World of Warcraft. No comparison in user-friendliness especially in lower-levels. But actually did they manage to keep the general difficulty that low, that they could attract an immense crowd with it.
And apart of that, everybody should have played WoW at least once. It is still 'the' comparable MMORPG to everything out there, because of its success. This MMO brought players to the genre who never considered playing MMOs.
On the downside, WoW changed the MMO-niche not to be a niche of nerds anymore. Sadly this reduced the quality of MMOs over the years. But its slightly going back to quality-gaming, as you will see in Guild Wars 2.
But I am sure even Guild Wars 2 will work for any new MMO-player. Why wouldnt it? You get tought the basics.
Someone comes here asking for a free MMO for "true beginners who have never played an MMORPG before"... and people are recommending EVE.
Wut.
haha idk what some people are thinking. Maybe they have never played it themselves and think it's a good "starter" mmo before people hit the hardcore games. To the OPI wouldn't recommend EVE to start with. Some people said WoW that's maybe a safe bet. I played at release and quit about 6 months later. I've been back a few times and I have to say the community is far worse then it was at the beginning. I'm not sure it's a great introduction into MMO community BUT there are probably plenty of good folks still playing too and really I think overall the gaming mechanic is fairly basic and a good "starter". You no longer have to train up weapon skills, mounts at an earlier level etc. And if they don't like the idea of the end game just play to cap and find something that seems more fun to do long term. Only thing is, it's not free but I guess you know that already.
Easy to learn and free. I'd say Runes of Magic. It shares mechanics with at least 75% of the major MMOs and would be a reasonable introduction to the genre.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
Someone comes here asking for a free MMO for "true beginners who have never played an MMORPG before"... and people are recommending EVE.
Wut.
Are you insane? Not you in personal. Who just refered EVE as an easy MMO? EVE is stil 'the' most difficult MMO out there with an incredible steep learning-curve.
I wouldn't even recommend EVE to advanced players, only to advanced-pro's. Players say, once you 'get into it' you will love it. I am not part of this group, I never wanted to. The complexity is 'too nerdy' for me. At least at that time where I tried out a free trial. I am more into a personal story like in RPGs where you can see your alter-ego. To everybody its own.
Easy to learn and free. I'd say Runes of Magic. It shares mechanics with at least 75% of the major MMOs and would be a reasonable introduction to the genre.
You can also say World of Warcraft, dont be shy.
But yeah, correct - Runes of Magic is a free2play title on the first look. But on the other hand I would not recommend free2play-titles with a cash-shop to new players. Because I think of their inexperience they could get dragged into the cash-shop-thing...
Without MMO-experience it is hard to say in the first place if you need this and that what the shop offers or if it works completely without it.
Well the OP did ask for F2P so I would say maybe Aion just recently went to full F2P. But it isn't the perfect game for a beginner in mmo's. I did see another poster recommend Ragnarok Online which imo is a great beginner's mmo but lacks questing. Other then that Lord of the Rings Online is another good choice but be prepared to have to pay at a certain point to progress further.
I'd say Everquest 2 or Aion are the best FTP models at the moment.. might not get all the 'options' but you get all the content free. If you find you like this sort of game you should then move onto a AAA p2p/btp game like World of Warcraft, Rift or Guild Wars 2 if it is out. These would be my three picks anyway.
Thing is.. most people's first is usually the one they play the most and have the best memories with. Most people that say they now hate WoW were actually addicted to it for many years and adored the game for that time.
So I would definately consider getting a AAA title first for the best overall experience and for the best introduction to the genre..
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
Noob here. I was surfing the net as per usual when an ad for Grepolis came up. It looked so interesting to me so I decided to look at reviews and as it turns out, it isn't even the best MMO out there. I tired looking at top rated MMO's but I really couldn't tell which ones would be easiest for beginners, I mean true beginners who have never played an MMORPG before. So I was hoping someone could tell me what would be a good, free MMORGP to start with. I used to play the Sims but it became so boring to me because it wasn't goal-oreinted enough. Ideally I would like a game where I can be a female but it wouldn't be a handicap to be one in the game. Sword fights are okay but I would prefer one without too much violence or gore. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!
I would say LOTRO. or you could try a trial of world of warcraft or Rift. Star trek Online is also free to play if you like sc-fi. there are plenty of games out there it is just knowing what you would like to do in game or what you would expect from one.
Someone comes here asking for a free MMO for "true beginners who have never played an MMORPG before"... and people are recommending EVE.
Wut.
if you concern about my post, i guess i made clear, that sandboxes like EVE are not beginner-friendly. that doesnt mean, it is not possible. heck, i remember these good old times, when we had nothing else to start with, except games with steep learning curve.
well, at least it helped to recognize, how dull all these modern MMOs became since 2004. nevertheless, i would not recommend to start with a sandbox.
it gets players use to time investments in a computer character. and also gets people use to a few controls. (some new players dont even know they need a mouse for example. Runescape is free and will point this out to them at some point)
I would play the free trials on World Of Warcraft,Rift, and maybe even sample Lord Of The Rings and Dungeons and Dragons. Take your time.
^^This. You can play World of Warcraft and Rift up to level 20. Plenty of time to see if you like the game(s). Lord of the Rings is also good because it's free to a point. I personally wouldn't recommend Dungeons and Dragons Online as it has a really strange leveling and feat system that bogs it down. Can't hurt to try it though, as it may be up your alley.
There are also a million eastern Free to Play games that you can try, although I have never found even 1 to be any good. Maybe...Aion? Since it is fully Free to Play. ugh..nevermind, I hate Aion. Forget I said it. ;D
I would play the free trials on World Of Warcraft,Rift, and maybe even sample Lord Of The Rings and Dungeons and Dragons. Take your time.
^^This. You can play World of Warcraft and Rift up to level 20. Plenty of time to see if you like the game(s). Lord of the Rings is also good because it's free to a point. I personally wouldn't recommend Dungeons and Dragons Online as it has a really strange leveling and feat system that bogs it down. Can't hurt to try it though, as it may be up your alley.
There are also a million eastern Free to Play games that you can try, although I have never found even 1 to be any good. Maybe...Aion? Since it is fully Free to Play. ugh..nevermind, I hate Aion. Forget I said it. ;D
LOTR is good fun definately and the person might find that easier if they have some idea what the world is about before hand. Most people do because of movies/books etc.
I would say WoW, without a doubt, provided your "free" criteria is satisfied by the fact that a new player can check it out and play to level 20 for free.
I think LOTRO would be a good second choice, although it's only slightly more free in that you'll hit a point not far beyond level 20 where you can't do much without spending money.
I would say introduce the beginner to a game with a good community so they know what a good community is like. If you try to push them into WoW or Rift then at least make sure that global chat channels are disabled for them (for their own good)
The problem is that if you are looking for a f2p game, a good community is often the last thing you will find.
After playing darn near every mmo under the sun for the past 10 years. And from suggesting and introducing mmos to several new fans that include coworkers, my wife, my kids and friends. World of Warcraft is by far the best intro mmo to play. Forgiving leveling curve. Plenty of quest and content. Lots of side options. The community is vast enough that you can pick who to play with and not be stuck for too long playing alone.
But if you want to go the F2P route first I'd say go with LoTRO or EQ2.Both of those were subscription based mmo before the leap to F2P. Thus they are more fully fleshed out than most F2P mmos in regards to structuring of quest and leveling curve. Also, those mmos are not bound deeply to the cash shops that plague most F2P mmos that started as F2P.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Play WoW if you want to see nearly everything a MMORPG shouldn't be. Try Vanguard; Saga of Heroes. Although small populations....you will get more of a MMO experience playing it than overpopulated WoW because people actually interact and you can openly explore a huge world without restrictions, etc.
WoW is too solo heavy where no one wants to group up unless there is somethign in it for them, too fast to cap, has cookie-cutter tasks they pass off as quests (Collect/kill x amount of x 10 feet away, courier missions out the wazoo), cross server functions further diminishing any possibility of an actual community.... list could go on. It's more of a glorified console RPG than a MMORPG.....IMO of course.
Feel bad for those new to the genre trying to find a good one as a starter...because really...there are VERY few worth it. As in...can be counted on one hand out fo the plethora of choices.
Lol - you want him to play Vanguard? Throw him into the fire with one of the more old school type of mmos when he is likely looking for a newer generation style mmo. That's bad advice for this guy.. personally I don't play WoW anymore.. and grew up on games like Vanguard - with EQ, SWG, and DAoC.. but its still a great game and very friendly to those new to mmorpgs.
Comments
World of Warcraft. No comparison in user-friendliness especially in lower-levels. But actually did they manage to keep the general difficulty that low, that they could attract an immense crowd with it.
And apart of that, everybody should have played WoW at least once. It is still 'the' comparable MMORPG to everything out there, because of its success. This MMO brought players to the genre who never considered playing MMOs.
On the downside, WoW changed the MMO-niche not to be a niche of nerds anymore. Sadly this reduced the quality of MMOs over the years. But its slightly going back to quality-gaming, as you will see in Guild Wars 2.
But I am sure even Guild Wars 2 will work for any new MMO-player. Why wouldnt it? You get tought the basics.
haha idk what some people are thinking. Maybe they have never played it themselves and think it's a good "starter" mmo before people hit the hardcore games. To the OPI wouldn't recommend EVE to start with. Some people said WoW that's maybe a safe bet. I played at release and quit about 6 months later. I've been back a few times and I have to say the community is far worse then it was at the beginning. I'm not sure it's a great introduction into MMO community BUT there are probably plenty of good folks still playing too and really I think overall the gaming mechanic is fairly basic and a good "starter". You no longer have to train up weapon skills, mounts at an earlier level etc. And if they don't like the idea of the end game just play to cap and find something that seems more fun to do long term. Only thing is, it's not free but I guess you know that already.
the poster formerly known as melangel :P
Easy to learn and free. I'd say Runes of Magic. It shares mechanics with at least 75% of the major MMOs and would be a reasonable introduction to the genre.
Are you insane? Not you in personal. Who just refered EVE as an easy MMO? EVE is stil 'the' most difficult MMO out there with an incredible steep learning-curve.
I wouldn't even recommend EVE to advanced players, only to advanced-pro's. Players say, once you 'get into it' you will love it. I am not part of this group, I never wanted to. The complexity is 'too nerdy' for me. At least at that time where I tried out a free trial. I am more into a personal story like in RPGs where you can see your alter-ego. To everybody its own.
You can also say World of Warcraft, dont be shy.
But yeah, correct - Runes of Magic is a free2play title on the first look. But on the other hand I would not recommend free2play-titles with a cash-shop to new players. Because I think of their inexperience they could get dragged into the cash-shop-thing...
Without MMO-experience it is hard to say in the first place if you need this and that what the shop offers or if it works completely without it.
Well the OP did ask for F2P so I would say maybe Aion just recently went to full F2P. But it isn't the perfect game for a beginner in mmo's. I did see another poster recommend Ragnarok Online which imo is a great beginner's mmo but lacks questing. Other then that Lord of the Rings Online is another good choice but be prepared to have to pay at a certain point to progress further.
I'd say Everquest 2 or Aion are the best FTP models at the moment.. might not get all the 'options' but you get all the content free. If you find you like this sort of game you should then move onto a AAA p2p/btp game like World of Warcraft, Rift or Guild Wars 2 if it is out. These would be my three picks anyway.
Thing is.. most people's first is usually the one they play the most and have the best memories with. Most people that say they now hate WoW were actually addicted to it for many years and adored the game for that time.
So I would definately consider getting a AAA title first for the best overall experience and for the best introduction to the genre..
LOTRO.
I would say LOTRO. or you could try a trial of world of warcraft or Rift. Star trek Online is also free to play if you like sc-fi. there are plenty of games out there it is just knowing what you would like to do in game or what you would expect from one.
if you concern about my post, i guess i made clear, that sandboxes like EVE are not beginner-friendly. that doesnt mean, it is not possible. heck, i remember these good old times, when we had nothing else to start with, except games with steep learning curve.
well, at least it helped to recognize, how dull all these modern MMOs became since 2004. nevertheless, i would not recommend to start with a sandbox.
played: Everquest I (6 years), EVE (3 years)
months: EQII, Vanguard, Siedler Online, SWTOR, Guild Wars 2
weeks: WoW, Shaiya, Darkfall, Florensia, Entropia, Aion, Lotro, Fallen Earth, Uncharted Waters
days: DDO, RoM, FFXIV, STO, Atlantica, PotBS, Maestia, WAR, AoC, Gods&Heroes, Cultures, RIFT, Forsaken World, Allodds
honestly I suggest Runescape.
it gets players use to time investments in a computer character. and also gets people use to a few controls. (some new players dont even know they need a mouse for example. Runescape is free and will point this out to them at some point)
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
if it can be p2p, i would say wow or rift
if it must be f2p, then lotro or runes of magic
Diablo III will ween you in slowly
It's not really an mmo.
What happens when you log off your characters????.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQhfhnjYMk
Dark Age of Camelot
Meh has all the important features....
^^This. You can play World of Warcraft and Rift up to level 20. Plenty of time to see if you like the game(s). Lord of the Rings is also good because it's free to a point. I personally wouldn't recommend Dungeons and Dragons Online as it has a really strange leveling and feat system that bogs it down. Can't hurt to try it though, as it may be up your alley.
There are also a million eastern Free to Play games that you can try, although I have never found even 1 to be any good. Maybe...Aion? Since it is fully Free to Play. ugh..nevermind, I hate Aion. Forget I said it. ;D
LOTR is good fun definately and the person might find that easier if they have some idea what the world is about before hand. Most people do because of movies/books etc.
the poster formerly known as melangel :P
I would say WoW, without a doubt, provided your "free" criteria is satisfied by the fact that a new player can check it out and play to level 20 for free.
I think LOTRO would be a good second choice, although it's only slightly more free in that you'll hit a point not far beyond level 20 where you can't do much without spending money.
I would also recommend starting with Lord of the Rings Online. And then move to Rift, GW2 and others.
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I would say introduce the beginner to a game with a good community so they know what a good community is like. If you try to push them into WoW or Rift then at least make sure that global chat channels are disabled for them (for their own good)
The problem is that if you are looking for a f2p game, a good community is often the last thing you will find.
But if you want to go the F2P route first I'd say go with LoTRO or EQ2.Both of those were subscription based mmo before the leap to F2P. Thus they are more fully fleshed out than most F2P mmos in regards to structuring of quest and leveling curve. Also, those mmos are not bound deeply to the cash shops that plague most F2P mmos that started as F2P.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Lol - you want him to play Vanguard? Throw him into the fire with one of the more old school type of mmos when he is likely looking for a newer generation style mmo. That's bad advice for this guy.. personally I don't play WoW anymore.. and grew up on games like Vanguard - with EQ, SWG, and DAoC.. but its still a great game and very friendly to those new to mmorpgs.
wait for GW2 should be fairly beginer friendly
while waiting play something free
wow free trial, rift free trial, aoc f2p, lotro f2p, coh f2p etc..
I am just really excited about discovering GW2 is a free title now. Thanks all!