Hmm, Warhammer Online, AoC or LOTRO?

[Warin]

I have burnt out on WoW at last, and am considering starting with another RPG. These seem to be the three main options at present. (Have I missed any?) Any thoughts on how I might pick one? I prefer soloing mostly (just because I am on at odd times), and do not like to PvP. I am a big LOTR fan, so LOTRO is a bit intruiging. I am slightly concerned that their upcoming expansion will mean that no one is around to go through the current content with me. No thoughts on the other two MMORPGs at present.

Any input would be appreciated, I know it's a pretty open-ended and subjective topic though, so I won't get my hopes up.

[Reoh]

WARHAMMER!

I didn't much care for AoC and most people that tried it left shortly after. I only made it 2 weeks into my first month before leaving. LOTRO just wasn't the game for me, its more than just the setting you have to know you'll like the gameplay. Warhammer:AoR is similar to WoW in a lot of ways but most of the ways that annoyed me they've changed things up. Its a more RvR (pvp but with meaning) themed game whereas WoW was a lot more PvE and raiding with bgs and arena just tossed in as an afterthought.

http://www.theoldergamers.com/forum/warhammer-online/

[Imfir]

Anarchy Online
Only main problem with this 7 year old MMORpG , is it's graphics engine, is well 7 years old. They are going to be replacing it with a new one , around the end of this year.
You can solo easily in AO, there are some parts in the game were being in a team is needed. Still would not stop you from leveling or soloing if you never want to be in a team.

I do not RP much, I did years ago, now I just play games for my own entertainment, better then watching infomercials . If you want to check it out I would recommend RK2 server, it seems to be more mature players there.
You have a choice of 3 different account types, depending which account you choose depends how much content/environment of the game you can play or use.
There is the Free Account (aka Froob account) , this gets you everything that is available with just the Notum Wars . Max level is 200 for free account

There is the Cheap Account (aka Sloob) $5 month. This opens up more of the story line, and adds another world,and 2 more classes, also more weapons and armor to select from. (my knowledge of the game only goes this far)

Then we have the Full Account, this includes all the expansions, where you can go off world to battle aliens, there is also something called Battlestations, where I believe is just PvP. And of course even more armor & weapons to select from. Org. Corp. cities, so you can have a player store/market to sell your loot to other players.

Check out the free version. I would recommend to download the full client tho. I had troubles with the small client, not to mention if you do decide to go one of the other 2 pay account choices you would need the full client any ways.
Only problems I have read with the old graphics engine some of the newer video cards can not handle it, mainly the Ati cards, have not seen any problems with Nvidia cards.

There is prolly a ton more that can be said, but that is all I can think of at the moment.
If you have any questions (about AO) I can try and answer it, or find a link that could better answer it for you

[Syanara]

Okay, here's my MMO thoughts to date. For what they are worth. By category:

Best graphics - Beauty of each zone, npcs, spell effects and game sparkle

AOC - (Requires very high comp to see graphics fully)
LOTRO -
EVE


Best PVE - Solo PVE + Group PVE - Non raid specific, questing & small groups

WoW - (great lower group content)
LOTRO - ( lots of cool pve solo content)
Vanguard -(huge number of quests, and different areas)

Best PVP

DAOC - There is no other to compare - but War will rival it hopefully..it's called RVR
Eve - I've heard it's amazing, so throwing it out there. Haven't played.

Best combat

AOC - By far the most complex and exciting combat system in any MMO.
Vanguard - Awesome classes which made combat very fun.

Not best but to mention:

DAOC - Group oriented combat that required a different dynamic.
Wow - Very easy to play and master

Best Immersion

EQ1
Vanguard
Wow

Best Classes

Vanguard - They must have spent all their money on their classes. Simply amazing.
DAOC - I just loved them - prolly some bias for me here.
WoW - Unique and easy to play
AOC - subtle, and unique

Best group Dynamic

DAOC - You rely on other's completely, changes the entire genre of mmo's
AOC - Similar feel

Most MMO's are solo oriented. These aren't.

Best raiding - PVE

WOW
EQ1


Best Raiding - PvP

DAOC
EVE

So, pick from these, you can see I haven't played them all, but these are the big guns in MMO world atm(or recent past)

Hope it helps

[Warin]

That helps a ton! Thanks a lot. I started a 14-day trial for LOTRO. I had totally forgotten forgotten about Vanguard - I tried the beta and it was hideous. I guess I just assumed it had tanked...

[[TOG]Mandrake]

AOC is cool for grathics but truly its lossing players faster then waters gose thru your fingers. Lotro is not bad but it is a full on co op game which is cool but realy u will find ur looking at playing a mosnter chr more for the battle grounds after to long.

ftw i feel War will take your breath away. not even out and look at the action on the warhammer forums. it is mostly PVP orentated but its a diffrent kinda PVP.

its kinda like WOW but i personaly dont like to place it in that basket as i dont like wow personaly. but lets look past that.

1. you have the 2 sides like in WOW but this time instead of it being a passive war IT IS REAL!!!
2. it has the queing system for small pvp battles like wow which give you a run down on how you went.
3. u dont requre 24 avid raiders in order to get good gear. some of the best gear you can get in this game can come from drops from other players and gaining RVR Renown rank.
4. CASTLE SIEGE!!!! man i played alot of games with castle siege features and this is the first one where it works so well.
5. WE HAVE A SERVER ON AUSSIE SOIL!!!! NO MORE 400+ pings. i dare you to show me another mmo currently runing fantasy MMO with a aussie server THAT IS A AUSSIE SERVER!!!

in the end man you can put in a $10 deposit on a CE pre order and jump on sunday night around 12am when open beta starts and see for your self why ppl are selling there souls to mythic to beable to play

[brohawk]

I like AoC better than LOTRO or WAR, but that is me. I would suggest you try them all and see for yourself what you like since 'to each his own' is more appropriate really.

[Sente]

Guild Wars is pretty nice if you will solo a lot. Most content is group oriented, but you can always bring NPC henchmen and heroes to your team if you do not have players to go with.
It has quite strong story content. You can completely ignore the PvP side of Guild Wars if you want, that is completely separate from the PvE content.

City of Villains/Heroes is another game which you can solo through most of the game, but it is more fun in teams through. The good thing about that game is that getting into and setting up a team is much faster and easier than in most MMORPGs. You can completely ignore the PvP side here also, only takes place in designated areas.
And soon you will be able to create your own missions as well.
A lot of the content has a sameness feel to it, at leats when it comes to the exterior (reuses a lot of common building blocks). But it is a fun game in reasonable chunks of time.