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A Honest Appeal. Please aid me.
Hi there, this has become like one of my last resorts by posting here, in hopes of getting a decent recommendation from fellow gamers.
I used to be an avid gamer during my younger days, but you know, as you can guess, people age and they move on with life; so right now im a working adult (boohoo), building my career and slogging my ass off 
(so yes, not as much time to play around as before). But I still squeeze out whatever time I have to game. I love role-playing and I stick to a game if I like it for a relatively long period (1+ year), before I decide to go on finding another mmo, usually when this happens its because im fed up with how the devs/publishers handle their game.
Im trying to relive that exciting, adventurous feelings I get when playing MMORPGs or MMOs in general but to no avail. Hence, im feeling pretty torn apart right now. Maybe im burned out from the genre, I honestly dont know. Now I shall not bore you further and get to the specifics of what im looking for.
1) F2P. It has to be, I want to be able to make sure I settle down and like it before I even consider cashing in. But please no extremely P2W.
2) Community. Im not really a solo player, I play MMOs... because its a MMO! If I wanted to solo, I can go play some Shadows of Mordor or something. Im looking towards something community driven, guild/party oriented, establish ties and relations, some yada yada roleplay. A MMO which I can easily find and bond with people, do YOLO stuff together. Also, I dont have IRL friends whom I could pull to play together with me since most of them either dont play games (but club/party all the time), or have grown out of gaming altogether (different interests, family, etc), hence this point is vital.
3) Population. Links back to community. I lose interest very fast if I find myself in a ghost town. I want a living breathing (open) world as much as possible, so I can create as many interactions as I could possibly want.
4) I would prefer a fantasy genre, but I dont mind sci-fic, or FPS.... or.... nvm.
5) Graphics. Now Im not asking for something ridiculously gorgeous since Im running on a 2 year old laptop, but at the same time, I cant stand crappy graphics that are from a decade ago.
6) Grind. Please no. Just no. I no longer have time for that. I cant devote weeks trying to (kill x monsters) cap out just to enjoy the endgame content/raids!
7) Has PvE and PvP (though I dont care much about PvP, but more on the community aspect) I really enjoy Co-Op vs AI play
8) Would prefer non-tab targeting and not mouse point & click auto-attack-wait-for-mob-to-die-rinse-repeat. HULK SMASH BUTTONS!
My list of MMOs I've been stuck with so you can get a good reference of what I may enjoy:
2007: Shattered Galaxy (oh wait, this is a MMORTS, only has PvP, server ceased operations)
2007-2008: Darkness & Light - its a MOBA, also no longer around, the best I've played tho, even better than LoL imo
2008-Present: Left 4 Dead 1&2 - wait.. this isnt a MMO! I still play this occasionally because I havent found any entertaining MMO yet. Just forget you read this part.
2008-2011: League of Legends - another MOBA, wait... where are the MMORPGs?! >.<
2011-2013: APB Reloaded. oh god, at this point I realized all the games I've been playing for extended periods are not strictly rpgs... this is a hybrid TPS x RPG.
2013-2014: Maplestory. I know, by this point you probably arent taking me seriously 
(I stopped this because power gap is too huge to ever close up aka P2W)
Okay, okay. Now I tried several MMOs but I lost interest in them pretty quickly (or soloing was very mundane, MUS HAS GROUPPLAY) so I didnt mention them in the list above. So I tried:
Warframe
Path of exile
TERA
GW2
WoW
Aion
Archeage
Onigiri
Archlord 2
Bounty Hounds Online
Dark Blood Online
Swordsman
Kingdom under Fire 2
Phantasy Star Online 2
LOTRO
DDO
Hawken
PlanetSide 2
RaiderZ
C9
& most recently Dragon Nest, which I played for the past week but gave up due to the (solo) grind.
PLEASE HELP ME!!! T_T
Comments
Just stick with WoW - it will work better for your schedule and a new expac is coming out, I know it's not f2p and I know you'veplayed it, the truth is you will ultimately end up playing it regardless of what game you try out, so just give in and enjoy WoW like you should. Have a great day!!! See you at the portal!!!
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/
thanks for the response. i have mixed reactions regarding archeage, mostly due to reviews and whatnot.
i did try AND managed to pull a friend to play with me. however, my friend quit (very) soon after. and i stopped as well after questing for awhile. the combat didnt really engage me as well (probably will get better at higher levels? I cant tell)
also, very horrendous queue times. couldnt even get in. great login simulator tho
I would recommend Star Wars: The Old Republic, or the Elder Scrolls Online. Or the Secret World.
All are very casual friendly, and feature great storylines that pull you into the world.
They also all have pretty good communities. The last two aren't F2P though, ESO is B2P+sub while TSW is simply B2P (and often on sale on Steam, Amazon and other places where you could get it very cheaply)
Star Wars has a lot of fantasy elements compared to most Sci-fi games, so it might work for you.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
I am gonna say burnout here again.
Reasons:
1) Zillions of different games tried, all failing, hoping for that one magical game that you might possibly have missed.
2) You no longer look at each MMO as a fresh experience and merely start looking for things to criticize.
If you can't take the bad with the good in an MMO, you might as well find a new hobby.
FFA Nonconsentual Full Loot PvP ...You know you want it!!
I think, like me you are out of luck. . rebuilding that social feel of community that likely made it great for you means being on more than you are likely able to be.
I did LOTRO for a long time and enjoyed it but recently have found SWTOR to be the easiest to keep playing with limited time. having gone back it is a lot of fun and easy to pick up.
The part you seem to be missing the most is the part that takes the most time commitment. Jump in a game and ask if there are any casual guilds out there. That is the best experience I have had to keep it social.
Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!
I'd take note of SWTOR. number 1 reason why i didnt try it before was cuz of the bad things i hear about some limited slots or was it skill slots or something.
I CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
tsk, i said mmo
Will note SWTOR. i believe i will find it someday, or life has no meaning.
just kidding.
you mean Path of Exile? yes i tried that, didnt like how it looked. diablo 3 yes, i played it at launch for awhile then sold all my gear, cuz repetitive levels. i know vindictus is a grind. i can give up anything but the grind factor i guess.Most of those you can eliminate by getting the unlocks (either by purchasing them directly, or by farming in game money and buying them from another player on the GTN aka Auction House).
Even with the limitations, it's not as bad as some people make it out to be. It just means that you'll be crafting a bit more slowly. There's pretty much always going to be a downside to choosing the free option, unless you play highly competitive games like LoL where the devs can't get away with doing that.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
No tab target and no grind eliminates about 99% of the current games. I haven't found one that doesn't have either quests or a huge grnd to it. Personally Im hoping for next year that Camleot Unchained and/or The Repop will be something to play. '14 was kind of a disappointing year for MMOs imho.
Games that weren't mentioned: Wildstar, Fallen Earth (f2p with optional sub) .Both are grindy to my knowledge but arent tab-target. Maybe if you are desperate
Ok here is a probably most surprising MMO gem. Completely overlooked by everyone.
Do you like D&D ? Forgotten Realms ?
Cryptic the same company that butchered Heroes and Star Trek was given task to make MMO version of one of most beloved RPGs - Neverwinter Nights
I know. Horrible.
But this is not worst. They made highly complex 4th edition D&D rules into action combat , and complexity of D&D roleplay into highly linear game.
As a D&D fan I hated everything about this game. Until I tried it...
You know how sometimes someone makes something good by accident ?
Hehe. Well there you have it : Neverwinter
1. Pure action combat that is better than GW2 , Tera, Wildstar - Dont know how they managed , but they did
2. Fully voiced quests written by R.A Salvatore - Honestly only MMO that you actually read (listen to quests)
3. F2P - Shop items are only cosmetic and inventory space
4. Packed full - servers are brimming with people.
5. Casual & no grind - You can easily get max level in couple of weeks.
So there you go.
Except that just about every gear upgrade requires ridiculous amounts of Astral Diamonds, which means you either grind like a fiend for every little thing once you get past a certain point, or you buy Zen to convert into AD, which is what the whole system is designed around.
From runes and enchants to mounts and companions. Everything takes ridiculous amounts of AD. And by that I literally mean millions, while your daily cap on earning AD from quests is 24k if I'm not mistaken.
Neverwinter has some good qualities, but it's also one of the most P2W games I've ever touched.
Edit: Oh, and that's not even counting the latest pack they released that gives all your characters an extra free artifact as long as you're willing to drop 100$ for it, while artifacts are a pain in the ass to earn through playing normally.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Since it's not on the list, nor in the comments yet, I'd add AoC.
F2p, you can play the whole game through "before I even consider cashing in".
Population is nice on Crom (the pve server - there's pvp too, so that parameter is checked as well), and community is needed for the dungeons and there's a lot of group quests too. Rp is not particularily strong, but enough for "some yada yada roleplay".
Fantasy genre obviously, graphics is still pretty amazing, and I think a 2 years old notebook can handle it nicely (though at launch it was considered a very demanding game, graphic card-wise)
There's a soft tab-target, but combat is directional mostly, with positioning and stuff. It's fun.
Grind... well... I left it for last, for a reason (
). The base game has not much of it. However the endgame, especially Khitai factions... maybe the largest grindfest I've ever met in an mmo. Still, for sometimes hopping in for a short gameplay here and there, you can spend 1-2 good months in it, for free.
(on a sidenote, from your list I've never heard about Onigiri, must check it out... it's a chef mmo, with rice?
)
no harm trying i guess. i've already downloaded swtor and patching it right now. just need help on deciding a "class" & "faction". i almost always play as a human exclusively so race isnt an issue
im not touching fallen earth as its the same publisher as APB. got some bad blood against them
i had a friend who played neverwinter while i played maplestory last year; he left maplestory for that. but i didnt hop over for a few reasons; i had more friends on maple; he was all alone on neverwinter (i enjoyed neverwinter nights but didnt know what to think about the mmo version); it had only a few classes for selection then (not saying its a bad thing cuz it helps narrow down what i want to play) but didnt have anything i remotely like (it was pre-hunter version). i've downloaded it a few times but never got about trying it.
i heard he bought tons of astral diamonds, few hundreds dollars worth (he's the type to splurge but i was still surprised). however, he ended up quitting even before i stopped maple; blabbering about some nerf patch for his cleric or something. he then went on to swordsman online for a few days before he stopped mmo for good AND now his favorite hobby these days is to visit massage parlors, very frequently, if you know what i mean.
does anyone have any dispute on this? xD
you mean Age of Conan? yea i've tried that before
onigiri was all over the online ads (portraying nice anime boobies) a few weeks ago. but dont bother. its terrible.
free 7 day sub and unlocks for swtor new accounts and 90+ day inactive subs click here to get it!
Click here for trove referral, bonuses to both!
Probably when they nerfed the Astral Shield (or Divine shield, whatever it was called). Before that clerics were the most in demand class, and end-game groups shunned tanks and other "useless" classes in favor of clerics who could stack that shield buff, and control wizards for CC. :P
I don't doubt that he's spent so much. At launch pretty much no items were BoP, they were all BoE - so you could simply buy Zen, sell it for AD and then just full epic yourself on the auction house. (This is no longer happening, the best items are now BoP like on most MMO's, and they eventually added that only the class that can use it can roll Need, reducing the ninja'ing that happens in every group somewhat).
Most of the things that are worthwhile are also either Zen market, or dropped from gamble boxes.
http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Galeb_Duhr is one of the companions that you can buy for example. And it can be yours for a mere $20 (for one character).
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
P2W can only be applied to games that have win condition. Open world PVP , territory control. Something like EVE or Archage.
Themepark can not be P2W , it can be P2C : pay for convinience.
Upgrading the equipment makes the game easier - You are no barred from any content ( as far as I know )
What you have in Neverwinter is that in shop you can buy great looking stuff and mounts and companions , while ingame stuff is plain and slighty less powerfull.
You can still play the game. But it will be more challenging , and you will ride horse instead of displacer beast.
sorry OP but its evident that you are burned out of mmos. If you are not willing to take a break from mmos and play something else (or even nothing at all) until you feel the desire to play an mmo again, then i dont know what to say. No suggestions will help you because all the mmos out there will give you the same reaction. Take a break from mmos. There is nothing wrong with that.
I have only been playing Persona 3 Fes (on PS2 emulator) for the last week and im having a blast and dont feel the need to play anything else right now. I love mmos but i am not missing anything that is currently out there (log in to GW2 some times because its my mmo home).
Take a break from mmos. That helps more than random suggestions that will be rejected anyway.
Depends on your definition of P2W, since you'll also have a vastly superior PvE experience if you drop vast amounts of cash into the shop.
Take your horse for example; what you didn't mention is that the horse is slower and has less knockdown protection (hits you can take before mobs force you to dismount) as a green quality mount compared to the purple quality displacer beast.
Same with the companions you can earn without farming AD for a few weeks (or simply paying for them) - only epic quality companions can reach rank 30 for example (without requiring upgrades with millions of AD, or simply buying the upgrade items from the store).
I'm not sure how many other F2P games you've played, but Neverwinter's is hardly worth the praise.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Its a public secret F2P mmos need to make money somehow. Question is are you barred from content?
Some mmos like SWTOR simply make it impossible to play without paying.
NWN makes you be more powerful if you invest money, but MMOs are easy mode anyways , so little challenge is welcome.
It doesn't matter what your misconception of the P2W business model follows. OP has already stated they quit MS and that game is a strictly PvE game with heavy monetization around gear upgrading.
++++++++++++++++++++
Sorry, OP there are no games that fit your criteria anymore. IMHO, it will be difficult to find anything that doesn't involve " grind ", and MMORPGs just don't focus around group content anymore. It might be better to take your search in a different direction; maybe try looking for a casual clan/guild of players to join and try playing whatever games they are interested in playing.
The Golden Age of MMORPG's is dead. It will not be coming back.
The "I Want It Now" and "This Is Too Hard" crowd will not stand for a challenging MMO game.
"Popular" games must be simplified and watered down or else they will not become "popular".