It doesnt really add up to the things you want on your list, but TSW is a very atypical game which works for some, not for others. But it's a game EVERYONE should try at least once. It has the best quests, best story and best customization of any game and compared to any other game these days, levelling as two is actually working well.
I would also recommend Wildstar, but since you dont like the graphics, I will not go into detail why.
FFXIV would be perfect for you if you weren't so against sub fees (Which by the way makes FFXIV the most content rich out of all the new mmo's). So I guess go with GW2 because I can't think of any others really.
FFXIV does look very appealing, I must say. But I simply cannot justify a subscription fee for a video game these days. I already pay far too many subscription fees as it is, as well as all that "living" that I have to do in the real world. Besides, I personally feel the subscription fee is a dying breed of payment, and as far as I'm concerned, it can stay dead. I never liked the idea behind it, and while some F2P (and even B2P) games can employ incredibly callous methods when it comes to microtransactions, at least they're not automatically sucking money out of my wallet every month.
If FFXIV ever goes B2P, rest assured I'll be one of the first to check it out. But until that time? It'll remain a, hah, fantasy.
Well, it will stay a dream then because just like XI this will most likely never go f2p thank God. I think p2p will be around for a while and the games that use the model will always pump out bigger and better quality content then the others. I think it's worth it but hey agree to disagree.
I don't doubt that it will stay a paid game. But I think it might eventually go the way of TSW and ESO and become a buy-2-play title rather than a forced sub one, with the subscription netting you extra content but being optional. In my view, that's the best way for an MMO to run these days. You still get the quality of a good game without the absolute flood of bots, game-hoppers and trolls that F2P titles are usually plagued with.
Besides, I'm no expert, but I think if forced-subscription games were still as financially viable as they were back in the hay-day of MMOs, then we'd be seeing more of them. But they've fallen out of fashion lately, not just with players but with publishers and developers, too. I feel there's a pretty good reason for that...
Point aside, my reasoning for not paying a sub for FFXIV isn't so much about my distaste for the payment model (I hated the payment model AA ran with but I still played that for almost a year) and more because I simply can't justify it with my current finance.
There are some luxuries I have to go without.
No, it wont. Ever. Square have already stated it will never be anything but sub or shut down, and since theres 4 million people playing now its just getting bigger and better all the time.
You and your gf need to stop being cheap if you want a quality MMO like FF14, it has every single thing you described and more, and the content they put out is crazy, me and my other half don't have time to be bored in the game!
But if you want to keep slumming it out in the free to play market then go ahead. You'll get what you pay for.
Quick update on GW2: We played it for about 4-5 hours and got up to the first major city zone, but I have to say, we're not entirely enamored with it. There's no real drive for us to go back to it. Not sure why, but it just didn't grab our attention. Thanks for the recommendation, though, guys!
It doesnt really add up to the things you want on your list, but TSW is a very atypical game which works for some, not for others. But it's a game EVERYONE should try at least once. It has the best quests, best story and best customization of any game and compared to any other game these days, levelling as two is actually working well.
I would also recommend Wildstar, but since you dont like the graphics, I will not go into detail why.
I actually referenced TSW in the original post. I did play it myself for a long while around the time it came out, but once I reached endgame, there was basically nothing to do beyond the raids. The crafting system was kind of odd and didn't have any real payoff. There was no player housing (still isn't, I don't think) and while they did try to implement good RP tools, the game's system was hard to work with on that front. Once I finished all the issues, was decked out in full purple gear with a nice outfit... There was pretty much nothing drawing me back to the game.
Then the Tokyo update came out, bringing the AEGIS system with it, which in my view made the already-kinda-eh combat into an absolute chore, and I lost interest.
Fast forward a year or so, my GF picked the game up in a Steam sale and we decided to give it another go together. But a year away from the game was not kind to it, and after coming back I realised just how unintuitive and clunky the UI system was, not to mention the lackluster character customization system. We just couldn't get into it. So sadly, that one's off the table.
As for Wildstar: I'm aware that it offers a lot of our criteria (player housing, okay combat, ect...) But honestly the art style and story just don't grab us at all. It feels far too cartoony and the highly exaggerated proportions of even the human characters are a visual turn off.
No, it wont. Ever. Square have already stated it will never be anything but sub or shut down, and since theres 4 million people playing now its just getting bigger and better all the time.
You and your gf need to stop being cheap if you want a quality MMO like FF14, it has every single thing you described and more, and the content they put out is crazy, me and my other half don't have time to be bored in the game!
But if you want to keep slumming it out in the free to play market then go ahead. You'll get what you pay for.
While I don't appreciate the passive aggressiveness on display here, I did state that my reluctance to play FFXIV isn't so much about the system itself, and more about my finances. I'll thank you not to pass judgement on me and my GF by telling us to stop being "cheap". You shouldn't really comment on that sort of thing, as you don't know my financial or life situation.
But glossing over that... I do have some questions about FFXIV because it's on Steam, so there's a possibility that we might look at it.
Firstly: Is the subscription a fixed time countdown? Or does it only affect when you play? EG: If I buy a month of subscription, will it constantly tick down the timer regardless of whether I play? Or will I be able to take a few days break from the game and not lose out on my sub time? I ask because I don't like feeling obligated to play the game just to get my money's worth out of a sub fee. Let's say I buy a month's sub, but then something happens that means I can't play for two weeks. Essentially, I've just lost half my paid sub fee. I hope you see my problem.
Secondly, one of the reasons I like B2P games is because, even after the sub runs out, you can still at least log in to do things like maintain things and check up on quests/friends or just have a quick play around. I don't think FFXIV allows this, but if I'm mistaken, please feel free to correct me.
Try mixing it up with something different, then go back to the fantasy genre.
Marvel Heroes has a lot to offer for free players and it isn't pay-to-win. While there isn't much to do outside of combat, there are tons of heroes to play and each one has several costumes to choose from, with some heroes having gender-swap costumes if it fits the lore.
Wait for the upcoming patch if you insist on leveling together, as that will make levels irrelevant for the story mode. Or don't wait, because you will find levels less important when you can reach the cap in less than four hours, and each of the 58 heroes has to be leveled separately. Luckily, there is far more content at the level cap than leveling offers if you are into the ARPG min/max gameplay, even just a little bit.
The game has two raids, each with two difficulty settings, unless they added more since I last played. They are mostly gear and Omega-point restricted, but the lower difficulties can be played after a modest amount of effort in gearing up. Omega points are a long-term account-wide progression that make a decent chunk of total character power.
Honestly, the very first thing that came to mind is Everquest II. But it has quite an archaic combat + graphics...so if you're willing to give it a try...
Honestly neither of those things irritates me about EQ II. Gfx is mostly pointless(the real deal is artistic realisation of a fantasy / vision) and combat...it's actually elaborate, but I understand why the action combat is nice(really TERA's combat is so smooth and sexy).
Call us petty and vain if you like, but we honestly did look through EQ II a bit and it just doesn't meet our standards, visually. Being able to make visually pleasing characters that we like is one of the major things that draws us to MMOs. And EQ II's characters just look too... dated.
Again, I was excited to try EQ Next, until it was cancelled because apparently we can't have nice things. And EQ Landmark has basically turned into a less versatile, prettier looking Minecraft.
Try mixing it up with something different, then go back to the fantasy genre.
Marvel Heroes has a lot to offer for free players and it isn't pay-to-win. While there isn't much to do outside of combat, there are tons of heroes to play and each one has several costumes to choose from, with some heroes having gender-swap costumes if it fits the lore.
Wait for the upcoming patch if you insist on leveling together, as that will make levels irrelevant for the story mode. Or don't wait, because you will find levels less important when you can reach the cap in less than four hours, and each of the 58 heroes has to be leveled separately. Luckily, there is far more content at the level cap than leveling offers if you are into the ARPG min/max gameplay, even just a little bit.
The game has two raids, each with two difficulty settings, unless they added more since I last played. They are mostly gear and Omega-point restricted, but the lower difficulties can be played after a modest amount of effort in gearing up. Omega points are a long-term account-wide progression that make a decent chunk of total character power.
You know, funnily enough? One of our longest MMO stints was actually Champions Online (back before it switched publishers). We had quite a bit of fun in that one, but when we tried to revisit it last year, we just found it to be infested with furries, microtransactions and a lack of graphical upgrades. All things we hate having to deal with.
I did look at Marvel Heroes, but honestly it looked just a bit too limited compared to other games we've tried and ultimately it didn't grab our interest. Not to mention that while I'm a bit of a Marvel fan myself, my GF has exactly zero interest in the series. So while I might be able to nerd out about some of the lore and settings and characters, I doubt she'd enjoy herself. And if we're not both having fun in the game, well... What's the point?
Might snoop around it a bit in the coming months, who knows... But I can't say the "Superhero MMO" genre ever really drew us in that much.
As for "mixing it up", as I've mentioned, we've actually played a few "non fantasy" MMOs in the past. Starforge, The Secret World... But ultimately, we like being able to play pretty elf boys who hit people with magic swords. That's sort of our Thing™
Already addressed this one, but as a refresher: Gender/Race locked classes and forced PVP after level 45 (with a bad reputation for ganks) are both major, major turn offs for this game. Not to mention we'd need to pay money to actually play it at all.
If it was free, or even had a free trial? Maybe, but not for what it is right now.
In other news? I've played a bit of the FFXIV free trial, and I gotta say, the character customisation system is really weirdly limited. I was able to make a nice looking human, but the elves... People just.. don't look like that... Not to mention they were just super limited, which struck me as very strange for a game so dedicated to pretty looking characters.
I went in hopeful, but I gotta say, I'm not impressed.
Secondly, one of the reasons I like B2P games is because, even after the sub runs out, you can still at least log in to do things like maintain things and check up on quests/friends or just have a quick play around. I don't think FFXIV allows this, but if I'm mistaken, please feel free to correct me.
Yes its a monthly sub that time ticks on regardless.
That's only .50 cents a day.
If you can afford a computer you should be able to afford .50 cents a day for entertainment.
The game also has a free one week trial (not sure if steam offers this but they do from their website)
So nothing to lose trying it anyway. Its free for a week.
WoW is also free for the first 20 levels, so you could sample that for free as well.
Secondly, one of the reasons I like B2P games is because, even after the sub runs out, you can still at least log in to do things like maintain things and check up on quests/friends or just have a quick play around. I don't think FFXIV allows this, but if I'm mistaken, please feel free to correct me.
Yes its a monthly sub that time ticks on regardless.
That's only .50 cents a day.
If you can afford a computer you should be able to afford .50 cents a day for entertainment.
The game also has a free one week trial (not sure if steam offers this but they do from their website)
So nothing to lose trying it anyway. Its free for a week.
WoW is also free for the first 20 levels, so you could sample that for free as well.
I think you two need to look into other types of games.
We have done. Multiple times.
There's an alarming deficiency in nice co-op games these days. At least, ones we haven't already played. We've got the first Dark Souls to play through together (we've already beaten both 2 and 3 several times over together) but that's a tad high-intensity at times.
In terms of other games, there's Starbound, which has a lot of cool content getting added to it, but still isn't released. Stardew Valley, which doesn't have the Co-op patch yet and probably won't for several months. Unepic, which has some very unforgiving multiplayer, and... Nothing else that I can really think of.
Trust me, though, when I say we have plumbed the depths of co-op games out there. We're starting to get desperate. We even considered buying AC: Unity recently.
Unity.
But until such a time when a new co-op game comes out and catches our interest, we turn to MMOs.
My recommendation: Star Wars the Old Republic.
Ok, it's not strictly fantasy - but I'd say the Star Wars setting is more fantasy than sci-fi. Beyond that, it doesn't have much in the way of customization - but at least the gear can make you look very different.
But it's very, very good for a duo. ALL content except "operations" can be played with 2 players and 2 companions. Quests are relatively engaging - and you're both participating in the quest dialogue.
It's a great coop MMO, in my opinion.
Now - I have a question for you:
How did you manage to play Dark Souls cooperatively? Isn't that supposed to be a hassle with summoning and so forth?
It sounds like FFXIV:ARR is your ideal game, but as your averse to paying a subscription, your probably going to struggle to find a game with all the things you want, and even then, your going to have to pay something as F2P games tend to have gated content, they also tend to be PVP focused and have a variety of P2W options. If your serious about finding the right MMO, then i think you will ultimately have to accept that nothing comes for free, and for what you want a P2P game like FFXIV:ARR might actually be the cheapest option, even compared to its nearest 'F2P' competitors.
Yeah you guys are probably going to need a computer upgrade, along with most of the posters on this site, so you can play BDO.
It's pretty much the go-to MMO for now and the next few years.
If it's seriously about not being able to be a male ranger or whatever, well, good luck in your searches...
Cannot see why BDO should be the go to MMO, there are other great MMOs out there GW2, ESO etc. and many promising MMOs are coming Albion online, Crowfall, Camelot unchained, CoE and Shards online.
BDO kills it for me with the heavy Grind, Potion Spam and the overpriced Shop. In my book BDO is even a no go.
Hi i would recommend ESO or GW 2 for you to try. BDO is more for hardcore players and still has alot of problems atm ... if u like it go and try it but i wouldnt recommend to spend 30 eur on it atm maybe in a few months to see its progress. Have a nice day
I'm in the same situation myself, and I'm constantly on the lookout for good cooperative games to play with the GF.
We tried GW2, but the way "heart quests" only track individual progress absolutely ruined the fun. I mean, for a game focusing on team play - that's one hell of a strange design choice.
I mean, that's one of the primary PvE avenues - and yet you constantly stand around waiting for your partner to finish stuff up. Profoundly stupid design, from where I'm sitting.
Yeah you guys are probably going to need a computer upgrade, along with most of the posters on this site, so you can play BDO.
It's pretty much the go-to MMO for now and the next few years.
If it's seriously about not being able to be a male ranger or whatever, well, good luck in your searches...
Cannot see why BDO should be the go to MMO, there are other great MMOs out there GW2, ESO etc. and many promising MMOs are coming Albion online, Crowfall, Camelot unchained, CoE and Shards online.
BDO kills it for me with the heavy Grind, Potion Spam and the overpriced Shop. In my book BDO is even a no go.
Of course BDO is not for everyone.
It is really hard for a fan to consider that what they love dearly could have major flaws for others.
Overcoming self-bias and looking at games objectively is very hard to do for all of us.
I find that the more MMO's, well the more Games in general really, that i play, that its more a case of accepting a games flaws if its something you enjoy playing, denying they exist would be silly after all. BDO isn't a game for everyone, nor is Eve Online, yet they are very different games, and both games have some very obvious flaws. Find it funny though how people go on and on about the ganking in BDO, and the forced PVP for that matter, and i am now mid way through 53 and, i am not seeing it, thats not to say that PVP isn't in the game, but i think sometimes you have to actively go looking for it. Not that i haven't died a couple of times in a fight already, but it was a momentary inconvenience that probably inconvenienced my attacker more than it did me, because i have PVP disabled, which means my attackers took huge Karma hits. I just see this as the game working as intended, perhaps its because i have played Eve for several years that its not a big thing.
FWIW - the following are the games my GF and I have had the most fun with - in order of "fun" factor:
Diablo 3 - hundreds of hours The Division - around 80 hours Star Wars the Old Republic - around 100 hours WoW - hundreds of hours Path of Exile - around 60 hours Grim Dawn - around 40 hours Lord of the Rings War in the North - around 20 hours Neverwinter - around 60 hours
Secondly, one of the reasons I like B2P games is because, even after the sub runs out, you can still at least log in to do things like maintain things and check up on quests/friends or just have a quick play around. I don't think FFXIV allows this, but if I'm mistaken, please feel free to correct me.
Yes its a monthly sub that time ticks on regardless.
That's only .50 cents a day.
If you can afford a computer you should be able to afford .50 cents a day for entertainment.
The game also has a free one week trial (not sure if steam offers this but they do from their website)
So nothing to lose trying it anyway. Its free for a week.
WoW is also free for the first 20 levels, so you could sample that for free as well.
I'm actually giving the free trial a spin as it is. So far I'm... unsure.
The world seems massive, and I do like the very focused storytelling for the quests (it's the first time I've had to actually focus on what a character was saying because their welsh pirate accent was so strange) but at the same time, the Arcanist class was disappointing in combat and the character customisation for the Elezens seems incredibly strange and limited. All the elves in the cutscenes and around the world look great, but when I try to make one I'm stuck with this tiny-headed, long limbed weird thing.
Not dismissing it out of hand just yet, but let's just say I'm sceptical.
In regards to the sub fee, it's less "I can't afford it" and more "I can't justify it". I could certainly afford the subscription fee. But it's a case of value for money. Again, if I pay a sub fee for a month, and then something happens that makes it so I can't play for a few weeks, that money is essentially wasted, if you get what I mean.
I much prefer non-forced sub games simply because they don't make me feel like I'm doing something wrong if I don't play them every single day. With forced subs, I feel like if I'm not playing for as much time as I can each month, then I'm wasting money. And that's just not healthy.
Everquest is still around but might not be up the wanted graphic standard, but can be played for free, has housing(instanced) and the game is frigging huge with 22 expansions character customization might not be the best buy hey you can change color on gear
Subscription is not a dying concept. A lot of publishers have gone the way of free to play in order to pull more people into a game designed purely around making money.
FFXIV will Never go free to play or buy to play. FFXI is still around and it requires a subscription to play. Square Enix is a company that has constantly shown us that they truly care about their product. Losing so much money to remake FFXIV and FFXV. The clear logic in having a subscription here is that they don't need to implement cash grabs that tilt the playing field. Everyone gets all the new content at an equal level. And there is enough income to justify releasing major content updates bi-monthly.
In the case of FFXIV, this is actually a far better bang for your buck compared to World of Warcraft. Because while even though WoW does have an in-game method of paying the subscription through tokens, they actually do not update the game nearly as much as SE does FFXIV. I don't know what kind of new development system SE has come up with, but the frequency of their updates makes it well worth the subscription.
Even now if you're this late to joining up, there is simply so much to do and so much to play through. It is really hard to not justify spending $13/mo for a game that gives 10 times the content of most Triple A titles that only last you 60~ hours, yet cost $60 at the door.
I personally will sub for a month with new content, and only one month. Spending that time to play through the new story quests and updating my gear until it runs out. It is worth $13 every single time.
That was a truly remarkable OP...dear god. With your requirement for "pretty characters" it sounds like your gf is running the show, which is kinda understandable.
I would say BDO is the game for you if you could find a way to get over the gender locked classes (the last two classes released are not really gender locked). I don't think you will get ganked more than a couple times after 45. It is really rare to be killed out of the blue. And you don't lose anything for being killed anymore.
OP you have painted yourself into a box. Have fun with that.
I think gw2 and neverwinter would fit you both well. What I would do is try neverwinter its free and fun also has player made content, no force pvp. If it isnt what you like then gw2 is pretty good and just saw some good changes in the last year. Honestly you are not the only one who feels kinda lost or mmoless right now. I just tried to join the wow crowd and as a nub it was not a plesant ride.
You may like Guild wars 2. I played cute Asura, then - some Human girl. I really enjoyed my personal story that I can influence. Just when you start game, you make some choices, like where were you born etc. Choose to be noble or poor - this does matter in some 'personal' quests. There is also distinctive graphic and involving enviroment. You have crafting bag, so your own bag won't overflow (in most cases). Even NPCs are really cool and inviting. ANd upon latest expansion it is totally free. What I disliked was auto-scaling to zone. if you are lvbl.50 and enter lvl.20 zone - you become lvl.20. Some quests were really hard for me, like one to return Asura's golem. I needed to jet-react which was virtually impossible. Some locations were not possible for me to reach. Rift is just without soul. You come, you run through colourfull enviroments. You wield your sword and see cannons, death rays, defensive shields, some pistol-wielding persons. I could not care about any NPC there; however, lots of quests and looks like fun crafting.
If only you could play an outdated graphic - I would reccomend Istaria. But it is off your list, since customization is not that big, graphic engine is outdated.
Comments
It doesnt really add up to the things you want on your list, but TSW is a very atypical game which works for some, not for others. But it's a game EVERYONE should try at least once. It has the best quests, best story and best customization of any game and compared to any other game these days, levelling as two is actually working well.
I would also recommend Wildstar, but since you dont like the graphics, I will not go into detail why.
You and your gf need to stop being cheap if you want a quality MMO like FF14, it has every single thing you described and more, and the content they put out is crazy, me and my other half don't have time to be bored in the game!
But if you want to keep slumming it out in the free to play market then go ahead. You'll get what you pay for.
I actually referenced TSW in the original post. I did play it myself for a long while around the time it came out, but once I reached endgame, there was basically nothing to do beyond the raids. The crafting system was kind of odd and didn't have any real payoff. There was no player housing (still isn't, I don't think) and while they did try to implement good RP tools, the game's system was hard to work with on that front. Once I finished all the issues, was decked out in full purple gear with a nice outfit... There was pretty much nothing drawing me back to the game.
Then the Tokyo update came out, bringing the AEGIS system with it, which in my view made the already-kinda-eh combat into an absolute chore, and I lost interest.
Fast forward a year or so, my GF picked the game up in a Steam sale and we decided to give it another go together. But a year away from the game was not kind to it, and after coming back I realised just how unintuitive and clunky the UI system was, not to mention the lackluster character customization system. We just couldn't get into it. So sadly, that one's off the table.
As for Wildstar: I'm aware that it offers a lot of our criteria (player housing, okay combat, ect...) But honestly the art style and story just don't grab us at all. It feels far too cartoony and the highly exaggerated proportions of even the human characters are a visual turn off.
While I don't appreciate the passive aggressiveness on display here, I did state that my reluctance to play FFXIV isn't so much about the system itself, and more about my finances. I'll thank you not to pass judgement on me and my GF by telling us to stop being "cheap". You shouldn't really comment on that sort of thing, as you don't know my financial or life situation.
But glossing over that... I do have some questions about FFXIV because it's on Steam, so there's a possibility that we might look at it.
Firstly: Is the subscription a fixed time countdown? Or does it only affect when you play? EG: If I buy a month of subscription, will it constantly tick down the timer regardless of whether I play? Or will I be able to take a few days break from the game and not lose out on my sub time? I ask because I don't like feeling obligated to play the game just to get my money's worth out of a sub fee. Let's say I buy a month's sub, but then something happens that means I can't play for two weeks. Essentially, I've just lost half my paid sub fee. I hope you see my problem.
Secondly, one of the reasons I like B2P games is because, even after the sub runs out, you can still at least log in to do things like maintain things and check up on quests/friends or just have a quick play around. I don't think FFXIV allows this, but if I'm mistaken, please feel free to correct me.
Marvel Heroes has a lot to offer for free players and it isn't pay-to-win. While there isn't much to do outside of combat, there are tons of heroes to play and each one has several costumes to choose from, with some heroes having gender-swap costumes if it fits the lore.
Wait for the upcoming patch if you insist on leveling together, as that will make levels irrelevant for the story mode. Or don't wait, because you will find levels less important when you can reach the cap in less than four hours, and each of the 58 heroes has to be leveled separately. Luckily, there is far more content at the level cap than leveling offers if you are into the ARPG min/max gameplay, even just a little bit.
The game has two raids, each with two difficulty settings, unless they added more since I last played. They are mostly gear and Omega-point restricted, but the lower difficulties can be played after a modest amount of effort in gearing up. Omega points are a long-term account-wide progression that make a decent chunk of total character power.
Currently Playing:
......
Again, I was excited to try EQ Next, until it was cancelled because apparently we can't have nice things. And EQ Landmark has basically turned into a less versatile, prettier looking Minecraft.
You know, funnily enough? One of our longest MMO stints was actually Champions Online (back before it switched publishers). We had quite a bit of fun in that one, but when we tried to revisit it last year, we just found it to be infested with furries, microtransactions and a lack of graphical upgrades. All things we hate having to deal with.
I did look at Marvel Heroes, but honestly it looked just a bit too limited compared to other games we've tried and ultimately it didn't grab our interest. Not to mention that while I'm a bit of a Marvel fan myself, my GF has exactly zero interest in the series. So while I might be able to nerd out about some of the lore and settings and characters, I doubt she'd enjoy herself. And if we're not both having fun in the game, well... What's the point?
Might snoop around it a bit in the coming months, who knows... But I can't say the "Superhero MMO" genre ever really drew us in that much.
As for "mixing it up", as I've mentioned, we've actually played a few "non fantasy" MMOs in the past. Starforge, The Secret World... But ultimately, we like being able to play pretty elf boys who hit people with magic swords. That's sort of our Thing™
Already addressed this one, but as a refresher:
Gender/Race locked classes and forced PVP after level 45 (with a bad reputation for ganks) are both major, major turn offs for this game. Not to mention we'd need to pay money to actually play it at all.
If it was free, or even had a free trial? Maybe, but not for what it is right now.
In other news? I've played a bit of the FFXIV free trial, and I gotta say, the character customisation system is really weirdly limited. I was able to make a nice looking human, but the elves... People just.. don't look like that... Not to mention they were just super limited, which struck me as very strange for a game so dedicated to pretty looking characters.
I went in hopeful, but I gotta say, I'm not impressed.
That's only .50 cents a day.
If you can afford a computer you should be able to afford .50 cents a day for entertainment.
The game also has a free one week trial (not sure if steam offers this but they do from their website)
So nothing to lose trying it anyway. Its free for a week.
WoW is also free for the first 20 levels, so you could sample that for free as well.
What i would recommend for Coop
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Editon, it is a great Coop game with lots of Content, you can spent hundreds of hours in this game.
Marvel Heroes 2016 or Path of Exile if you like Hack&Slay both have a very fair shop
It's pretty much the go-to MMO for now and the next few years.
If it's seriously about not being able to be a male ranger or whatever, well, good luck in your searches...
Ok, it's not strictly fantasy - but I'd say the Star Wars setting is more fantasy than sci-fi. Beyond that, it doesn't have much in the way of customization - but at least the gear can make you look very different.
But it's very, very good for a duo. ALL content except "operations" can be played with 2 players and 2 companions. Quests are relatively engaging - and you're both participating in the quest dialogue.
It's a great coop MMO, in my opinion.
Now - I have a question for you:
How did you manage to play Dark Souls cooperatively? Isn't that supposed to be a hassle with summoning and so forth?
If your serious about finding the right MMO, then i think you will ultimately have to accept that nothing comes for free, and for what you want a P2P game like FFXIV:ARR might actually be the cheapest option, even compared to its nearest 'F2P' competitors.
Cannot see why BDO should be the go to MMO, there are other great MMOs out there GW2, ESO etc. and many promising MMOs are coming Albion online, Crowfall, Camelot unchained, CoE and Shards online.
BDO kills it for me with the heavy Grind, Potion Spam and the overpriced Shop. In my book BDO is even a no go.
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We tried GW2, but the way "heart quests" only track individual progress absolutely ruined the fun. I mean, for a game focusing on team play - that's one hell of a strange design choice.
I mean, that's one of the primary PvE avenues - and yet you constantly stand around waiting for your partner to finish stuff up. Profoundly stupid design, from where I'm sitting.
BDO isn't a game for everyone, nor is Eve Online, yet they are very different games, and both games have some very obvious flaws.
Find it funny though how people go on and on about the ganking in BDO, and the forced PVP for that matter, and i am now mid way through 53 and, i am not seeing it, thats not to say that PVP isn't in the game, but i think sometimes you have to actively go looking for it.
Not that i haven't died a couple of times in a fight already, but it was a momentary inconvenience that probably inconvenienced my attacker more than it did me, because i have PVP disabled, which means my attackers took huge Karma hits. I just see this as the game working as intended, perhaps its because i have played Eve for several years that its not a big thing.
Diablo 3 - hundreds of hours
The Division - around 80 hours
Star Wars the Old Republic - around 100 hours
WoW - hundreds of hours
Path of Exile - around 60 hours
Grim Dawn - around 40 hours
Lord of the Rings War in the North - around 20 hours
Neverwinter - around 60 hours
The world seems massive, and I do like the very focused storytelling for the quests (it's the first time I've had to actually focus on what a character was saying because their welsh pirate accent was so strange) but at the same time, the Arcanist class was disappointing in combat and the character customisation for the Elezens seems incredibly strange and limited. All the elves in the cutscenes and around the world look great, but when I try to make one I'm stuck with this tiny-headed, long limbed weird thing.
Not dismissing it out of hand just yet, but let's just say I'm sceptical.
In regards to the sub fee, it's less "I can't afford it" and more "I can't justify it". I could certainly afford the subscription fee. But it's a case of value for money. Again, if I pay a sub fee for a month, and then something happens that makes it so I can't play for a few weeks, that money is essentially wasted, if you get what I mean.
I much prefer non-forced sub games simply because they don't make me feel like I'm doing something wrong if I don't play them every single day. With forced subs, I feel like if I'm not playing for as much time as I can each month, then I'm wasting money. And that's just not healthy.
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Final Fantasy XIV - Midgardsormr
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Subscription is not a dying concept. A lot of publishers have gone the way of free to play in order to pull more people into a game designed purely around making money.
FFXIV will Never go free to play or buy to play. FFXI is still around and it requires a subscription to play. Square Enix is a company that has constantly shown us that they truly care about their product. Losing so much money to remake FFXIV and FFXV. The clear logic in having a subscription here is that they don't need to implement cash grabs that tilt the playing field. Everyone gets all the new content at an equal level. And there is enough income to justify releasing major content updates bi-monthly.
In the case of FFXIV, this is actually a far better bang for your buck compared to World of Warcraft. Because while even though WoW does have an in-game method of paying the subscription through tokens, they actually do not update the game nearly as much as SE does FFXIV. I don't know what kind of new development system SE has come up with, but the frequency of their updates makes it well worth the subscription.
Even now if you're this late to joining up, there is simply so much to do and so much to play through. It is really hard to not justify spending $13/mo for a game that gives 10 times the content of most Triple A titles that only last you 60~ hours, yet cost $60 at the door.
I personally will sub for a month with new content, and only one month. Spending that time to play through the new story quests and updating my gear until it runs out. It is worth $13 every single time.
I would say BDO is the game for you if you could find a way to get over the gender locked classes (the last two classes released are not really gender locked). I don't think you will get ganked more than a couple times after 45. It is really rare to be killed out of the blue. And you don't lose anything for being killed anymore.
OP you have painted yourself into a box. Have fun with that.
What I disliked was auto-scaling to zone. if you are lvbl.50 and enter lvl.20 zone - you become lvl.20. Some quests were really hard for me, like one to return Asura's golem. I needed to jet-react which was virtually impossible. Some locations were not possible for me to reach.
Rift is just without soul. You come, you run through colourfull enviroments. You wield your sword and see cannons, death rays, defensive shields, some pistol-wielding persons. I could not care about any NPC there; however, lots of quests and looks like fun crafting.
If only you could play an outdated graphic - I would reccomend Istaria. But it is off your list, since customization is not that big, graphic engine is outdated.
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