What Is The Best MMORPG?

[tjmudder]

So lately I have really been in search for a new MMORPG to play. I really want to play one that is great overall but also has some great PVP content. I played Guild Wars for awhile but then grew tired of it a few years back. I have played WoW over the past year, but I'm kinda getting tired of it. I want people to post their favorite MMORPG and why? I really want experienced players who have played more than one to post, but if you feel compeled to post about the one game you played then go ahead. I just ask that people give me reasons why they liked their game so much. By the way I don't care if the game is free to play or pay to play, but if I don't have to pay then that is a plus.

 

[KaOTiK]

My fav was Dark Age of Camelot but I haven't played it in years now. One that I enjoy playing but just don't have the time the game really requires is Lineage 2. L2 is a hardcore MMO. Leveling is very slow and tough once you hit the 50's (level cap is currently 80 I believe). The PvP is what this game is about it, being able to siege and take over castles and control the taxes for that given area giving your Clan more funds and the huge battles that take place during the sieges are awesome. I like the world PvP as anyone can attack anyone, but there are consequences to killing others that do not attack back so you can't blindly go killing lowbies unless you want yourself flagged and have people searching for you.

Good game, but unless you have the time to spare you won't really ever get to enjoy all the higher end aspects of the game. But they have made the game much more noob friendly, the first 20 levels they have made a cakewalk and I believe with the recent new expansion they made going from 20-35 very easy as well to get new people into the game quicker.

WoW is a great game, it excels over any other MMO in terms of PvE hands down, but imo WoW's PvP absolutely SUCKS. But I do enjoy WoW, I just have to know I am going into it for the PvE experience only really.
I'll always have a special spot for the original EQ, as it was my first MMO and have many fond memories with that game but it's so old now that I could never even attempt to try it again due to how much it has progressed with like 14 expansion packs over the years.

Personally I am looking forward to Warhammer Online, looks to mix WoW and DAoC.

 

[tjmudder]

Yeah I too am looking forward to seeing how Warhammer Online will do. I hear a lot of good things about it. I may need to give Lineage 2 another look. I hear that the castle sieges in that game are really fun. I thank you KaOTiK for your great post. This is the kind of post I am looking for and probably many other people who have my same question.

 

[pontifex]

the one you like the most?

this is like asking whats the best color or whats the best flavor of ice cream.

 

[KMFJD]

Pre-SI Daoc was the best, especially the Mordred server ffa pvp

 

[Skott]

No wrong or right answer to this question. Just personal opinion. I've played DAoC, Horizons, and WoW. Getting ready to try Eve Online. Talk about a totally different MMORPG game... If Eve isnt totally different than the others out there then I dont know what is. My fav I guess would be DAoC since I been playing it since it went live. Its dying though and been dying slowly for a while. I really liked WoW but my guildies abandoned it and that sorta killed it for me. Horizons... Great idea, great concept. Poorly executed. I hear its alive again though. Like I said getting ready to download and try EO. Still researching some things first though.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: pontifex
the one you like the most?

this is like asking whats the best color or whats the best flavor of ice cream.

Purple is the answer to both.

 

[imported_Section8]

Not a WoW fan, but that was the best of 4 I have played. Try LotRO, it was the next best IMO.

 

[BlueWeasel]

I loved Asheron's Call when it was in its prime around 2002. The servers are essentially dead now, though.

 

[warcrow]

I've got to say, after playing Asheron's Call 2 (back in the day), Star Wars Galaxies (2-3 months), Guild Wars (2-3 months), and Tabula Rasa (beta, few weeks) WoW, and LoTR--Warcraft is easily the most enjoyable. The community is so huge and vast that the auction house is normally full of great items and reasonable prices (but not always), grouping is pretty easy to do at the last minute, and finding the right guild can be simple as well since there are so many. LoTRO is second and is actually pretty fun and look great. I only played for about a month and got to level 12 or 13--but it was enjoyable. The crafting system, I felt, was way too complicated for its own good though.

 

[pontifex]

I'd say WoW is the best to me, even though I got bored of it and can't stand to play it any more. Second would be DAOC, when it was in its prime. I've played just about every single one out there.

 

[chizow]

I've really only extensively played 2 MMORPGs, FFXI and LOTRO, but I've played a few other MMOs. Missed the DAOC crush because I was more into FPS and RTS at the time and was too involved with FFXI to really get into WOW. Lots of friends/relatives or former guild members play or tried out WOW though so I'm pretty comfortable knowing what I'm missing out on.

FFXI- Love the class/job system in this game. Can level all the "classes" on the same toon and even gain a benefit from the classes you've leveled as sub-jobs with vastly different roles based on sub-job. Really hate games that force you to level alts and crap, not sure if its poor planning/implementation or a replay hook to force you into re-doing the same content over again.

Overall one of the most technical and challenging RPG I've played in regards to combat. Big fights were extremely fun and challenging and had a very epic feel to them. Bosses were dynamic and lethal. At the same time this was kinda a negative as almost everything with FFXI is a huge time sink and takes longer than getting stuff done than in LOTRO/WoW. Lots factor into this, but overall the gameplay/feel is just much slower until something happens and you get a bunch of people together.

LOTRO- Great looking game, probably best graphics out there for an MMORPG, although the art direction is sorely lacking in many areas (particularly character avatars and armor). Takes much of what WOW has going for it in terms of more casual gameplay and faster leveling along with the ability to solo etc.

Character development/customization is very weak imo, especially when compared to something like FFXI. There's really no decision-making and not that many skills for each character. It just ends up being an exercise in button-mashing, pressing 4-5 keys 99% of the time and the other 30 quickslots 1% of the time.

Very gear dependent which is a replay-hook but gets old quickly with new items making old completely obsolete within a month or two. Currently lacks end-game content which is a large reason I no longer play.

Battles are pretty boring for the most part with replay appeal that quickly diminishes. Instances typically involve clearing hours worth of junk mobs that drop junk only to culminate in a 2-5 minute fight against a tank and spank boss. There's a few exceptions but that's a big part of the problem, there's just not enough gratifying end-game content right now. Exception would be Thorog, which is one of my favorite fights in any game I've played with the Balrog being a distant second.

Oh and it does have PVP. Its just very different from most implementations because you fight player-controlled Monsters. It was a lot of fun at the outset but it quickly becomes stagnant as there's very little point to it besides killing the Monster-Players just for the sake of killing them. Fun! But it does get old.



I'm ready for an MMO that breaks away from the fantasy/grind/loot model though. I really enjoyed PlanetSide for about a year but they just didn't release enough new content and ended up spreading people out more with its expansion. I also really enjoyed the MPBT 3025 Beta while it was up and would love to see something similar. Like an action/sim/FPS or even an RTS with a perpetual campaign or developing story.

 

[effee]

EVE's a different game from most MMOs...been passing time with EQ2 and EVE.

 

[Josh123]

I was really big into Lineage 2 and it was a lot of fun for me but everything went downhill. I just started WoW this past weekend and I'm enjoying it so far. A bunch of friends I work with are in a guild so I'm not alone.

 

[Jschmuck2]

DAoC. Easy.

 

[VeZ]

I played WoW for about 2 years..dropped out right before the expansion cause it sucked away too much of my time. If you got a good amount of time and such, I suggest that because the community is still going strong and I always had fun every second I played it.

 

[Tylanner]

no debate its WoW

Only played it for 2 weeks and I could see why it has millions of sheep.

I played SWG for 2 years, had an unimaginable blast, but because of SW no the game itself.

 

[sourceninja]

I'm really getting into eve online.

 

[brandonb]

I've played or beta tested many MMORPG's.

Asheron's Call - Great game back in the day, interesting leveling system, skill based. You created spells by mixing components rather than just getting scrolls/spells at certain levels. You got exp for doing your skills rather than killing monsters. Unfortunately combat bots, poor ai, and its poor graphics ruined the game. Had great gameplay mechanics.

Everquest - Level based system, kill mobs get exp. Interesting dungeons, immersive environments, hard and difficult. Overall this was probably the best RPG game due to the immersiveness of the environment/character.

DAOC - Don't remember, beta tested it for a few weeks. All I remember is the graphics were above the other things out there, but the game was completely linear. You fought these mobs at lvl 7, fouight these mobs at lvl 8... They just huddled in groups and didn't really roam or anything. I'd say this is the start of where MMORPG startted to take a different turn to the worse. Not at all immersive, felt mechanical.

Asheron's Call 2 - The first to really make skill trees, took the ideas of DAOC and made more character development. Didn't really take all the concepts from Asheron's Call, but instead made a hybrid of it with Everquest/DAOC.

EQ2 - Built upon the previous, made it easier but tried to maintain the immersive of the environment/character, but in the process made th game feel mechanical in nature. Didn't really work out. You can't use immersive and easy in the same sentence. They wanted more immersive character combat, so what they gave you was about 10+ buttons in your toolbar to mash during combat, so instead of watching the fight, you are watching the toolbars light up to see which button to mash now. Basic mob AI, they run towards you, attack until its dead.

WoW - See EQ2, just a little different feel, made it easier, graphics was interesting but not necessary "better." I just couldn't get into it. It just wasn't fun to me. Nothing drew me in.

Dark and Light - Only played it once for about 10 minutes. It crashed and I never got logged in again. Avoid.

Vanguard - A clone between EQ2 and WoW. A bit slower on the toolbar mashing compared to EQ2 but still not great. Had great potential but the unreal engine port was not good, and the game engine was flawed.

---

All in all, Asheron's Call and EQ were my favorites, but they are old and obsolete now. I currently play EQ2, and I'm having a decent time but it took me awhile to "warm up to it." I do wish they fixed the hotbar mashing though and the game would be a ton better.

 

[Tarrant64]

I've been playing LOTRO. It's been very impressive to me anyways. I also did FFXI Online.

LOTRO for me anyways, but it's differnet for differnet people. The scenary was very unique in LOTRO so that's what did it for me.

 

[AntiFreze]

I started with EQ1 and played that for 2-3 years, I stuck through till the Luclin expansion, but quit after that.

I then tried some beta's of lineage 2, FFIX, WoW, EVE.

I stuck with WoW after the beta and have been playing it ever since. It does get boring at points, but I got my girlfriend playing it so it's quite fun to play with her. That and a bunch of my old family and friends play. If it weren't for them I might have stopped playing when BC came out. Honestly, I'm looking forward to Conan, but I don't see myself quitting WoW for sometime.

The problem with WoW is that after a while anything gets old. And it's all a treadmill. EX: I need X item so I need to kill Y amounts of Z monsters till my amounts of N = the total cost. But you get that with most games and it's incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to create an experience that really feels unique to you alone.

 

[Ramma2]

Played EQ for many years, it had its hold on me good.

Since then I've tried DAoC, EQ2, and Vanguard, none have come close to EQ for me.

 

[SunnyD]

As far as MMO's go, if it's not free, it's not worth it.

Sadly, almost all free MMO's are not worth it either.

WoW has graphical appeal, but gets boring quickly.
EQ2 has a HUGE world, but gets boring quickly.
EVE has a MASSIVE universe, but gets boring quickly.
LotRO has a nicely themed world and good graphics, but gets boring quickly.
DAoC has a decent PvP system, but gets boring quickly.

You see a theme here? Basically you're going to pay $15/mo to get bored quickly, on top of the initial cost of the game.

Personally, I play City of Heroes/Villains. It gets boring quickly, but I play with my sister and brother-in-law and I do so more for the social aspects than to actually accomplish something.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
You see a theme here? Basically you're going to pay $15/mo to get bored quickly, on top of the initial cost of the game.

That argument has been beaten to death and falls flat. If you're engrossed in an MMO you're not spending money on other games (or hardware even) to get your gaming fix. I know for sure I spend a LOT more money on games and hardware when I'm not playing an MMO.

 

[Bacstar]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: SunnyD
You see a theme here? Basically you're going to pay $15/mo to get bored quickly, on top of the initial cost of the game.

That argument has been beaten to death and falls flat. If you're engrossed in an MMO you're not spending money on other games (or hardware even) to get your gaming fix. I know for sure I spend a LOT more money on games and hardware when I'm not playing an MMO.

This is soooo true. Since I started playing LOTRO, I haven't been wasting my money on going out. I also don't have time to play anything else, so I've been spending less on games. I did go out and buy COD4 and Mass Affect, but mainly these two games are sitting on a shelf collecting dust.

I'm having a great time with LOTRO, I've played EQ & EQ2 for years, and played WoW til I maxxed my character out at 50 and got bored. The main thing for me about continuing on past hitting the level cap is joining a great guild for the raids and the social aspect. Otherwise, things get boring fast....