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Are there any MMOs that are not brain dead?
Lienhart
Member UncommonPosts: 662
I've been downloading random MMOs left and right and am getting bored of them. Recently Mafia (StarCraft 2) and Gran Turismo 6 have heavily caught my attention but I miss RPGs. It was then I realized I actually enjoy having to constantly think (or in GT6's case, memorize + think).
MMOs often devolve into button mashing or straight up muscle memory. Final Fantasy XIV attempted to deviate from this but when you fight the same boss 10 times there isn't a whole lot of thinking involved; you cannot, however, say the same about Gran Turismo 6 despite having run the same track hundreds of times.
I've though thought about going back into EvE Online...but besides that, is there anything else that isn't brain dead? I'd even consider EvE fairly brain dead if you're just PvE-ing for money.
Comments
Most AAA MMOs made after 2003 are aimed at those who are brain dead (or at least, they seem to be based on the level of depth these modern games have).
Not only are they near 95% carbon copies of one another, but they offer no risk vs reward, no challenge, no danger, nothing really hard to strive for. The only big budget MMO I've seen since 2003 that was actually worth a damn was Vanguard, and that had its own issues, and has been dumbed down over the years.
So, if you want MMOs that are actually interesting, you unfortunately have to saddle up to an underfunded understaffed indie MMO. Some of my favorites include:
Salem - Isometric crafting MMO with permadeath and FFA PvP, sequel to Haven and Hearth, set in Massachusetts.
Ryzom - Fantasticly crafted virtual world MMO.
Fallen Earth - Best SCI FI MMO since SWG
Wurm - If you have friends, and the patience, you can actually make a difference in this game, teraforming, base building. But it's pretty hardcore. Games like DayZ and Rust might also scratch this itch.
A Tale in the Desert - Just a really REALLY bizzare crafting MMO.
Wizardry Online - Probably one of the most amazingly designed games, and one of the truest to Dungeons and Dragons MMO, but with REALLY bad/eastern presentation.
Darkfall Unholy Wars - Best PvP and sieges on the market since the fall of Dark Age of Camelot. Real time combat, massive scale, no instances or loading.
Planetside 2 also gets a AAA mention for being awesome.
You are joking right? I main tank in every MMO I have played. It's still a rotation with the occasional off taunt and dodge some fire. How the hell is that not brain-dead?
...oh I forgot, move boss into corner and LoS pull everything.
He wanted a game that didn't feel brain dead. WoW is kind of the opposite place to go for that.
I noticed somebody mentioned Planetside 2. Yes PS2 is amazing, I still play it. I meant MMORPG lol
Problem with PS2 is that there isn't really a sense of progression; it's an infinite tug of war. I'm usually with a static party but one of them left the country for half a year so ; ;
Sorry, I can not think of one right now that you would enjoy.
The beta version of City of Steam was very good but the current version of it you would hate.
I ended up having to go all the way to P99 to scratch that itch...
The only MMO's right now that are not braindead and not EVE-online are either low-quality poor indie games, or versions of older games.
I really hope the next wave will bring something that requires more thought.
Favorite MMO: Vanilla WoW
Currently playing: GW2, EVE
Excited for: Wildstar, maybe?
Yeah I think I'm gonna reactive my EvE account.
My gf and I had a lot of fun with bams on TERA but everything always ends up repetitive as hell.
It's weird because games like Puzzle and Dragons on the Play Store actually captivate my attention better than these AAA huge budget mmo. I wish somebody would make a turn based MMO where you actually had to think about each action. Too bad Atlantica Online is a cash shop whore house.
by braindead, I assume you dont mean content, but seems like combat you are mentioning mostly
the hardest themepark, without a doubt is TSW. Talk about thinking while you play. Use no outside help, build your own character's synergy and the dungeons are extremely well done imo.
if you havent tried it, I would go in that direction.
I second this. I had no idea I would fall in love with the Secret World, but I just picked it up in the last steam sale and it's absolutely amazing. It is not braindead in the least. Its quests aren't always "go kill 5 of this, collect 5 of that, etc." It does have them, but most of the quests require you to complete puzzles, and think outside the box. Hell, some of the quests even require you to use google to find the answer (since the game is set in current times, they said Google would exist in the game world).
Good thing is there's no sub. The cash shop is quite fun too, I've spent a long time just browsing through the different outfits and cosmetic stuff offered in the store finding an hour has passed without me noticing.
Give it a shot, it's on steam. I'm in the same boat as you, OP... I'm sick of all these button-mashing MMOs that require no thinking whatsoever.
Not to mention the bosses in this game are bad ass.
-Computer specs no one cares about: check.
-MMOs played no one cares about: check.
-Xfire stats no one cares about: check.
-Signature no one cares about: check.
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-Narcissism: check.
The problem with TSW is... almost all of its content is instanced. At least all the good content.
It plays like a singleplayer MMO with optional COOP. There's very little feel of an actual virtual world. It shows that the designer was originally planning on making a singleplayer game before Funcom tried to make it an MMO.
I think that's a good thing. If you are investigating a long-lost Temple of Set in Conan, you don't want to be seeing lots of other players in there all doing the same thing - you're supposed to have discovered a forgotten temple, not the local shopping mall. In LotRO I really hated it when, as a newbie, I was adventuring in the Barrow Downs and virtually had to form an orderly queue to grab a mob to myself.
So, if the plot and location call for a deserted building to be investigated, I want it ACTUALLY deserted apart from myself and anyone I am in a group with. Instancing is the perfect solution here.
Good lord this.
People constantly bitching about how "brain dead" WoW is but I doubt they have ever done Heroics, agh its so frustrating.
Considering only 55 guilds have done 14/14 HM SoO and its been out for months I would say that is pretty hard content, and Garrosh has been considered "easy" by most top end guilds.
Eve is as braindead as the rest if you're not one to FCing. There hasn't been much thinking involved since GW1's golden years and its GvG ladder/tournaments. I don't even know if any future games have any decent PvP in them.
It looks pretty dry I'm afraid.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
Tanking in WoW is even more braindead then DPSing.... its the most easy role in the whole game, but then again whats not easymode in wow these days, HC raiding is a total joke.
Fine, we'll compromise. I'll get my way & you'll find a way to be okay with that.
How does linking achievements here make any difference? i can go to the armory grab a random char that cleared SOO HC and say "See heres your proof"...
Fine, we'll compromise. I'll get my way & you'll find a way to be okay with that.
So you're comparing PvP games (SC2 and GT6) to PvE games, and asking why PvE is not like PvP?
Or you're talking about the PvE features of said games (competing against the computer), in which case GT6 is just as brain dead as MMO's are. Memorize the tracks, choose the best settings -> win.
Either way this makes no sense.
Honestly OP, i am not sure that MMO´s are actually for you at all. What you are looking for are small indie games. They have the "non-braindead" flair that you seem to be after.
MMO´s today cost to much to be able have the luxury of catering to the type of audience that you are.
But if you want tip on games that might fir your bill.
Eve: Sure it is a lot of button mashing but the journey there is anything but easy.
TSW: If you do it the right way, without reading a guide on everything it is a very complex game.
WoW:WoD: With the introduction of a new raid tier Blizzard have the ability to leave one set of raids at the most ball busting level they can imagine. So while it will still be WoW it will remain first week/world first hard... And if that does not do it for you.. Then there is MMO that will ever do it for you.
This have been a good conversation
I won't believe you?
I'm currently doing HM Garrosh and he is not easy. I've played the game for 10 years and its never been easy if you look for the challenges the game has to offer.
If you have done HM raiding in WoW give me your Real ID and I'll add you and check in game. Otherwise BS.
Still irrelevant when 98% of the game content is easymode. The people of the States are rich because 1% have most of the wealth right ?
Yep, The Secret World is what you are after (as long as you don't cheat and just use the walkthrus):
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/13/why-i-play-the-secret-world/
Uncharted Waters Online
If you play for a week and then think you have some idea of what is going on in the game, that only means that you don't even realize how lost you are.
Puzzle Pirates also does a very good job of avoiding mindless button mashing.
Not really, because HC raiding is one mode, it's doesn't speak for the rest of the game. The enitire game is easy up until that one point, no matter what choices you make. Also before even trying Hc you need to rinse and repeat the easier stuff, hoping Rngs on your side, but by then some people are burnt out or feedup. It would be choice if as soon as i hit max level i can jump straight into HC mode or normal or flex or even at level 1 i could make questing or dungeons harder, but i can't, if me or someone wants a challenge or difficult gameplay they have to trudge though 98% of easy content first and hit max level before they can make the decision? I wouldn't really consider that a choice.
On topic, i was think Tera, but like you said anything out side dungeons is just grindy. It's shame, game had so much potential.