Any Good MMORPGs you've played?

[Garethp]

I'm about to have ALOT of free time on my hands (finished highschool) and I need something to fill the void. I tried Atlantica Online a while ago and really liked it (Gonna download it again) and I played Fly For Fun, wasn't bad. I just downloaded Runes of Magic, but it was kinda bland. The skills weren't exactly exciting, levelling up wasn't something that particularly made me joyous and the quests were boring (the few that I played).

 

Thing is, I don't have a part time job, and I'm saving money to move out, so I kinda need a Free to Play game, otherwise I'd try out WoW. I know WoW has a trial period, but I don't want to get stuck into a game that I can't afford to play.

 

Your suggestions would be appreciated, thanks

- Gareth

[Daniel0]

I've never played any type of MMORPG, but I'm planning to at least check out SWTOR when it's released some time next year. That's only because KOTOR I and KOTOR II (both were single player RPGs) were awesome though.

[.josh]

so...just to make sure I understand: You just finished highschool, will have a ton of free time on your hands, need to save up money to move out, don't have a job, but you are looking to find a free game to play.  While I can personally vouch for MMO's filling up your free time, I don't think they will really help you out in the saving up money to move out dept...

 

how about instead of looking for an MMO, you look for a job.  Treat it like an MMO.  Going to work and taking out the garbage is a quest.  Flipping 80 burgers during lunch rush is a quest.  End of the week you get your quest reward: your paycheck (will probably not be in gold).  You get armor and everything (they will call it a uniform).

[Garethp]

so...just to make sure I understand: You just finished highschool, will have a ton of free time on your hands, need to save up money to move out, don't have a job, but you are looking to find a free game to play.  While I can personally vouch for MMO's filling up your free time, I don't think they will really help you out in the saving up money to move out dept...

 

how about instead of looking for an MMO, you look for a job.  Treat it like an MMO.  Going to work and taking out the garbage is a quest.  Flipping 80 burgers during lunch rush is a quest.  End of the week you get your quest reward: your paycheck (will probably not be in gold).  You get armor and everything (they will call it a uniform).

 

Hahah! I like your idea! Unfortunately, I have been looking for a job every month for the past 9 months. Go through my local shopping malls looking for help wanted signs, I go to all the sites of the big stored near me I know and apply online, send in my resume etc. etc. but for some reason no one wants to hire me Could be the fact that in these economic times everybody wants a job and I have no previous work experience

[corbin]

The game I've played the most over the past few years is Lineage 2.  It's not very big in North America, but in Europe and Asia it's quite large (especially Asia, probably since the company that makes it is Korean).  I think the PvP in it is quite good, but as far as grinding goes, I can't speak for that.  I always played private servers (a euphemism for servers that illegally run files stolen from NCSoft) that had modified rates so that leveling was much faster.  (So, yeah L2 can technically be free, but not without violating multiple laws.)

 

The only other MMORPG that I've played for a decent amount of time was Runescape.  I must suggest that you don't play RuneScape though.  As far as free MMORPGs go, I must praise RS.  It's free content is quite extensive, and the monthly subscription cost for members (in the sense of paying members) is fairly cheap.

 

The upsides are that it has a huge community, lots of active people/clans/trade/combat and so on.  It's kind of cool that you can go any place in the game and see people.  Last I checked, usually around 50,000-200,000 people are playing at any given time, distributed over 150 or so servers.  The game play is quite addictive, and you can waste hours without realizing it.

 

The downsides are that it's not really aimed at older people.  I played RS from about 6th till 9th grade.  Most of the people on there are anywhere from 10-20 years old, but the distribution of people definitely leans towards the bottom of that range, most people probably being 13-16.  Also, if you like graphics, the graphics are quite terrible.  Considering that it's a Java Applet, the graphics are amazing, but compared to other current games they're horrible.  Overall, I would not recommend playing RuneScape, just thought I would say it since as far as free MMORPGs go, you're pretty limited.

 

Silk Road Online is also worth mention.  It seems to have gone downhill, but at its release I played it a bit, and it was decent.  It's basically a ripoff of all the big MMORPGs.

 

 

Then there's the non-free ones:

 

Personally I tried World of Warcraft for 2 weeks and couldn't stand it.  It was too grind based, the quests were pretty lame and the graphics (in my opinion) look like children's drawings.

 

I played the Korean open beta of Aion, and it was pretty awesome.  (The same company that makes Lineage ][ makes Aion, so I'm biased due to my weird love of Lineage 2.)  I never got around to buying the North American release of it (it's 50$ + 15$/month by the way, a quite high price), and I've heard mixed feelings from old Lineage 2 friends about it.  Some say the PvP is retarded and the game gets old quickly, but some love everything about the game.

 

 

 

 

 

Blah!  Wish I could think of more games off the top of my head lol.

[PugJr]

Most of the people on there are anywhere from 10-20 years old, but the distribution of people definitely leans towards the bottom of that range, most people probably being 13-16.  Also, if you like graphics, the graphics are quite terrible. 

 

I am grieved by your opinion on Runescapes graphics. Recently (Year ago) they did an overhaul, making runescape considerably better than WoW and in my opinion, Silkroad as well. Is this opinion based on the idea before Runescapes new graphics or after its new graphics? It even uses a /video card/ now. Unfortunately for all those laptop users who have on-board can't run runescape anymore. (Not HD at least.)

[.josh]

i played silkroad for a bit. wasn't all that impressed. my bro got into it for a while.  People hate on WoW saying it's a grindfest.  pfft, silkroad is like 100% grindfest. One of the things I liked about it was it was one of the first games (that I know of anyways) to offer paying for certain amenities.  Come on, having a personal monkey run around grabbing your loot (and other peoples' loot!) is awesome.  I liked how you could setup a personal store but they painfully needed to also add a centralized store/auction house. 

 

The last time I played lineage was beta testing lineage 2.  Seemed like there was no real direction involved in playing.  Always felt like I was aimlessly running around trying to figure out what to do next.  I guess some people get off to that sort of thing more than others.  I like open-ended content once you've reached the top but I prefer a good story line for the journey there. 

 

I played WoW for about 4 years.  Went through all the dungeons and raids, got all the top pve and pvp gear, epic mounts, maxed professions, blahblah for 4, almost 5 characters for original and then BC.  Literally nothin' left to do.  Quit playing about a month before WotLK came out.  Gave the trial of it a fair shot.  Heart just wasn't in it no more.  Haven't played since.  On that note, anybody wanna buy a WoW account?   j/k.  The 'cartoony' graphics is a deal-killer for most people, but personally I liked it.  Most people I know started out saying the same but got used to it after a while and came to like it.  Especially when you start paying attention to the details.  Things the NPCs say, certain items, quests, etc... Blizz has a pretty decent sense of humor, and once you get into it and look for those easter eggs, it's pretty enjoyable.  I, and a lot of others, felt like Blizz sold out though.  I still have high hopes for D3 though.  They better fuckin' deliver on that.

 

 

 

[Mchl]

Hahah! I like your idea! Unfortunately, I have been looking for a job every month for the past 9 months. Go through my local shopping malls looking for help wanted signs, I go to all the sites of the big stored near me I know and apply online, send in my resume etc. etc. but for some reason no one wants to hire me Could be the fact that in these economic times everybody wants a job and I have no previous work experience

 

Nothing simpler. Start another Google or PayPal or something...

[corbin]

Most of the people on there are anywhere from 10-20 years old, but the distribution of people definitely leans towards the bottom of that range, most people probably being 13-16.  Also, if you like graphics, the graphics are quite terrible. 

 

I am grieved by your opinion on Runescapes graphics. Recently (Year ago) they did an overhaul, making runescape considerably better than WoW and in my opinion, Silkroad as well. Is this opinion based on the idea before Runescapes new graphics or after its new graphics? It even uses a /video card/ now. Unfortunately for all those laptop users who have on-board can't run runescape anymore. (Not HD at least.)

 

 

Errr....  You have looked at RS HD, right?  In my opinion the graphics are still pretty lame.  Just of curiosity, do you play RuneScape?  I've basically quit it, but every now and then I'll play it for like 2 weeks, then quit it again.  lol. I currently happen to be in a playing-it rut.

 

 

i played silkroad for a bit. wasn't all that impressed. my bro got into it for a while.  People hate on WoW saying it's a grindfest.  pfft, silkroad is like 100% grindfest. One of the things I liked about it was it was one of the first games (that I know of anyways) to offer paying for certain amenities.  Come on, having a personal monkey run around grabbing your loot (and other peoples' loot!) is awesome.  I liked how you could setup a personal store but they painfully needed to also add a centralized store/auction house. 

 

The last time I played lineage was beta testing lineage 2.  Seemed like there was no real direction involved in playing.  Always felt like I was aimlessly running around trying to figure out what to do next.  I guess some people get off to that sort of thing more than others.  I like open-ended content once you've reached the top but I prefer a good story line for the journey there. 

 

I really don't remember grinding being too bad in SRO, but I only played it till like level 18 before I got busy in real life and never returned to it.

 

Well, since I've never played retail Lineage 2 (by which I mean the servers run by NCSoft), I've never really cared about a story line.  I'll be the first to say that I could never play retail servers because they're only 1x exp, and I like to play on 30-50x experience servers.  (If NCSoft ever opened high rate servers, I would <3 it.)  Also, in MMORPGs, I prefer killing people and collecting items over storyline.  There's never been a game I've played in which I actually enjoyed quests.

[KevinM1]

I play WoW occassionally.  I sign up when I'm bored, play for a month or so, then suspend my account.  I've played from launch with various lowbie characters, and my main, whom I've had since TBC came out, has only recently got to Outland (he's ~level 62).  I'm a very casual player.  I just don't feel the need to rush to the level cap.

 

The upcoming Cataclysm expansion pack looks interesting.  It's nice that they're breathing new life into old Azeroth, and the worgen are right in my wheelhouse for a race.  I'm mostly a Horde player (BE Paladin) because none of the Alliance races interest me.  The Dranaei didn't do it for me.

 

I'll probably sign back up in a week or so in order to get the vanity pet for transferring my account to a Battle.net account, and the mini-Onyxia vanity pet for logging on during their anniversary.

 

I'm very interested in Bioware's Star Wars: The Old Republic.  The initial preview vids look promising.  Sith?  Yes, please.

[.josh]

"For the Whores! Er...Horde!"

 

I used to constantly scream that in battlegrounds just before the gates opened lol.

 

I have to admit, cataclysm looks interesting with the reshaping of azeroth and flying mounts in it.  Dunno though...don't think it'd be enough for me to subscribe again. 

 

I had (have, technically, if i reactivate :/):

 

lvl70 blood elf priest: 375 tailor,380 enchanter (epic flying nether-ray mount)

 

lvl70 undead mage: 375 tailor, 375 alchemist (regular flying mount - no epic mount )

 

lvl70 undead rogue:  375 mining, 375 engineering (epic flying mount: helicopter)

 

lvl70 tauren druid: 375 herbalism, didn't level a 2nd primary (epic flightform)

 

lvl65 blood elf pally: I think this dude was inscription and herbs or something.  Not very far along as it had just come out for pre-wotlk content

 

probably like 30 lvl 40-55's across diff servers.

 

 

 

[KevinM1]

Hey, nothing wrong with fighting for the whores

 

For me, Cataclysm has three things going for it:

 

1. Reshaped Azeroth.  I miss the days when The Crossroads actually felt like a crossroads.  I would love to recapture some of the old magic when I was leveling my Orc Hunter back in the day.  Now, even Outland is barren, used primarily as a transportation hub or place to solo until one reaches Northrend.

 

2. New races and starting areas.  The Goblins don't interest me much.  I'm not a fan of the game's jungle areas, and the Goblins themselves don't seem very compelling.  Worgen, on the other hand, sound pretty cool in that over-the-top way.  From what I've seen, Gilneas - their starting area - is this sort of dreary, Victorian place, slowly rotting away due to the curse.  The story progression will be sort of like that for Death Knights - taking place over several years, with some set pieces thrown in.

 

3. New race/class combinations.  I always wanted a Human Hunter, so when the expansion hits, I'll be able to roll one up.

 

I have three characters waiting for me:

 

Level ~62 Blood Elf Paladin.  Currently ret spec.

Level 58 Blood Elf Death Knight.  Haven't done much with them.  Blood spec, I believe.

Level 20-something Human Paladin.  My Alliance guy.

 

That's it.  I like playing the easy classes due to the way my hands work.  I can't use a setup where both movement and action are done on the keyboard, so I pick classes that allow me to click without much penalty.  Can't get much simpler than a Paladin.

[PugJr]

Errr....  You have looked at RS HD, right?  In my opinion the graphics are still pretty lame.  Just of curiosity, do you play RuneScape?  I've basically quit it, but every now and then I'll play it for like 2 weeks, then quit it again.  lol. I currently happen to be in a playing-it rut.

 

 

I used to play it as you did, but not any longer. After the grand exchange I left as did many others.

 

Have you seen WoW graphics though? In comparison, they look terrible to RS HD but then again some places are far uglier than others in RS. Yeah, I guess its mostly true about your initial comment that the graphics are amazing for a browser but I guess mostly what I'm saying is WoW is more ugly than runescape and 15 million or so people play it which stuns me.

[.josh]

I miss the days when The Crossroads actually felt like a crossroads.  I would love to recapture some of the old magic when I was leveling my Orc Hunter back in the day. Now, even Outland is barren, used primarily as a transportation hub or place to solo until one reaches Northrend.

 

Not true! XR is a prime place to hear chuck norris jokes!

 

I think Horde are getting kinda short-sticked on the new race though. Goblin vs. Worgen? WTF??? That's not a fair tradeoff. Should have given ally furblogs or else given horde something cooler to match the worgen. 

 

 

[KevinM1]

I miss the days when The Crossroads actually felt like a crossroads.  I would love to recapture some of the old magic when I was leveling my Orc Hunter back in the day. Now, even Outland is barren, used primarily as a transportation hub or place to solo until one reaches Northrend.

 

Not true! XR is a prime place to hear chuck norris jokes!

 

I think Horde are getting kinda short-sticked on the new race though. Goblin vs. Worgen? WTF??? That's not a fair tradeoff. Should have given ally furblogs or else given horde something cooler to match the worgen. 

 

Just about anything short of another Dranaei retcon would've been better than goblins.

[.josh]

ogres man, ogres!  dude horde should have gotten ogres! 

 

 

Or one of the dragonspawn!

[corbin]

I used to play it as you did, but not any longer. After the grand exchange I left as did many others.

 

Have you seen WoW graphics though? In comparison, they look terrible to RS HD but then again some places are far uglier than others in RS. Yeah, I guess its mostly true about your initial comment that the graphics are amazing for a browser but I guess mostly what I'm saying is WoW is more ugly than runescape and 15 million or so people play it which stuns me.

 

I've been playing it recently, and today I (and I'm quite ashamed of this) even got a month of member's credit.  (I figured if I'm going to play it out of boredom over the next week or month or whatever, might as well pay $6 lol.)  Yeah, I have to agree that the GE update was the lamest update ever.  Yeah, real world trading was causing price inflation for those who didn't buy GP, but I would rather items be more expensive and have people cheating than be told what I can and can't trade and to whom I can and can't make trades.  The GE was a wonderful idea really, but the trade restrictions that came along with it suck.  Hard.  I think I read somewhere that something like 70k members left which is about 350k a month...  Wonder if in hindsight Jagex thinks it was worth it.

 

Hrmmm...  Just googled WoW and the graphics are actually worse than I remember.  I guess the graphics in some places are actually better in RS.  Weird.  15 million players?  Jesus!

[.josh]

dude I'm tellin' you...you get used to the cartoony graphics, and actually grow to like them, especially once you start paying attention to the details (npcs, lore, items, areas, etc...) blizz has a lot of funny spoofs and other humor loaded throughout the game.

[PugJr]

Nightslyr/CV, do any of you play Warcraft 3? (No, that isn't a WOW sequel.)

 

 

 

Corbin, although they might have lost 350k a month, how many people can they lay off from their job now that they don't have to have so many monitors? Also it did give people an unfair advantage which might be another reason why they did it so they would be fair.

 

I had a cannon ball processing business which was making a pretty penny for doing absolutely nothing then GE came in...destroyed small businesses!  :'(

 

15 million * 15 = 225$ million / month. Thats alotta moolah! WoW looks worse than WC3 (Warcraft 3) and that game is older and is an RTS! I never understood that game. Since we have a WOW nerd here *cough* CV *cough*, I have a question for you. Do you do anything else besides kill X amount of Y units? Atleast Runescape you have quests and not only combat exists!

[corbin]

dude I'm tellin' you...you get used to the cartoony graphics, and actually grow to like them, especially once you start paying attention to the details (npcs, lore, items, areas, etc...) blizz has a lot of funny spoofs and other humor loaded throughout the game.

 

 

Eh, really I should have given WoW a longer chance, but I'm impatient when it comes to liking games.

 

 

 

Hrmmm, Pug was your cannon ball business one of the big ones?  I remember a couple of huge ones.

[PugJr]

 

Hrmmm, Pug was your cannon ball business one of the big ones?  I remember a couple of huge ones.

 

Nah, but I stole alot of employees from those other companies. Most companies wouldn't allow their employees a paycheck outside of XP. My business split the profits half for me and half for them. Capitalism ftw! I even had a few level 120s+ (Before summoning) working for me. Its strange why people are so lazy they can't even bother to sell their own cannonballs/buy own ores.

 

We should form a PHPFreak runescape clan! We first convince CV to switch from WoW to RS. Then we show how much richer we are than him. Sounds great eh? 

[Alex]

I can't seem to find any games that keep my attention these days.

[.josh]

Nightslyr/CV, do any of you play Warcraft 3? (No, that isn't a WOW sequel.)

15 million * 15 = 225$ million / month. Thats alotta moolah! WoW looks worse than WC3 (Warcraft 3) and that game is older and is an RTS! I never understood that game. Since we have a WOW nerd here *cough* CV *cough*, I have a question for you. Do you do anything else besides kill X amount of Y units? Atleast Runescape you have quests and not only combat exists!

 

http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest#Quest_types

 

btw I alpha and beta tested runescape. Didn't much care for it.  But that was a loong time ago.  Not fair to judge today's incarnation by yesterday's standards, so to speak.  I've actually alpha and/or beta tested a lot of games, both popular and a bunch you've probably never heard of.  If I had to make a rough estimate, I'd say probably close to 200.

[PugJr]

    *  Solo quests — the most common kind

    * Group quests — suggested for more than 1 player

    * Dungeon quests — objective of the quest is inside an instance

    * Raid quests — objective of the quest is inside a raid instance or involves a raid boss

    * Heroic quests — objective of the quest is inside an instance in Heroic mode

    * PvP quests — quests that require you to complete them while flagged for PvP

    * Repeatable quests — can be soloable or for groups with the primary intention to boost reputation with a faction

    * Daily quests — special repeatable type of solo quest introduced in TBC Burning Crusade for those at the level cap to primarily generate money, but changed in WotLK to be used more as an RRQ also

    * Seasonal quests — available only for limited periods of time and often related to events or holidays 

 

Hmm so you can be a Fedex, Kill X of Y, Grab X of Y, Oh ho! Look here! Looks like we got a skill! Mining! Erm grass digging! These are not independent skills such as Runescapes are, are they?

 

Really man, CV, you sometimes have a good sense of humour and it would be sad to see you die from WoW. There have been many distraught stories about such accidents! Starvation, lack of water, forgetfulness of reality, and other such misfortunates! You gotta make it to atleast the Zombie Apocalypse!

[PugJr]

How strange, after some more research about WoW, it looks like you actually have skill levels? 

 

Hmm I might try WoW one day! I thought it was just hack'n'slash 24/7 till you get to level 70, join clan PUG and raid some bases with LEEEERRRRROOOOOYYYYY JEEENNNKIIIIIINNNNNSSSSS.