Looking to start playing an MMORPG again.. help me decide?

[Nightbird]

I used to play WOW, I have 3 level 60s on various servers, and a half a dozen characters before 40 and 60. I enjoyed the game, but I burned out on it. I played EQ 2 for about 6 months, and while I enjoyed it, I lost interest because I had a rough time finding people I enjoyed grouping with (TOG guild was good, but too high level for me and often not many on when I was because of time zones).

As background, I played EQ (the first one) for about 5 years, then. I played DAoC for 2 or 3 years. I tried Horizons, Star Wars Galaxies, Shadowbane, Final Fantasy 11, and DND Online. I tried COH with a trial key and couldn't get into it. I tried Lord of the Rings in beta and was bored, I tried Vanguard with a beta key and even with a pretty good system, it ran like crap for me, so I couldn't enjoy it.

So now I have moved, my life is going to be a lot quieter since I am paying more to live and about to have a pay cut, and I've decided my entertainment dollars will be spent on something cheap, like one monthly payment for a MMORPG. Only I have to decide which to play. I'm leaning towards getting the expansion and going back to WOW, or trying EQ 2 again. I've heard good about Guild Wars, but I've also heard that it is random servers and you cannot chose which server to play on so you will likely not be with friends.

Is there any other fantasy-type MMORPGs out now that are worth looking at? Is WOW's expansion worth it? Does TOG on EQ2 have more North American players now? Any other suggestions for me?

Thanks for reading this long rambling post.

[hipcheck]

I do not have much advise... I played Lineage 2 and mostly liked it, although it is big on grinding. how far did you get into LotRO? that is a nice mid-point between vanguard and WoW...

[Trol]

Our Kinship in LOTRO has been growing steadily. If you still have access to beta I suggest joining use there and trying it out again. After all its free to play in a beta!

[Ancient_One]

Guild Wars........best ever.
Pay for the game play for free.

You pick the server you want to play on and create a character on that server.

In the GW Forum you can pick the server based on playing time and world location.

We can all talk to each other and play in game at the same time.

Has a good following.

Take a look mate.

[RnR]

If you want to try a scifi game, Eve Online might be the go. Only one price ever too... $US14.95 a month. Nothing more to pay... ever.

[Cerebrix]

guild wars is one hell of a game

[RogueSlayer]

If it has been a while since you have played a MMO and are on a tight budget, I am going to suggest a free game for you. It is 9Dragons by Acclaim.

Ever since I tried Guild Wars, I was honestly put off by “free” MMO games. This is not a put down of GW as it obviously has a very big following. It just was not for me though and it gave me a lasting impression on the “free” game market (or more accurately in the GW case, buy the box and never pay again).

Anyhow, I stuck with SWG for many more months after that. Despite the numerous changes, I got a lot of value for my $15 per month. Flash forward now to November/December of 2006. I see a single post here on the TOG forums for 9Dragons. I look into it and see it is a free game. I immediately discredit it. Then after five minutes or so I decide I am bored and go ahead and download the game anyhow.

My first few minutes to hour in game, I was looking for excuses to hate it and I found some. However by the end of my second session, I was (and still am) a total convert. Also, the things I found to hate during my first session, I soon realized were just a side affect of being a “noob” in the game. Once I got used to things, I no longer hated any part of it. I am now a firm believer that quality MMO games can be made and put out for free.

While “free” games are supported by in-game advertising and optional micro-transactions as well as optional premium accounts (which generally give you an ad free game, accelerated xp gains among other goodies for about $8 per month) some such as 9Dragons are definitely worth a look. You are also not putting out any cash to “try” the game either.

9Dragons is also a very solo friendly game. So, if you are looking for something that can allow you to jump on and play for a half hour at a time without needing to first find a group, this game has that. So much so, I have not even looked into starting a Hero Band (Guild) yet. It is also very casual play friendly. I only play an hour or two a week and always feel like I am gaining ground (level wise).

So, as I said above it costs nothing to try it and you may (just like me) be surprised as well.

[Nightbird]

Thanks for the replies. I will check out some of the recommendations.

[Kia Mae]

I would point you to the oldest game of them all, Ultima Online. It runs on even the oldest machines, and gives a freedom of play that no other game can. It is also rather cheap pr month, have a strong community and offers house customization like no other game out there.

Since you have tried out Vanguard and found it to play choppy, maybe this can be for you. UO will come out with a new client this spring that will take the graphics up to NWN 1 standard. Check out the thread here: Ultima Online - Kingdom Reborn coming this spring

I am currently playing Vanguard on an old system, set on highest performance - and UO looks better compared to the graphics I see in VG

[RnR]

Originally Posted by Kia Mae

...and gives a freedom of play that no other game can.

I think Eve Online can rival UO in terms of freedom of play. Its an amazing sandbox with an amazing player run economy. Check out the political map to see the complexity and the scale of the PvP in this map (each colour is an alliance made up of multiple player run corps)

http://www.eve-files.com/media/corp/CRII/Latest.jpg

Only one shard in the world. Skill based character development. You train not by playing but in constant time, even while you are logged off. Great for casual players. The only thing that UO has on Eve Online is player housing. Players can own structures, but not private dwellings which I think you are talking about.

I'm playing on an old 9800pro video card and it runs great. You can even play over a 56k modem.

Anyways, this is not a pissing contest about which is better, but rather a hat tip to UO. UO showed the way for games with 'risk' and hence heart pounding excitement. Eve Online has definitely borrowed alot of the concepts from UO, and hence limited its market potential as a niche market game. The majority of people want games like WoW. PvP'ing can be a frustrating exercise for some folk. However the other side of the coin is that the Eve community is incredible active and vocal, much like the UO community I'm guessing.

Lastly check out the how pretty Eve Online is... space games can be very pretty, even on old hardware. The 'Eve Never Fades' video is very well done;

http://myeve.eve-online.com/download/videos/