As far as decent population goes you are limited to EVE online outside of some old 2D games. I am currently having the most fun with Darkfall but until you get into a good clan it will seem like a single-player game mostly but that also means that you can safely PVE without getting ganked which may be good news for you if you are afraid of trying a harsh PVP game because until you get together with others and take some risks you probably will not PVP much.
NEWS FLASH!"A bank was robbed the other day and a man opened fire on the customers being held hostage. One customer zig-zag sprinted until he found cover. When questioned later he explained that he was a hardcore gamer and knew just what to do!" Download my music for free! I release several albums per month as part of project "Thee Untitled" . .. some video game music remixes and cover songs done with instruments in there as well! http://theeuntitled.bandcamp.com/Check out my roleplaying blog, collection of fictional short stories, and fantasy series... updated on a blog for now until I am finished!https://childrenfromtheheavensbelow.blogspot.com/Watch me game on occasion or make music... https://www.twitch.tv/spoontheeuntitled and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUvqULn678VrF3OasgnbsyA
However, if you plan on PvPing, make sure you have friends. Solo PvE is ok and does have a vast amount of options, but I found the PvE very boring.
I played it for the PvP (was within the top 100 rated in the game at one time), but solo PvP is dead in that game now. You have to roll around with a gang of dudes to be effective and that takes the fun out of it for me (some people enjoy it tho, so whatever floats your boat).
Runescape. Get passedd the slow paced combat, repetition, and kids; you'll actually have a good time playing. The quests are actually quite challenging, take time/devotion, develop the story line, and give great rewards that will allow you to utilize/advance in the game way further than a typical grinder.
There are very few bots now with the demise of Mark & Eric Snellman's botting 'platform'.
Runescape. Get passedd the slow paced combat, repetition, and kids; you'll actually have a good time playing. The quests are actually quite challenging, take time/devotion, develop the story line, and give great rewards that will allow you to utilize/advance in the game way further than a typical grinder.
There are very few bots now with the demise of Mark & Eric Snellman's botting 'platform'.
Sounds the same as Tibia honestly, slow combat and some repetition and annoying kids but challenging quests and lots of stuff to do.
Archage will be bad, all gameplay videos show it. I hope I'm wrong but this will be just another asian grinder.
Right now mmo market is barren if you are looking for a sandbox to play and stay. EVE is going down the drain (slowly but surely) and other games have very little active players.
It's reality of today's world. WOWification of humanity has been complete:)
Care to explain your reasoning behind that bit in green? It's looking quite healthy to me.
I cant speak for someone else, but i believe at least some of that statement probably comes from all the bad press lately. There was alot of major outcry over some of the latest patches I beleive and like any game it has its ups and downs. Population seemed plenty healthy with more than 30000 players online when i tried it. Thats all in the same world, as its a single server. Not spread out with 40 or 50 servers like WoW or even the 10 or 15 of Eq2 or LoTRO. (pretty much any themepark).
But to get back on topic, its all been covered already. Wurm is probably your best bet, unless you can get into EvE. I tried it, and just couldnt. At its core, its a flight sim, so if youre used to your games having an avatar that walks around the game world, interacting with objects and NPCs and doing your quests....well then EVE is not for you :P The gameplay is fantastic, the world is enormous and the graphics are amazing. All this should make it a no-contest game, but being a space flight sim (your "character" is a spaceship that flies around the universe) really makes it a niche game.
Just telling you to wait for Archeage is counter productive, since noone has any idea when it will be done. And all the beta gameplay videos could in reality be absolutely nothing like the finished product. Once this goes into a final beta and is closer to release, then maybe track it alittle closer. Until then, play Wurm, thats really your only option (i havent even played it yet, so dont take my word that its actually any good) (
Archage will be bad, all gameplay videos show it. I hope I'm wrong but this will be just another asian grinder.
Right now mmo market is barren if you are looking for a sandbox to play and stay. EVE is going down the drain (slowly but surely) and other games have very little active players.
It's reality of today's world. WOWification of humanity has been complete:)
Care to explain your reasoning behind that bit in green? It's looking quite healthy to me.
It is healthy, dont listen to bitter vets and people who stay updated. Incarna was shit but Crucible is good stuff if flying ships is your thing.
I'd estimate that the game has 20000 characters in a company (guild), some of which are inactive. Netmarble does disband inactive companies however. That's not a ton of alts, either, as few players have more than two characters, and most only have one. And it also doesn't count characters who aren't in a company.
I'd also estimate the number of players online concurrently as being around 1000. That's not exactly WoW numbers, but it's plenty enough for the game to feel active, and not deserted at all.
Like many sandboxes, UWO doesn't have a "main objective". You can pick and choose what you want to do and what you don't want to do. I've got the highest adventuring level in my company, but my trade level probably isn't even in the top 20 (out of 48, including inactives). And what people do breaks down a lot more finely than the three main levels, too. Shipwrecks are classified as adventuring, but I don't like them, so I've only done one, ever.
In my view, the main purpose of companies is to make it easier to communicate. Then again, that's true of most MMORPGs. Company shops and company colonies do mean that there is more of a built-in purpose other than communication for companies than guilds have in most games. The only except to that that I can think of that I've played is A Tale in the Desert, which heavily relied on its guild system as a way to share infrastructure.
Comments
As far as decent population goes you are limited to EVE online outside of some old 2D games. I am currently having the most fun with Darkfall but until you get into a good clan it will seem like a single-player game mostly but that also means that you can safely PVE without getting ganked which may be good news for you if you are afraid of trying a harsh PVP game because until you get together with others and take some risks you probably will not PVP much.
As far as new games on the horizon there is Darkfall 2.0 expansion which will be like a new game and I am also keeping my eyes on Kingdoms of Amalur, World of Darkness, Embers of Caerus, and ArcheAge.
Meh. Not much to choose from . ..
NEWS FLASH! "A bank was robbed the other day and a man opened fire on the customers being held hostage. One customer zig-zag sprinted until he found cover. When questioned later he explained that he was a hardcore gamer and knew just what to do!" Download my music for free! I release several albums per month as part of project "Thee Untitled" . .. some video game music remixes and cover songs done with instruments in there as well! http://theeuntitled.bandcamp.com/ Check out my roleplaying blog, collection of fictional short stories, and fantasy series... updated on a blog for now until I am finished! https://childrenfromtheheavensbelow.blogspot.com/ Watch me game on occasion or make music... https://www.twitch.tv/spoontheeuntitled and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUvqULn678VrF3OasgnbsyA
EvE is legit.
However, if you plan on PvPing, make sure you have friends. Solo PvE is ok and does have a vast amount of options, but I found the PvE very boring.
I played it for the PvP (was within the top 100 rated in the game at one time), but solo PvP is dead in that game now. You have to roll around with a gang of dudes to be effective and that takes the fun out of it for me (some people enjoy it tho, so whatever floats your boat).
Runescape. Get passedd the slow paced combat, repetition, and kids; you'll actually have a good time playing. The quests are actually quite challenging, take time/devotion, develop the story line, and give great rewards that will allow you to utilize/advance in the game way further than a typical grinder.
There are very few bots now with the demise of Mark & Eric Snellman's botting 'platform'.
Definitely Wurm for sandbox.
The animations and graphics are not polished, but the game itself is very cool.
Sounds the same as Tibia honestly, slow combat and some repetition and annoying kids but challenging quests and lots of stuff to do.
Care to explain your reasoning behind that bit in green? It's looking quite healthy to me.
Where's the any key?
I cant speak for someone else, but i believe at least some of that statement probably comes from all the bad press lately. There was alot of major outcry over some of the latest patches I beleive and like any game it has its ups and downs. Population seemed plenty healthy with more than 30000 players online when i tried it. Thats all in the same world, as its a single server. Not spread out with 40 or 50 servers like WoW or even the 10 or 15 of Eq2 or LoTRO. (pretty much any themepark).
But to get back on topic, its all been covered already. Wurm is probably your best bet, unless you can get into EvE. I tried it, and just couldnt. At its core, its a flight sim, so if youre used to your games having an avatar that walks around the game world, interacting with objects and NPCs and doing your quests....well then EVE is not for you :P The gameplay is fantastic, the world is enormous and the graphics are amazing. All this should make it a no-contest game, but being a space flight sim (your "character" is a spaceship that flies around the universe) really makes it a niche game.
Just telling you to wait for Archeage is counter productive, since noone has any idea when it will be done. And all the beta gameplay videos could in reality be absolutely nothing like the finished product. Once this goes into a final beta and is closer to release, then maybe track it alittle closer. Until then, play Wurm, thats really your only option (i havent even played it yet, so dont take my word that its actually any good)
(
Am I correct that the main objective is taking a ship to an island, explore, get items and trade/craft them?
How is the population and do guilds have a decent meaning?
It is healthy, dont listen to bitter vets and people who stay updated. Incarna was shit but Crucible is good stuff if flying ships is your thing.
Check this thread:
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/555/view/forums/thread/332238/page/1
I'd estimate that the game has 20000 characters in a company (guild), some of which are inactive. Netmarble does disband inactive companies however. That's not a ton of alts, either, as few players have more than two characters, and most only have one. And it also doesn't count characters who aren't in a company.
I'd also estimate the number of players online concurrently as being around 1000. That's not exactly WoW numbers, but it's plenty enough for the game to feel active, and not deserted at all.
Like many sandboxes, UWO doesn't have a "main objective". You can pick and choose what you want to do and what you don't want to do. I've got the highest adventuring level in my company, but my trade level probably isn't even in the top 20 (out of 48, including inactives). And what people do breaks down a lot more finely than the three main levels, too. Shipwrecks are classified as adventuring, but I don't like them, so I've only done one, ever.
In my view, the main purpose of companies is to make it easier to communicate. Then again, that's true of most MMORPGs. Company shops and company colonies do mean that there is more of a built-in purpose other than communication for companies than guilds have in most games. The only except to that that I can think of that I've played is A Tale in the Desert, which heavily relied on its guild system as a way to share infrastructure.