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Help for bored older gamer!
Hello,
I have been playing mmos for god knows how long now and i tend to play solidly for months/years then give up for a bit/get bored - hence i have played tried most mmos at some point, luckily i have a really really bad memory so i can go back and replay/rerole quite happily 
The games that help me longest were Uo (for a very long time), Lotro,Fallen earth, wurm, AO and believe it or not rpgwo!
I never tried WOW or SWG, but i assume theres not a lot of point going in now.
I have some spare time and would like to have another game to play again for a while but it needs to have customizable housing, items that can be found/dropped on the floor for others (bit of a packrat) with good crafting (pref so you can be a full crafter) either be ftp or free trial.
My comp is starting to suffer now and struggles badly in Fallen earth towns (which is why i left) and i was wondering if there was anything thats been out over the last couple of years i might have missed or an older game that is worth a look again?
Not bothered about graphics, gameplay is way more important to me!
Any advice would be great, and thanks in advance.
Comments
In my humble expereince EQ2 has a wonderful housing system and crafting (thought dumbed down a bit since release). Vanguard also has both of these things as does SWG. Then again many dont like $OE but in ech game you find smaller though good communities.
Darkfall?
Besides Wurm, SWG is about the only thing that does all that (housing-wise). I've taken an interest in A Tale in the Desert, but I'm waiting for the 5th telling to start before I give it a try, you may want to give it a look as well. I just don't think that whatever housing it may have would be as indepth as the aforementioned ones though.
There really isn't much out there in that department these days. EQ2 and VG are good areas to check it out too I guess, though I never got that far in the former to test it, and I have never even tried the latter yet.
(Darkfall doesn't do any of this though)
In all honesty it may be worth it to try SWG before it's disappears completely. Not only can you place an item on the ground, you can target it and use commands to move it in any direction and rotate it. Simply amazing deco in that game, I wish I had pictures of my old houses to show you. They truly were creative genius.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
you might also want to check out mortal online but I wouldn't buy it yet you may be dissapointed, give it a few months or so and it may or may not have improved.
Mortal Online has housing, but nothing to collect and lay out within them. Everything is player-made, and it's basically only gear. No fluff whatsoever.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
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Some may not agree for whatever reason but you should at least try wow . There is a reason it is the #1 MMO . Wow might not do anything the BEST but it does everything pretty good unlike every other MMO ive tried . I go on new player flagged servers and help out new players and I am helping out a lady and her husband right now who played UO for years and also SWG and they are loving WOW .
Wow is the closet thing to me as an old gamer who used to play in quarter driven arcades to an arcade game . You can pop in if you only have an hour and grind some mobs or just sit in a city and talk wth friends while you wait for a dungeon Que to pop and you get some loot ...or you can que for battlegrounds or dungeons while you quest . You say there is no point but that is the great thing about wow it is so accessible .
You can join today and be highest level in less 2 weeks ( if you play a lot ) and on your way to being a super powered toon in just another few weeks to start raiding along with long time players . Im bored to death with it cause I got 7 level 80's and I need new content but now is a great time to join wow because the whole game is about to change with a new expansion called cataclysm . Level up your first character now and your second chaacter will have whole new content to level up on ...lol..anyways good luck dont listen to haters of WOW it's an awesome game and ive played like 10 MMo's
They plan to have armour racks and other stuff to put in your house I believe.
Lol, glad you have a main squeeze in a game, but that advert is borderline shill. (on WoW, not MO)
...quarter-driven arcades... psh, I don't know where people get this stuff.
On another note, LotRO has housing, but by all accounts it doesn't match up to the previously mentioned games. On the bright side though, the music system is absolutely tits, and you can grow pipeweed and smoke it. I was paying for a sub in order to only do those two things at one point, and I will return when it's F2P to do the same again.
(oh yeah, you listed that as something you already played)
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
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Hello have You heard of Vanguard saga of heroes it has a trial and housing great crafting(when u understand it lol) also diplomacy free flight open world boats fishing the world is amazing www.vanguardsoh.com
There's gonna be a housing system in Atlantica Online. I just don't know how it works. And the crafting is good and you get to become atisan or expert on crafts of your choice. The only problem is the items can't be dropped on the floor.
I advise DDO!
Old gamer myself, and what I loved about older RPG games was the feeling of adventure, discovering and story. Most mmo's dont have that anymore, its just grinding 20 of this and 50 of that. DDO brings that same classic dungeon feeling of puzzles, traps and storys.
its free now so no excuse
Thanks muchly for the quick replys!
I did try A tale in the desert once, a while ago but i seem to remember it was right at the end of that game period and everything was nearly completed or something? so i will keep an eye on when the next one starts.
You are right that i should at least try swg and wow, they both have free trials so i lose nothing i guess, and it will keep me occupied for a bit.
Mortal online seems to look really good for me, but i may wait till theres a trial so i can check it will run ok for me before shelling out my hard earned!!
Seen lots of mixed views on DF, think i will download tonight and see how it goes.
Cheers again.
I'm a older gamer at 36, playing SWG, COH, and EVE longest. I have been in AoC on and off since launch, and I must tell you, the game rocks now. I am glad I gave that game another shot last year.
Age of Conan is the only MMO that don't feel like a kids game besides EVE. TONS of content. I love the combat. Graphics are unmatched (and scale down much better then I remember Fallen Earth while looking better). The expansion is very cool. The game is heading in a great direction.
EVE is still a top notch game, but it started feeling like I needed a in game day job just to undock in anything decent. I get enough full loss in real life. I personally don't have time for it in a MMO with spaceships that cost so damn much lol.
SWG is done. Don't waist your time. SOE is letting it crash and burn. All servers except 1 are totally dead, and the 1 populated server runs like complete crap. SOE adds Ewok love dolls, and rainbow fairey wings along with a RMT scam "TCG". Pay real cash for a CHANCE at some shiney garbage.
I really gave SWG a good third chance last year, and the game is just so done, it was sad. BUGS on bugs on bugs on bugs in lairs of a Frankenstein code. When SWTOR comes, SWG will have a final nail in the coffin. I would not suggest putting time into a toon on such a neglected game.
Issues with performance on SWG is so bad you run inside a building and another player will see you freeze, and totally loose sight. It is so bad people use it as a combat tactic. They refer to it as LOS (line of sight). Pathetic because SOE does nothing to upgrade server hardware, infact SOE DOWNGRADED graphic engine and server hardware over the years of "enhancements" and lower budgets.
To sum my post up;
AoC my current fav, EVE a solid MMO
SWG in bad shape. AVOID!
Yeah, but it has his #1 stipulation; housing.
AoC is a great game, I agree, but you and many others seem to miss the points in what he is looking for and are just preaching about your current fav games. Plus, he said something about his comp being junker, so.... AoC may be out of the question.
The only ones that do any of this are SWG, EQ2 and Vanguard (all SOE games, strange). The rest either do a mediocre job or eschew housing all together.
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Crap I'm 35.. So my guess is late 20's is middle aged for gamers?
Bingo. However, neither EQ & Vanguard are known for their gentle system requirements either. Shoot me down in flames but maybe something like Second Life? I have never played and only know what I have read about it. I but did read all the pervs have their own area now (with the result the world proper is somewhat barren). I guess it depends how much of a 'game' you want.
40 here...apparently, I'm ready to be put down or something.....
And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Friedrich Nietzsche
I would go with Darkfall if you want a sandbox PVP game. You can place a garden/grove to harvest, slot machine, player vendor, safe, crafting bench, furniture and decorations, badger head!, etc. Houses in Darkfall are in villages that can be captured by clans. All of the taxes in that village go to the clan who captured it until the next clan captures it or until the server restarts. Player homes are only lost if you do not pay the taxes and are pretty hard to get in this game.
I would go with Vanguard if you want a theme-park PVE game. Housing is pretty cool in this one because you can place pretty much anything in the house and arrange it however you wish. Crafting allows you to make all sorts of stuff from forks to silverware . .. a lot of things can be made for your house from each type of crafting.
SWG isn't dead quite yet . .. there is a US east-coast server that still has a pretty good pop.
These games are in huge open worlds without instances. Darkfall is currently my favorite by far.
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Lots have alredy said it but I thought I woudl chime in.
Hosing is important for me as well and there just arnt many games that do it for me on that front.
EQ2 has housing its not bad but (for as far as I got) it wasnt the best, the decoration features are ok the costs arn't bad at all; the game over all is top notch in my book and its graphics can be scaled to run on a complete slug or up to choke a solid rig
DAoC: none mentioned it and it is drasticly changed from when I played but it does or at least did have a solid housing system; you can decorate the inside and out side of your home and upgrade it over time . . . or could last I played years ago. The game play last I tryed it is very much so easy button but that might be a pirk for a game to fill in some time
SWG: I never got to try this one but have read many good things on its housing
Vanguard: really fun game never got far enough to have a house; played the free trial several times just never subed always some other game to pull me away
Darkfall: I played it a bit when it first came out never got to try the housing but the game play was fun; I am more of a PvE guy so it didn't really fit me but even as a PvEer the game was fun
WoW has no housing of any type; not a fan of the game but I do recomend trying it if you never have; especialy before the new expansion since it will be undergoing a major overhal and this will be you last chance to see the old world so I understand
Aion: so I understand from roomers and what not is suppose to offer some kind of housing option not sure if thats been implemented or if it is/was just another roomer I got confused as a preview . . . think I saw it on there main site. As for the game play its fun the art style isn't my usual fair but its prity
LotRo: a good solid game basic housing but its there; think you said you had played it so you know how it goes
Over all I would say EQ is the best over all of the ones on the list given your wants; DAoC might be #1 if the new game play suits you otherwise I think LotRo is about your only option for a MMO with housing. I know there are others I have played but since I cant think of them atm they must not have stood out as much as the ones I listed since its been some time since I have played any of them (sept LotRo played it just recently)