan of the first, but I'll look into it. My plans are to check out the free trials of TR and LotR.
Thanks for the help again. If anyone has any other suggestions, send them my way!
As you said you like fantasy more I would suggest Dungeons and Dragons online,easy to get a group they also added the abilty to solo it.