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An MMORPG to redeem the genre for me
Looking to try out a new MMO and was looking for recommendations. Basically I'm currently in the position where I feel that the genre is in the gutter.. thanks largely to WoW's success, it seems that all the new major ones feel like a boring clone of WoW with a few fancy new things to try and lure people to it.
I really miss the old feeling I used to get from MMOs and the near limitless potential they had. I started off with runescape back near when it launched and was blown away by the amount of different things you could do in it and how it wasn't limited to combat. I then moved onto SWG which once again blew me away with just how deep it was and the amazing community it had. Tbh I really miss SWG and wished I was a little older when I played it because at 17, I just couldn't fully appreciate just how damn awesome the game was. I then moved onto WoW which at first I really enjoyed however after countless big name MMO release clones of it, I'm really starting to get fed up of the boring theme park MMOs where you go do boring kill x/collect x quests and rinse and repeat to endgame where you then enter some usually boring grind for gear.
What I'm interested in for a new game is everything.. mainly I want something a little different from the stereotypical theme park MMO and hopefully find something which will redeem the MMO genre in my eyes. I enjoy crafting however haven't bothered with it much these days as the crafting in games like WoW and SWTOR feel pretty boring. The only other real important factor would be the community.. being blunt, today's MMO generation make me silently weep, MMOs just don't feel social anymore and you can easily spend an entire day playing a game without ever even talking outside of the general poor banter you find in general chat. SWG and my server Farstar had such a great community, you could spent hours just hanging around chatting.. that sort of thing just doesn't seem to exist anymore outside of RP servers. Hell even WoW used to have a semi decent community if you looked for it until blizzard killed off the need for social interaction with dungeon finder.
Games I'm thinking of looking at:
Eve Online - Never did give this a chance and the depth of it is both appealing and slightly intimidating.
Darkfall - I know it's sandbox and has decent pvp or so I hear
The Secret World - Cool unique setting and appears to be one of the few MMOs that actually requires thought instead of mindlessly going from area to area going through boring same old quests repeatedly.
LOTR Online - I know it's theme park but I'm a huge fan of the books and from the videos I've seen, the visuals were gorgeous. Probably the only MMO I'd be prepared to try a RP server for which in it's own right could add a lot to my gaming experience. Played the trial briefly in the past and did find the quests quite boring and found the combat to be woefully lacking with the animations being out of synch with button presses etc.
Any thoughts on the games listed or perhaps a different recommendation? I'd prefer to stay away from f2p games however I wouldn't mind them providing the community is decent and all the stuff that costs money is purely cosmetic.
Comments
I haven't played Darkfall but the other 3 I'd say are 3 of the best MMO options out there. If you like LOTR books definitely check out LOTRO (although obviously don't expect 100% lore accuracy because it is an MMO but they do try within reason). I suggest the Landroval server where I play, it has a great community and is friendly to roleplay. You may want to consider subbing for one month to unlock a lot of the freemium restrictions permanently.
EVE is great if you like a deep strategic game and have a fair bit of time to invest in it. Just don't expect handholding or much instant gratification in that game and do try to find a good corp. While you can play the game perfectly fine alone it gets boring after a while if you're just mining or doing NPC missions and don't feel you have to master everything the game has to offer. Much better to pick one or 2 things you really enjoy in the game and specialize in that.
The Secret World has brilliantly written quests many of which are far beyond the "usual kill 10 X" and has a very fair payment model where you only have to buy the game and then buy some additional content later if you want. It also has a very intelligent classless skill system.
My recommendation is to test drive all 3. All of them have free trials although TSW's is very short. Hope that helps.
EVE is the odd one out because you don't really control your character, you control a ship (kinda like in Homeworld). However, it's the most "social" of all the MMO's I've tried in the way that there's levels of interaction and/or teamwork you just can't get a grasp on till you've seen it happen. It's not the most friendly MMOs though, it's probably the worst because you literally can't trust anyone.
If you're looking for easy, entertaining pve grind with a built in IRC client (like most of the MMO's out there)then EVE is not for you. If you're looking for a challenge and want your brain effort to be rewarded then it just might.