Looking for a ''serious fantasy'' MMORPG, could use some advice :)

Krelian · June 2016

Greetings!
I am looking for a new (or perhaps even old? : P ) MMORPG.

I am looking for a ''Fantasy'' MMORPG that is PVE focused.
By fantasy; I mean swords, armor, mages, bows etcatera.

Nowadays, such fantasy MMO's are dime a dozen, I know...
But im looking for something in particular.

I am looking for a ''serious'' fantasy MMORPG.
An mmorpg where the player plays the role of a human (or whatnot)
Sort of like Dragon Age Origins...
(Like there is a war going on between humans and something else;
let us say the Undead hordes or Orcs or something).

As in: *EVEN IF* this is fantasy;
-there are no flying pigs.
-there are no toy-looking police car mounts that can be bought
at the cash shop.
-no tiny little super-sexy clad little girls wielding swords/guns
5 times their size.
-no spaceships.
-no ninjas that can fart dragons.

Fantasy, yeah... but NOT super-crazy and mega-exaggerated fantasy.

When I think of such a game, the first thing that comes to my mind is;
WARHAMMER ONLINE. Sure, there were some vehicles in the lore, and thus
a tiny element of steampunk etc, BUT GENERALLY THE GAME HAD A VERY SERIOUS
TONE to me, especially when fighting as a soldier of the Empire.

Another game that comes to mind is LOTRO (still active).
But right now, im looking for something else besides LOTRO (but the game is
good IMO. I will return to it sooner or later).

Finally, ESO is not bad at all in my humble opinion.
But for the moment, im looking for that ''desperate survival against
darkness'' vibe that ESO doesn't give (BUT MYABE ITS LIKE THAT JUST IN THE
BEGINNING BUT THAN IT CHANGES, I dunno.. ).

PS! I am aware that what I say might be a somewhat contradictory.
Like; ''Serious Fantasy''. In reality, most things are not black or white,
but are made up of shades of gray. So a ''fight against darkness (against
evil unded or dastardly orcs etc) aint too much realistic either (as it
than depicts us humans as ''automatically good'' ),
BUT IF YOU THINK ABOUT THE ABOVE MENTIONED EXAMPLES such as Dragon Age Origins
and Warhammer Online, I think you will get a basic idea about what im looking for.

Sorry for the long-winded post and thank you for any answers regarding the question.
Cheers

NomadMorlock · June 2016

For modern MMO's I would say ESO is the closest to what you describe. It really depends on your faction as to how dark the game plays as that dictates which zones you visit first (until this fall at least). It's got some great serious and dark quest lines where clear moral choices are not always present and the game does open up to a larger story over time.

For older games, Age of Conan also has a dark and gritty feel but in my opinion it's not nearly as good as ESO as its a bit dated. I know this doesn't fit exactly what you are looking for, but if you want to play a dark game, try Secret World. Setting is modern time but it's a very special game.

xpowderx · June 2016

I play LOTRO( Lord of the Rings Online.). The most immersive mmo out currently(IMO). Meaningful Crafting, In-depth character customization and skill/traits. Incredible main story line. I recommend VIP. Til you can buy the expansions. Once you own them though. You no longer have to pay anything. All the things you see in LOTRO's store you can get in-game doing deeds. It has by far one of the best if not best communities you can find in any mmo. Everyone is helpful too! You will not regret it! I recommend Landroval as the server. IMO the best server! That or Brandywine.

Here is my partial noobie review for LOTRO: http://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/449340/lotro-review-from-a-noobs-point-of-view-a-fresh-start/p1

It is helpful. Good gaming!

jesteralways · June 2016

How can fantasy be anymore exaggerated than it already is? By definition fantasy is nonexistent nonsense, can it be more exaggerated than that?

Rusque · June 2016

jesteralways said:

How can fantasy be anymore exaggerated than it already is? By definition fantasy is nonexistent nonsense, can it be more exaggerated than that?

Well, there's degrees of fantasy. Some stuff, like LotR or Warcraft are considered High Fantasy in which non-human races, magic, and mythical creatures are present. The other end of the spectrum is Low Fantasy which is fairly rare as it's usually a Medieval setting and with little to no magic and few to no mythical creatures, mostly human vs human with standard arms and armor, kind like Gloria Victus, typically rooted in fictional historical realism.

So along this spectrum you have various levels of fantasy, it sounds like the OP is looking for something closer to Low Fantasy.

Fighting a bear while wearing a suit of armor with a claymore to harvest its hide is nonexistent nonsense, yes; but fighting a dragon made of lightning with your +50 sword of doom that glows red and is bigger than your body is pretty heavily exaggerated.

Sovrath · June 2016

jesteralways said:

How can fantasy be anymore exaggerated than it already is? By definition fantasy is nonexistent nonsense, can it be more exaggerated than that?

Well, he means the difference between eastern games that can get ridiculous (I think he is referring to the police car mounts of Tera - absolutely hate that stuff) or games that try to make their departures from reality more plausible.

xpowderx · June 2016

Just realized the OP already plays LOTRO. What I get for only being half awake and scrolling instead of reading ;-D

nerovergil · June 2016

u looking for 'medieval' fantasy

Velifax · June 2016

I'm looking for these too however i have a few more criteria which rule out ESO, Lotro, and most others. Serious ANYTHING is a requirement for me, those modern jokes references and HILARIOUS names just totally break any sense of immersion and tone. The games you mentioned are good on that issue but lack the sense of danger you mentioned, leeching the world of another type of seriousness.

jesteralways · June 2016

Rusque said:

jesteralways said:

How can fantasy be anymore exaggerated than it already is? By definition fantasy is nonexistent nonsense, can it be more exaggerated than that?

Well, there's degrees of fantasy. Some stuff, like LotR or Warcraft are considered High Fantasy in which non-human races, magic, and mythical creatures are present. The other end of the spectrum is Low Fantasy which is fairly rare as it's usually a Medieval setting and with little to no magic and few to no mythical creatures, mostly human vs human with standard arms and armor, kind like Gloria Victus, typically rooted in fictional historical realism.

So along this spectrum you have various levels of fantasy, it sounds like the OP is looking for something closer to Low Fantasy.

Fighting a bear while wearing a suit of armor with a claymore to harvest its hide is nonexistent nonsense, yes; but fighting a dragon made of lightning with your +50 sword of doom that glows red and is bigger than your body is pretty heavily exaggerated.

So basically you are saying some people put a limiter on their fantasy to make it feel like their fantasy is reality and when they see something beyond that limiter it becomes a big "no no" for them.

What a load of shit!!! Fantasy is fantasy, the more nonsensical it is the better, why put a boundary in fantasy? fantasize whatever you like, however much you like. Nonsense is nonsense no matter how you wanna present it.

SEANMCAD · June 2016

Krelian said:

....
As in: *EVEN IF* this is fantasy;
-there are no flying pigs.
-there are no toy-looking police car mounts that can be bought
at the cash shop.
-no tiny little super-sexy clad little girls wielding swords/guns
5 times their size.
-no spaceships.
-no ninjas that can fart dragons.
....

indeed!

Wurm comes to mind but its not really 'fantasty'

jesteralways · June 2016

Sovrath said:

jesteralways said:

How can fantasy be anymore exaggerated than it already is? By definition fantasy is nonexistent nonsense, can it be more exaggerated than that?

Well, he means the difference between eastern games that can get ridiculous (I think he is referring to the police car mounts of Tera - absolutely hate that stuff) or games that try to make their departures from reality more plausible.

Why is it wrong to have police car in Tera? It is the developers fantasy and in their fantasy there are police cars and dragons and griffins? What right you or me have to dictate they can not have that kind of fantasy or their fantasy is more nonsensical than someone who only have elf butts in their fantasy?

SEANMCAD · June 2016

jesteralways said:

Sovrath said:

jesteralways said:

How can fantasy be anymore exaggerated than it already is? By definition fantasy is nonexistent nonsense, can it be more exaggerated than that?

Well, he means the difference between eastern games that can get ridiculous (I think he is referring to the police car mounts of Tera - absolutely hate that stuff) or games that try to make their departures from reality more plausible.

Why is it wrong to have police car in Tera? It is the developers fantasy and in their fantasy there are police cars and dragons and griffins? What right you or me have to dictate they can not have that kind of fantasy or their fantasy is more nonsensical than someone who only have elf butts in their fantasy?

there is nothing wrong with it, he just doesnt want to be a part of it.

SEANMCAD · June 2016

I would also add to that list of 'nots'

no icons litering up the landscape telling me where to do and what to do, yes I know how to read a map thank you

observer · June 2016

ESO is probably the closest you'll get. You should also take a look at lesser known titles such as Darkfall.

StarS0ft · June 2016

i sugest GW2, WOW, ESO

SEANMCAD · June 2016

StarS0ft said:

i sugest GW2, WOW, ESO

holy blaz, I think that would not work.

I would suggest Darkfall, Wurm Online or Xyson however not all of those are 'fantasty'

observer · June 2016

jesteralways said:

Sovrath said:

jesteralways said:

How can fantasy be anymore exaggerated than it already is? By definition fantasy is nonexistent nonsense, can it be more exaggerated than that?

Well, he means the difference between eastern games that can get ridiculous (I think he is referring to the police car mounts of Tera - absolutely hate that stuff) or games that try to make their departures from reality more plausible.

Why is it wrong to have police car in Tera? It is the developers fantasy and in their fantasy there are police cars and dragons and griffins? What right you or me have to dictate they can not have that kind of fantasy or their fantasy is more nonsensical than someone who only have elf butts in their fantasy?

Because there's this thing called immersion. Some might like it being broken, but many do not. They want to escape their real lives to be immersed into another universe, world, etc.

Would you willingly watch Star Wars, if out of nowhere, a German Polizei car shows up in a scene, without any correlation to the story?

jesteralways · June 2016

observer said:

jesteralways said:

Sovrath said:

jesteralways said:

How can fantasy be anymore exaggerated than it already is? By definition fantasy is nonexistent nonsense, can it be more exaggerated than that?

Well, he means the difference between eastern games that can get ridiculous (I think he is referring to the police car mounts of Tera - absolutely hate that stuff) or games that try to make their departures from reality more plausible.

Why is it wrong to have police car in Tera? It is the developers fantasy and in their fantasy there are police cars and dragons and griffins? What right you or me have to dictate they can not have that kind of fantasy or their fantasy is more nonsensical than someone who only have elf butts in their fantasy?

Because there's this thing called immersion. Some might like it being broken, but many do not. They want to escape their real lives to be immersed into another universe, world, etc.

Would you willingly watch Star Wars, if out of nowhere, a German Polizei car shows up in a scene, without any correlation to the story?

And what right do you have to dictate whether the police car is immersive or not in tera? It is the developers fantasy and they decided that police car is immersive in their fantasy.

As for star wars, it is the epitome of nonsensical blabber pretending to be science, so no i won't mind even if a mollah runs around with machete hacking jedi and sith to death shouting "allah hu akbar", in fact i think nonsense like that would fit star wars even more. And before you start, yes i watched the unedited episode 4-6 and they were piece of shit.

SEANMCAD · June 2016

jesteralways said:

observer said:

jesteralways said:

Sovrath said:

jesteralways said:

How can fantasy be anymore exaggerated than it already is? By definition fantasy is nonexistent nonsense, can it be more exaggerated than that?

Well, he means the difference between eastern games that can get ridiculous (I think he is referring to the police car mounts of Tera - absolutely hate that stuff) or games that try to make their departures from reality more plausible.

Why is it wrong to have police car in Tera? It is the developers fantasy and in their fantasy there are police cars and dragons and griffins? What right you or me have to dictate they can not have that kind of fantasy or their fantasy is more nonsensical than someone who only have elf butts in their fantasy?

Because there's this thing called immersion. Some might like it being broken, but many do not. They want to escape their real lives to be immersed into another universe, world, etc.

Would you willingly watch Star Wars, if out of nowhere, a German Polizei car shows up in a scene, without any correlation to the story?

And what right do you have to dictate whether the police car is immersive or not in tera? It is the developers fantasy and they decided that police car is immersive in their fantasy.

As for star wars, it is the epitome of nonsensical blabber pretending to be science, so no i won't mind even if a mollah runs around with machete hacking jedi and sith to death shouting "allah hu akbar", in fact i think nonsense like that would fit star wars even more. And before you start, yes i watched the unedited episode 4-6 and they were piece of shit.

and again, there is nothing wrong with the developers (or me or you) creating ones own private fantasty and inviting people to join. we just dont like that fantasy and do not want to join. debating over 'is it right or not' is not going to change that I am afraid

Sovrath · June 2016

jesteralways said:

Sovrath said:

jesteralways said:

How can fantasy be anymore exaggerated than it already is? By definition fantasy is nonexistent nonsense, can it be more exaggerated than that?

Well, he means the difference between eastern games that can get ridiculous (I think he is referring to the police car mounts of Tera - absolutely hate that stuff) or games that try to make their departures from reality more plausible.

Why is it wrong to have police car in Tera? It is the developers fantasy and in their fantasy there are police cars and dragons and griffins? What right you or me have to dictate they can not have that kind of fantasy or their fantasy is more nonsensical than someone who only have elf butts in their fantasy?

Because the rest of the world doesn't support it. I've seen these arguments before "it's fantasy and ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!!!!"

Anything can happen as long as it is congruent with the world, its lore, its art design.

So for instance, if this was based on Jack Chalker's "Well World" series (an excellent set of books if you can get hold of the original series) it would make sense to have a medieval city, a primitive city and a high tech super future city because the world's "countries" are made up of hexagonal bits of land that are actually kept at a specific technology level and where every one has a different race.

That's just one example but the point is that having disparate technologies makes sense as that's the way the world is created.

Any fantasy world that is set up to allow different technologies and/or different art designs (another Jack Chalker book has floating worlds that are create by people with the ability to manipulate the reality so each one is a creation of that person) would then make sense to have a variety of seemingly incongruent bits.

But Tera is a very high fantasy game that just happens to have a cartoon looking police car. This is only for novelty purposes. the same as having jumpsuits, raybans and any number of other modern day bits of clothing are also for novelty purposes.

Now, it's the game designers creation they can do what they want but as far as "good art design" and art design that fits with the world, it's rather poor.

Same wtih ArcheAge which can't make up it's mind whether it's more medieval or colonial or any number of different time periods.

Sovrath · June 2016

jesteralways said:

observer said:

Because there's this thing called immersion. Some might like it being broken, but many do not. They want to escape their real lives to be immersed into another universe, world, etc.

Would you willingly watch Star Wars, if out of nowhere, a German Polizei car shows up in a scene, without any correlation to the story?

And what right do you have to dictate whether the police car is immersive or not in tera? It is the developers fantasy and they decided that police car is immersive in their fantasy.

Don't make the mistake of "their right" and good design.

It's their right to put dancing penguins wearing tuxes and playing in a brass band all the while dancing on a giant donut that shoots lasers out of the sprinkles.

But depending on the game world/lore that might not really be good design.

If there were a variety of cars and a dichotomy of science versus magic then it would make more sense. But dumping a police car into a world where nothing else is like it is just for kicks.

clansman2007 · June 2016

ESO is probably the one that fits your requirements the best.

SEANMCAD · June 2016

Sovrath said:

jesteralways said:

observer said:

Because there's this thing called immersion. Some might like it being broken, but many do not. They want to escape their real lives to be immersed into another universe, world, etc.

Would you willingly watch Star Wars, if out of nowhere, a German Polizei car shows up in a scene, without any correlation to the story?

And what right do you have to dictate whether the police car is immersive or not in tera? It is the developers fantasy and they decided that police car is immersive in their fantasy.

Don't make the mistake of "their right" and good design.

It's their right to put dancing penguins wearing tuxes and playing in a brass band all the while dancing on a giant donut that shoots lasers out of the sprinkles.

But depending on the game world/lore that might not really be good design.

If there were a variety of cars and a dichotomy of science versus magic then it would make more sense. But dumping a police car into a world where nothing else is like it is just for kicks.

exactly

'fictional realism' as Disney used to call it when I was a kid

User836 · June 2016

Definitely Age of Conan. The world of Conan is one of the main examples of "low fantasy" (for example on the Wikipedia page). The game world is as the OP describes and the game itself feels like (to me) it is designed to be "serious" and no-nonsensical.

jesteralways · June 2016

Sovrath said:

jesteralways said:

observer said:

Because there's this thing called immersion. Some might like it being broken, but many do not. They want to escape their real lives to be immersed into another universe, world, etc.

Would you willingly watch Star Wars, if out of nowhere, a German Polizei car shows up in a scene, without any correlation to the story?

And what right do you have to dictate whether the police car is immersive or not in tera? It is the developers fantasy and they decided that police car is immersive in their fantasy.

But dumping a police car into a world where nothing else is like it is just for kicks.

That my friend is what fantasy is, a "kick" just for the sake of it. No matter how you want to rationalize fantasy it is still nonsense. So let's agree to disagree on this matter.

I have taken this off topic and i am sorry for this OP. My apology.

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Looking for a ''serious fantasy'' MMORPG, could use some advice :)

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Looking for a ''serious fantasy'' MMORPG, could use some advice :)

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