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LF F2P MMO similar to EQ
Hey all,
I am waiting on the FFXVI beta to try it out, but I have a feeling it won't be what I am looking for. One it has no pvp which is something I am looking for, as well the combat looks so meh in the videos I have seen.
What I need:
1. Large areas to explore (think EQ)
2. PvP (something to do when I am bored of PvE)
3. PvE that is all instanced. Hate how everyone in WoW has the same stuff (again think EQ)
4. Isn't too grindy (lineage/aion)
5. Variety (needs more than 4 classes)
I am not sure one exsists, and I have played a lot but just looking for some help just incase FFXVI doesn't work out. If there isn't anything out now, which game coming in the near future could be the one I am looking for.
Thanks
Comments
Well, I have very little experience with F2P games but from what I read you might have trouble finding one that is not grindy. They seem to all lean that direction. But... I recently started playing Perfect World and so far I am not finding it to be grindy at all. I understand that the quests start to thin out at the really high levels though but they are adding new quests and areas for those level ranges soon from what I hear. They appear to generally support the idea of having quests all they way though the game. They also have a recurring super epic quest line starting at 9 and going to lvl 100 involving your Spiritual Development where you eventually become a Sage or a Demon which will effect how some of your abilities work depending on your class.
It is F2P so the leveling is slow but steady. I don't think it is bad but it might frustrate if you just want to get to end game right away. Also, the last 5 levels, 101-105 are very very very slow. The game is not designed to reach max level rather end game starts in the 90s and your progression in endgame includes slowly earning the final levels. In the west, the game is almost 2 years old and there are no 104s or 105s. There are only 18 103s.
1. It has a very large open map. The world is definitly big and growing from what I hear.
2. PvP is based off Territory Wars just like L2. Factions (guilds) fight over the territories and control them. You can also turn yourself on for PK. If you want to kill you have to be open to being killed. And there are also arenas. If you want to go more hardcore while leveling there are also PvP servers.
3. Not sure what you mean by this. I know they have PvE instances though honestly I am only 17 as yet so I haven't done any.. As for everyone having the same stuff, just by looking at everyone in the bigger towns, there appears to be a lot of variety of what people wear.
4. It hasn't been grindy for me yet but then I am not far in. So far it is very strong on quests. But if you have played Lin2 then you are going to noticed the similarities. PWI is very much like Lin2 but that is to be expected. Lin2 in a lot of ways is the WoW of Asia. If most western games end up looking, feeling and playing like WoW then it should be expected that a new player in the Asian market would end up looking and playing like the most popular asian MMO. The big differences though are flying by lvl 20 or 30, lots of quests and a cash shop.
On the other side though, you can kind of see where NCsoft returned the favor and stole back a lot of the Flying and Angles elements for Aion. So you could say, from an aesthetic point of view. PWI is a poor man's Aion but with much much more content. The graphics are not quite as good as Aion but it is still a very pretty game. And of course, chicks seem to dig that beauty. Lots of women in PWI just like in Aion. I think the Asians have figured out that some women like being able to look pretty and girly while they play the game and kick butt. go figure. But the pretty seems to be balanced by the PvP for us overly competitive guys so it all works.
5. 8 classes most of which can be played and spec'd in different ways. Only 4 races though and your choice of class chooses your race for you. There is no overlap. If you want to be a wizard, you will be a human. Not bad though. It helps to maintain a variety of people running around. Each race has its own starting areas as well so an alt doesn't have to repeat the same exact area which is nice.
A nice feature is that Flying is deeply integrated into the game. You can fight while in flight. There are monsters in the air. But it is not like Aion where you only get a minute or two of flight time. Flying uses a small amount of mana but if you are not fighting you will regain that mana faster than you use it so you can fly indefinitly as a mode of travel. But if you do start fighting while in flight the only cost is you effectivly regen your mana slower. Not so bad.
You got to keep in mind that it is an F2P so they do structure it to encourage you to buy things from the cash shop. Most of it is fluff or convienence items. If you enjoy the game you might want to plan on spending some one time initial cash on getting inventory expansions. That really replaces the one time initial cost of a game. Not so bad. You can get a mount in game but you can get one earlier if you buy it, you can also get ones that go faster. You can also buy Hyper Exp stones but again, be careful. If you are too driven to get to high levels fast you could end up spending up to $75 a month on stones if you use them every day. That is 5X more than a regular subscription. You can also buy these grab bag random items. They are targeted to the gamblers. If you have a gambling addiction then they could be a problem. But you don't need those or the exp stones to enjoy the game. In fact, the advantage to not using exp stones is that you get more money since you have to kill more mobs to gain the same levels. So perhaps plan on one-time inventory expansions if you plan to stay with the game but there is no reason to spend much or anything on the game on a ongoing basis. Just make sure you have settled on the character you will play for the long term. The expansions go with the character.
One thing that is often overlooked about the appeal of a game is the over all aesthetic. This game is very traditional Chinese and Chinese mythology in its look and feel. The landscaping is very Chinese right down to the cherry blossom trees. The music is very nice and soothing and traditional. The whole feel is very celestial and other worldly from a western perspective while still being vaguely familiar. Even as you are hacking monsters apart it is still a very soothing environment. Very enjoyable.
Over all I would say give PWI a try. The worst that could happen is that you waste the time it took to download it. I can't promise that it wont get grindy by the end of the game but FFXIV will be out long before you get there. I am also waiting on FFXIV and so far PWI seems like a nice place to hang out until then.
All die, so die well.
Thanks for the detailed reply!
As for number 3, in EQ there were certain zones and depending on which they could contain a "boss". That boss was free game for anyone to kill and would have a respawn time of maybe 1 week. Think all the open world bosses in WoW. This for me made the game so much more addicting, because you couldn't just zone into ICC and kill the lich king in 10/25 player mode and get "uber lootz". In WOW everyone just ends up with the same gear. In EQ, you saw people with gear that you might never see, but in turn you could also end up with something they wouldn't. It made the game so much more enjoyable because everything wasn't scripted.
I'll check it out, I think I played a long time ago but obviously games change. If anyone has any other suggestions feel free to let me know because like I said originally if FFXVI ends up not being what I am looking for I am back to square one.
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