Wow got old... how are the other mmo's?

[barbzilla]

I love AO, but nobody else seems to enjoy it out of my group of friends. I tend to play AO on my free time, and when I have friends over we play rift.

Do you know if they've fixed up the starting areas yet? I found it to be massively unfriendly to new players (in terms of gameplay, not people), but that was a good couple of years ago.


Personally, I'm currently playing Guild Wars, and I'm waiting to see how Guild Wars 2, The Old Republic and Dark Millenium turn out.[/quote]

The last update I know of to the starting area had made it pretty well noob friendly. Everyone starts on the noob island (or if you have shadowlands you can choose to start in that starting area) and the basic quests teach you how to do pretty much everything from killing a mob to crafting enhanced weapons out of your starters. They really did a lot for it, but I have been waiting for the graphical update or ao 2. The game's look has really become quite dated (considering it came out in like 99/2000). The character advancement system is really where the game shined though. I loved coming up with new builds. My personal favorite of all time though is either my scythe doctor or my swordmaster nanotechnition. The way the game was designed the only thing you were truely locked into was your nano skills (because they were class specific), the rest of your skills you choose what to level.

 

[Sixcess]

Fallen Earth

How is it for story content? Looks like a good engine but would get a bit meh without a good driving force behind it

I've found the storylines very engaging - moreso than some single player games - with each town usually having its own storyline and then sometimes there are also quest lines that advance the 'main story' of the game. FE actually does quite a good job of making the story feel like it's about you, without falling into the 'you-are-the-chosen-one-and-so-is-everyone-else' trap so many MMOs are prone to. It's also a good deal better written than most MMOs.

The world story is also well realised, with 6 rival factions (that you can join) and a number of NPC factions as well. There's been a shift recently in the late game PVP for clans (i.e. guilds) to be single faction, so the faction rivalries built into the game's back story are also reflected in the PVP that decides who controls certain areas of valuable resources.

I'm trying not to do too obvious a sales pitch, but it's a damn good game with a great in-game community and the best GM support I've ever seen in any MMO.

 

[FallenTraveler]

if you like the WoW formula, then I suggest trying Allods, they are releasing a patch that basically fixes essance and seems to be a game fixer, I would try it out man, I am having a blast playing at the moment... well... I was having fun with it until I got portal 2, but I'm gonna be playing allods after portal

 

[wiredk]

Sooo yea. This rift game. I was originally defending it because hey, just because the majority of the staff is FROM blizzard doesn't mean its going to be exactly like WoW, right?

what the game has going for it is the unique class system. Yes, there are core classes which are JUST like wow classes, but it seemed interesting....Well, its like the WAR leveling system too in some respects.

But then I was a mage, with three types of lightning bolt spells, that all used the same damn animation.
Furthermore, the WAR devs brought the WORST aspects of their game with them. Linear map progression, a different yet CRAPPY crafting system. God knows what else since I didn't get much further in it.

Anyways, I don't have any real suggestions I'm waiting for Warhammer 40k to see how many talent tree options there are for shooting a bolter.

 

[pyrosaw]

Global Agenda pretty good. And it's free.

 

[AugustFall]

Dungeon Fighter Online is looking good. I started it last night. Guild Wars is amazing and GW2 will be as well.

 

[Hiphophippo]

I tried Allods some time ago and felt like it was pretty solid. The art style I actually felt was pretty fantastic and the game had a real polish about it that most free games don't have. It did start to feel like it took ages to kill even the simplest enemy however. Admittadly, I didn't play it too long after that so it could certainly be because I was terrible at the game.

Anyone here keep up with the game and an active player? What's the state of the game like these days? I'd really like to get into a new MMO or even some game with some sort of persistence. I enjoyed that about WoW, even if I am sorta over that game.

 

[Dejawesp]

Fallen Earth

Indie post-apoc MMO. FPS style combat, so skill actually matters in PVP it's not just about the numbers; a very in-depth crafting system and the most amazingly expansive and immersive world I have ever encountered in an MMO.


Plus, there's a free 30 day trial.

If you like Fallout, STALKER or Metro 2033 you really ought to try Fallen Earth.

How is it for story content? Looks like a good engine but would get a bit meh without a good driving force behind it

Fallen earth is garbage. Ammo costs so much to make that even ranged speced people end up using melee weapons. On top of that the AI is so bad and the pathing so buggy that they move towards you in a zig zag pattern that makes them hard to hit. Wasting even more ammo.


Something the video failed to show was how he shot the raider in the head and did 20% damage followed by getting aggro form the whole raider camp.

 

[Sixcess]

Ammo costs so much to make that even ranged speced people end up using melee weapons.

"Life is cheap. Bullets are expensive."

Actually the most recent update almost doubled the amount of ammo you get from each crafting session. That's 150 rounds with just the basic recipe, 300 at the next level and 500 at the highest ammo crafting skill level. Queue up a dozen batches overnight and you're set for days, unless you're a really really bad shot.

The only time I ever use melee is if I'm catching up on sidequests in an area I've outlevelled. Besides, I like the fact that you can look at an enemy and think "Nah, you're not worth wasting bullets on." Adds to the post-apoc atmosphere.

On top of that the AI is so bad and the pathing so buggy that they move towards you in a zig zag pattern that makes them hard to hit. Wasting even more ammo.

Damn those NPCs for not running straight down your gun barrel. How dare they dodge!

Something the video failed to show was how he shot the raider in the head and did 20% damage followed by getting aggro form the whole raider camp.

A sniper rifle, firing heavy rifle rounds and with a skill enabled on the shot, can easily take 50% of an equal level boss's health bar in one shot. Put a snare on that shot and you'll get at least 2 or 3 more shots before they're in melee range. Sure, it's not one shot-one kill - it is an MMO, not a pure FPS - but most of the time when I engage an enemy group at range most of 'em will be dead before they ever get close enough to take a swing at me.

 

[Dejawesp]

they move towards you in a zig zag pattern that makes them hard to hit.

Um... isn't that called being smart?

Smart would have meant taking cover. This is just dumb AI with pathing like a spider web.

Calling them smart would be like calling a mob smart when it gets stuck in a rock and goes into evade mode and can't be killed.

 

[Lawyer105]

The last update I know of to the starting area had made it pretty well noob friendly. Everyone starts on the noob island (or if you have shadowlands you can choose to start in that starting area) and the basic quests teach you how to do pretty much everything from killing a mob to crafting enhanced weapons out of your starters. They really did a lot for it, but I have been waiting for the graphical update or ao 2. The game's look has really become quite dated (considering it came out in like 99/2000). The character advancement system is really where the game shined though. I loved coming up with new builds. My personal favorite of all time though is either my scythe doctor or my swordmaster nanotechnition. The way the game was designed the only thing you were truely locked into was your nano skills (because they were class specific), the rest of your skills you choose what to level.

Sweet. I might have to give it another go. It looked interesting, but... well. Hopefully that's sorted then!

 

[The Gnome King]

So wow sucks now(I don't like the direction the devs took, bugs me that I STILL can't raid months into the expansion due to a lack of guild effort) and I'm looking for a new mmo. Are any of the other mmos that are currently out any good or should I wait and see how the new star wars one(whatever it's called) goes?

Personally, I like Dungeons & Dragons Online. It's F2P for some content; basically enough to "test" the game but subscribing gets you access to all the content. The F2P aspect of it basically means you can "try before you subscribe" - it you liked or know the 3.5 edition D&D rules the game is easy to learn. (Even if you don't know anything about the D&D rules it's not that hard to learn the game.)

It's my major MMO and has been since 2006 so I guess I like it well enough. WoW bores me to tears. It's polished, it has tons of content, but... I just couldn't ever get into it.

 

[The Gnome King]

I've never seen a worse, more unpleasant community even in FPS's and F2P MMO's.

And even if you find yourself a great group to play with, you're still going to be stuck as a tool, working so that OTHER people can have fun, because the skill system means you're going to be essentially worthless for 6+ months and totally dependant on other people to achieve anything other than grinding the same lameass PvE missions over and over and over.

Don't waste the time or the money.

This... a thousand times, this. I fail to see WHAT people like about EVE Online; it's not so much confusing as just horribly boring with a nasty community with an attitude of a new player is there to be killed or used with very little ground in between. (The "newbie friendly" guilds like EVE University did nothing to alleviate this.)

Every time I played it I felt like I was staring at an Excel spreadsheet with cells and numbers and that if I wanted to have "fun" like that I could just catch up on work and open Excel...

I quite enjoyed WHO, but the PvP was terribly unbalanced. Sure, the instanced battlegrounds were adequate, but that's not really Warhammer PvP. It's not really any different from a WoW Arena, except on a 10v10 scale or whatever. The REAL PvP is in the open non-instanced areas, but it was so poorly designed and implemented that all you did was spam AoE and/or spend 3-5 minutes running back from the closest spawn point.

And don't even get me started on how much the game-design and loot systems kick tanks and healers in the balls... there's a reason almost everyone plays a DPS class in that game.

I loved Warhammer and led my fair share of RvR battle groups especially in the ever-fun Tier 2 and Tier 3 portions of the game; but it's a ghost town now. They failed in so many ways to deliver what players wanted, which was a Dark Age of Camelot II type experience with more than 2 realms, more of a focus on open world PvP and less bugs...

Personally, I'm currently playing Guild Wars, and I'm waiting to see how Guild Wars 2, The Old Republic and Dark Millenium turn out.

I play Dungeons & Dragons Online now and probably always will; I'm waiting for GW2 and SW:TOR as well because I'm an MMO junkie who likes to try all the good ones. (Disappointed with EVE, Aion, and so many more... liked Fallen Earth and WoW for a bit.) Also waiting for Cryptic's new Neverwinter Nights MMO/GW-Style Co-opRPG.

 

[Lawyer105]

Couldnt agree more. "Quit" WoW 2 weeks ago, feeling that the game took control of the character away from me (yes, Im a rogue, but did I forget how to effectively wield swords/maces/axes because of the cataclysm? Regressiveness ftw). For a deeper explanation, click the spoiler

This. I played WoW for years as well, but the endless simplifying of the system to the lowest common denominator made it boring. And the gimp they laid out on my class?? That killed WoW permanently for me.

I used to play a Druid. For those that don't know, a druid combines pretty much all classes depending on the form you take. Moonkin (caster) and you're a little like a mage - but with only 1/3 of the abilities. Cat (MDPS) and you're a little like a rogue - but with only 1/3 of the abilities. Bear (tank) and you're like a warrior - but with only 1/3 of the abilities. Tree (healer) and you're a bit like a priest - but with... seeing a pattern here?

The entire class was designed around utility. Lots of mobs in this pull - go bear and off-tank one or two until the DPS can down them. Boss fight - go cat and nuke his sorry ass. Healer pulls aggro and does down - HoT on the tank and rez the healer. AoE spamming enemy - stay at range and throw spells.

You were never as good at any role as a primary class - but built right, you could fill any gap. On the down side, you needed to carry about 6 sets of gear...

And then, in their infinite wisdom, they decided that utility was OP, so they redesigned druids to that they could only do one thing at a time, and sucked at everything else. Except they never bothered to give 'em any more abilities. So basically, I was stuck with a class that lost its utility, could only act as one primary class at a time, but still only had 1/3 of the abilities of that primary class.

Yay. Screw 'em all.

Anyways, I don't have any real suggestions I'm waiting for Warhammer 40k to see how many talent tree options there are for shooting a bolter.

I'm hoping I'm wrong... but I kinda suspect that the Imperium is gonna have 4 classes:
Space Marine - Tank, Stormtrooper - RDPS, Techpriest - Support, Inquisitor - MDPS.

I really, really hope I'm wrong...

Global Agenda pretty good. And it's free.

Free, yes. But it's crap, not good. It's not an MMO at all. It's exactly like any other FPS except that it has a 3D lobby rather than a server listing or whatever. And apart from AvA (which is virtually impossible to get into) you're stuck with lameass 4-man PvE or 10v10 instanced battlegrounds on about 5 maps. Just don't go there.

Personally, I like Dungeons & Dragons Online. It's F2P for some content; basically enough to "test" the game but subscribing gets you access to all the content. The F2P aspect of it basically means you can "try before you subscribe" - it you liked or know the 3.5 edition D&D rules the game is easy to learn. (Even if you don't know anything about the D&D rules it's not that hard to learn the game.)

It's my major MMO and has been since 2006 so I guess I like it well enough. WoW bores me to tears. It's polished, it has tons of content, but... I just couldn't ever get into it.

The only problem I had with DDO is that it's literally unplayable solo (unless you want to grind the same few explore areas over and over). And while grouping is part of any MMO experience, the total lack of solo content means that you HAVE to group. ALL the time. Even if you're only planning to be on for 30 minutes or something. You can't just log in, chill around a bit, collect some herbs, go fishing or whatever and then head off to do whatever you're planning. Don't get me wrong - it's a great game... but it will only ever be an "extra" for me.

 

[The Gnome King]

The only problem I had with DDO is that it's literally unplayable solo (unless you want to grind the same few explore areas over and over). And while grouping is part of any MMO experience, the total lack of solo content means that you HAVE to group. ALL the time. Even if you're only planning to be on for 30 minutes or something. You can't just log in, chill around a bit, collect some herbs, go fishing or whatever and then head off to do whatever you're planning. Don't get me wrong - it's a great game... but it will only ever be an "extra" for me.

Hmm - have you played it lately? It's a game my wife and I enjoy FOR its solo-ability. It didn't used to be this way but now with hirelings, guild airship buffs - etc - it's still a party friendly game but very, very do-able to solo as well.

I just got back from a 45 minute solo quest from there in fact.

If you're playing some of the elite content, etc., then yeah it definitely requires a group. It also lacks crafting but they seem to be fixing that in Update 9 and I really like where they're going with it. It fits the D&D flavor.

 

[Lawyer105]

Hmm - have you played it lately? It's a game my wife and I enjoy FOR its solo-ability. It didn't used to be this way but now with hirelings, guild airship buffs - etc - it's still a party friendly game but very, very do-able to solo as well.

I just got back from a 45 minute solo quest from there in fact.

If you're playing some of the elite content, etc., then yeah it definitely requires a group. It also lacks crafting but they seem to be fixing that in Update 9 and I really like where they're going with it. It fits the D&D flavor.

Henchmen? I recall being able to hire one for an hour or something, but even with two, a lot of stuff didn't go down well. Can you hire more of 'em now, like GW or something??

If you even bother reading this and havent already dived into Rift, how about not playing any MMO at all? If youve gotten bored of WoW you have gotten bored of all other MMOs before you even start playing them.

You do realise that's an extraordinarily ignorant comment, right? As much as I personally detest Eve Online, I'd never argue that it's "WoW in space" or something... There's plenty of other stuff out there. You just have to look for it.