Swordsmith
2016-02-12, 01:30 PM
So I'm looking for a new game. Part of the advice I got when asking how folks find a new game was to ask places like this. So let me tap your brains.
I have in the past enjoyed games like NWN and EQ. I find myself having time on my hands available to play again, but have not been able to get back in to enjoying either. Part of the reason for that is that I seriously delved very deep into them in the past, and I've played every sort of character I can think of, I understand the mechanics, and I'm just no longer thrilled. Part of it is that of course, I'm not in the same place I was; I really can't do a serious MMO, because I'm going to be solo. I need to be able to log off or pause with no notice, might be gone a minute, might be gone all day. I'm just not able to be enough of a jerk to group or raid on that kind of basis.
NWN was great because it was essentially solo (there's a whole online multiplayer aspect, but I never got into that), and because it had a huge number of combinations, what with stats that actually had an effect on gameplay, a variety of classes which could be combined via multiclassing, and with player added content, literally hundreds of prestige classes. And the gameplay, again with player added content, offered thousands of hours of story driven play, some of it superb (most not, but some...)
I enjoyed Skyrim the first time through, but at the time there was very little in player mods available, and now, looking at it, I still can't figure out what's out there and how to get it working. Maybe that's my answer, to pursue Skyrim and work harder at it. NWN had the NWN vault, where all the content was sitting together, along with explanations as to how to install it and get it working. That's gone now (and probably one of the reasons going back to NWN didn't work out so well for me)
I had a good time with Anarchy Online, I loved the way you could ladder up, because items had requirements, but the requirements weren't based on your level, rather on your stats and skills, and there were "spells" and gear which could raise those stats and skills, so on and so forth. I didn't like the higher levels of the game, though, and again played through nearly all the combinations of the low end game to the point where trying to go back just generated a sigh of nostalgia.
LOTRO I also really enjoyed, I loved the way the game looked and played in its lower ranges, and how very different the different classes played, so that starting a new character was in many ways like starting a new game. But again I didn't like the higher end game, and the low end becomes monotonous, as there are basically three starting areas and not that many choices on ways to go as you level up. I saw there was a new race and class, and tried it out.. but found that they didn't add new low end content to go with it, and I simply couldn't face going through any of the starting areas once again.
I tried WOW, never paid, but just the first 20 levels, which were free, with several classes. It struck me as a less vibrant, less interesting LOTRO (I know, WOW came first, and LOTRO is actually less diverse... but that's the direction I came to it from). The mechanics are similar to LOTROs, and it didn't have the fun of playing in a world I actually knew from literature. At this point, though, I'm tempted to give it another try, and this time perhaps as a paying customer, at least for a month or two, give it more of a fair shot.
I tried Neverwinter Online, but it's really very limiting as far as I can see, with only 8 or so classes, races that don't seem to have much effect, and very very linear play; get quest A, complete quest A, get quest B, etc. Oddly I would perhaps be more interested if it wasn't Forgotten Realms based, because now it -looks- like D&D, but it plays like some sort of Diablo clone. NWN nearly captured actual D&D rules (circa 3.0 or 3.5. Maybe Neverwinter is like a more recent D&D that I have never played?)
I'd be very open to any suggestions that any of you would care to make along these lines. Currently, thinking WOW or EQ2 as possible things to try. Or that Skyrim thing, which at least I already have downloaded :)
I have in the past enjoyed games like NWN and EQ. I find myself having time on my hands available to play again, but have not been able to get back in to enjoying either. Part of the reason for that is that I seriously delved very deep into them in the past, and I've played every sort of character I can think of, I understand the mechanics, and I'm just no longer thrilled. Part of it is that of course, I'm not in the same place I was; I really can't do a serious MMO, because I'm going to be solo. I need to be able to log off or pause with no notice, might be gone a minute, might be gone all day. I'm just not able to be enough of a jerk to group or raid on that kind of basis.
NWN was great because it was essentially solo (there's a whole online multiplayer aspect, but I never got into that), and because it had a huge number of combinations, what with stats that actually had an effect on gameplay, a variety of classes which could be combined via multiclassing, and with player added content, literally hundreds of prestige classes. And the gameplay, again with player added content, offered thousands of hours of story driven play, some of it superb (most not, but some...)
I enjoyed Skyrim the first time through, but at the time there was very little in player mods available, and now, looking at it, I still can't figure out what's out there and how to get it working. Maybe that's my answer, to pursue Skyrim and work harder at it. NWN had the NWN vault, where all the content was sitting together, along with explanations as to how to install it and get it working. That's gone now (and probably one of the reasons going back to NWN didn't work out so well for me)
I had a good time with Anarchy Online, I loved the way you could ladder up, because items had requirements, but the requirements weren't based on your level, rather on your stats and skills, and there were "spells" and gear which could raise those stats and skills, so on and so forth. I didn't like the higher levels of the game, though, and again played through nearly all the combinations of the low end game to the point where trying to go back just generated a sigh of nostalgia.
LOTRO I also really enjoyed, I loved the way the game looked and played in its lower ranges, and how very different the different classes played, so that starting a new character was in many ways like starting a new game. But again I didn't like the higher end game, and the low end becomes monotonous, as there are basically three starting areas and not that many choices on ways to go as you level up. I saw there was a new race and class, and tried it out.. but found that they didn't add new low end content to go with it, and I simply couldn't face going through any of the starting areas once again.
I tried WOW, never paid, but just the first 20 levels, which were free, with several classes. It struck me as a less vibrant, less interesting LOTRO (I know, WOW came first, and LOTRO is actually less diverse... but that's the direction I came to it from). The mechanics are similar to LOTROs, and it didn't have the fun of playing in a world I actually knew from literature. At this point, though, I'm tempted to give it another try, and this time perhaps as a paying customer, at least for a month or two, give it more of a fair shot.
I tried Neverwinter Online, but it's really very limiting as far as I can see, with only 8 or so classes, races that don't seem to have much effect, and very very linear play; get quest A, complete quest A, get quest B, etc. Oddly I would perhaps be more interested if it wasn't Forgotten Realms based, because now it -looks- like D&D, but it plays like some sort of Diablo clone. NWN nearly captured actual D&D rules (circa 3.0 or 3.5. Maybe Neverwinter is like a more recent D&D that I have never played?)
I'd be very open to any suggestions that any of you would care to make along these lines. Currently, thinking WOW or EQ2 as possible things to try. Or that Skyrim thing, which at least I already have downloaded :)