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LF a game like Everquest 1, only better gfx (long)..
I have been ruined by Everquest 1. Why ruined? Because it's so damn good gameplay-wise that no one can compare. As a monk, I'm tired of looking at 50 text abilities and swinging the same way every attack. To sum it up, I'm sick of the old gfx that severely need a revamp. I've tried EQ2 and you can't do anything solo in that game without dire consequences and it's repetitive, leaving you with only 1-2 places to hunt per 10 levels.
Vanguard was AMAZING, the "real eq2", the only problem is that it's severely glitchy (a lot better now), but the #1 reason I don't play Vanguard is because you have this massive world...... and no one plays it. If there was a massive community, it would be an ideal mmo for now.
Blade and soul looks amazing .. but the beta starts 2k10 and who knows when it'll be released. Same with ff14 since ff11 was similar to eq1 in many ways. But 2010... I'm trying to figure out what to play now or extremely soon.
Warhammer was really fun until lvl 20ish .. then i found out my class was gimp and got bored. Tried a new class, but had no replay value of catching up and soon got bored of the game itself and all its features.
World of Warcraft was GREAT, although I found it not very challenging in comparison to eq1 (see how eq1 ruins my mmo life? I compare everything to it!).. no secrets like eq1 since everyone had everything everywhere. It's made for new players to mmos.... then at max lvl cap, you can't do ANYTHING except raid. EQ1 you can continue leveling with Alternate Advancement points. Everytime I kill a mob in WoW max lvl, I'd cringe for how much of a waste of time it was. WoW was great because of diverse places to level and had a lot of replay value for new chars with different experiences each time like eq1. But ... again, as soon as I hit max lvl, was extremely bored. Plus it's all about your "gear score" now or you can't raid at all. Too many people have access to your stats and makes things tough. At max lvl, everyone is pretty much exactly the same and has the same gear. That's boring too .... but highly recommended to those that never played before ~ sucks tho because more than likely ALL your friends are 1000 levels higher than you and you'll never, ever catch up to them.
Aion was AMAZING! ...then I realized after level 11, it's the biggest grindfest I've ever seen in my life. Like EQ1 when they had hell levels times 10000. It got extremely repetitive, to say the least. Level 1 to 11 I voted it best game ever .... level 11 to 25, I voted it a piss poor attempt of copy+paste. The anticipated pvp that holds u back from any pvp combat till lvl 25 was epic failure. Beautiful gfx on pvp battlegrounds, but no one is there it's empty -- only just usually 1 giant gank squad vs you. Everytime you cast a spell you get the EXACT SAME character voice sound saying the name of the spell per cast. When you are chain casting, this gets nightmare-ish. This was a potentially amazing game that plopped because of repetitivity. There is also ONE PLACE that you can go all the way through the game. There is no diverse world. It leads you exactly where you need to go. Boring and no replay value for new chars.
EVE online ...... extremely boring at the beginning, then you get used to the game and you're like "ok this is pretty cool". Then you realize that every single combat involved with NPCs is simply 100% auto attack. There's NO abilities you really use that'll help you that's not passive. Everything... EVERYTHING... is passive. You literally sit there and spin circles around your target until either it dies or you die. PvP? Voted best rated? That's only if you're EXTREMELY end game and patient enough to get in a 100-man pvp raid group. The ONLY pvp you'll be doing by yourself or with a group ... is warping in and getting ganked by a group of people literally just sitting there for hours that 1 lost soul will port in and get ganked. That's pvp for ya! If not a massive raid, you sit down and "camp" portals and just gimp them. It's not a battle at all, just a swift death that usually happens before you are even finishhed loading. Beautiful gfx, but very dull and slow gameplay. You learn your skills over time (a static amoutn of time .. some abilities take 1 month to learn) and you even can accomplish this offline. SO , I found myself logging on ... learning a 1 week ability ... and not logging on again for a week and repeating. It was no longer a game.
So.. that said... what do I do? I really don't want to go back to eq1 for now ... I'm currently playing League of Legends, a DOTA game which is fun as hell, but i miss the mmo factor.
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Former EQ1 Rallos Zek (PvP)
Ascendant Chronei Immortal of Rallos Zek
(Now @ Prexus)
Comments
If Vanguard failed you, I fear nothing can quench that thirst atm.
Maybe try something new. Spellborn, DDO, Mortal, Darkfall, Wurm, Face of Mankind, yada yada yada yada yada...hmm?!
Yeah, those are some games that are different, though not all quite refined yet.
You could also WATCH Dawntide, which is very very early in development and may give you the same feeling of high adventure. However, once again, it's beyond early in development and it's also a FFA full loot PvP sandbox MMO.
Check out the MUD I'm making!
Don't get me wrong, I REALLY enjoyed vanguard. In fact, it was almost perfect! But the glitches .. so many .... because of this, the community swiftly left and never returned even after their re-release. If they were to release vanguard with a different name claiming it a new mmo, they would surely gain more props and people would play it.
It's such a massive, amazing world .... and it's so .. desolate. There's no one there. Through level 1 to 30, I grouped with perhaps 3 people. No one else was anywhere near. I was hunting in the main areas! So much potential, SO much potential .... yet the world is .. empty. It's extremely depressing...
Thanks for suggestions -- I'll give a few of those a look into. ESPECIALLY dawntide ... that sounds great!
Better yet, if they were smart, they'd shut down vanguard .. repackage it, change a few things and storyline and call it Everquest 3.
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Former EQ1 Rallos Zek (PvP)
Ascendant Chronei Immortal of Rallos Zek
(Now @ Prexus)
I think the closest would be Ryzom, but to find a true successor to EverQuest is going to be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.
Reasons are that challenging MMO's are not the 'it thing', numbers (of subscriptions) would suggest that people prefer more casual or easy games than games with challenge or games that punish poor game play/lack of player skill. Player vs. Player while the vocal clamor for it, its not ever going to be fair or balanced and thus you get holy trinity and zerg tactics that not only get old, are predictable thus boring at best. PvE with no risk get boring even faster in these type of games that are asking us to play for months on end and even years.
EverQuest was a different breed of MMO and one that most likely only got as successful as it did because of timing and lack of competition, and I'm not talking polished competition here. Remember EverQuet never broke the 1 million active subscriptions mark that WoW and a few other games have now.
EverQuest II was never the successor to EverQuest, EverQuest II was maid for those who thought EverQuest was too hard, just like about every other MMO since EQ and once they seen how easy WoW was and how it got to 11 million subs, hard to justify a publisher asking for a challenging MMO to be made. Vanguard tried and failed (but not because of the challenge, it was poor preformace of the engine (coding) and a failed launch as they had to release early due to running out of a ton of money from both Microsoft and Sony.
Don't get me wrong, I REALLY enjoyed vanguard. In fact, it was almost perfect! But the glitches .. so many .... because of this, the community swiftly left and never returned even after their re-release. If they were to release vanguard with a different name claiming it a new mmo, they would surely gain more props and people would play it.
It's such a massive, amazing world .... and it's so .. desolate. There's no one there. Through level 1 to 30, I grouped with perhaps 3 people. No one else was anywhere near. I was hunting in the main areas! So much potential, SO much potential .... yet the world is .. empty. It's extremely depressing...
Thanks for suggestions -- I'll give a few of those a look into. ESPECIALLY dawntide ... that sounds great!
Better yet, if they were smart, they'd shut down vanguard .. repackage it, change a few things and storyline and call it Everquest 3.
Yeah, Vanguard is desolate.
Dawntide has a closed invitation-only beta going on but seriously, character customization isn't even in yet. Out of 4 races, you can be a stock standard human male or female currently, barebones skill sets, basic housing rulesets, incomplete combat, etc, etc and is being worked on regularly.
It's honestly more worth it to watch right now than to be playing.
And lol to the last comment. The only thing is 2 different studios made VG and EQ lol.
Check out the MUD I'm making!
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Former EQ1 Rallos Zek (PvP)
Ascendant Chronei Immortal of Rallos Zek
(Now @ Prexus)
Xblade724, I would put WoW success more on the fact that pretty much every computer in the world can play it (low low system requirements) and that the game is polished well in may areas. They will still need polish on the new(er) stuff they are adding, but the stuff thats been in the game a while is well balanced and works.
Advertising is an area I won't argue about, but that will get some to buy your box, keeping them in the game is not what Ozzy or Mr. T are going to do for you... Keeping players in your game for years will being in even more than ads will as those people tell their friends to play it and the good ad cycle begins.
If people don't like your game, its not going to do as well... no matter how much of an ad budget you've got... it will get an initial purchase, but it won't keep them engaged in your product.
I am having the same problem...EQ1 has ruined my mmo's. I have played all the ones you have and then some, with very similar feelings. I am at that point in WoW right now where I can do 2 raids a week for gear upgrades, thats it pvp I am waiting for a new season for new gear. Right now I am DESPERATELY searching for something new. Nothing seems to stack up or have the depth that I need in an mmo. Biggest problem I am having is all these f2p games are huge grinds, so if you find something PLEASE let me know!!
Dawntide is now in open beta.
And I want another EQ1, too!
Currently playing: EverQuest
Waiting for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen
All I got for you is an echo of what others have said...Ryzom and try Vanguard again. The reason I'm commenting then is to make the recommendation to try the games with the specific intent of getting and finding a great guild as soon as possible. In Ryzom I don't think it would be hard at all, and in Vanguard I think it would just be a matter of finding a guild with people who have some alts they'd like to level with you.
It's a long shot, but I think if I were you that would be my best choice.