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Something like WoW during TBC Expansion Pack (But Not WoW :)
I'm looking for an MMO game that involves most of the elements of the gameplay seen during the Burning Crusade expansion of World of Warcraft. I've been playing WOW since beta, and steadily over time during Wrath (the latest expansion) I've become more and more frustrated at how the game was developed after that era. The upcoming expansion, Cata, I suspect will be even worse.
I totally understand that not everyone feels the same as me, they're just targetting different users/etc these days, that's cool, but it's time for me to move on rather than play a game I'm increasingly apathetic about.
So... is there any game which fits with the following qualities - maybe not all but most?
- Large focus on PvE group content (small man dungeons, varying raid sizes in group content, lots of endgame content existing or planned, I have no issue with waiting for a beta game to be fully dev'd or something buggy, totally happy to play games with potential even if not perfect right now)
- Something not sci-fi based.. prefer fantasy-type games but dislike Asian graphics (again, I'm flexible here, would play Asian graphic games if gameplay was good)
- Some complexity... the "aoe fest" of WoW is the thing that's frustrating me... something a little bit more challenging? Maybe when people "graduate" from mainsteam MMOs they feel like I do! I love dungeons and raids but want something to sink my teeth into re: learning to play (tried EVE Online but the scifi non-avatar play + slow dev was too great for me to play longer than the trial)
- Some flexibility on other in-game activity (player housing, pvp, other stuff... I've played Dungeons & Dragons online and the narrow focus made me grew bored after a couple of months, as nice as it was)
- Not terrible graphics (I tried EQii and the dead EU server/old graphics put me off more than I'd thought it would)
- Ideally open world exploration, I tried Guild Wars and again this put me off slightly
- Don't care about cost at all, any pay model ok except so-called free games which you pay to win via cash shop, that's a massive turn off
- Don't care about grind model or length to end-game, sandbox or other, it's all good 
Any suggestions based on the above?
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vanguard saga of heros
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Which FF Character Are You?
Well, considering you're looking for a game with a lot of WoW characteristics I think it would be wrong to not mention Runes of Magic. I played it for a while, the graphics arn't rubish (they are very much WoW cartoon style). Main focus is PvE, and being the definition of WoW clone that it is, it also has raids, instances, etc. etc.
As for the complexity, you've played WoW so you know. There won't be much of a learning curve for you, however, the game does offer some other features such as player housing and a fairly decent size of crafting skills for you to work on. If you're on the border with trying this one, I'd say give a it a go and find out. The dual class system it implements was actually quite fun for me... Aside from the fact that you're leveling up two characters.
Being limited in my knowledge of P2P games I don't have much to offer from that category. However, I'm in the same boat as you, I loved all the group PvE content of WoW. Instances were a blast until you played the to death. Hard to find games that satisfy the itch of rolling through a dungeon with a group.
Good luck with your mmo hunting endeavors!
Vanguard.
And by the way, the WoW forums are ------->
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
If FFXIV lives up to the expectations of its predecessor, that'll probably suit you very well. If not, there's always FFXI!