Now that I have your attention, I'm looking for a game that could essentially be its little brother. A game like Asheron's Call or Star Wars Galaxies would also be up there with it.
I realize the sequel is in the works, but I'd like a game that's been fleshed out already and has delivered on its promise. But also a game that's not so old a newbies would be left wandering through a virtual ghost town for all the levels until the end game.
Here are the aspects that made DAoC one of the best, in my books and what I'd like to see in another MMO:
- No forced questing.
- Near-linear progression in terms of zones and levels but total control of unique character customization such as things like skill leveling, trees, etc.
- In-world (non-instanced) dungeons you can actually run into other players in, for better or for worse.
- Hardcore enough to make dying painful, but not game-breaking (like corpse runs and rez sickness in AC)
- Real vs Realm PvP with your base character, without this "care-bear" character equalization crap to supposedly make it more balanced across levels. (I leveled my character this far, I want to be able to put the smack-down on the guy 10 levels lower than me!)
- (really 5a) No open PvP. I like a PvP challenge, but this just brings out the worst player base imaginable in most games. I want PvP to have a goal other than being a gank-fest.
- Crafting and resource gathering. Easy enough for a new to get into, but complex enough to reward the die-hard crafters (SWG style).
And finally, grinding. Yes, grinding. That good old, spam this mob group X number of times to get levels and run this dungeon X number of times to get all the gear pieces while you level. It's the time in game you get to explore, look around, learn the terrain and meet other players in the game while keeping your eye on the end game where you get to focus on skills, crafting, building, raiding, etc...
Now, yes, I realize there are some games that come close to this - Project Gorgon, Fallen Earth, Archeage, LOtRO and a few others. PG, though is in beta with a near-guarantee of a wipe - I'm not looking to test a game, I want to play one for a change. Most have been out for 2+ years and are too "mature" in terms of other veterans on the server; starter areas are either ghost towns or you are power-leveled through them like half the game doesn't exist - people on the server since its start treat you like an ant and ignore you 90% of the time and you really have no hope of playing in the same league as them, which relegates you to other newbs.
A free to play would also be nice, just for the steady stream of new players joining at the lower ranks to make the game feel populated.
There must be something out there like this! I mean, this is the classic example of what an MMO is without any of the bells and whistles WoW corrupted all of them with.
Any advice?
Comments
Its buy to play ... near linear progression ... has RVR ...and no open PVP ... a lot of crafting and gathering .. a lot of grind .. no empty starter zones and a lot of wolrd pve zergs .
It is Guild wars 2.
We're not likely to see it's sort of game ever again.
There is however a private server currently in beta that may let us hold onto the magic just a little longer.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
You'd think a a pre-WoW game that is simply an MMO without all the bells and whistles they keep adding would be rather easy to come across nowadays.
http://darkageofcamelot.com/
Some folks enjoy it in its current form. /shrug
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
GW 2 is not for you. Its realm rank system is not like DAOC. The closest thing you will find in terms of RVR is Elder Scrolls. I too played daoc for like 8 years. Trying to match both DAOCs PVE and RVR is nigh impossible. Elder Scrolls' RVR is closer to DAOCs than GW2. Though neither has the rewards system. GW2's WvW is a petting tram. You just join a zerg and run from objective to objective killing npc's getting points you can spend on the same gear everyone else has access to (orange). You can get orange gear in like 1 month.
But again, Elder Scrolls wont be good enough either in RVR. It doesnt have the Realm Rank +1 to all skills bonus that DAoC. Also in elder scrolls people game the system. It takes like 2-3 ppl to take a scroll. can you imagine 2 people taking a relic in DAOC? nope. Honestly just wait until camelot unchained comes out. If you dont want to, then try ESO's RVR.
Honestly, now that I think about it, try AION. Yes AION. Its grindy and its combat is tab targetted. After writing this whole thing, I recommend AION or Black Desert Online. BDO is Grindy as hell. Its PVE you will like, its PVP you will have to try for yourself or check out on you tube.
The formula is there still, we just need a game that has the more usual controls, "friendly" interface and modern textures and animations.
The kicker is... this shouldn't be difficult to do! They can even use older technology and still pass it off, but no one wants to take it on and they just keep rehashing the same goddamned WoW clones over and over again.