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Recommendation for a good couples friendly MMO
spatialAnomaly77
Member UncommonPosts: 4
Girlfriend and I played EQ2 at launch. We raided pretty hardcore back when and both loved the game but things shifted in our lives. We both became more focused on careers and that's how life goes but recently we decided to give EQ2 a spin again after being away for a few years. I don't follow any gaming industry news or anything, I'm just too busy but they were bought up by Daybreak apparently and in my opinion have completely ruined the game in the latest expansion. It's really just not a fun and enjoyable experience.
Here's the thing... It seems all the things we liked about EQ2 appears to be many things people are hating about MMOs these days and it seems like every new game I look at it to replace EQ2 are moving to some twitchy action based combat or open PvP or you need an advanced engineering degree to figure out the class system or armor.
So bottom line it for me. I'm looking for a new game but because I was so disappointed in the direction EQ2 took, here's the bullets of things I'm hoping a new game will have or negatives it will not:
- Fantasy setting is a plus, definitely prefer the more traditional DnD-like settings, races, classes, etc. Ground breaking graphics not needed, I don't mind older games at all.
- We don't mind paying a sub fee.
- Fantasy setting is a plus, definitely prefer the more traditional DnD-like settings, races, classes, etc. Ground breaking graphics not needed, I don't mind older games at all.
- We don't mind paying a sub fee.
- We don't give a crap about story. I click through chat bubbles so fast I've built up a callus on my index finger. I don't need to know the life story of Dwarfy McDwarferson. Just tell me what you need and I'll go do it. Unskippable cutscenes are an instant snooze fest. I understand many MMOs have deep story lines but don't make me read them please.
- I generally would like to pick one class, say a healer of some kind and improve on that. I will never ever multi-class and I definitely don't need 10 different skill trees full of pointless bonuses to spend a lifetime researching and dumping points into. I really enjoy specializing and being just really good at one thing and having one or two additional skill trees is fine. Advancement is great but make it meaningful.
- We both work... a LOT. A slow week for me is 70 hours. I just like to log into a game for an hour or two in the evening to shut down and relax, drink some whiskey and kill mobs. I'm not going to raid, maybe someday I will again but no time soon. If I have to spend one hour doing nothing but farting around cleaning junk items / vendor trash out of my bags instead of going on dungeon crawl, I'm really, really unhappy with how I'm using my precious free time. I need a good balanced time split from managing your character to actually adventuring and doing stuff.
- By the end of the day I'm way too f'n tired for twitch combat and I'm trying to play this with my girlfriend who is definitely not into twitch gaming. Selecting the mob and clicking buttons in hot bars is what I'm after. It's old and outdated (so am I hah!) I guess but it works for us.
- PvP does not interest me in the slightest. I played Shadowbane way back in the day and was so sucked into it but, I feel like I've done my time in PvP and I never want to do it again. I don't care if PvP is present but don't force it on me for advancement.
- Here's the biggest thing of all... Don't make me go into deep strategies for trash mobs. In a raid, sure, I expect that and encourage it but for some random trash named in a zone I just need for a quest update, no thanks. Let me just jam a sword in him and get the update. And the worse offender, don't make me level up to 100 or whatever and then throw a mob at me that has some stupid ass scripted event that nullifies all the time I spent leveling up skills. It makes me feel like I wasted my time completely, if I'm a healer, let me f'n heal, I swear that is the most irksome bull that EQ2 seems determined to push in every terrible instance I zoned into. Let me use the skills I've spent hours leveling up and improving, is that too much to ask?
So there it is. If you take the time to answer make a recommendation I'll really appreciate it.
Comments
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
Wildstar is twitchy ("By the end of the day I'm way too f'n tired for twitch combat and I'm trying to play this with my girlfriend who is definitely not into twitch gaming. "),
Aion is pvp ("PvP does not interest me in the slightest. "),
and ASTA is ... well... Webzen
Wow and Rift are fitting suggestions to the lengthy OP. I could add LotRO, sadly... (sadly, because I'm not very fond of the changes which made it fitting for OP's list)
Quest tracker is leading you to the goal, no need to read any text for hints anymore. Trait tree introduction with HD made character building just like in the OP, select a class "good at one thing and having one or two additional skill trees is fine."
Other criterias were there from start, it's not twitchy, and don't have pvp (slapped onto the game's back post-launch, you won't even see it unless you actively want to pvp, it's on a separate map without any ties to the "real" game). There's a f2p model but if you don't mind paying the sub, you can ignore that (also the sub gives you a monthly stipend, from that you can buy the expansions after a while).
Without the Moria expansion (or a separate rune-keeper purchase) the only "true" healer you can pick is the minstrel, a very good class (and with the trait trees it became a dps powerhouse too...). If you plan to play as a duo, I'd suggest either a melee for second (guard for tank, champ for dps), or a hunter if you want to move quickly with the short time-frame of play (hunters can "teleport" all around the world, taking the whole party with them.)
I know a few couples who play trove. Particularly the girlfriends/wives like some of g he collecting aspects
I self identify as a monkey.
At least 2 paragraphs in OP as to why he would hate that.
Lord of the Rings is my suggestion.
Just a gorgeous world to explore with someone else.
FFA Nonconsentual Full Loot PvP ...You know you want it!!
I think for a couple playing together it would be a good fit, good graphics, and engaging gameplay, and, best of all, its primarily a PVE game, with a friendly community.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
We had a lot of confusion around the class/job thing but through some pretty easy google searches have found plenty of info. I think we'll give it a spin for the duration of the trial and see how it plays out.
I actually did look over Asta pretty closely. I'm unfamiliar with the publisher but I see from @po_gg remark that it could be a negative factor. The games mechanics looked interesting enough anyway so I started to download the open beta and the patcher got hung up. I'll try again later.
Otherwise, thank you everyone for the great suggestions, it's been really helpful for someone who just does not have the time to research stuff like this on my own anymore.
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Yes, there's a lot of cutscenes, but in typical Square fashion, they are pretty well done and lead fairly interesting stories. You can't ignore the main storyline entirely, but you can skip the cutscenes. I know a lot of people that play the game almost exclusively for the crafting and gathering, and the mainline story is just a side-thing they do to unlock progression.
LOTRO is another excellent choice. I haven't played it for a long time, but before FFXIV, I my top pick would have been this one, based largely on their very positive community and being casual-friendly.
Right now my wife and I are playing SWTOR - it's what she is most interested in, so I play with her on that game. It plays more like a solo game (you have relationships with your companions, not with other people...), but she really enjoys the stories there. The only real grouping occurs in flashpoints (instanced dungeons basically). The voiceovers in this game are on ~everything~ and it bothers me a good deal if I'm honest about it.
I haven't played ESO enough to comment on that title. GW2 is a possibility, it's casual friendly and couples-friendly.
Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.
"At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."
Sure, they have cool cars and electronics (not to mention the K-pop girl bands
As for Webzen specifically, I only checked C9 and Archlord from them, plus from the publisher side Flyff and Wulin, so I'm not familiar with ASTA because it isn't out yet, and I stopped wasting my time in betas quite a while ago. Based on the list in OP, and what were common in those games mentioned, I just thought an SK grinder may not be a fit for a short time-framed gameplay goal. And I translated the "We don't mind paying a sub fee." part as rather paying a sub than messing around with a cash-shop focused game, which I guess ASTA will be - but I can be wrong of course
The big three don't have this issue, wow is sub-only, LotRO is optional but very advised to pay the sub for at least 1 month (diving into the f2p model is not for the short-session players, it can be messy, while with subscription you can ignore most of that), and Rift is maybe the best, even with the recent Patron changes you can play for free, but if you don't mind the sub you can have cool bonuses on top.
A few years
OP specifically mentioned they don't want open pvp. I used to suggest games by the overall criteria set, not by stretching them around the game. "I don't care if PvP is present but don't force it on me for advancement." I think this line pretty much rules out Aion
Sure, Aion has PvE. But that's not the question here... actually that line is just like when in PvE topics someone drops "but hey, Eve / DAoC / WAR has PvE too". Is it true? Yes. Do you suggest those to a player who don't want any pvp? Nope, you don't - ok, at least I don't
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
There's a group of hobbit lasses in LotRO who used to jump onto raid bosses with frying pan, picnic basket, rake, flower, or any similar wield-able cosmetic objects, I'm sure she'd feel herself right at home among them...
Thanks though, maybe I'll check back in the summer when I'll have some free timeslot in the rotation
edit for the updated post meanwhile (it starts to feel like a slow chat engine
you don't need to convince me, I like WS, even if I don't play atm. OP mentioned healing, you can't do that without jumping around... and I don't think clicking on the skillbar is viable in Wildstar either (but can't say for sure, I never clicks, 1-5 number keys and sidebuttons on da mouse ftw)
I guess it's the "stretching the goals or not" again. OP said no twitch, you say WS, because it has a class where you may skip the twitching. That's not a fit in my books
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
At least we had a cool conversation