MMO-What is the One for me?

[Soups]

I have a "problem". I have been absent from MMO Gaming for some time. Seeing as how I don't want to lose touch with my lifestyle, studying 3D in college, I would Like to play an MMO. Something I can take my time in.

My criteria for the MMO I would like to play are...
1) One that I can stop playing for a week, if need be, as I am still in school.
2) Something that isn't full of "Hard Core" gamers, or gamers that are jerks to everyone, most likely because they are all 12.
3) Something that will be "fun". I can pick-up and play, and not feel obligated to do everything at once or my life is over, either due to no in-game friends or other misc. things.

The 2 games I am looking at, by suggestions of my friends, are, W.O.W. and EverQuest.

The Pros for W.O.W. I hear are;
Its easy to learn
You can hit the level cap relativly quickly, (since I want a game I can stop for a week, if need be)

Pros for EQ;
It is almost ever expanding
Not even the highest guild has beaten the latest expansion boss (as of Aug 07)
More people play it.

So basically, I am looking for input on those that have played both games, if at all possible. Is the level cap in WoW too easy to get to? Is EQ a good game for someone who hasn't played a big MMO besides Diablo 2? Is there a better game than EQ and WoW?

Future thanks for any helpful feedback.

[sihnfahl]

1) One that I can stop playing for a week, if need be, as I am still in school.
Most MMOs, you can stop playing for a week, unless you're in a hard-core raiding guild (they only take folks who're there every week, because it takes a while to learn the raidboss encounters and rotating folks in and out hinders progression).


Something that isn't full of "Hard Core" gamers, or gamers that are jerks to everyone, most likely because they are all 12.
Like it or not, you're going to get that in pretty much every MMO.


Something that will be "fun". I can pick-up and play, and not feel obligated to do everything at once or my life is over, either due to no in-game friends or other misc. things.
That's pretty much every MMO. You can do things for a few hours and put it down once you're done. You can do a lot of SOLO things, but, in every MMO, once you get done with the solo stuff, it's repetitive.


The Pros for W.O.W. I hear are;
Its easy to learn
Exceedingly. You can learn the basics in a few minutes, the more advanced stuff in a few days.


You can hit the level cap relativly quickly, (since I want a game I can stop for a week, if need be)
Also true. If you stop playing for a while, your character gets 'rested' time - you get 2x experience from kills. There are a few 'deadzone' in the levelling areas, but they're fixing that.
In the latest test patch, they're revisiting all 'old' content, making it easier to get past those 'deadzones'. You'll theoretically be able to hit 70 faster.
The levels isn't the key part - it's the equipment. A lot of the new content is on a timer, so if you don't quite have the gear to help beat the timer...

[Elidyr]

Pros for EQ;
It is almost ever expanding
More people play it.


Huh? WoW is the leading MMO with around 8-9 million subscribers, EQ has what, half a million at best?


Anyway, Wow is very casual friendly (~1 hour/day), as well as hardcore friendly (12 hours+/day), if you are somewhere inbetween stay far far far far away from it, as it lacks content for the semi-hardcore crowd.

WoW has probably the best UI around, it's very easy to learn the basics, there's lots of stuff to do if you're a casual. Leveling is very easy too if a bit boring, but I hear they're boosting the leveling speed. WoW was designed to be played at max. level, anything below is just a time sink, so the lowbie stuff isnt really that important.

WoW will get the new expansion pack in a few months, so it's perfect since gear will get restarted and you can hop on to some guild and do raids or whatever without worrying about huge item gaps.

[Castaras]

Anarchy Online.

Free(but with expansions you pay for), a nice community, and you can easily stop doing it for a week and still be able to come back to it afterwards. Loads of fun as well.

[Shishnarfne]

I always enjoyed playing MMO's more with people I knew, (which is what I presume you meant by more people played Everquest, that more people around you played it) and if you think that's what you'd prefer, go with whichever one people around you play more, if you think that will be more fun for you. (Or go for the one the people you like better play, it's your call.) Of course, if either offers free trials (or your friends are willing to let you experiment a little on their account) you could try both to see which one you like better.

Confession time: I played WoW for a few months my senior year in college because all of my roommates were playing it. I enjoyed it, but spent far too much time playing. I no longer play, partially because it was bad for my computer's graphics engine, partially because I'm no longer in touch with my college roommates.

[jjpickar]

9 Dragons, its free, it has 120 levels and a pretty decent community.

Its based on Ming Dynasty China and is all about Kung Fu.

My take overall:

Game Play: 8.5
Its good without too much grinding (it took me about the same amount of time to get to level 15 as it did to get to 30).

Graphics: 9

I gave it a high score because you pay nothing, plus they're really good anyway.

Difficulty: 5
Not much actually, the builds are flexible since you can periodically rearrange all your characters stats throughout the game.

PvP : ?

Not sure, as I haven't done it myself.

Character Coolness: 10

The kung fu moves are just plain awesome. That and clothing and armour have no level requirements.

Overall: Lots of fun and at a great price. (Its freeeeeeeeeeee!)

[KBF]

*snip*

Difficulty: 5
Not much actually, the builds are flexible since you can periodically rearrange all your characters stats throughout the game.

*snip*



No, you can re-arrange your stats once before you hit too high of a level, and once when you get out of the newbie zone. Which is around 25, by the way.


I'd suggest City of Heroes. Lets see here...

1) One that I can stop playing for a week, if need be, as I am still in school.

Not too sure about this, but I don't think you will have problems with this. There are plenty of people playing, it's not like the whole game levels past you while you were doing homework.


2) Something that isn't full of "Hard Core" gamers, or gamers that are jerks to everyone, most likely because they are all 12.

As has been repeated, there is probably no commercial MMO that can keep these kids out. They pay too much money for those three characters at a time. In City of Heroes, there are plenty of regular-type players out there, so if someone in the team is being a jerk, kick him/leave the team.


3) Something that will be "fun". I can pick-up and play, and not feel obligated to do everything at once or my life is over, either due to no in-game friends or other misc. things.

Yeah. Pretty much. Very nice team-searcher, and uhh... Nothing is stopping you from playing an hour or two a day. Maybe spend another hour partying at the cluub.

[Timarvay]

Guildwars is good. There is a whole thread about it here, feel free to ask more there.

In short, it is all about skill. PvP characters are made at level cap, and you can hit it fast in PvE. You can go in as deep or lightly as you like. Best part is, you can stop and start as much as you like because there is no monthly fee.

[jjpickar]

Only twice? I could have sworn there was an item that (though expensive) would allow you to rearrange your stats. Anyway, most MMOs in my experience don't let you rearrange even once much less twice.

[LordVader]

Warhammer Online looks like it's going to be awesome, especially the massive PvP and the level-specific areas to stop ganking.

[sihnfahl]

Warhammer Online looks like it's going to be awesome, especially the massive PvP and the level-specific areas to stop ganking.
And collision detection in PvP is being looked at. In pretty much every MMO, you can run through the tanks and hit the healers first... imagine if you had a Wall you can't get through...

[Cubey]

Anyway, Wow is very casual friendly (~1 hour/day), as well as hardcore friendly (12 hours+/day), if you are somewhere inbetween stay far far far far away from it, as it lacks content for the semi-hardcore crowd.

I disagree. I'm "semi-hardcore" as you call it and I don't think I have nothing to do.

World of Warcraft has one distinct advantage - it is player-friendly, and I don't mean newbie-friendly here (because it is) or too easy (because it isn't), but rather that it is free of notions that have no sense or make the game un-fun, but for some reason were introduced in many other MMOs. Some of these notions include:
-Any part when you have no quests to do and HAVE to go grind mobs to kill and get levels
-Losing XP after dying, to make the game "more challenging"
-Risk of losing items permanently, either by their destruction when they run low on durability or theft by other players/some mobs
-Substantial loses from PvP deaths. Any people who think it's "more realistic" or "more challenging" to lose stuff after being PvPed weren't ganked enough.
-That you have to have a group to do anything on higher levels. You need a group to do instances (which are mighty fun - if you want to play WoW, join a raiding group as soon as you approach level 70!), but you can go from level 1 to 70 100% solo.
-Slow mana/hp regeneration between fights.

World of Warcraft has NONE of these. It also fulfils all of your three requirements, especially 1 and 3 as 2 is a little tricky to hope for in MMOs (let's just say that PvP battlegrounds are full of idiots. If you want to do a lot of battleground PvP, I suggest a horde character - their PvPers tend to be more mature and succesful too. Of course you can still go for arena PvP, and non-PvP content tends to have a more mature crowd too).

[Soups]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Right now, I think WoW will be the one for me. I live on campus more than I live at home for most of the year.(my home town in EQ territory, Campus is WoW town.)

The biggest sell for me on this idea is the fact alot of my friends play WOW. I also like the idea of the rest bubble for xp when you stop playing. I saw one of my friends playing guild wars, and it gave me diabloII flash backs :P I think what I need to do next is find demos of guildwars and WoW.

Random: I did hear about a MMO a while back, something to do with dragons. It was supposed to be freaking awesome, then they changed the game after beta

Edit: My other WoW friends also explained to me on how they changed PvP, Raid, and Mob armour was fixed. It makes sense, gameplay wise. After living through Diablo II I think I will appreciate it more. Some Items*snik* ok, most of the items in the game were pretty far out. I like how it sounds as balanced as possible.

[Lizard]

And collision detection in PvP is being looked at. In pretty much every MMO, you can run through the tanks and hit the healers first... imagine if you had a Wall you can't get through...

Wait a minute. That means that in Warhammer online tanks will be actually able to tank in PvP? I didnt hear about this one yet, but it sounds awesome.

[Mordan]

Well, to continue this same theme, anyone know of any free ones that are good? I've been part of the MU* community since the early 90's and played both versions of Maple before they started offering "perks" to spend money on their game. Yeah, you always have to deal with twinks, noobs, and scammers, but for the most part, if you're intelligent in how you handle things, you can get past them. I also ptested Runescape way back in the day, but left that also once it started becoming infested with 12yo kids that acted like they were 6 and cursed like drunken sailors.

I don't mind having to level or work for goals, that's part of the game, but I try an avoid stuff where you can't get the good stuff by hard work. I don't mind if it's sold to people for cash donations, but as long as it's obtainable by regular players also (even it takes hours upon hours for non-p2p players to earn). I also try and stay away from games that cap your level based on your donations (I've actually seen this done, non payers could level to 50, everyone else got to go to 100 creating a huge gap in equipment, since half the zones for 50 and below where p2p).

Any suggestions? Again, the biggest criteria for me is the fact that I'm broke. I don't have a one time donation of $10, or the ability to may a monthly maintenance.

[Icewalker]

I've played WoW since it game out, and wished I was playing it for about two years before that.


To avoid the hardcore gamers, play on a normal server. They basically keep to themselves in a total clique of the best raiding guilds. On a pvp server you will encounter more people who are hardcore pvpers, and (IMO) more idiots who are only in it to kill other players, even ones who can't fight back. Also, I would like to note that the economy on pvp servers is crazy, in a way that could be good or bad, depending on how you try to take advantage of it :smallbiggrin:

Also...in the upcoming patch, they are reducing the xp required to level. From what I've heard, by quite a bit. Also they are increasing xp gain from instances...so it'll be easier to hit the cap now.

Me, I've got a 70 and a million alts of varying levels on Draenor, which is a normal server, and then a level 25 priest on Darkspear, which is a pvp server, and that is the character I've been playing recently. Going to start my own raiding guild :smallbiggrin:

[sihnfahl]

Wait a minute. That means that in Warhammer online tanks will be actually able to tank in PvP? I didnt hear about this one yet, but it sounds awesome.

From their FAQ:


Q: Will collision detection work on friends, enemies, or both?

A: Questions like this were the second-tallest stack on my desk. We are trying all possible combinations of collision detection as I type this, including the dream we all have of "both." Of course we want it. In an RVR game, there are many strategies that are only possible with collision detection. Can we do it in such a way that allows for strategy but not for grief? I think we need to do some serious play testing of collision detection in the world that we've built.

[Elidyr]

I disagree. I'm "semi-hardcore" as you call it and I don't think I have nothing to do.

WoW is all about gear at the hardcore level. You cant get good pve gear because you need to raid for like 4 hours a day for at least 3-4 days per week. You can't get good PvP gear because getting a good ranking in arena requires some effort at least, as well as farming what, 50k honor each new season for new honor items.

So what's left? Playing PvP on a lower casual level? Doing 5 man heroics that give you subpar gear ? Karazhan at best - that's the only dungeon that's more friendly for the inbetween crowd, so at best you get to do one dungeon for 6 months?

[Khanderas]

Random: I did hear about a MMO a while back, something to do with dragons. It was supposed to be freaking awesome, then they changed the game after beta

There was a MMO, whose name eludes me, where you had two races basically. Humans or Dragons. Yup, you could play a 10 ton flying engine of death, breathweapon and all. I wish I tried it, but it was struggling even before WoW came along, I don't think it is alive anymore in the sense of patching etc. Private servers might still exist.

In regards to previous poster.
PvP gear is better for PvP then PvE (obviously), but it is still VERY good. Makes sense that if you PvP and get gear from that, you are well set, even against raiders with the gear from that.
I just quit WoW (again) because I am euro and rolled on US servers (I didnt think that it would matter, with WC3 and other Blizzard related stuff had a menu to switch between Euro-US-Asian servers). I have done all PvE that can be done with PUG's and solo. On two characters.
If I want to do anymore, I gotta log on at 2am at night. :smallfrown:

Im considering Final fantasy MMO (and ill make sure to get a euro version) and currently do alittle Puzzle Pirates (fun and free, with boosts for really small sums if you want to)

[Eldritch_Ent]

I'd actually reccomend Kingdom of Loathing. It's a fun, free online game, but it's not exactly Multiplayer- it's more of a solo experience.

As for WoW vs EQ2- I'd go with WOW. The Community isn't as young, Thus it's overall better, but it also doesn't have as many players so sometimes the servers get a bit lonely. :( It also has the rest experience things, and a more interesting (albeit more time consuming) crafting system. It used to be super hardcore (like EQ1 still is), but now it's more or less on par with WOW in terms of player friendliness.

However, both are still good games. If you join a guild, I'd actually recomend joining one that forbids cursing- It might be annoying, but it weeds out all the stupid children and players surprisngly well. (No, I'm not a conservative- just trust me on this one.)

[Destro_Yersul]

My advice is to wait for Warhammer Online. The reasons are many, and have almost nothing to do with plastic crack of any kind.

anyways, reasons!

One: Very well thought out system of scaling combat, with more PvE at low levels and more PvP at higher levels.

Two: Highly in-depth story/universe. They've got years of history to go off on this, and they're making it work from what I've seen.

Three: Individual classes for each faction. You have your basic types, like "healer" "tank" "blaster" and so on, but if you choose chaos and play a tank, you aren't simply an <insert race> warrior. You are a chosen of chaos, and get all the awesome that goes with it!

Four: It's based off Plastic Crack, and anything that combines computer games and plastic crack contains at least four times the awesome that anything should ever be allowed to contain. :smalltongue:

[Elidyr]

My advice is to wait for Warhammer Online. The reasons are many, and have almost nothing to do with plastic crack of any kind.


From what I hear, the beta testers were so disappointed with the game they shut down the servers. So far it looks like the only thing the game has going for it is good PR.

[Quincunx]

If you choose EQ ($40 for ALL expansions including newest, due out this month, $15 ((+ VAT)) monthly), be sure to pick a class with solo capability. The low-level grouping game is unreliable to the point of death. I have a cleric--a cleric!--who can't level further because of lack of groups. New players now have reasonably easy quests for equipment, and aren't reliant on getting a particular piece of gear to drop.

[lordsigmund]

From what I hear, the beta testers were so disappointed with the game they shut down the servers. So far it looks like the only thing the game has going for it is good PR.

No, the beta testers were disappointed BECAUSE they shut down the servers. They took the beta down to do more tweaking and rewrite certain key bits of the game they weren't happy with and polish a lot of things, rather than rush the game out. The beta will be back up in December and release has been pushed back to Q2 2008.

[Exachix]

Like Castaras Said, Anarchy Online.
Funcom (www.funcom.com).

AO, IMO, is great.

Sci-Fi, if you like that thing, only kinda fantasy too =P.

It is complicated to start with, but when you get into it it gets immensive.

Expansions add alot of content to the game, and even now updates add alot more content.

PvP is as focused on as well as PvP (Lost Eden focuses alot on PvP, giving rewards for PvPing in a battlestation and such).

Level Cap wise...
well.

Free Game: 200 Levels. <- None of my characters has reached this. None. I have a level 150.
With Shadowlands: 220 Levels (200+20 SL levels)
With Alien Invasion: +30 AI Levels (total 250 levels, but these 30 can be raised independently)
With Lost Eden: 10*7 research = 70 Research. <- can also be put up independently.

That's alot of levels.

In addition, ARKs, (Community support) is fast. And they greet you into the game. Most of the time. =P.

I love AO. I have played a few others, (9 Dragons as one) and always come back.

In addition, we have a TestServer.

[Marek Haldir]

Lineage 2 ... runs, hides.

[Holocron Coder]

WoW is all about gear at the hardcore level. You cant get good pve gear because you need to raid for like 4 hours a day for at least 3-4 days per week.

I'd like to point out that, in your first post, your categories were Casual (~1 hr / day), Hardcore (12+ hours / day), and Other. 3-4 hours / day for 3-4 days a week falls into Other and is perfectly reasonable for someone in college. Heck, I play about 4 hours a day, almost every day (and I'm keeping good grades at a university!)

Obviously, I play WoW. I've tried City of Heroes / Villains, but had so much technical trouble with the thing that I uninstalled it.

[Lord_Butters_I]

WoW>>>Everything else. I would play but I refuse to pay a monthly fee for a game.

[Khanderas]

Somewhat offtopic, but how do the general public here feel about Finalfantasy MMO (XI I think it is), especially compared to WoW (that I recently quit since I done it all there, ecept raid that I cannot do due to RL)

I plan to get the Conan MMO, coming spring, and I "need" something to keep me busy til then.

[Setra]

WoW>>>Everything else. I would play but I refuse to pay a monthly fee for a game.
How many other games have you played?

Judging from your 'not gonna pay a monthly fee' comment, I don't see why you have the right to say that.

In any case, I'll say he might as well play WoW if all his friends play it.

Otherwise I'd recommend City of Heroes/Villains, if he gets tired of it.

Somewhat offtopic, but how do the general public here feel about Finalfantasy MMO (XI I think it is), especially compared to WoW (that I recently quit since I done it all there, ecept raid that I cannot do due to RL)

I plan to get the Conan MMO, coming spring, and I "need" something to keep me busy til then.
FFXI is a very fun MMO... to me, most people don't like it as the battles are very slow-paced, much like many Final Fantasy games. However if you LIKE that then go for it.

Otherwise might I suggest Guild Wars or city of Heroes?

[Sightless]

I gotta put my vote up for city of heroes/villains. Its a great game for casual and hardcore play, and honestly of all the mmo's Ive played (including every one mentioned in this topic with the exception of Final Fantasy,) I can honestly say I had the most fun in CoH just messing around with friends. There was some fun pvp, and some fun pve, and then just some random fun like when my guild all rolled martial arts characters and made them after various characters Chuck Norris has acted throughout his career. We got some really odd comment in the low level pvp zone when we had a team of flying, roundhouse kicking assassins ganging up on all the heroes =P

[Soups]

Maybe its just me, but I hear CoV/H is"boring". I read Tycho's(Penny arcade) assesment of the game, and i remember him saying it got old rather quick. But playing something my friends play would be good. I was trying to get back into WC3, but the learning curve is waaaay to steep. That is probably why I would do WoW. I just hope I don't break down and get a 360. It was so much eaiser to ignore console games when everyone on your floor didn't have one.

[Setra]

Maybe its just me, but I hear CoV/H is"boring". I read Tycho's(Penny arcade) assesment of the game, and i remember him saying it got old rather quick. But playing something my friends play would be good. I was trying to get back into WC3, but the learning curve is waaaay to steep. That is probably why I would do WoW. I just hope I don't break down and get a 360. It was so much eaiser to ignore console games when everyone on your floor didn't have one.
I wouldn't say it's boring, but that's me.

In any case, go with whatever your friends have. No matter how fun or boring a game is, it is always infinitely better when you play it with friends.