Old MMO junkie needing a new Fix

Keluian

Title says it all. Short of it is...there's no short way to do this.

Loved EQ1, tried EQ2 was hoping EQnext would be my fix but...   the pull for me was the nostalgia plus the chance to reconnect with an older community, fresh graphics, and PVE>PVP with a variety of crap to do. Was not fond of minecrafting stuff added in.

Also did Vanilla WoW, played for years, stopped at panda, came back mid WoD and got bored in Legion when guild basically imploded.  I love the game and hate it both. It's easy to slip back into, as I been there, done that and it's all a rewash of all old content and bosses. Also the big reason want to avoid.

Tried Wildstar....never really interacted with peeps. Story seemed flimsy. Plus getting sick of the cartoonish look. =/

SWTOR tried it, and then it left the story and went for the money. Plus group of peeps i was with folded, and was really just a dead community on my server. Plus, much as i liked it, so many of the content either was steamroll, or bug laden. LOVED though the NPC companions.

The Secret World: loved it sorta...i don't know it seemed awkward to say the least to me

FF franchise, well...I used to love final fantasy, but it launched horrid, i gave in had to leave,it relaunched, no idea where my disks are and too poor to pay for a big sub right now with disks.

Would honestly to start on a new/newer game that isn't  a complete rehash. The must haves:

1)cost: i'm a teacher, and poor.
2) story: I love a good story more than anything to keep me interested.
3) pve: I don't want PVP to be the center of the universe
4) active community: It shouldn't take knowing people offline to game online. Most of my old gaming peeps, well many not friends with or even more just lost touch. (life happens) At 36 now, i don't make friends easy.
5) Flexibility: Some days i wanna play 8 hours, some 2. I love raids, love quests, love grouping, give me variety.
6) Beta's? sure I'd love to try some!
7) world type: In order Fantasy, Apocolyptic, Sci-Fi, Realistic (i have too much of this)

Hate to say I'm just bored and desperate, and a tad lonely I miss an online family tbh.

Rottstein

Im much like you in my experiences.  There is a game in beta now, but free.  Project: Gorgon  might be what you are looking for.  I havent played in a few months but am thinking of going back soon as there is quite a bit of new content since I left.   I did have fun in it for about 8 months or so before I left so there is plenty for you to do to keep busy for quite a long time.

Milkado90

try Black Desert 

best mmo out there if you dont mind the grind (if you want to be competitive)
you can also do it casualy (afk fishing, npc workers collect stuff for you while online) 
3-4h a day would need 3 -6 months to get where most people are 


super nice combat
best graphic out there right now
best customizable character builder

cons
heavy grind (but once new content come out it will be easier to lvl)
unbalanced classes if it comes to PVE , PVP wise most classes have there special roles 

MightyUnclean

A long shot, but have you tried one of the EQ progression servers?  A new one just launched a few days ago.  People actually talk to each other, even when XP grouped.  Guilds are close-knit and communicative, and vary in raiding intensity.  I played on one a year or so ago for about six months and had a blast.  The only reason I quit is that my guild moved to a new format progression server when it launched, and I didn't have it in me to start over.  I'm not saying you can relive the past, but you can get a decent approximation of it!

Kefo

Look up Pantheon Rise of the Fallen. Its still in pre-alpha so no testing even for very early backers but its come a long way since its started and its looking very good. Has that old school EQ feel to it but with a few new tricks up its sleeve. 

Check out CohhCarnage on youtube as he has done a few streams with the devs as they show off the world and the gameplay.

ste2000

ESO should fit you quite well, though nowadays it is not that cheap.
Unfortunately if you are looking for a family type community you are in bad luck, there is no such thing in modern days MMOs, ESO included.

Pantheon is the game that in theory  fits perfectly your wishlist.
Pantheon is aiming to recreate the old EQ1 feel focusing in creating a strong community but it is maybe a couple of years away.

Po_gg

You forgot to mention LotRO... or maybe you haven't played it so far? Because if that's the case, you already have the answer

Seriously, not only fits all your listed points, but as a former EQ and wow player, you'd feel right at home.
Great story (at the focus),
PvE-only (sure, there's pvp but totally separated and has no effect on the main game),
active community (and mature, with your 36 you'll be somewhere around the average, or even below... youngster ),
flexibility, it has none of those recent bullshit of dungeon chest keys and such, neither daily locks on activities. You don't lose anything with missing a couple days, and no punishment either on having a several hours marathon session. (I play on similar setting, sometimes not log in for days due to work, other times I'm logged for the day)

Sure, it isn't a match for the "new" criteria, but server transfers last year was a fresh start in a way, lots of players settled in on a new server.

Cost, that's on the fence. You can play for totally free, but that would require a lot of grinding. By spending $15-20 you can remove a large part of that grind. There's also the subscription, just like in the old days (based on the length it can be as low as around $8 per month).

mersant12

I also recommend LotRO ,i think it still have the best community all across the mmo sea..i would start mini or champ for quicker combat experience.

butchogrande

Feeling the same as Topic Creator...


I tried:

Black Desert: (playtime aprox 60 h)
Despite the fact that the game is really Beautiful looking and a very polished world. I was struggeling wiht the "Grind" above lvl 50. You have to just grind...that more or less it. I you lucky to find a decent guil you can do wolrd bosses etc. but mmm it was not that "Boss" feeling, or Teamplay. I think you can play it casually, but then i struggle to tell you what is going to motivate you because the game is kind of a guild / grp game - even from a crafting perspective.

LotRO: (Playtime aprox 50H)
I liked it - 10 Years ago. But the combat and learning cureve is pretty flat. I experienced a more grown up community and RP if you like that kind of game, but nevertheless at the end i find it kind of empty - and without a guild / grp you may struggle to experience the "fun stuff"



additionally i would like a MMO that

• social interaction (not like WOW where you dont have to communicate at all / grp finder / Raid Finder / instantly teleporting around the globe
• has a more sandox approch
• has permadeath or at lest you will losse stuff when you are dying

Im currently rooting for albion online, that will come out in about 1 month

Elsabolts

contact an active guild on EQ2, would be my suggestion.

laxie

Guild Wars 2 was the saviour in my case.

I played SWG for 11 years, then EQ2 for about 4. I loved the PvE and community aspects of both. When EQ2 lost a big chunk of the population, I stopped playing and started trying other games. I got stuck in a limbo where I could not find a single game I'd enjoy.

GW2 was really refreshing. I think it's the fact that it doesn't force you to play a certain way. Most games I tried put a path in front of you, with the community waiting for you at the end. But by the time you get there, you've missed the majority of the content. Guild Wars 2 is different, in the sense that there are different kinds of content you can do, each feeling rewarding in one way or another.

For a linear experience, you have a story to follow. Being someone who likes to explore on their own, I loved map completions, which let you go around the zone at your own pace with the goal of finding all the areas, getting a big reward chest at the end. Dungeons groups are easy to find across the board - as each dungeon has unique gear to collect, you are not discouraged from completing them all. You have open world bosses every 2 hours, which is a lite-raid experience for a PUG group.

The open world content does get a little easy towards the end, which is where the expansion makes a great job. It reignited my interest in exploring the world, as the PvE encounters are a lot more challenging.

I think it's one of the few games that make playing for fun not only possible, but also fairly viable.

jdnewell

Try out ESO or LoTR online. Either of those should be a decent fit 

Keluian

Tried GW2 a long time back, will try Gorgon so far it feels very slow paced and leaving me going "why the hell am I doing this" Update: tried again same blah problem.

LoTRO: I tried it a long time ago for a trial i think, just after release. Don't remember why it didn't catch my eye.

Pantheon looks good, I'll keep an ear open for it but yeah, looks a year or so off. =/

May check out Black Desert, but the video review looked at of it says no real endgame (except maybe pvp which ugh not a fan of) Update: Tried it...i love it except it just feels like too many little buttons that i have no clue what to do with ugh

Thanks on the tips, will keep on looking

Scorchien

agree as someone suggested Project Gorgon should fit the bill

MightyUnclean

Problem with LOTRO:  Wouldn't it take tons of money to get the complete game, still?  Aren't they even still charging for old "expansions?"  That, or you put in a billion hours of deed grinding.

Lithuanian

Lotro.
As folks said - it has story, it is PvE, active community. You can plya 24/7, you can few hours.
Yes, it costs nothing. I played game paying 0 dollars 0 cents and got almost everything up to Central Gondor.
All restrictions (gold cap etc) may be removed with Lotro points. And you get LP for deeds: kill 30 spiders, then kill 60 spiders, explore this, then explore everything...or even "get hurt by Isengard Troll". However, with some free time you may get ~200 Lotro points from easy deeds withing ~1 hour, just by running and nuking.
Money: 15$ month - all regions (except expansions) are free, you may do all quests and deeds you want. 15 USD is not "tons of money" should you need almost all content for 1 month.

NorthernHermit

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is what you have to keep eye on.

wanderica

Final Fantasy XI might scratch that itch for you.  It sounds like you played XIV, but didn't mention XI.  It was modeled after EQ, so if XIV is a WoW clone then XI is an EQ clone.  Playstation support is officially done, and the game is now PC only.  EQ is a bit of a mess these days where leveling can feel disjointed and sort of just tossed together any old way, not to mention its dependency on an overpowered merc to make any progress at all. 

Due to FFXI's focus on story, the devs chose to use Trusts instead of EQ's merc system.  It basically lets you fill out an entire party of NPCs (I think there are well over 100 trusts to collect), so collecting trusts becomes part of your character development.  It is nowhere NEAR as hardcore as it used to be, and leveling parties are a thing of the past.  Instead, players group up at the endgame to grind Job Points (think AAs), kill NMs, and other various activities. 

The story is fantastic.  I too love story above all else (even gameplay most times), so I loved FFXI even more after I was able to use trusts to experience it all.  https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxi/ is an excellent place for more information.  A game that large (I'm sure you understand as an EQ vet) can be quite daunting and a bit unforgiving for the unsuspecting newbie.

There is a 14 day trial available, but if cost is a concern for you, keep in mind that it is part of the Steam Summer Sale, currently 19.99 for the Ultimate Collection Seeker's Edition and comes with 30 days of game time.  Regular sub is 12.95, I believe.  If you decide to give it a shot, be sure to join the Asura server.  It is by far the most populated, and it never feels dead.  I've always found it lively with lots and lots of bazaars to browse in Jeuno.

GL, I hope you find the game you're looking for!


Edit: Forgot to mention, although it is aged, it still looks decent enough with the right setup.  I use Windower 4 and play it in 4K with AA and a few other goodies enabled.  It stays locked at 60 FPS for me, and in my opinion looks far and away better than EQ could hope to look even in it's newer zones.

vtravi

I am loving FF14 but if you want an old school game I would play Vanilla Wow on Elysium servers. It plays exactly like vanilla wow. The game is very stable and easy to setup. It is totally free, no Sub, no store. I play on the pve server Alliance side. The PvP servers are much more populated but even on the PvE servers there are pleanty of people around to do everything

vtravi

Gorstak1 said:

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I just clicked on this link and Saw "Every Item crafted" and I say Finally!!. I have felt for years some game should do this. It will make for a much more interesting economy. I know nothing else about that game but I will give it a go

Ridelynn

You may be, as they say, screwed.

Right now, I'd recommend bouncing around some of the F2P titles: TERA, Tree of Savior, Vindictus, Runescape, RIFT, Neverwinter, etc.

Nothing that I can think of will check every box you have, but you have nothing (but time) to lose in trying out a little bit of all various F2P titles out there. Some of them are surprisingly good in small doses, and you may find some interesting mechanics digging through what a lot of people would consider the trash heap of gaming.

That's what I usually do when I'm between games and just looking for something to scratch the itch.